श्रीकृष्णस्य लीलामृताख्यं नामदशकम्
Śrī Kṛṣṇasya Līlāmṛtākhyaṁ Nāma-daśakam

A poem consisting of ten names known as The Nectar of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s Līlā

By Śrīmad Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda

श्रीकृष्णाय नमः।

śrī-kṛṣṇāya namaḥ |

Obeisance unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Introduction

This poem consists of six verses. The first five verses consist of ten compound names of Śrī Kṛṣṇa that fill the entirety of each of the two lines in each verse. The final, sixth verse presents the phala-śruti, that is, a description of the result of hearing or reciting the poem.

The sequence of the ten names spanning the first ten lines in this poem is significant. They are stated sequentially so as to depict stepwise a meeting of Śrī Kṛṣṇa with Śrī Rādhā.

राधिकाहृदयोन्मादिवंशीक्वाणमधुच्छटः ।
राधापरिमलोद्गारगरिमाक्षिप्तमानसः ॥१॥

rādhikā-hṛdayonmādi-vaṁśī-kvāṇa-madhu-cchaṭaḥ |
rādhā-parimalodgāra-garimākṣipta-mānasaḥ ||1||

(1) He the plenitude of the spirituous liquor
Of the sound of whose flute
Is maddening to the heart of Rādhikā,
(2) He whose mind is captivated
By Rādhā’s vigorously emanating fragrance, …

Commentary

The first name alludes to Śrī Kṛṣṇa present at a distance in the forest beckoning Śrī Rādhā for a tryst with the sound of his flute, which is one of the most alluring of all the excitant causes (uddīpana-vibhāvas) of rasa that Śrī Kṛṣṇa manifests. This name and its placement first in the poem puts emphasis on the power of this excitant cause (uddīpana-vibhāva), Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s flute-song, to evoke passion in Śrī Rādhā’s heart and induce her to come out to the forest for a tryst with him. The second name describes how Śrī Kṛṣṇa becomes enamored by Śrī Rādhā even before she arrives where he awaits her by way of a powerful excitant cause (uddīpana-vibhāva) she manifests while she is still approaching him from a distance for their tryst—her alluring bodily fragrance. By this pair of descriptions that respectively emphasize the excellence of the excitant causes (uddīpana-vibhāvas) manifested by Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Śrī Rādhā, their excellence as respective support causes (ālambana-vibhāvas), that is, their being most excellent respective objects (viṣaya-ālambana-vibhāvas) and vessels (āśraya-ālambana-vibhāvas) of rati, is vividly suggested.

कम्रराधामनोमीनबडिशीकृतविभ्रमः ।
प्रेमगर्वान्धगान्धर्वाकिलकिञ्चितरञ्जितः ॥२॥

kamra-rādhā-mano-mīna-baḍiśī-kṛta-vibhramaḥ |
prema-garvāndha-gāndharvā-kila-kiñcita-rañjitaḥ ||2||

(3) He by whom coquetry is made a hook
In the fish of lovely Rādhā’s mind,
(4) He who is delighted
By the kila-kiñcita of Gāndharvā
[As she becomes] Blinded by prema and haughtiness, …

Commentary

The third name indicates that upon Śrī Rādhā’s arrival in Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s midst, he begins to engage in sportive coquetry (līlā-vilāsa) with her, that is, he makes playful amorous advances towards her. In regard to this third name, Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda comments that this very coquetry (vibhrama—vilāsa) which is a cause of paramount bliss becomes a piercer of the heart in separation [from the beloved], and thus thirst [i.e., intense desire] in profusion for that is suggested.¹ The import of this statement of Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda can be grasped by understanding the view of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s sportive coquetry (līlā-vilāsa) that Śrī Rūpapāda presents at the conclusion of his Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi as he discusses the subject of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s sambhoga, that is, their enjoyment together, which he defines as follows in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 15.188, “That bhāva that elevates a couple’s elation by means of acts of service [for one another], such as looking [at one another] and embracing [one another], out of favorability (anukūlya) [towards one another, i.e., out of their being intent upon the pleasure of one another] is called sambhoga [i.e., enjoyment together].”² Śrī Cakravartīpāda explains in this context that sambhoga is of two general types, (1) full union [i.e., sexual union] (samprayoga) and (2) sportive coquetry (līlā-vilāsa),³ and Śrī Rūpapāda states that the latter produces greater pleasure for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa than the former:

