Rādhā
namas tasmai bhagavate kṛṣṇāyākuṇṭha-medhase
namas tasmai bhagavate kṛṣṇāyākuṇṭha-medhase |
rādhādhara-sudhā-sindhau namo nitya-vihāriṇe ||
rādhāṁ kṛṣṇa-svarūpāṁ vai kṛṣṇaṁ rādhā-svarūpiṇaṁ |
kalātmānaṁ nikuñjasthaṁ guru-rūpaṁ sadā bhaje ||
(Mahāvāṇī: Sakhī-rūpācārya-nāma-ratnāvalī-stava, 1–2)
“Obeisance unto him,
Bhagavān,
Kṛṣṇa,
He of unblunted brilliance.
Obeisance unto the constant Frolicker
In the ocean of the nectar
Of Rādhā’s lips.
Forever I worship
Rādhā,
She whose essence is Kṛṣṇa
[Alt., she who is the essential nature of Kṛṣṇa],
And Kṛṣṇa,
He whose essence is Rādhā,
[Alt., he who is the essential nature of Rādhā]—
They whose spirit is the arts
[Alt., they who are the essence of expertise, or, they who are the constitution of the seed syllable klīṁ]
And the form of the guru situated in the bower.”
govardhana-girim upetya kaṭākṣa-bāṇān
govardhana-girim upetya kaṭākṣa-bāṇān
karṇa-sphuran-maṇi-śilopari saṅkṣuvānā |
kā bhrū-dhanur-dhuvana-sūcita-luñcaneyaṁ
vyagrīkaroty ahaha mām api sambhrameṇa ||
(Dāna-keli-kaumudī: 30; cited in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.3)
“Reaching Govardhana Hill
And sharpening the arrows of her side-long glances
Atop the sparkling jewel-slabs on her ears,
Who is this
By whom thievery is intimated
By the quivering of the bows of her brows,
That, ahaha,
Makes even me restless with excitement?”
lokātītam ajāṇḍa-koṭigam api traikālikaṁ yat sukhaṁ
lokātītam ajāṇḍa-koṭigam api traikālikaṁ yat sukhaṁ
duḥkhaṁ ceti pṛthag yadi sphuṭam ubhe te gacchataḥ kuṭatām |
naivābhāsa-tulāṁ śive tad api tat kuṭa-dvayaṁ rādhikā-
premodyat-sukha-duḥkha-sindhu-bhavayor vindeta bindvor api ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.171)
“[Bhagavān Śiva:] The happiness and the sorrow which exist beyond the world [i.e., in Vaikuṇṭha and in sāyujya-mukti] and across the three phases of time throughout crores of universes—if separately both of these were to become visibly stacked [beside each other so that their ultimate magnitudes could be measured], still O Śivā [i.e., O Pārvatī] those two stacks would certainly not be equal to a semblance of even two drops [of the nectar] produced by the ocean of the happiness and sorrow arising from Rādhikā’s prema.”
astācalaṁ cumbati bhānu-bimbe
astācalaṁ cumbati bhānu-bimbe
gṛhe gṛhe gokula-sundarīṇām |
divyānulepābharaṇāmbarāṇi
kṛṣṇāhriyante paritaḥ sakhībhiḥ ||
(Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 8.101)
“O Kṛṣṇa,
When the orb of the sun
Kisses the western horizon,
In house after house
The splendid unguents, ornaments, and garments
Of the beauties of Gokula
Are brought from all sides by [their] friends
[So that these beauties can be well-dressed when they meet Kṛṣṇa as he re-enters the village in the early evening from his day of cow-herding out in the forest].”
phalam api phalaṁ mākandānāṁ sitā api tāḥ sitā
phalam api phalaṁ mākandānāṁ sitā api tāḥ sitā
amṛtam amṛtaṁ drākṣā drākṣā madhūni madhūny api |
saha tulayituṁ tenaiteṣāṁ na kiñcana yujyate
subala yad ayaṁ sāraṅgākṣyā bhavaty adharo’dharaḥ ||
(Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 3.5)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] Even the fruit of mango trees
Is [just] fruit.
Even candied sugar
Is [just] candied sugar.
[Even] Nectar is [just] nectar.
[Even] Grapes are [just] grapes.
Even honey is [just] honey.
O Subala,
None of these are fit
To be compared with that,
Since [that, viz.,] this lower lip of she of doe-eyes [viz., Śrī Rādhikā]
Is [really] a lower lip (adharaḥ)
[i.e., Something that excels all else].”
hantāyam adrir abalā hari-dāsa-varyo
hantāyam adrir abalā hari-dāsa-varyo
yad rāma-kṛṣṇa-caraṇa-sparaśa-pramodaḥ |
mānaṁ tanoti saha-go-gaṇayos tayor yat
pānīya-sūyavasa-kandara-kanda-mūlaiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.21.18)
“Hanta!
