प्रणयगीत
Praṇaya-gīta
Eleven verses spoken by the gopīs in response to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s initial dissimulation of obstinacy as they arrive in the forest for rāsa-līlā in response to the beckoning of his flute-song.
Excerpted from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.29.31–41.
श्रीगोप्य ऊचु:
मैवं विभोऽर्हति भवान् गदितुं नृशंसं
सन्त्यज्य सर्वविषयांस्तव पादमूलम् ।
भक्ता भजस्व दुरवग्रह मा त्यजास्मान्
देवो यथादिपुरुषो भजते मुमुक्षून् ॥१॥
śrī-gopya ūcuḥ
maivaṁ vibho’rhati bhavān gadituṁ nṛśaṁsaṁ
santyajya sarva-viṣayāṁs tava pāda-mūlam |
bhaktā bhajasva duravagraha mā tyajāsmān
devo yathādi-puruṣo bhajate mumukṣūn ||1||
The beautiful gopīs said:
O Vibhu [i.e., O Master, alt., O Beloved], you should not speak so cruelly. Please reciprocate with us, bhaktas of the soles of your feet who have completely abandoned all concerns, and do not reject us, O Stubborn One, just as Deva, the original Puruṣa, reciprocates with seekers of mokṣa.
यत्पत्यपत्यसुहृदामनुवृत्तिरङ्ग
स्त्रीणां स्वधर्म इति धर्मविदा त्वयोक्तम् ।
अस्त्वेवमेतदुपदेशपदे त्वयीशे
प्रेष्ठो भवांस्तनुभृतां किल बन्धुरात्मा ॥२॥
yat paty-apatya-suhṛdām anuvṛttir aṅga
strīṇāṁ sva-dharma iti dharma-vidā tvayoktam |
astv evam etad upadeśa-pade tvayīśe
preṣṭho bhavāṁs tanu-bhṛtāṁ kila bandhur ātmā ||2||
O Aṅga, service to the husband, children, and friends, spoken of by you, the knower of dharma, as the svadharma of women—let this be so for you [i.e., let us render that service unto you directly], O Īśa, O Basis of this instruction, since you are the self, dearmost, and friend of embodied beings.
कुर्वन्ति हि त्वयि रतिं कुशला: स्व आत्म-
न्नित्यप्रिये पतिसुतादिभिरार्तिदै: किम् ।
तन्न: प्रसीद वरदेश्वर मा स्म छिन्द्या
आशां धृतां त्वयि चिरादरविन्दनेत्र ॥३॥
kurvanti hi tvayi ratiṁ kuśalāḥ sva ātman
nitya-priye pati-sutādibhir ārti-daiḥ kim |
tan naḥ prasīda varadeśvara mā sma chindyā
āśāṁ dhṛtāṁ tvayi cirād aravinda-netra ||3||
Indeed the wise foster rati for you, who are one’s own, [one’s] self, and [one’s] eternal beloved. What of husbands, sons, and so forth, who are [only] givers of grief? Therefore, please grace us, O Bestower of boons! O Īśvara! Do not cut down our long cherished hopes for you, O Lotus-eyed One!
चित्तं सुखेन भवतापहृतं गृहेषु
यन्निर्विशत्युत करावपि गृह्यकृत्ये ।
पादौ पदं न चलतस्तव पादमूला-
द्याम: कथं व्रजमथो करवाम किं वा ॥४॥
cittaṁ sukhena bhavatāpahṛtaṁ gṛheṣu
yan nirviśaty uta karāv api gṛhya-kṛtye |
pādau padaṁ na calatas tava pāda-mūlād
yāmaḥ kathaṁ vrajam atho karavāma kiṁ vā ||4||
Easily our minds, which were absorbed in our homes, have been stolen away by you, as indeed have our hands from our household duties. [So,] Our feet will not move even one foot from the soles of your feet. How can we go [back] to Vraja now? And what would we do [there]?
सिञ्चाङ्ग नस्त्वदधरामृतपूरकेण
हासावलोककलगीतजहृच्छयाग्निम् ।
नो चेद्वयं विरहजाग्न्युपयुक्तदेहा
ध्यानेन याम पदयो: पदवीं सखे ते ॥५॥
siñcāṅga nas tvad-adharāmṛta-pūrakeṇa
hāsāvaloka-kala-gīta-ja-hṛc-chayāgnim |
no ced vayaṁ virahajāgny-upayukta-dehā
dhyānena yāma padayoḥ padavīṁ sakhe te ||5||
O Aṅga, please douse the fire lying in our hearts, produced by your smiles, glances, and melodious songs, with a stream of the nectar from your lips. If you do not, O Friend, then we, our bodies consumed by the fire of separation, will follow your footsteps [alt., reach the presence of your feet] by meditating [on you, i.e., we will absorb ourselves in meditation upon you and so give up our lives].