For the cultured [i.e., cultured lovers], pleasure shall not arise from full union (samprayoga) as it shall from sportive coquetry (līlā-vilāsa) with one another. This rasikas know. (UN 15.253)⁴

Because such coquetry is most pleasing to Śrī Rādhā and Śrī Kṛṣna, Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda describes it in his aforecited comment as “a cause of paramount bliss” (paramānanda-hetuḥ). The greater the bliss something produces, the deeper the saṁskāra for it forms in the mind, and consequently the more the mind thinks of and forms desire for it in its absence. Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda thus states that this coquetry becomes “a piercer of the heart in separation [from the beloved], and thus thirst [i.e., intense desire] in profusion for that is suggested” (virahe citta-vedhako bhavatīti tatra tṛṣṇātiśayo vyaṅgyaḥ). Therefore, that Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s coquetry is compared in the third name to a hook in the fish of Śrī Rādhā’s mind conveys that it incites intense desire in Śrī Rādhā’s mind, a desire that leads to an inevitability of Śrī Rādhā reciprocating with Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s coquetry in a manner that is comparable to the inevitability of a fish that has been pierced by a hook coming into the hands of its captor.

How Śrī Rādhā reciprocates is described in the fourth name: she exhibits kila-kiñcita-bhāva. Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda in his commentary on this fourth name offers the following definition of kila-kiñcita from his Kāvya-kaustubha:

The mixture of haughtiness (garva), mild smiling (smita), desire (abhilāṣa), and so on with anger (krodha) and so on out of delight (pramoda) in the company of the beloved is called amorous agitation (kila-kiñcita).⁵

Śrī Rūpapāda also more fully defines kila-kiñcita in his Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi (11.44) as follows:

The combination of haughtiness (garva), desire (abhilāṣa), crying (rodana), mild smiling (smita), jealousy (asūyā), fear (bhaya), and anger (krodha) out of delight (harṣa) is known as amorous agitation (kila-kiñcita).⁶

He also begins in Dāna-keli-kaumudī with an illustration of it:

Twinkling with her inner smile,

The shoots of their lashes disarrayed by teardrops,

Their edges slightly reddened,

Swollen by her rasikatā,
Contracted because of being in his presence,
[And] Extraordinary on account of their pupils being sweetly askew—

May Rādhā’s eyes,

[In this way] Filled with the blossom clusters of kila-kiñcita,
As she is blocked on the path by Mādhava,

Bestow beauty [alt., wealth] upon you. (Cited in UN 11.46 and CC 2.14.180)⁷

Speaking in regard to this bhāva, Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī in a conversation with Śrīman Mahāprabhu also affirms that Śrī Rādhā and Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s coquetry wherein ensuants (anubhāvas) like kila-kiñcita are expressed, is more pleasing to them than even full union (samprayoga):

As rasālā is delicious on account of the combination [within it] of yogurt, granulated gur, ghee, honey, black pepper, camphor, and cardamom, so seeing Rādhā’s face and eyes imbued with this bhāva [viz., kila-kiñcita], Kṛṣṇa feels happiness a crore times greater than [he does during] union. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.14.178–179)⁸

Śrī Rūpapāda in this sense describes Śrī Kṛṣṇa in this fourth name as “delighted by the kila-kiñcita of Gāndharvā” (Gāndharvā-kila-kiñcita-rañjitaḥ), and the third and fourth names of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in this stotra thus depict ensuants (anubhāvas) expressed by Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Śrī Rādhā that emerge from the excitant causes (uddīpana-vibhāvas) described in the first two names along with numerous other inferable ones also manifested upon their meeting.

