Appendix A: Mahāvāṇī

—I shall accept the true guru’s word as supreme rasa and not fall into the noose of laborious practice.
I shall plunder the rasa of bed-sport and rāsa, abandoning the sorrow of separation.
I shall cultivate contemplation of the Couple and not wander to pilgrimage places or Kashi.
My eyes, thirsty for the beauty of Rama and Sita, shall look nowhere else.
By the guru’s grace I have received the rasika seal; I am no longer an itinerant ascetic or renunciant.
Let anyone hold good or bad thoughts within the mind; let anyone mock me.
Shame before the world, honour, prestige, hope, and fear have all been destroyed.
Kripanivas says: Sita has shown grace; I shall become the Divine Couple’s personal attendant.

“Having Made All Sixteen Adornments, I Must Go to My Beloved’s House”

Having made all sixteen adornments, I must go to my beloved’s house.
Rati is the toe-ring, prema the splendid crimson dye whose radiance flashes without limit.
Constant affection is the anklet, making one sweetly intoxicated with the nectar of “mine” and “thine.”
Wear the sari over the thighs and let the hands express Love’s arousal.
Māna shines as bells upon the waist, while praṇaya is the necklace upon the breast.
Rāga rests upon the breasts, anurāga is the throat-jewel, and mahābhāva the beloved nose-ring.
Rūḍha is vermilion and adhirūḍha fine collyrium, auspicious makers of bridal fortune.
Wear mohana and modana as earrings, extending the splendour of married love.
Place mādana, equal to Love himself, as a flower arranged beautifully upon the head.
Within these ornaments lie eternal sport in a thousand forms and boundless play.
This is the furthest limit of permanent rati, powerful and filled with immeasurable rasa.
Adorn yourself beautifully in this way and bring the beloved’s mind under your sway.
You are manifest youth itself, exceedingly beautiful and moving with a proud gait.
Flashing and swaying, unite with your beloved and give him the essence of erotic delight.
Then you will be fortunate indeed and become the necklace around your beloved’s throat.
You and he will become one, and no proclamation of duality will remain—
Just as a river meets the ocean and both become a single body of water.
Shiva, Shuka, Sanaka, Shesha, the Vedas, Hanumat, and generous rasika sages
Immerse themselves morning and evening in this ocean of devotional rasa.
Without Sita’s causeless grace, no one is qualified to enter it.
Without a knower of rasa, the ignorant cannot understand this delight of rasa.