Chapter Eight: Literature of the Rasika Tradition in Hindi

Beholding the handsome dark prince, son of King Dasharatha, the pride and beauty of hundreds of millions of Cupids are shattered.
Crown, earrings, forest garland, necklaces, tinkling girdle, splendid chains, and anklets adorn his feet and limbs.
Such exquisite beauty has entered Haricharan’s heart today; one glimpse of that face scatters the radiance of millions of moons.
The women of the city stand transfixed, forgetting every convention; sacrificing themselves to the beloved, they tear apart the world’s fragile veil of shame.

Rāmapriyā-vilāsa

This work offers a beautiful and sweet illustration of complete immersion in devotional feeling and exclusivity of relationship. Special attention is given to rāgas and rāginīs, with singability as the aim. Several songs are also exceptionally elegant and effective. The language is idiomatic and fluent.

Darling Raghava plays Holi today with the young princess.
Kumkum, agarwood, camphor, fragrant paste, and musk form coloured mud; clouds of abīra rise as songs resound and celebration spreads everywhere.
The supremely accomplished beloved lovingly seizes her and rubs red powder upon her face, like a raincloud taking lightning into its embrace while hundreds of moons rain colour.
Rama and his beloved look upon one another, laugh, grow shy, and turn their faces; their wagtail eyes meet and struggle, then flee upon seeing the flash of lightning.

I shall wave the fan and become the gardener who tends their flowers.
I shall dress them in fine garments and ornaments and spread the excellent couch.
I shall prepare betel, massage their lotus feet,
And wave the lovely fly-whisk—I call myself your maidservant.
I shall go nowhere else; hear my humility, my own Rampriya.
I shall bow my head at no one else’s feet.
O King of kings, Maharaja Raghavendra Rama,
Having become yours, how could I now belong to anyone else?

I am greedy for the vision—will someone tell me some means?
Only a lover steeped in its colour understands this condition of love.
The beloved’s couch is unseen and beyond the senses; how can union there be attained?
Rampriya says: the ornament of Raghu’s line must be watching for my arrival.

Bhakta-pramodinī

Bhakta-pramodinī, composed by Pandit Ramautan Mishra of Ayodhya, is a collection of songs steeped in the rasa of supreme loving devotion. It was printed in 1922 CE at the Aftab Printing Press in Faizabad.