O ladies!
This mountain is the best of Hari’s servants
Since he is possessed of great delight
At the touch of Rāma and Kṛṣṇa’s feet,
And since he offers honor to them,
Along with their cows and company,
With beverages, fine grass, hollows, bulbs, and roots.”
svayaṁ śrī-rādhikā devī prātar adyādideśa mām
svayaṁ śrī-rādhikā devī prātar adyādideśa mām |
sarūpāyāti mat-kuñje mad-bhakto māthuro dvijaḥ ||
tatraikākī tvam adyādau gatvā mad-upadeśataḥ |
prabodhyāśvāsya taṁ kṛṣṇa-prasādaṁ prāpaya drutam ||
asmāt tasyāḥ samādeśāc chīghram atrāham āgataḥ |
na praharṣād apekṣe sma kṛṣṇa-saṅga-sukhaṁ ca tat ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.9–11)
“Śrī Rādhikā Devī herself instructed me first thing in the morning, ‘Sarūpa, a bhakta of mine, a twice-born from Mathurā, is coming to my arbor. First thing you should go alone there first [i.e., before he arrives], enlighten him with my instructions, pacify him, and cause him to quickly attain Kṛṣṇa’s grace.’ In accord with this instruction of hers, I have swiftly come here, and out of delight, I did not wait for that bliss of Kṛṣṇa’s company [which I would have experienced this morning by accompanying him from the village into the forest as I normally do each day].”
na vayaṁ sādhvi sāmrājyaṁ svārājyaṁ bhaujyam apy uta
na vayaṁ sādhvi sāmrājyaṁ svārājyaṁ bhaujyam apy uta |
vairājyaṁ pārameṣṭhyaṁ vā ānantyaṁ vā hareḥ padam ||
kāmayāmaha etasya śrīmat-pāda-rajaḥ śriyaḥ |
kuca-kuṅkuma-gandhāḍhyaṁ mūrdhnā voḍhuṁ gadābhṛtaḥ ||
vraja-striyo yad vāñchanti pulindyas tṛṇa-vīrudhaḥ |
gāvaś cārayato gopāḥ pāda-sparśaṁ mahātmanaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.83.41–43; cited in Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.43; Prīti Sandarbha: 108; Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.59)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s sixteen thousand queens say:] O Sādhvi, [i.e., O Draupadī], neither universal sovereignty [over the earth], nor sovereignty over Svarga, nor the enjoyment [of these forms of sovereignty], nor extensive sovereignty [i.e., attainment of the siddhis of minuteness (aṇimā) and so on], nor the dominion of Brahmā, nor the unlimited [i.e., the unlimited bliss experienced in realization of Brahman], nor even the abode of Hari [i.e., sālokya-, sāmīpya, sārṣṭi, or sārūpya-mukti]—we desire [none of these and instead desire] to bear atop our heads his—the Club-bearer’s [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s]—blessed foot-dust enriched with the fragrance of kuṅkuma from the bosom of Śrī [i.e., Śrī Rādhā], since the ladies of Vraja, the Pulindī women, the grass and creepers [of Vraja], and the cowherds [there] tending the cows [all] long for the touch of the feet of he of most exalted disposition [i.e., they too all long for the touch of Kṛṣṇa’s feet].”
tat-saundaryaṁ sā ca lāvaṇya-lakṣmīs
tat-saundaryaṁ sā ca lāvaṇya-lakṣmīs
tan-mādhuryaṁ tasya kiṁ varṇitaṁ syāt |
dravyair yogyā laukikair nopamā syāt
kiṁ vānyena dvārakendreṇa nāpi ||
kṛṣṇo yathā nāgara-śekharāgryo
rādhā tathā nāgarikā-varāgryā |
rādhā yathā nāgarikā-varāgryā
kṛṣṇo tathā nāgara-śekharāgryaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.6.110–111)
“Can that beauty, that wealth of loveliness, or that sweetness of his [i.e., Kṛṣṇa’s] be described? Neither with worldly objects, nor with others [i.e., Nārāyaṇa of Vaikuṇṭha, or Rāma of Ayodhyā], nor even the Lord of Dvārakā shall any comparison [thereof] be appropriate. [There is only one appropriate object of comparison:] As Kṛṣṇa is the foremost of cultured lovers, so Rādhā is the foremost of cultured ladyloves, and as Rādhā is the foremost of cultured ladyloves, so Kṛṣṇa is the foremost of cultured lovers.”