श्रीश्रीराधिकाष्टकम्
Śrī Śrī Rādhikāṣṭakam
Eight verses in praise of Śrī Rādhikā
By Śrīmad Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmīpāda
श्रीश्रीराधिकायै नमः ।
śrī-śrī-rādhikāyai namaḥ |
Obeisance unto Śrī Śrī Rādhikā
Commentary: Śrī Śrī Govinda-līlāmṛta describes that upon Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa arising from rest in the early afternoon at Śrī Rādhā Kuṇḍa and sitting in the midst of Śrī Rādhā’s sakhīs and Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s sakhās Subala and Madhumaṅgala, Vṛndā Devī summons her trained parrot (śuka) Mañjuvāk and mynah (śārikā) Kalokti to speak in praise of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. After receiving a hint from Śrī Rādhā, Vṛndā Devī has Mañjuvāk speak in praise of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s form and qualities. The final verses of this description of Śrī Kṛṣṇa [found in GL 17.50–58] are known as the Kṛṣṇacandrāṣṭakam. Immediately following this, another set of eight verses [found in GL 17.59–67] are spoken in praise of Śrī Rādhā and known as the Rādhikāṣṭakam.
The following translation has been prepared based on the Sanskrit Sadānanda-vidhāyinī-ṭīkā on Govinda-līlāmṛta by Śrī Vṛndāvana Cakravartī, a grand-disciple of Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī. Accompanying this is a translation of an early 20th century Bengali commentary on text by Śrī Kṛṣṇapada Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja from a work he published entitled Govinda-līlāmṛta-rasa, wherein he comments on the mūla text of the Govinda-līlāmṛta and on the poetic Bengali translation of Govinda-līlāmṛta by Śrī Yadunandana Ṭhākura, a disciple of Śrī Śrīnivāsa Ācārya Prabhu’s daughter Śrī Hemalatā Ṭhākurāṇī. This Bengali prose commentary makes use of some lively language and numerous highly colloquial manners of speaking which seek to convey the spirit of exultation found in the hearts of Vaiṣṇavas who absorb themselves in meditation upon service within Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s nitya-līlā. Much of this vibrance is lost in translation. Be that as it may, something of its jollity may come through in this largely minimalistic rendering, which has been labelled Tātparya below to differentiate it from the content of this English commentary.
कुङ्कुमाक्तकाञ्चनाब्जगर्वहारिगौरभा
पीतनाञ्चिताब्जगन्धकीर्तिनिन्दिसौरभा ।
बल्लवेशसूनुसर्ववाञ्छितार्थसाधिका
मह्यमात्मपादपद्मदास्यदास्तु राधिका ॥१॥
kuṅkumākta-kāñcanābja-garva-hāri-gaura-bhā
pītanāñcitābja-gandha-kīrti-nindi-saurabhā |
ballaveśa-sūnu-sarva-vāñchitārtha-sādhikā
mahyam ātma-pāda-padma-dāsyadāstu rādhikā ||1||
She whose golden luster
Destroys the pride of a golden lotus
Bedaubed with kumkum,
She whose fragrance defames
The glory of the scent
Of a lotus embellished with saffron,
She who fulfills all the desired ends
Of the Son of the ballavas’ king—
May Rādhikā be a bestower of the service of her feet upon me.
Tātparya: Thereafter [i.e., following the Kṛṣṇacandrāṣṭakam spoken by Vṛndā Devī’s parrot Mañjuvāk, her mynah [viz., Kalokti] speaks the remaining verses of this chapter. After reciting praises of our Īśvarī Śrī Rādhā [earlier on], she [here] has submitted a prayer as follows. The manifestation of incomparable luster and beauty that occurs when kumkum is smeared on the petal of a golden lotus flower—my goddess enamoured of Kṛṣṇa (Kṛṣṇānurāgiṇī Ṭhākurāṇī) Śrī Rādhikā is replete with a shining golden luster surpassing that! The fragrance of her entire body is sweet like a lotus besmeared with saffron (see 11.117), and she is second to none in most far-reachingly fulfilling all of Govinda’s desires. I offer obeisance to this Śrī Rādhikā, who is a vast repository of beauty and amassed qualities. O Rādhe! Please, out of your own virtue, bestow your grace upon this unworthy and lowly one, give me a body suitable for service to your beautiful feet as well as prema-service [i.e, intimate service rendered only by those with whom you share a strong bond of prema], and make me your servant forever.
