Sakhīs

mātar gopa-kiśoraṁ taṁ

mātar gopa-kiśoraṁ taṁ tvañ ca rāsa-rasāmbudhim |
tat-prema-mohitābhiḥ śrī-gopībhir abhito vṛtam ||
amūṣāṁ dāsyam icchantī tādṛśa-prema-bhaṅgibhiḥ |
nityaṁ bhajasva tan-nāma-saṅkīrtana-parāyaṇā ||
(Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.154–5)

“The Adolescent Cowherd,
The Ocean of the rasa of rāsa,
Surrounded on all sides by beautiful gopīs
Enchanted by prema for him—
O Mother,
You too should always worship him
With means of prema akin to theirs,
Being desirous servitude to them
And being absorbed in saṅkīrtana of his names.”

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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.”

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pataty asre sāsrā bhavati pulake jāta-pulakāḥ

pataty asre sāsrā bhavati pulake jāta-pulakāḥ
smite bhāti smerāḥ sumalimaṇi jāte sumalināḥ |
anāsādya svālīr mukuram abhivīkṣya sva-vadanaṁ
sukhaṁ vā duḥkhaṁ vā kim api kathanīyaṁ mṛga-dṛśaḥ ||
(Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 3.54)

“O you all of doe-eyes, when your tears fall, they have tears [in their eyes]. When your horripilation occurs, horripilation arises in them. When you have a smile, they have smiles. When your severe dejection occurs, they become severely dejected. [But when] Not having met your own friends, what sort of happiness or sadness there is [expressed on your face] can be said [by you only] after looking at your own face in a mirror.”

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tṛptāv anya-janasya tṛptim ayitā duḥkhe mahāduḥkitā

tṛptāv anya-janasya tṛptim ayitā duḥkhe mahāduḥkitā
labdhaiḥ svīya-sukhāli-duḥkha-nicayair no harṣa-bādhodayāḥ |
sveṣṭārādhana-tatparā iha yathā śrī-vaiṣṇava-śreṇayaḥ
kās tā brūhi vicārya candra-vadane tā mad-vayasyā imāḥ ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 13.113)

“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa presents a riddle:]
‘They attain satisfaction from another person’s satisfaction,
Are greatly troubled by [by another person’s] trouble,
Experience no elation or misery
Because of the personal pleasures and troubles they undergo,
And are devoted to the worship of their own Iṣṭa
Like the multitudes of blessed Vaiṣṇavas here—
Consider and tell [me],
O you of moon face,
Who are they?’
[Śrī Rādhā replies:]
‘They are these friends of mine!’”

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tataḥ sā tulasī rūpa-mañjarī ca vaneśvarī

tataḥ sā tulasī rūpa-mañjarī ca vaneśvarī |
bhakṣyāṇy urvaritāny āduḥ sevikālī-cayaiḥ samam ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 15.142)

“Then, Tulasī, Rūpa Mañjarī,
And the lordess of the forest [i.e., Vṛndā]
Ate the remaining foods
Together with the serving sakhīs.”

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śrī-rādhikātha sagaṇā muditopaviṣṭā

śrī-rādhikātha sagaṇā muditopaviṣṭā
kāntādharāmṛtatayā parivāñchitāni |
śrī-rūpa-mañjarikayā ca vaneśayā ca
bhakṣyāṇi tāni bubhuje pariveśitāni ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 15.138)

“Then, Śrī Rādhikā, along with her group,
Delightedly sat and ate the foods,
Which were greatly desired
Because of [their] containing the nectar
From the lips of her beloved,
And were served by Śrī Rūpa Mañjarikā and the lordess of the forest [i.e., Vṛndā].”

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yātas tataḥ sa harir ambuja-mandirāntaḥ

yātas tataḥ sa harir ambuja-mandirāntaḥ
śete’tra sat-kusuma-kalpita-talpa-madhye |
tāmbūla-dāna-pada-lālana-vījanādyais
tatra priyālibhir amuṁ tulasī siṣeve ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 15.136)

“Hari then entered the Lotus Pavilion
And lay there
Atop a bed arranged with excellent flowers.
Tulasī served him there,
Along with her dear friends,
With an offering of tāmbūla,
A foot massage,
Fanning,
And so forth.”

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svāduṅkāraṁ kamala-nayanaḥ saspṛhaṁ tat-tad-annaṁ

svāduṅkāraṁ kamala-nayanaḥ saspṛhaṁ tat-tad-annaṁ
hasta-sparśād amṛta-madhuraṁ mandamandaṁ priyāyāḥ |
tad-vāktrābja-prahita-nayana-prānta-bhṛṅgo nigūḍhaṁ
prāśnann ambā-manasi niviḍaṁ sa pramodaṁ vyatānīt ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 4.46)

“Eagerly and leisurely tasting all that food [which had been cooked by Rādhā and her sakhīs],
Sweet more so than [even] nectar
Because of the touch
Of the hand of his beloved [i.e., Rādhā],
He [i.e., Kṛṣṇa], of lotus eyes,
By whom the bees of the corners of his eyes
Were discreetly cast towards the lotus of her face,
Ate and produced deep delight
In the mind of his mother.”

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