Līlā

vinā rādhāṁ kṛṣṇo na khalu sukhadaḥ sā na sukhadā

vinā rādhāṁ kṛṣṇo na khalu sukhadaḥ sā na sukhadā
vinā kṛṣṇaṁ dvābhyām api vinānyā na sarasāḥ |
vinā rātriṁ nendus tam api na vinā sā’pi ruci-bhāk
vinā tābhyāṁ jṛmbhāṁ dadhati kumudinyo’pi na tarām ||
(Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 8.193)

“Certainly, without Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa is not delightful, and she is not delightful without Kṛṣṇa. And alas, without both of them, others [i.e., the sakhīs] are not beautiful [alt., impassioned, lit., imbued with rasa]. Neither the moon without the night, nor it without that [i.e., nor the night without the moon] are resplendent. And without them both, white water lillies do not fully blossom.”

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pahilahi rāga nayana-bhaṅga bhela

pahilahi rāga nayana-bhaṅga bhela |
anudina bāḍhala—avadhi nā gela ||
nā so ramaṇa nā hāma ramaṇī |
du̐hu mana manobhava peṣala jāni |
e sakhi! se-saba prema-kāhinī |
kānu-ṭhāme kahabi, vichuraha jāni ||
nā kho̐jalu̐ dūtī, nā kho̐jalu̐ āna |
du̐hukeri milane madhya ta pā̐cabāṇa ||
aba soi virāga, tu̐hu bheli dūtī |
supurukha-premaki aichana rīti ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.8.193)

[Rādhā:] “Rāga first arose with a sidelong glance;
It increased daily,
And reached no limit.
He was not the male lover,
And I was not the female lover;
It was as though Manobhava ground our minds [together].
O sakhī! Tell Kānu this whole tale of prema;
May you not forget.
We did not seek a messenger;
We did not seek anyone;
In our [first] meeting [only]
Pā̐cabāṇa was the intermediary.
Now he is void of rāga,
And you have [thus] become the messenger.
Such is the nature of that fine man’s prema.”

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rādhāyā bhavataś ca citta-jatunī svedair vilāpya kramād

rādhāyā bhavataś ca citta-jatunī svedair vilāpya kramād
yuñjann adri-nikuñja-kuñjara-pate nirdhūta-bheda-bhramam |
citrāya svayam anvarañjayad iha brahmāṇḍa-harmyodare
bhūyobhir nava-rāga-hiṅgula-bharaiḥ śṛṅgāra-kāruḥ kṛtī ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.155; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 81; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.8.194)

[Vṛndā addresses Kṛṣṇa:] “O elephant king of the mountain arbors, the expert artisan of amorous love has gradually melted the lac of the hearts of Rādhā and yourself with heat, stirred them, removed any appearance of separation [between them, i.e., made them one], and then personally dyed them with a rich abundance of fresh red vermillion dye to decorate [alt., to paint a picture within] the interior of the palace of the universe.”

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atra kṛtānukaraṇaṁ nāma līlākhyo nāyikānubhāvaḥ

atra kṛtānukaraṇaṁ nāma līlākhyo nāyikānubhāvaḥ | tad uktaṁ kriyānukaraṇaṁ līleti | prakṛtiṁ svabhāvam | tādṛśa-premāveśo jātaḥ | yena tat-svabhāva-nija-svabhāvayor aikyam eva tāsu jātam ity arthaḥ | yathā śrīmad-ujjvala-nīlamaṇau mahā-bhāvodāharaṇam—rādhāyā bhavataś ca … |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 81)

“Here [in reference to the līlā described in SB 1.9.40 and 10.30.14–23], imitation of deeds, which is called līlā, is an ensuant (anubhāva) of a nāyikā [i.e., the gopīs]. This is stated [in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 10.28]: kriyānukaraṇaṁ līlā [“imitating actions [of one’s beloved] is [called] līlā”]. ‘Nature’ (prakṛti) means svabhāva. Absorption in such prema arose [in the gopīs] whereby a oneness arose in them of his svabhāva with their own svabhāvas, as [is described] in the illustration of mahābhāva in Śrīmad Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: rādhāyā bhavataś ca ….”

