Chapter Eight: Literature of the Rasika Tradition in Hindi

If one assumes a body without receiving the relationship, the Lord does not recognise that person when the body is cast off.
Excellent knowledge without relationship is as futile as adornment upon a courtesan.
As the finest dish is incomplete without salt, so is a Vaishnava without relationship.

As a fresh flower without fragrance, so is the Vaishnava devoid of relationship.
Without relationship, worship, vows, and ritual acts never produce the Lord’s intimate play.
Without relationship the Vaishnava remains unripe; adopting the outward form alone does not colour one in the Lord’s colour.

The power of the sacred form extends through all three worlds, and devotees bearing it are worshipped everywhere.
Yet without relationship there is no service to the Master; Vaishnavas who possess it receive every divine happiness.

A married woman whose gaunā has not occurred remains sorrowful at her parental home, separated from her husband.
So too one may bear the sacred Vaishnava form, yet without relationship will not meet the enemy of Khara.
Those without relationship obtain neither the five liberations nor devotion’s rasa.

Seek a knower of your own rasa and receive the relationship.
Serving through mind, word, and deed, destroy the darkness within the heart.

Those exclusive to a single rasa serve Siyavar’s feet through mind, speech, and action.
Absorbed in the Couple’s Name, free from pride and Maya, they show causeless compassion toward living beings.
Receive the relationship properly from the feet of such a rasika.

At the centre of Goloka lies Sri Saketa, an incomparable and conscious city.
Millions of immense palaces spread there, their wondrous design ineffable and boundless.
Streams of the Viraja flow through every lane, and rows of wish-fulfilling trees line them.
Markets pass beneath the shade of vines, and the city’s residents are pure, lovely, and gracious.

On every side grow many trees and mango groves; vast reservoirs cannot be described.
Abundant and beautiful recreation grounds shine, enchanting the minds of gods and sages.
Kanak Bhavan reigns at the city’s centre, before whose splendour millions of suns grow ashamed.

Countless lofty flags wave above it; beholding them, even the gods’ minds grow weary.
Knowledge, detachment, ritual, and action cannot enter where the manifested glory of rasa-play reigns.

Networks of windows are inlaid with gems of many colours.
Innumerable beautiful battlements shine upon the vast, happiness-giving structure.

The beauty of the palace exterior is wondrous and ineffable—how could it be sung?
Within are incomparable bowers and inner bowers fashioned in many forms from conscious gems.
Many couches are spread and swings hang everywhere; delight is abundant in every bower.

Lovely painted courtyards made of gems and rubies cannot be adequately praised.
The incomparable design of the palace precincts cannot be described even while one gazes upon it.