सा राधिका भगवती क्वचिदीक्ष्यते चेत्
प्रेमा तदानुभवमृच्छति मूर्तिमान्सः ।
शक्येत चेद्गदितुमेष तया तदैव
श्रूयेत तत्त्वमिह चेद्भवति स्वशक्तिः ॥
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.”
Commentary
evaṁ tat-premā nirūpita eva na syāt, kathañcid yatnena nirūpitaś cādhunā tava hṛdi samyak pratīto’pi naiva syāt, kintu tādṛśa-premavato lokasya darśanād eva sa sākṣādanubhūto’pi syāt ity āha—seti dvayena | sā śrī-bhagavat-priyatamatvena gopī-gaṇa-madhye suprasiddhā parama-prema-bharavatī | samayokta-lakṣaṇaḥ premā mūrtimān sākṣād-bhūta eva anubhavaṁ prāpnoti pratyakṣam anubhūyata evety arthaḥ | tayā ca bhagavatyā eṣa premā gadituṁ tattvato nirūpayituṁ ced yadi śakyeta, tadā tasya tattvaṁ paramānandātmakaṁ parama-śoka-duḥkhātmakam ity ādi śrūyeta | iha tat-tattva-śravaṇe svasya ātmanaḥ śaktiś ced yadi bhavet, evaṁ tayāpi vaktuṁ na śakyate nirantara-parama-prema-bharāvirbhāvena sadā mahonmādādimayatvāt | anyenāpi śrotuṁ na śakyate prema-moha-prāpter ity arthaḥ | ataḥ kevalaṁ tasyā bhagavatyā darśane vṛtte saty eva sadā tasyāṁ prādurbhavatāṁ mahāprema-lakṣaṇānāṁ sākṣād-darśanāt sa premā tattvato vijñātaḥ syād iti bhāvaḥ |
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“‘In this way that prema [which was alluded to earlier] certainly cannot be described, and [even] if it is described by some sort of attempt [to do so], it certainly cannot also be fully understood within your heart now. Even direct experience [of that prema], however, shall occur just as a result of the sight of a person possessed of such prema.’ He states this with two [verses]: sā … [i.e., he speaks this and the following verse]. ‘She’ (sā) indicates she who is most well-known and possessed of an abundance of superlative prema among the gopīs by virtue of being dearmost to Śrī Bhagavān. [If ever she, Bhagavatī Rādhikā, is seen, then] One attains direct experience, that is, one perceives indeed directly, the embodiment of prema possessed of characteristics to be stated [ahead] at the appropriate time. This is the meaning. And if this prema can ever be described in truth by her, Bhagavatī, then its essential nature of being constituted of paramount bliss and paramount sorrow and suffering shall be heard about, if (cet) one’s (sva) ability for that (iha), that is, for hearing about the essential truth thereof, remains. In this manner [however], it is not [actually] able to be described even by her because of [her] constantly being possessed of extreme divine madness (unmāda) as a result of a continuous manifestation of that paramount prema [within her heart under the weight of which she loses the ability to fully describe it]. It is not able to be heard about even by someone else [either even if Bhagavatī Rādhikā were someone able to fully describe it without becoming overwhelmed] because of [any listener’s] entering into the bewilderment of prema [as a result of hearing about it from her]. Therefore, only when the state of seeing her, Bhagavatī, occurs shall that prema be realized in truth as a result of direct sight of the characteristics of that superlative prema ever manifest in her. This is the purport.”