अङ्गश्यामलिमच्छटाभिरभितो मन्दीकृतेन्दीवरं
जाड्यं जागुडरोचिषां विदधतं पट्टाम्बरस्य श्रिया ।
वृन्दारण्यविलासिनं हृदि लसद्दामाभिरामोदरं
राधास्कन्धनिवेशितोज्ज्वलभुजं ध्यायेम दामोदरम् ॥
aṅga-śyāmalima-cchaṭābhir abhito mandīkṛtendīvaraṁ
jāḍyaṁ jāguḍa-rociṣāṁ vidadhataṁ paṭṭāmbarasya śriyā |
vṛndāraṇya-vilāsinaṁ hṛdi lasad-dāmābhir āmodaraṁ
rādhā-skandha-niveśitojjvala-bhujaṁ dhyāyema dāmodaram ||
(Stava-mālā)
“He by whom blue lotuses are belittled
With the radiance of the swarthiness of his limbs,
He by whom the splendors of saffron are rendered dull
With the loveliness of his silken garments,
He who sports in the forest of Vṛndā,
He who is fragrant with shining garlands across his chest,
He whose lustrous arm is set on Rādhā’s shoulder—
Let us meditate on Dāmodara.”
Commentary
This verse comes in Śrī Rūpapāda’s Stava-mālā at the very end of the section of composition in praise of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and just before the start of the compositions in praise of Śrī Rādhā. Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda in his commentary on this verse explains that Śrī Rūpapāda writes this verse with the desire to meditate on the Pair of lovers—Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa (priyayor Dvandvaṁ dhyātum icchaṁs tad āha padyena—aṅgeti).
Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda in his commentary on this verse also addresses the claim made by some that Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s līlās with the gopīs are a mere imitation of worldliness that for performed for the sake of giving the minds of worldly people entrance into meditation upon a transcendental object. In the course of refuting this idea, Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda explains that even the desire on the part of Śrī Kṛṣṇa for the enjoyment of touching the bodies of the gopīs is not a contradiction to his being one whose satisfaction comes from within the self, that is, his being an ātmarāma, and his being one whose bliss of such nature is complete such that he has no unfulfilled desires. He also explains that Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s līlā with Śrī Rādhā and the other gopīs is completely free from any form of moral defectiveness by stating the following:
loke’pi paramodārāṇāṁ guṇa-gambhīrāṇāṁ viśuddha-manasām atitejasā bhrājamānānāṁ rāja-kumārīṇāṁ rāja-kumārāṇāṁ ca mithaḥ prasakta-manasāṁ mitho’nurañjanaṁ prema sauśīlyam eva iti nokta-doṣa-gandhaḥ | mitho hitecchatvād eva viṣayāsakti-doṣaḥ parāstaḥ | jana-mano-niveśas tv anuṣaṅga-siddha iti na kaścid ākṣepa-leśaḥ |
“Even in the world, the prema pleasing to one another on the part of princesses and princes who are highly exalted, deep in virtues, of pure mind, effulgent with majestic luster, and of minds deeply attached to one another is verily an excellence of character (sauśīlya) [i.e., mortal virtue]. Thus, there is not a trace of the aforesaid fault [i.e., the fault of bad character (kauśīlya)—moral defectiveness—is certainly absent in the prema of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa since such a fault is not even present in princesses and princes with prema for one another in the world]. Because of [such prema’s] being a desire for the well-being of one another [i.e., since the aim of each lover is the well-being and pleasure of the beloved and not pleasure for oneself], the fault of attachment to objects of the senses is refuted [i.e., there is no scope for the idea that Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s prema for another is tinged by either of them having any attachment to the objects of the senses]. The entrance of people’s mind [into some form of meditation upon a transcendental object that is created by Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s līlās with Śrī Rādhā and the gopīs] is, rather, accomplished incidentally [i.e., it is not the primary purpose of the līlās]. Thus, [even] some trace of objection [to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s līlās with Śrī Rādhā and the gopīs] is non-existent.”
An alternate reading of the text of Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda’s commentary reads mitho hi tac-chrutvād eva instead of mitho hitecchatvād eva. In the case of this alternate reading, the meaning is as follows:
“Because of that’s being heard of for one another [i.e., because it is heard that Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa have such prema for one another, meaning, prema that is of the nature that was described in the previous sentence about princesses and princes in the world], the fault of attachment to objects of the senses is refuted [i.e., there is no such fault in the prema Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa have for one another].”