ललितावश्यधीराधामानाभासवशीकृतः ।
राधावक्रोक्तिपीयूषमाधुर्यभरलम्पटः ॥३॥

lalitā-vaśya-dhī-rādhā-mānābhāsa-vaśīkṛtaḥ |
rādhā-vakrokti-pīyūṣa-mādhurya-bhara-lampaṭaḥ ||3||

(5) He who becomes captivated
By [even] a semblance of Rādhā’s māna
As her mind comes under Lalitā’s sway,
(6) He who becomes greedy
For an abundance of the sweetness
Of the nectar of Rādhā’s crooked words, …

Commentary

Through the fifth name it is indicated that Śrī Rādhā’s kila-kiñcita-bhāva arises from māna, which Śrī Rūpapāda defines as follows:

The bhāva [i.e., variety of anger] of a loving couple even present together or otherwise [i.e., physically apart] which is obstructive of their own desired embraces, glances, and so forth is called māna. (Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 15.74)⁹

Śrī Jīvapāda comments in this regard that māna is replete with eminent sweetness (mādhurya) on account of being combined with the various other ingredients of rasa (vibhāvas and so on).¹⁰ The reason Śrī Rādhā chose to exhibit māna is also indicated, “As her mind comes under Lalitā’s sway” (Lalitā-vaśya-dhī). This suggest thst Śrī Rādhā is either accompanied by some of her sakhīs led by Lalitā Sakhī as she meets Śrī Kṛṣṇa for this tryst or that she bears in mind the advice she receives from Lalitā Sakhī, who is well-known to encourage Śrī Rādhā to express māna towards to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, which creates a form of separation even while Śrī Rādhā and Śrī Kṛṣṇa are together that is both pleasing to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who enjoys lovers’ quarrels immensely, and enriching of the ultimate union that ensues once Śrī Kṛṣṇa manages to pacify Śrī Rādhā’s māna.

In regard to the sixth name, Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda comments that Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s being greedy for the sweetness of Rādhā’s crooked words, which she speaks as an expression of her māna, means he does not become satiated after hearing them [i.e., he wants to hear more and more of them again and again].¹¹ Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda offers the following example of such crooked words from Śrī Rādhā to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, “For you who are the play-buck of Candrāvalī, what [is the use] of we who are simple-minded and captivated by you?”¹²

मुखेन्दुचन्द्रिकोद्घूर्णराधिकारागसागरः ।
वृषभानुसुताकण्ठहारिहारहरिन्मणिः ॥४॥

mukhendu-candrikodghūrṇa-rādhikā-rāga-sāgaraḥ |
vṛṣabhānu-sutā-kaṇṭha-hāri-hāra-harin-maṇiḥ ||4||

(7) He by the moonlight of whose face
The ocean of Rādhā’s amorous passion (rāga) becomes unsteady,
(8) He who becomes the emerald
In the captivating necklace
Around the neck of the Daughter of Vṛṣabhānu,

Commentary

In the seventh name, it is indicated that Śrī Kṛṣṇa eventually succeeds in pacifying Śrī Rādhā’s māna with light from his moon-like face, meaning, his smiles and other facial expressions, and more broadly the indomitable beauty expressed in and through his face, eventually causes Śrī Rādhā’s amorous passion (rāga) to rise up and express itself in lieu of her māna just as the ocean is induced by the moon to swell up and emit high billowing waves.

In regard to the eight name, Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda comments that Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s becoming the emerald in Śrī Rādhā’s necklace means he becomes the principal gem in her necklace and thus that he is “worn” by her around the neck like the principal gem in a necklace,¹³ the suggested sense being that Rādhā accepts Kṛṣṇa’s embrace such that his arms resemble a necklace around her neck and his body becomes like the principal gem in this necklace that lies over her bosom. Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s being likened to an emerald may be taken to simply indicate that his complexion resembles an emerald, or that his complexion which is more commonly compared to a blue sapphire takes on the more greenish hue of an emerald when he embraces Śrī Rādhā’s golden figure.

