The Call of the Flute - from Naryaneeyam

I am posting an excerpt from the book Naryaneeyam- Bhagavata Condensed by Meppathur Narayana Bhattatiri, Translated by Swami Tapasyananda, published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore Madras. I will be posting English only for the moment, though the volume includes the sanskrit also.

CANTO 59- THE CALL OF THE FLUTE

Beautiful like the Kalaya flower, evoking the sentiment of love in all, and enthralling every one by its charm, Thy form, which was the very embodiment of Sat-Chid-Ananda Brahman, attracted the women of Vraja very much, as they saw Thee day by day.

O Hari! These Gopikas, with their minds oppressed by Manmatha (Cupid), gradually became so fond of seeing Thee always that they could not even brook Thy departure into the forest at dawn.

On Thy starting out (for grazing cattle), these women would watch Thee (till Thou wert lost to view), and then, with their minds centered on Thee, listen to the sound of Thy flute from afar, and delight themselves by recounting Thy various sportive activities.

And as for Thyself, Thou wouldst, on reaching the forest, stand cross-legged under a shady tree, and play Thy flute, filling it with Thy life-breath (which emerged as soul-stirring tunes out of it).

O Lord! The ravishing strains of Thy flute sent the shafts of Cupid into the hearts of Apsara bands hovering in the sky, stunned brute creations like cows and birds into a state of emotional stillness, and melted even the rocks in the neighbourhood into a state of liquidity.

The women of Vraja got into a state of ecstatic absorption, as they visualised Thee in their minds, indirectly though it be, running Thy nimble fingers over the stops of the flute and moving Thy tender feet to keep time with its strains.

'Fortunate indeed are the Apsara women in the skies, fortunate are the birds, animals and cows of the place, and fortunate tooo are even the forest lands on which Thou dost tread Thy feet, because they have the unrestricted opportunity to view Thy form' - so mused the Gopikas of Vraja.

'Shall we ever have the bliss of imbibing what is left of the honey of His kiss after the flute has enjoyed it to its fill? Ah! why crave for the impossible!' So thought the Gopikas again and again in utter distress and despair.

O Lord! The continuous promptings of Cupid became a blessing to these women in so far as it brought in them intensity of attachment to Thee and consequent detachment from all worldly concerns.

Attachment between the sexes is spontaneous (being the product of a natural instinct), while devotion to God, the means of salvation, may result after great effort or may not even then. But oh! what a blessing, what a rare good fortune, that in these women both these have coincided (as their passionate attachment was fixed on Thee, the Supreme Purusha incarnated as Krishna on whom all spiritual aspirants also fix their mind! O Lord of Guruvayoor! Offer me protection.

(from the Rasa Leela section)

Captivated by the sound of the flute, these women, who were devoting themselves to their household duties, to the care of their children and to the service of their husbands, abandoned all such chores and rushed to the woods where Thou, O Charming One, hadst stationed Thyself.

Some of them had dressed and decorated themselves in full, while others had gone only half way through their toilet, when they heard the flute and ran to Thee even as they were. To Thy eyes the latter seemed more attractive (for their devotion was so overpowering as to make them forgetful of their appearance).

One woman had come wearing a necklace (haram) round her waist and a waist-band round her neck, as if she was thereby declaring to Thee the attractiveness (haritwa) of her hips.

Another, wearing ornaments but without any upper garment, and unnoticed by other women in spite of this oddity because of their own excitement, seemed, with her exposed breasts, to be approaching Thee with two pots of water meant to bathe Thee in the ceremony of Thy coronation as the unrivalled emperor of the land of Love.

On the sands of the Yamuna banks, lit up by the soft rays of the moon, Thous didst take Thy seat on a bed made of (the saffron-stained) upper garments of the Gopikas.

By sweet and frolicsome words, by clasping of hands, by kissing and by hearty embraces, didst Thou fill their minds with ecstatic joy.

What Thou hadst promised them the day Thou snatched away their garments, even that, O Lord Thou didst now perform to satisfy love-lorn beauties.

O Son of Nanda! Thou ravisher of all the worlds by Thy beauty! These damsels felt thrills of bliss on embracing Thee, whose body was moist through slight perspiration, and whose lotus face was lit up by a smile that revealed the white lustre of Thy jasmine-like teeth.

In separation, devotees feel Thee as angaramaya (as burning fire-wood giving intense heat) and in union they experience Thee as sringaramaya (as an embodiment of loving sentiment). But wonder of wonders! Here these women found Thee in union too to be more of an angaramaya! (anga! aramaya, 'Dear one! Thou didst delight them exceedingly').

O Lord of Guruvayoor! I worship Thee who art engrossed in embracing Radha with her swelling breasts. I pray that Thou mayest be pleased to eradicate my ailments!

Engrossed in love sports with Thee, the very embodiment of supreme... Bliss, and immersed thereby in limitless joy, these women fell victims to great pride and self-importance.

'Krishna, the Lord of Ramaa and the paragon of beauty, is in truth dissolved in me out of love (whereas he is only pretending to love the others ).' Such throughts, born of jealousy and self-importantce, vitiated the minds of all the Gopikas, and Thou, O Govinda, being aware of this, disappeared from their midst.

Taking with Thee Radha, a Gopika who was (still) free from pride and therefore very dear to Thee, Thou didst move away to a distance and occupy Thyself in love-sports [attachmentid=1516] with her.
...

As they went about identifying themselves in imagination completely with Thee and in that wise enacting the sports of Thy infancy, they saw at once place Radha engaged like themselves in search of Thee, as she too had been abandoned by Thee when pride rose in her heart also.

Then all of them, including Radha, went together [attachmentid=1515] in search of Thee up to the dark impenetrable regions of the forest, and afterwards (failing to find Thee) gathered again on the banks of the Yamuna to bemoan their fate and to recount Thy excellences.

Engrossed in love sports with Thee, the very embodiment of supreme... Bliss, and immersed thereby in limitless joy, these women fell victims to great pride and self-importance.

'Krishna, the Lord of Ramaa and the paragon of beauty, is in truth dissolved in me out of love (whereas he is only pretending to love the others ).' Such throughts, born of jealousy and self-importantce, vitiated the minds of all the Gopikas, and Thou, O Govinda, being aware of this, disappeared from their midst.

Taking with Thee Radha, a Gopika who was (still) free from pride and therefore very dear to Thee, Thou didst move away to a distance and occupy Thyself in love-sports [attachmentid=1516] with her.
...

As they went about identifying themselves in imagination completely with Thee and in that wise enacting the sports of Thy infancy, they saw at once place Radha engaged like themselves in search of Thee, as she too had been abandoned by Thee when pride rose in her heart also.

Then all of them, including Radha, went together [attachmentid=1515] in search of Thee up to the dark impenetrable regions of the forest, and afterwards (failing to find Thee) gathered again on the banks of the Yamuna to bemoan their fate and to recount Thy excellences.