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nirupadhi hi prema kathañcid apy upadhiṁ na sahata iti

nirupadhi hi prema kathañcid apy upadhiṁ na sahata iti pūrvārdhe bhagavatoḥ kṛṣṇa-rādhayor anupadhi-prema śrutvā tad eva puruṣārthīkṛtam | bhagavatā mukha-pidhānaṁ cāsya tad-rahasyatva-prakāśakam |
(Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭakam: 7.17)

“Guileless prema does not tolerate any sort of guile. After hearing of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā’s guile-free prema in the first half [of the verse], Bhagavān determined it to be the puruṣārtha, and Bhagavān’s covering his [i.e., Rāmānanda’s] mouth is indicative of its [i.e., the statement in the first half of the verse’s] confidentiality [alt., it is indicative of the confidentiality between them, i.e., Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa].”

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ahaṁ kāntā kāntās tvam iti na tadānīṁ matir abhūn

ahaṁ kāntā kāntās tvam iti na tadānīṁ matir abhūn
mano-vṛttir luptā tvam aham iti nau dhīr api hatā |
bhavān bhartā bhāryāham iti yad idānīṁ vyavasitis
tathāpi prāṇānāṁ sthitir iti vicitraṁ kim aparam ||
(Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭakam: 7.15)

[Rādhā speaks to Kṛṣṇa in Mathurā through a messenger:] “‘I am the female lover, and you are the male lover.’ I did not have this notion then [when you were here in Vraja]. This mentality was absent, and even our awareness of ‘you’ and ‘I’ was lost. Although we now [again] have the certainty that you are the man and I am the woman, still my prāṇas are present [in my body]. What is more astonishing than this?”

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sakhi na sa ramaṇo nāhaṁ ramaṇīti bhidāvayor āste

sakhi na sa ramaṇo nāhaṁ ramaṇīti bhidāvayor āste |
prema-rasenobhaya-mana iva madano niṣpipeṣa balāt ||
(Caitanyacandrodaya-nāṭakam: 7.14)

“[Rādhā:] O sakhī, he was not the male lover, and I was not the female lover, as any distinction between us had ceased; it was as though Madana had forcibly ground our minds [together] with prema-rasa.”

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tataḥ sa gītaṁ sarasāli-gītaṁ

tataḥ sa gītaṁ sarasāli-gītaṁ
vidagdhayor nāgarayoḥ parasya |
premno’tikāṣṭhā-pratipādanena
dvayoḥ paraikya-pratipādy avādīt ||
(Caitanya-carita-mahākāvya: 13.45)

“Then he [i.e., Rāmānanda Rāya] sang a song full of rasas which, by explaining the ultimate climax of the expert lovers’ supreme prema, explained their supreme oneness.”

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imau gaurī-śyāmau manasi viparītau bahir api

imau gaurī-śyāmau manasi viparītau bahir api
sphurat tat-tad-vastrāv iti budha-janair niścitam idam |
sa ko’py accha-premā vilasad-ubhaya-sphūrtikatayā
dadhan mūrti-bhāvaṁ pṛthag apṛthag apy āvirudabhūt ||
(Gopāla-campū: 15.8)

“These two, fair and dark [in complexion], are the opposite [in “color”] in their minds and externally also manifest such respective cloth [i.e., cloth opposite in color to their complexions, that is, corresponding in color to one another’s complexions]. Thus it has been ascertained by the wise that some sort of pure prema, on account of its being a playful revealer of them both [in one another’s hearts], has appeared donning a state of form that is both separated [i.e., dual, bearing the two separate forms of bearer and receiver] and unseparated [i.e., non-dual, being one in nature and function as the medium of exchange between them].”

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