कौरविन्दकान्तिनिन्दिचित्रपट्टशाटिका
कृष्णमत्तभृङ्गकेलिफुल्लपुष्पवाटिका ।
कृष्णनित्यसङ्गमार्थपद्मबन्धुराधिका
मह्यमात्मपादपद्मदास्यदास्तु राधिका ॥२॥
kauravinda-kānti-nindi-citra-paṭṭa-śāṭikā
kṛṣṇa-matta-bhṛṅga-keli-phulla-puṣpa-vāṭikā |
kṛṣṇa-nitya-saṅgamārtha-padma-bandhu-rādhikā
mahyam ātma-pāda-padma-dāsyadāstu rādhikā ||2||
She whose variegated silk sari
Defames the luster of coral,
She who is a blooming flower garden
For the play of the intoxicated bumblebee Kṛṣṇa,
She who worships the sun [lit., “the friend of the lotus”]
For the sake of daily association with Kṛṣṇa—
May Rādhikā be a bestower of the service of her feet upon me.
Tātparya: The sari she wears, surpassing the luster of coral, is as though reddened [alt., dyed] (anurañjita) with her heart’s love (anurāga)! And as a bumblebee maddened by having obtained nectar does not leave a flower garden and go anywhere else, so Kṛṣṇa cannot leave for even a moment your body resembling a flower full of the nectar of prema! You too cannot live without Kṛṣṇa’s association, and on the pretext of daily worshipping Sūrya, you go to the forest on the order of your mother-in-law with the highest elation to offer worship with prema-rasa [to Kṛṣṇa] and so fulfill your own desire. I thus …. The statement from the previous verse is to be stated [again, that is, “I offer obeisance to this Śrī Rādhikā, who is a vast repository of beauty and amassed qualities; O Rādhe! Please, out of your own virtue, bestow your grace upon this unworthy and lowly one, give me a body suitable for service to your beautiful feet as well as prema-service, and make me your servant forever”].
It should be known that at the dwellings of family members, while travelling, and during festivals, grand celebrations, and so forth, the women of Vraja wear long, loose, fringed skrits and other such garments, and at other times wear saris.
सौकुमार्यसृष्टपल्लवालिकीर्तिनिग्रहा
चन्द्रचन्दनोत्पलेन्दुसेव्यशीतविग्रहा ।
स्वाभिमर्षबल्लवीशकामतापबाधिका
मह्यमात्मपादपद्मदास्यदास्तु राधिका ॥३॥
saukumārya-sṛṣṭa-pallavāli-kīrti-nigrahā
candra-candanotpalendu-sevya-śīta-vigrahā |
svābhimarṣa-ballavīśa-kāma-tāpa-bādhikā
mahyam ātma-pāda-padma-dāsyadāstu rādhikā ||3||
She who belittles
The renown of sprouted buds
With her tenderness,
She whose cool figure is worshipable
To the moon, sandalwood paste,
The blue lotus, and camphor,
She who removes the heat [i.e., heartache] of kāma
From the ballavas’ Prince
With her personal touch—
May Rādhikā be a bestower of the service of her feet upon me.
Tātparya: Your desirable figure is more pleasingly cooling than even camphor, sandalwood paste, blue lotuses, and the moon, and more finely soft than even the freshly sprouted buds of creepers in the trees, butter, and rain-tree flowers. Therefore, by giving the touch of your fine, soft body to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, you relieve the heat [i.e., heartache] of Kandarpa and always give him pleasure. Furthermore, Kṛṣṇa is allured by the beauty of your face. I offer obeisance to this Śrī Rādhikā, who is a vast repository of beauty and amassed qualities … as previously [i.e., O Rādhe! Please, out of your own virtue, bestow your grace upon this unworthy and lowly one, give me a body suitable for service to your beautiful feet as well as prema-service, and make me your servant forever].
विश्ववन्द्ययौवताभिवन्दितापि या रमा
रूपनव्ययौवनादिसम्पदा न यत्समा ।
शीलहार्दलीलया च सा यतोऽस्ति नाधिका
मह्यमात्मपादपद्मदास्यदास्तु राधिका ॥४॥
viśva-vandya-yauvatābhivanditāpi yā ramā
rūpa-navya-yauvanādi-sampadā na yat-samā |
śīla-hārda-līlayā ca sā yato’sti nādhikā
mahyam ātma-pāda-padma-dāsyadāstu rādhikā ||4||
Although endowed with beauty, fresh youth, and so forth,
And highly honored
By virtue of her character, love, and līlā
By young women
Who are worshippable throughout the world,
Ramā [i.e., Lakṣmī] is not equal to her,
She in comparison to whom there is no one greater—
May Rādhikā be a bestower of the service of her feet upon me.
