Rādhā

barhendrāyudha-ramyāya jagaj-jīvana-dāyine

barhendrāyudha-ramyāya jagaj-jīvana-dāyine |
rādhā-vidyud-vṛtāṅgāya kṛṣṇāmbhodāya te namaḥ ||
(Stava-mālā: Praṇāma-praṇaya-stava, 10)

“Obeisance unto you,
Dark Cloud,
You whose body is surrounded
By streaks of lightning,
You who are the bestower of water upon the world,
You who appear beautiful
With a rainbow
Of peacock feathers
[Outspread as peacocks dance to announce you].”

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kṣīre śyāmalayārpite kamalayā viśrāṇite phāṇite

kṣīre śyāmalayārpite kamalayā viśrāṇite phāṇite
datte laḍḍuni bhadrayā madhu-rase sobhābhayā lambhite |
tuṣṭir yā bhavatas tataḥ śata-guṇāṁ rādhā-nideśān mayā
nyaste’smin puratas tvam arpaya hare ramyopahāre ratim ||
(Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda; cited in Padyāvalī: 118)

“O Hari,
The satisfaction you felt in the kṣīra offered by Śyāmalā,
The phāṇita (vātāsā) presented by Kamalā,
The laḍḍus given by Bhadrā,
And the honey brought by Candrāvalī—
May you take a hundred times more pleasure than that
In this delectable offering placed before you by me
On the order of Rādhā.”

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ekadā kṛṣṇa-patnyas tu śrī-kṛṣṇa-virahāturāḥ

ekadā kṛṣṇa-patnyas tu śrī-kṛṣṇa-virahāturāḥ |
kālindīṁ muditā vīkṣya papracchur gata-matsarāḥ ||
śrī-kṛṣṇa-patnya ūcuḥ |
yathā vayaṁ kṛṣṇa-patnyas tathā tvam api śobhane |
vayaṁ viraha-duḥkhārtās tvaṁ na kālindi tad vada ||
tac chrutvā smayamānā sā kālindī vākyam abravīt |
sāpatnyaṁ vīkṣya tat tāsāṁ karuṇāpara-mānasā ||
śrī-kālindy uvāca |
ātmārāmasya kṛṣṇasya dhruvam ātmāsti rādhikā |
tasyā dāsya-prabhāveṇa viraho’smān na saṁspṛśet ||
tasyā evāṁśa-vistārāḥ sarvāḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāyikāḥ |
nitya-sambhoga evāsti tasyāḥ sāmmukhya-yogataḥ ||
(Skanda Purāṇa: Vaiṣṇava-khaṇḍa, Bhāgavata-māhātmya, 2.8–12)

“Once, wives of Kṛṣṇa who were distressed in separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa [and had come to Śrī Vṛndāvana] saw Kālindī [i.e., Yamunā Devī] delighted, and been covetous, inquired [from her]. Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s wives said, ‘As we are wives of Kṛṣṇa, so too are you, O splendid one. We are stricken with sorrow in separation, but you are not, O Kālindī. Please explain this.’ Hearing this [inquiry], observing their rivalry [towards her as a co-wife], and being of compassionate mind towards them, she, Kālindī, smiling, spoke this statement [to them]. Śrī Kālindī said, ‘Rādhikā is the eternal self (ātmā) of Kṛṣṇa, he whose joy is in the self [i.e., he who is known to be ātmārāma]. By the influence of service to her, separation [from Kṛṣṇa] cannot touch us. All of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mistresses (nāyikās) are extensions of a part of her alone. There is certainly perpetual union [with Kṛṣṇa] (nitya-sambhoga) as a result of being present before her [alt., as a result of her favor, or, as a result of attentive service to her].”

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sattvaṁ tattvaṁ paratvaṁ ca tattva-trayam ahaṁ kila

sattvaṁ tattvaṁ paratvaṁ ca tattva-trayam ahaṁ kila |
tri-tattva-rūpiṇī sāpi rādhikā mama vallabhā |
prakṛteḥ para evāhaṁ sāpi mac-chakti-rūpiṇī ||
sāttvikaṁ rūpam āsthāya pūrṇo’haṁ brahma cit-paraḥ ||
brahmaṇā prārthitaḥ samyak sambhavāmi yuge yuge |
tayā sārdhaṁ tvayā sārdhaṁ nāśāya devatā-druhām ||
(Bṛhad Gautamīya-tantra; cited in Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 189)

“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Śrī Balarāma:] I verily am the three existents (1) being (sattvam), (2) (primary) existence (tattvam), and (3) supremacy (paratvam). She too, Rādhikā, my beloved, is an embodiment of these three existents. I am certainly beyond primordial material nature (prakṛti), and she too is an embodiment of my potency (śakti). Being established in a form of [pure] being (sāttvika-rūpa), I am the Complete Brahman, the Supreme Conscious Entity. Prayed to by Brahmā, I manifest in full in age after age along with her and along with you to destroy the oppressors of the devatās.”

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patrāṇi tatra kamale kamalālayānām

patrāṇi tatra kamale kamalālayānām
aṁśena keli-vipināni bhavanti yeṣu |
cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-
lakṣāvṛteṣu nibhṛtaṁ ramate mukundaḥ ||
tatrādhirājyaṁ kila rādhikām anu
prattaṁ priyeṇeti purāṇa-viśrutam |
ahaṁ tu manye punaruktam eva tad
guṇena tasyāḥ sa ca yad vaśaṁ-gataḥ ||
(Gopāla-campū: 1.46 (20-21))

“The petals in the lotus there [i.e., in Gokula] are play-forests with parts (aṁśas) [i.e., specific manifestations] of they whose abodes are lotuses [i.e., of gopīs, who are here described as Lakṣmīs, that is, ‘they who have lotus abodes’] wherein Mukunda privately enjoys within dwelling places [made] of multitudes of thought-jewels enshrouded by lakhs of desire-trees. There, sovereignty has certainly been later granted to Rādhikā by her beloved [i.e., by Mukunda]. Such is well-known from the Purāṇas. I, however, consider that mere repetition [i.e., I consider it redundant] since he is already subjugated by her qualities.”

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Uddhava-gītā

Uddhava-gītā

Six verses in praise of the Vraja-gopīs expressed by Śrī Uddhava after delivering Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s messages from Mathurā.

Excerpted from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.47.58–63.

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aho bhagavato naumi balāt sarva-pravartanam

aho bhagavato naumi balāt sarva-pravartanam |
prāhiṇod yaḥ sva-śūnye’pi śrī-nandadīn api vraje ||
tvāṁ vrajeśvari śocāmi tvāṁ ca vṛndāvaneśvari |
kṛṣṇaṁ vinā gateṣv eṣu hā hā jīviṣyathaḥ katham ||
(Laghu Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.45.25)

“Aho! I praise [only] by force all the promptings of Bhagavān, who sent even Śrī Nanda and company to Vraja even when it was devoid of himself. I grieve for you, O Vrajeśvarī! [i.e., O Mother Yaśodā!], and you, O Vṛndāvaneśvarī! [i.e., O Śrī Rādhā!] Hā hā! Now that they [i.e., Śrī Nanda and company] have gone [back to Vraja] without Kṛṣṇa, how will you two live?”

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