यर्ह्यम्बुजाक्ष तव पादतलं रमाया
दत्तक्षणं क्वचिदरण्यजनप्रियस्य ।
अस्प्राक्ष्म तत्प्रभृति नान्यसमक्षमञ्ज:
स्थातुं स्त्वयाभिरमिता बत पारयाम: ॥६॥
yarhy ambujākṣa tava pāda-talaṁ ramāyā
datta-kṣaṇaṁ kvacid araṇya-jana-priyasya |
asprākṣma tat-prabhṛti nānya-samakṣam añjaḥ
sthātuṁs tvayābhiramitā bata pārayāmaḥ ||6||
O Lotus-eyed One, since we once touched the soles of your feet, you to whom people of the forest are dear, which produce a festival for Ramā [i.e., Lakṣmī], thenceforth, instantly, we who were [thereby] enjoyed [alt., delighted] by you cannot stand being in the presence of others, bata!
श्रीर्यत्पदाम्बुजरजश्चकमे तुलस्या
लब्ध्वापि वक्षसि पदं किल भृत्यजुष्टम् ।
यस्या: स्ववीक्षण उतान्यसुरप्रयास-
स्तद्वद् वयं च तव पादरज: प्रपन्ना: ॥७॥
śrīr yat padāmbuja-rajaś cakame tulasyā
labdhvāpi vakṣasi padaṁ kila bhṛtya-juṣṭam |
yasyāḥ sva-vīkṣaṇa utānya-sura-prayāsas
tadvad vayaṁ ca tava pāda-rajaḥ prapannāḥ ||7||
As Śrī [i.e., Lakṣmī], whose personal glance is sought even by the other suras, desired the dust of your lotus feet, which are Tulasī’s [i.e., normally attended by her co-wife Tulasī] and worshiped by your servants, even though she has attained a place on your chest, so too we have taken shelter in the dust of your feet.
तन्न: प्रसीद वृजिनार्दन तेऽङ्घ्रिमूलं
प्राप्ता विसृज्य वसतीस्त्वदुपासनाशा: ।
त्वत्सुन्दरस्मितनिरीक्षणतीव्रकाम-
तप्तात्मनां पुरुषभूषण देहि दास्यम् ॥८॥
tan naḥ prasīda vṛjinārdana te’ṅghri-mūlaṁ
prāptā visṛjya vasatīs tvad-upāsanāśāḥ |
tvat-sundara-smita-nirīkṣaṇa-tīvra-kāma-
taptātmanāṁ puruṣa-bhūṣaṇa dehi dāsyam ||8||
Therefore, please grace us, O Destroyer of distress, who have come to the soles of your feet abandoning our homes [only] out of hope of worshiping you. O Ornament among men, please bestow service upon us, whose hearts are burned by intense desire because of your beautiful, smiling glance.
वीक्ष्यालकावृतमुखं तव कुण्डलश्री-
गण्डस्थलाधरसुधं हसितावलोकम् ।
दत्ताभयं च भुजदण्डयुगं विलोक्य
वक्ष: श्रियैकरमणं च भवाम दास्य: ॥९॥
vīkṣyālakāvṛta-mukhaṁ tava kuṇḍala-śrī-
gaṇḍa-sthalādhara-sudhaṁ hasitāvalokam |
dattābhayaṁ ca bhuja-daṇḍa-yugaṁ vilokya
vakṣaḥ śriyaika-ramaṇaṁ ca bhavāma dāsyaḥ ||9||
Seeing your face ringed with locks, cheeks beautified by earrings, lips endued with nectar, and smiling glance, and beholding the two staffs of your arms, which grant fearlessness, and your chest, which is the sole delight of Śrī, we have become your servants.
का स्त्र्यङ्ग ते कलपदायतवेणुगीत-
सम्मोहितार्यचरितान्न चलेत्त्रिलोक्याम् ।
त्रैलोक्यसौभगमिदं च निरीक्ष्य रूपं
यद्गोद्विजद्रुममृगा: पुलकान्यबिभ्रन् ॥१०॥
kā stry aṅga te kala-padāyata-veṇu-gīta-
sammohitārya-caritān na calet tri-lokyām |
trailokya-saubhagam idaṁ ca nirīkṣya rūpaṁ
yad go-dvija-druma-mṛgāḥ pulakāny abibhran ||10||
O Aṅga, what woman throughout the three worlds would not depart from noble conduct upon becoming completely bewildered by the long-drawn, sweet notes of your flute songs and [do so all the more after] beholding this figure [of yours], the fortune of the three worlds, because of which [even] cows, birds, trees, and deer horripilate?
व्यक्तं भवान् व्रजभयार्तिहरोऽभिजातो
देवो यथादिपुरुष: सुरलोकगोप्ता ।
तन्नो निधेहि करपङ्कजमार्तबन्धो
तप्तस्तनेषु च शिर:सु च किङ्करीणाम् ॥११॥
vyaktaṁ bhavān vraja-bhayārti-haro’bhijāto
devo yathādi-puruṣaḥ sura-loka-goptā |
tan no nidhehi kara-paṅkajam ārta-bandho
tapta-staneṣu ca śiraḥsu ca kiṅkarīṇām ||11||
Certainly you have been wonderfully born as the remover of Vraja’s fear and distress just as Deva, the original Puruṣa, is the protector of the suras’ domain. Therefore, O Friend of the distressed, please place your lotus hands on our—your servants’—inflamed breasts and heads.
Meter
Vasanta-tilaka