Last night I read this incredibly sweet passage from Sri Ananta dasa Babaji’s book Sri Sri Radha Rasa Sudhanidhi. Since I read this particular passage I have been in a “dazed” state. It was the most beautiful passage that I have ever read in my entire life. I would like to share it with you…
Sripada (Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati) has a spiritual vision of himself, sitting in a sweet nikunja vana in his kinkari svarupa, stringing a flowergarland in a kunja kutira (arbour cottage). When Krsna comes there, He thinks to himself “Aha! How sweet is the mood of the maidservants! They don’t know anything else but her service! They don’t care about my bodily company, which is coveted by all women of the world, at all, because they are exclusively dedicated to Radhika’s lotusfeet!” Being charmed like this, Krsna comes before the manjari and says “Sakhi! How lonely this place is! I am greatly afflicted by lusty desires! Come and enjoy with Me in this kunja and make your life a success!” Hearing Syamas words, the maidservant replies “O Nagararaja! King of Lovers! Surely Your bodily association is desired by all of the women of the world, but we maidservants get much more ananda from seeing Your pastimes with Sri Radhika and from serving You after and during these pastimes than from personally associating with You! Therefore I pray that You will always keep me immersed in the nectar ocean of Your service and You will always allow to witness the sweetness of Your union with our Svamini!” Nagara replies “Sakhi! You will surely have those desires forfilled in time, but even those who enjoy a greater pleasure are interested in different other kinds of enjoyment also! This lonely place, nobody will find out! I am also very much suffering out of separation from Sri Radha, but you, as Her maidservant, are nondifferent from Her; therefore, make me happy with your bodily company!” The kinkari replies: “Nagararaja! I offered this body of mine to Sri Radhas lotusfeet. I can give you my life if that makes you happy, but I cannot give You my body! Come along! I will soothe Your pain of separation by helping You meet Sri Radha!”
The maidservant then takes Syamasundara with her to Sri Radha’s kunja. Syamasundara is so pleased with the sincere and unshakable devotion of Radharani’s maidservant the He loves them even more than His own devotees. Therefore Sripada says pritah svam bhajato’pi in this text. When the maidservant makes Radha and Krsna meet, Syamasundara tells Radhika: “Radhe! I had lost the way when I was coming to meet You because I was overwhelmed with feelings of separation from You, but this maidservant helped Me to find your kunja! What a wonderfull service she rendered to Us! I’d like to give her some reward, any reward You think is fitting! Tell me, what should I give her?”
Srimati is also very pleased with her maidservant and just to show Her girlfriends the greatness of her maidservants, She says “Mohana! All of the beautiful girls of Vraja desire you; today I want You to personally reward this maidservant by kissing her and embracing her!” Hearing this, Nagara begins to kiss and embrace the maidservant with great love. Although Krsna is selfsatisfied, He reciprocates with the love of His devotees, and for this reason He enjoys all kinds of pastimes with them. The gopis’ love for Him is the greatest, and therefore He also plays the most intimate pastimes with them in particular. The manjari’s loving devotion is also described here as being niskaitava, without any cheating propensity and pure as molten gold. When Krsna begins to embrace the maidservant, she protests by exclaiming; “No, no!”, and runs away. How happy the Yugula Kisora are to see her pure mood! Srimati tells Syamasundara: “Put some of Your chewed betaleaves in her mouth!”, and when Syama wants to do this by force, the maidservant closes her mouth and runs away. She will not accept anything else but Radha’s prasada; that is her nistha (vow). Next Svamini tells Syama to take off his garland of forestflowers and to hang it around the maidservants neck, but when He tries to do that, the maidservant puts her hands on her head in order to stop Him from hanging the garland around her neck. She will only accept Svamini’s prasada garlands, and not those of Krsna alone. In this way the Yugala Kisora completes Their examination of the pure attitude of the kinkari. The fortunate maidservant has passed the test!
The maidservant has passed the test of love (bhava pariksa), but she thinks to herself: “Syama! You can bless this poor maidservant by wanting her life. A fitting reward for me is the savour of Your sweet meeting with Priyaji and some fitting service that I may do then. Let me float in an ocean of bliss by witnessing Your mutual embrace, and thus bless me!” How incomparable is the beauty of the dasi’s heart!
Now the Yugala have blessed the maidservant by giving her the desired reward, and They commence Their vilasa. In the abode of union the great ocean of Krsna’s lavanya causes the ocean of Srimati’s lavanya to swell. The maidservant cannot find any words to describe this wonderful ocean, so she simply says lavanyan paramadbhutam: Sri Radha’s elegance is most wonderful; this lavanya is astonishing even Govinda, who is called lavanya sara (the essence of elegance) in Srimada Bhagavata. The reason is that Sri Radha is vara tanu. This varatanu is made of the blazing cintamani jewel of maha bhava (mahabhava cintamani radhara svarupa, C.C.). The maidservant feels her life is successful when she sees how Govinda’s fish-like eyes swim in the ocean of Svaminis lavanya.
Aspiring to be a servant of the Vaisnavas,
Rasaraja dasa
the whole book is the sweetest thing in my spiritual life!
Radheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Syam
