Rādhā-dāsya
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].”
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].”
sā rādhikā bhagavatī kvacid īkṣyate cet
sā rādhikā bhagavatī kvacid īkṣyate cet
premā tadānubhavam ṛcchati mūrtimān saḥ |
śakyeta ced gaditum eṣa tayā tadaiva
śrūyeta tattvam iha ced bhavati sva-śaktiḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.233)
“If ever she, Bhagavatī Rādhikā, is seen, then one attains experience of the embodiment of prema, and if this [i.e., prema] can ever be described by her, only then the essential nature [of that prema] shall be heard about, if one’s ability for that remains.”
gurubhir api niṣiddhā tām ahaṁ yāvad akṣṇoḥ
gurubhir api niṣiddhā tām ahaṁ yāvad akṣṇoḥ
padam anayam ananta-śreyasāṁ sadma rādhām |
tṛṣitam iva mano me prekṣate tanvi tāvad
diśi diśi viharantīṁ śyāmalāṁ śālabhañjīm ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.27)
“[A gopī newly arrived near Vṛṣabhānupura:]
O slender one [i.e., O Sakhī],
Although forbidden by elders,
Ever since I brought that Abode of infinite virtue,
Rādhā,
Onto the path of my eyes,
My mind,
As though thirsty,
Sees a sporting swarthy figure
In every direction.”
bibhemy asmād dhanta durbodha-līlāt
bibhemy asmād dhanta durbodha-līlāt
kva tat tasyāḥ sāra-saubhagya-dānam |
kva sadyo’ntardhānato rodanābdhāv
anāthāyā yātanaikākinī yā ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.154)
“Hanta! I fear he of unfathomable līlā! Where is that granting of the ultimate fortune to her? And where is that solitary anguish of hers as she was helpless in an ocean of [her own] tears because of his sudden disappearance?”
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.”