फुल्लराधाकमलिनीमुखाम्बुजमधुव्रतः ।
राधिकाकुचकस्तूरीपत्रस्फुरदुरःस्थलः ॥५॥

phulla-rādhā-kamalinī-mukhāmbuja-madhuvrataḥ |
rādhikā-kuca-kastūrī-patra-sphurad-uraḥ-sthalaḥ ||5||

(9) He who becomes a bumblebee
On the lotus of the face
Of the blossoming lotus-pool of Rādhā,
(10) He whose chest glistens
With the musk leaves from Rādhikā’s breasts.

Commentary

The word for a bumblebee (madhuvrataḥ) used in the ninth name literally means “one whose resolve is upon nectar.” As bumblebees are known to fly all about in search of the nectar found in flowers, so Śrī Kṛṣṇa is compared here to a bumblebee who lands on the lotus of the face of Rādhā, whose full-figure is compared to a blossoming lotus-pool, thus suggesting that her other bodily features also resemble lotuses just as her face does. Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda comments in this regard that this ninth name, “He who becomes a bumblebee in the lotus of the face of the blossoming lotus-pool of Rādhā” (Phulla-Rādhā-kamalinī-mukhāmbuja-madhuvrataḥ) conveys that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is kissing Rādhikā’s lips,¹⁴ just as a bumblebee drinks nectar from a lotus, and thus this ninth name continues the description from the previous name that depicted Śrī Kṛṣṇa embracing Śrī Rādhā by indicating that after he embraced her, he kissed her as well.

Lastly, in regard to the tenth name, “He whose chest glistens with the musk leaves from Rādhikā’s breasts” (Rādhikā-kuca-kastūrī-patra-sphurad-uraḥ-sthalaḥ), Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda explains that it conveys finally that Śrī Kṛṣṇa has had enjoyment together (sambhoga) with Rādhā,¹⁵ meaning, the description implies that Śrī Rādhā and Śrī Kṛṣṇa have completed the act of full union (samprayoga), and fllowing that Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s chest then glistens with perspiration. Moreover, his chest is said to glisten with “musk leaves” because Śrī Rādhikā’s sakhīs are known to draw such leaf designs on her breasts with musk, and, as Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda explains, when Śrī Kṛṣṇa tightly embraces her as their chests are moist with perspiration, these leaf designs become imprinted on his chest.¹⁶

In this way, the ten names in this verse sequentially depict a tryst of Śrī Rādhā and Śrī Kṛṣṇa up to the stage of their resting after engaging in full union (samprayoga), although it should be understood as per the comparitive discussion earlier of sportive coquetry (līlā-vilāsa) and full union (samprayoga) that the most pleasurable phase of the līlā is not element mentioned lasts where it ends but rather the earlier stages leading up to that.

Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda also lastly states that the repeated use of the name Rādhikā in these compound names of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in this composition is not a fault because of their being employed uniformly,¹⁷ meaning, because either Rādhā, Rādhikā, or Gāndharvā is used in every compound name of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the composition, there is an appreciable uniformity in presentation.

In the final verse, the author described the result of reciting this hymn.¹⁸

इति गोकुलभूपालसूनुलीलामनोहरम् ।
यः पठेन्नामदशकं सोऽस्य वल्लभतां व्रजेत् ॥६॥

iti gokula-bhūpāla-sūnu-līlā-manoharam |
yaḥ paṭhen nāma-daśakaṁ so’sya vallabhatāṁ vrajet ||6||

One who shall recite this poem of ten names
Charming by virtue of the līlās [it describes]
Of the Son of Gokula’s king,
Shall attain the state of being a beloved of his.