Alternate translation:
Although highly honored by young women
Who are worshippable throughout the world,
Ramā [i.e., Lakṣmī] is no equal
In endowment of beauty, fresh youth, and so forth,
Or by virtue of character, love, or līlā
To she in comparison to whom there is no one greater—
May Rādhikā be a bestower of the service of her feet upon me.
Commentary: The Sanskrit commentator offers these two interpretations of the verse. In the first, all the descriptive compounds are taken as modifiers of Lakṣmī Devī (Ramā) and lastly Rādhikā is said to be superior to Lakṣmī. In the second, only the first descriptive compound, the one mentioned before Lakṣmī Devī (Ramā) herself, is taken as a modifier of her.
Tātparya: Even Lakṣmī Devī herself, who is honorable for all women and incomparable throughout world in beauty and endowment with everlasting fresh youth, is not equal to you in any respect. Your līlā is supremely alluring (this entire book is the evidence of this). Your character is the greatest of the great. There is never, and has neven been, anyone equal to or greater than you in beauty, in qualities such as expertise, or in expression of prema. (See verses 8.52–61 and 11.1–26). I … [i.e., I offer obeisance to this Śrī Rādhikā, who is a vast repository of beauty and amassed qualities. O Rādhe! Please, out of your own virtue, bestow your grace upon this unworthy and lowly one, give me a body suitable for service to your beautiful feet as well as prema-service, and make me your servant forever].
रासलास्यगीतनर्मसत्कलालिपण्डिता
प्रेमरम्यरूपवेशसद्गुणालिमण्डिता ।
विश्वनव्यगोपयोषिदालितोऽपि याधिका
मह्यमात्मपादपद्मदास्यदास्तु राधिका ॥५॥
rāsa-lāsya-gīta-narma-sat-kalāli-paṇḍitā
prema-ramya-rūpa-veśa-sad-guṇāli-maṇḍitā |
viśva-navya-gopa-yoṣid-ālito’pi yādhikā
mahyam ātma-pāda-padma-dāsyadāstu rādhikā ||5||
She who is expert in fine arts, humor,
Singing, and rāsa dancing,
She who is adorned with fine qualities,
Charming beauty and dress, and prema,
She who is greater
Than even all the [other] young gopa women—
May Rādhikā be a bestower of the service of her feet upon me.
Tātparya: You are second to none in appropriateness of dance and song, that is, in expression of the arts (see chapter 23), greatly adept in extraordinarily expert humor (see 9.22, 44–51 and elsewhere), and best of all in prema-pervaded, supremely alluring beauty and dress! (See 8.1–9, 9.1–19.) You are ornamened with heaps and heaps of virtues and foremost of all the qualified and freshly youthful gopīs. I … [I offer obeisance to this Śrī Rādhikā, who is a vast repository of beauty and amassed qualities; O Rādhe! Please, out of your own virtue, bestow your grace upon this unworthy and lowly one, give me a body suitable for service to your beautiful feet as well as prema-service, and make me your servant forever].
नित्यनव्यरूपकेलिकृष्णभावसम्पदा
कृष्णरागबन्धगोपयौवतेषु कम्पदा ।
कृष्णरूपवेशकेलिलग्नसत्समाधिका
मह्यमात्मपादपद्मदास्यदास्तु राधिका ॥६॥
nitya-navya-rūpa-keli-kṛṣṇa-bhāva-sampadā
kṛṣṇa-rāga-bandha-gopa-yauvateṣu kampadā |
kṛṣṇa-rūpa-veśa-keli-lagna-sat-samādhikā
mahyam ātma-pāda-padma-dāsyadāstu rādhikā ||6||
She who is endowed with ever-new
Beauty, play, and bhāva for Kṛṣṇa,
She who [thereby] makes the young gopa women
Fostering rāga for Kṛṣṇa tremble,
She whose perfect samādhi is fixed
On Kṛṣṇa’s beauty, dress, and play—
May Rādhikā be a bestower of the service of her feet upon me.