Commentary

Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda comments that this poem of ten names is charming by virtue of the līlās of Śrī Kṛṣṇa solely with Śrī Rādhā that are described in the poem’s five verses,¹⁹ meaning, it is written specifically for an audience of bhaktas whose focus is Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa-bhakti.

Meter

Anuṣṭup

Sources

Stava-mālā editions by Śrī Purī Dāsa Mahāśaya, Śrī Rāma Nārāyaṇa Vidyāratna, and Nirṇaya Sāgara Press.

See also Evoking Rasa Through Stotra: Rūpa Gosvāmin’s Līlāmṛta, A List of Kṛṣṇa’s Names by David Buchta in International Journal of Hindu Studies, Vol. 20, No. 3, Special Issue: Stotra, Hymns of Praise in Indian Literature (December 2016).

1paramānanda-hetur yo vilāsa eva virahe citta-vedhako bhavatīti tatra tṛṣṇātiśayo vyaṅgyaḥ |

2darśanāliṅganādīnām ānukūlyān niṣevayā |
yūnor ullāsam ārohan bhāvaḥ sambhoga ucyate ||

3rahasi strī-sambhogo hi dvividhaḥ samprayogo mitho līlā-vilāsaś ca | (AC on UN 15.253)

4vidagdhānāṁ mitho līlā-vilāsena yathā sukham |
na tathā samprayogeṇa syād evaṁ rasikā viduḥ ||

5garva-smitābhilāṣāder kopādeś ca miśraṇam |
pramodāt preyasaḥ saṅge kathyate kila-kiñcitam ||

6garvābhilāṣa-rudita-smitāsūyā-bhaya-krudhām |
saṅkarī-karaṇaṁ harṣād ucyate kilakiñcitam ||

7antaḥ-smeratayojjvalā jala-kaṇa-vyākīrṇa-pakṣmāṅkurā

kiñcit-pāṭalitāñcalā rasikatotsiktā puraḥ-kuñcatī |
ruddhāyāḥ pathi mādhavena madhura-vyābhugna-tārottarā
rādhāyāḥ kilakiñcita-stavakinī dṛṣṭiḥ śriyaṁ vaḥ kriyāt ||

8dadhi-khaṇḍa-ghṛta-madhu-marīca-karpūra |

elāci-milane yaiche ‘rasālā’ madhura ||

ei bhāva-yukta dekhi rādhāsya-nayana |

saṅgama ha-ite sukha pāya koṭi-guṇa ||

9dampatyor bhāva ekatra sator apy anuraktayoḥ |
svābhīṣṭāśleṣa-vīkṣādi-nirodhī māna ucyate ||

10vibhāvādi-saṁvalitatayā prakṛṣṭa-mādhuryaṁ ced iti bhāvaḥ |

11lampaṭo lubdhaḥ | tac-chravaṇe’tṛpta ity arthaḥ |

12candrāvalī-krīḍā-kuraṅgasya te kim asmābhiḥ saralābhis tvad-vaśyābhiḥ … |

13yo hāras tasya harin-maṇir mārakatas tasya hārasya nāyakaḥ | … hāra-nāyakavat tayā kaṇṭhe dhṛta ity arthaḥ |

14phulleti tataḥ kṛta-rādhikādhara-cumbana ity arthaḥ |

15labdha-sambhoga ity arthaḥ |

16rādhikā-kucayor yat kastūrī-patraṁ tena gāḍhāśleṣāl lagnena sphurad vidyotamānaṁ ura-sthalaṁ yasyeti |

17eṣu rādhikā-śabdasya punaḥ punar upādānaṁ na doṣaḥ nāmnāṁ tādrūpyeṇa siddhatvāt |

18stotra-pāṭha-phalam āha—itīti

19śrī-kṛṣṇas tasya śrī-rādhayaiva saha yā līlāḥ śloka-pañcakenoktās tābhir manoharaṁ mañjulam |

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