Commentary: The Sanskrit commentator also offers an alternate interpretation of the first two lines of the verse based a reversal of the relationship between the words Kṛṣṇa and bhāva and Kṛṣṇa and rāga: “She who is endowed with ever-new beauty, play, and bhāva [i.e., prema] from Kṛṣṇa; she who [thereby] makes the young gopa women for whom Kṛṣṇa fosters rāga tremble.” The commentator further elaborates that Rādhikā makes the gopīs in her own party tremble out of delight, and makes the gopīs in other parties tremble out of despair.
Tātparya: Your beauty and play are ever-new. You are the greatest vessel of love (anurāga) for Kṛṣṇa. And seeing your constant absorption in, like samādhi upon, Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s play, dress, and beauty, even the greatest of the young gopa women filled with prema begin to tremble! Rivals tremble in fear seeing excellence far greater than theirs, and members of your own party tremble out of fear of elders and in apprehension for your life. … [I offer obeisance to this Śrī Rādhikā, who is a vast repository of beauty and amassed qualities; O Rādhe! Please, out of your own virtue, bestow your grace upon this unworthy and lowly one, give me a body suitable for service to your beautiful feet as well as prema-service, and make me your servant forever].
स्वेदकम्पकण्टकाश्रुगद्गदादिसञ्चिता
मर्षहर्षवामतादिभावभूषणाञ्चिता ।
कृष्णनेत्रतोषिरत्नमण्डनालिदाधिका
मह्यमात्मपादपद्मदास्यदास्तु राधिका ॥७॥
sveda-kampa-kaṇṭakāśru-gadgadādi-sañcitā-
marṣa-harṣa-vāmatādi-bhāva-bhūṣaṇāñcitā |
kṛṣṇa-netra-toṣi-ratna-maṇḍanāli-dādhikā
mahyam ātma-pāda-padma-dāsyadāstu rādhikā ||7||
She who is endued
With perspiration, trembling, horripilation,
Tears, faltering, and so forth,
She who is adorned with the ornaments
Of the bhāvas of indignation,
Delight, obstinacy, and so forth,
She who wears jewels and decorations
Pleasing to the eyes of Kṛṣṇa—
May Rādhikā be a bestower of the service of her feet upon me.
Tātparya: Your body is always decorated with the sāttvika transformations of perspiration, trembling, horripilation, shedding tears, faltering of the voice, and so forth, and ornaments of the bhāvas of delight, anger, obstinacy, and so forth. See 9.1–18. Still, you wear jewels and decorations of various types on your body knowing that the beloved of your heart Śrī Kṛṣṇa becomes pleased [thereby]. I … [I offer obeisance to this Śrī Rādhikā, who is a vast repository of beauty and amassed qualities; O Rādhe! Please, out of your own virtue, bestow your grace upon this unworthy and lowly one, give me a body suitable for service to your beautiful feet as well as prema-service, and make me your servant forever].
या क्षणार्धकृष्णविप्रयोगसन्ततोदिता
नेकदैन्यचापलादिभाववृन्दतोदिता ।
यत्नलब्धकृष्णसङ्गनिर्गताखिलाधिका
मह्यमात्मपादपद्मदास्यदास्तु राधिका ॥८॥
yā kṣaṇārdha-kṛṣṇa-viprayoga-santatoditā-
neka-dainya-cāpalādi-bhāva-vṛnda-toditā |
yatna-labdha-kṛṣṇa-saṅga-nirgatākhilādhikā
mahyam ātma-pāda-padma-dāsyadāstu rādhikā ||8||
She who is pained by numerous bhāvas,
Such as humilty and rashness,
Manifest constantly [alt., copiously]
Within [even] half a moment of separation from Kṛṣṇa,
She who becomes free from all distress
Upon by effort attaining Kṛṣṇa’s association—
May Rādhikā be a bestower of the service of her feet upon me.
Commentary: The final word in the second line of this verse has been spelled toditā in accord with the spelling and reading of the verse given by the commentator, rather than as moditā as is found in many available editions of the mūla text. The commentator acknowledges a variant reading of the text as noditā, whereby the sense becomes that Rādhikā is moved (noditā) [rather than “pained”] by various bhāvas while she is in separation, but the commentator makes no mention of moditā. Moreover, to say that she is “glad”or “pleased” (the primary meanings of moditā) does not fit this context where her emotional state while in separation from Kṛṣṇa is being described. The commentator also elaborates that “by effort” (yatna) can allude to effort made by Rādhikā herself, made by Kṛṣṇa, made by dispatched messengers, or by others (yatnena svakṛtena kṛṣṇa-kṛtena vā dūtī-preṣaṇādinā prayatnena).
Tātparya: You cannot tolerate separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa for even half a moment of time. (See 8.1–10, the commentary on 19.49, and the Bhāvanāmṛta.) Amid the transformations of separation, you become anxious, unsteady, distressed, and greatly saddened, and you rue, repent, and act restlessly. Sometimes you fall unconscious!! And only when you attain Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s association [again] by the efforts of the sakhīs and others does all this pain go away in the midst of waves of various lamentations, hopes, and activities. I … [I offer obeisance to this Śrī Rādhikā, who is a vast repository of beauty and amassed qualities; O Rādhe! Please, out of your own virtue, bestow your grace upon this unworthy and lowly one, give me a body suitable for service to your beautiful feet as well as prema-service, and make me your servant forever].
अष्टकेन यस्त्वनेन नौति कृष्णवल्लभां
दर्शनेऽपि शैलजादियोषिदालिदुर्लभाम् ।
कृष्णसङ्गनन्दितात्मदास्यसीधुभाजनं
तं करोति नन्दितालिसञ्चयाशु सा जनम् ॥९॥
aṣṭakena yas tv anena nauti kṛṣṇa-vallabhāṁ
darśane’pi śailajādi-yoṣid-āli-durlabhām |
kṛṣṇa-saṅga-nanditātma-dāsya-sīdhu-bhājanaṁ
taṁ karoti nanditāli-sañcayāśu sā janam ||9||
Kṛṣṇa’s Beloved [i.e., Śrī Rādhikā],
Who is difficult to attain
For Pārvatī Devī and other women even by sight,
Quickly makes a person who praises her
With this poem of eight verses,
Upon becoming delighted
Along with her friends [thereby],
A recipient of the nectar of servitude to her
As she is delighted in Kṛṣṇa’s association.
इति श्रीलकृष्णदासकविराजगोस्वामिविरचितं श्रीश्रीराधिकाष्टकं सम्पूर्णम् ।
ইতি শ্রীলকৃষ্ণদাসকবিরাজগোস্বামিবিরচিতং শ্রীশ্রীরাধিকাষ্টকং সম্পূর্ণম্ ।
iti śrīla-kṛṣṇadāsa-kavirāja-gosvāmi-viracitaṁ śrī-śrī-rādhikāṣṭakaṁ sampūrṇam |
Thus this Śrī Śrī Rādhikāṣṭakam composed by Śrīla Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī is complete.
Commentary: Regarding the modifying compound nanditāli-sañcayā, “[upon becoming] delighted (nanditā) along with her multitude (sañcayā) of friends (āli),” the commentator also offers a second interpretation wherein the meaning becomes “she by whom her multitude (sañcayā) of friends (āli) becomes delighted (nanditā).” The first interpretation gives the verse the same structure as the final verse of the Kṛṣṇacandrāṣṭakam, and conveys that the sakhīs are also pleased to hear praise of Śrī Rādhikā, whereas the second interpretation conveys that the sakhīs are pleased to see Śrī Rādhikā bestow grace and the privilige of serving her among them [i.e., among the sakhīs] to someone who offers such praise.
Tātparya: After illuminating the vastness of the purity of his Īśvarī Śrī Rādhikā’s heartfelt bhāva and body, the author of the mūla text, Śrīyuta Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, describes the result of reciting this stotra: any person who repeatedly recites this stotra praising Śrī Rādhā’s qualities certainly attains her beautiful feet. Service to the feet of Śrī Rādhā as she is delighted in Kṛṣṇa’s association is very difficult to attain even for goddesses such as Pārvatī, yet Rādhā, the Daughter of Vṛṣabhānu, becomes pleased by recitation of this stava and personally offers one [who does so] the wealth of the nectar of that servitude, and seeing this grace of hers, all the sakhīs become happy. Devout (anurāgī) bhaktas should [thus] never neglect such a great opportunity: daily reciting this supremely auspicious stotra with bhakti should be done by everyone as a fixed practice (niyama).
Meter
Tūṇaka
Sources
Govinda-līlāmṛta editions from Haribol Kūṭira (1950) and Sat-sevaka Āśrama (2013), and Govinda-līlāmṛta-rasa from Nitāi Gaura Computers (2015).