Shri Radha and Krishna enjoy their romance in the cooling shade of Braj’s trees by day, and at night they rest on beauiful beds made from their flowers, kissed by honeybees, dusted by golden pollen and dotted with drops of honey. May those beautiful trees of Braj protect me.
VERSE 69:
yeṣāṁ cāru taleṣu śīta niviḍa cchāyeṣu rātrim divam
puṣpāṇāṁ vigalat parāga vilasat talpeṣu klṛptāśrayam
prītyā snigdha madhu-vratair madhukaṇaiḥ saṁsevitaṁ tannavaṁ
yūnor yugmataraṁ mudā viharate te pāntu māṁ bhūruhāḥ
Stavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā: After describing the sweet forest hideaways, expertly crafted out of living trees and vines, Shri Raghunath Das Goswami now praises the trees and vines individually in the following two verses. In this verse he praises the trees.
All the trees of Vrindavan are the playmates of the Divine Couple.
drumāś ca kalpa pūrvā ye nānāmoda vidhāyakāḥ. vṛndāvanāsthās tān viddhi balabhadrāṁśa sambhavān (Krishna Yāmala Tantra)
“The wish-giving trees of Vrindavan bestow all kinds of divine joys, and they are all (viśuddha sattvamay) expansions of Shri Balram.” Therefore there is not even the slightest touch of material matter in them:
kecit pīyūṣa sārottama pariṇatayaḥ kecana kṣīra sārair
divyaiḥ sannirmitāḥ ke’pyatula mada-kṛtām āsavānāṁ ghanāṅgāḥ
kecit saitopalāḥ ke’pyati himakarakāḥ kalpa rūpā iti śrī
vṛndāraṇye drumendrā dadhati bahuvidhā rādhikā kṛṣṇa tuṣṭyai
(Vrindavan Mahimāmṛta 10.77)
“For Radha and Krishna’s pleasure, the trees of Vrindavan have many different forms. Some are like solid nectar, and some are like condensed milk. Some of them are like crystal, and some are enveloped in camphor.”
In Sri Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta (2.5.255) it is said:
yasyaika vṛkṣo’pi nijena kenācid dravyeṇa kāmāṁs tanute’rthino’khilān
tathāpi tat tan na sadā prakāśayed aiśvaryam īśaḥ svavihāra vighnataḥ
“Although all the trees in Braj can fulfill any wish, they do not always show this power lett it disturb the Lord’s enjoyments. But even the leaves and flowers of Braj’s trees hold this power, and when it suits the Lord’s lilas, they manifest this ability.”
Shri Radha and Krishna’s seva is the greatest treasure for the trees of Vrindavan. After Sri Krishna disappeared from the Raas Lila the Braj devis inquired from Vrindavan’s trees about him:
cūta priyāla panasāsana kovidāra jambvarka bilva bakulāmra kadamba-nīpāḥ
ye’nye parārtha-bhavakā yamunopakūlāḥ śaṁsantu kṛṣṇa-padavīṁ rahitātmanāṁ naḥ
(Bhāgavata 10.30.9)
“O Cūta, Priyāla, Panasa, Asana, Kovidāra, Jambu, Arka, Bilva, Bakula, mango, Kadamba, o Nīpa! All you trees, standing on the bank of the Yamuna for the welfare of others! O coconut and betel trees! Please show us the way to find Krishna!”
Some explain the word parārtha-bhavakā as follows: parā ca paraś ca parau śrī rādhā-kṛṣṇau tayor arthe tayoḥ sevārthaṁ bhavaḥ utpattir yeṣāṁ te parārtha-bhavakāḥ “para means the Supreme Lord, Shri Krishna, and parā means the Supreme Goddess Sri Radha. The auspicious advent of Shri Vrindavan’s trees took place for the sake of Their service”.
Hence, Raghunath Das Goswami says: “Shri Radha and Krishna enjoy their romance in the cooling shade of Braj’s trees by day, and at night they rest on beauiful beds made from their flowers, kissed by honeybees, dusted by golden pollen and dotted with drops of honey. May those beautiful trees of Braj protect me.”
In separation Shri Raghunath Das Goswami yearns for the grace of these trees, so that he can see the honey-sweet pastimes of the playful Divine Couple and serve Them.
ye tarura śītala chāy, suvicitra śobhā pāy,
vigalita parāga śayyāya
bhṛṅga madhu kaṇā lobhe, dale dale anurāge,
paḍiteche yāhādera gāy
puṣpa hāsya vikasita, gandhe dik āmodita,
sadā kore līlā uddīpane
navīna kiśora dvaya, hṛṣṭa-citte atiśaya
sukhe vihariche rātri dine
sei vṛkṣa parivāra, rakṣā koru bāra bāra,
vṛndāvane yāhāra janama
yoto muni ṛṣi-vare, vṛkṣa hoiyā sevā kore
kṛṣṇa līlā kore daraśana
May I be protected by the trees of Vrindavan, in whose cool shade the Divine Couple looks so beautiful as they enjoy with jubilant hearts day and night on a bed of flowers sprinkled with their (the trees’) pollen, their bodies (trunks) kissed by swarms of bees, greedy for drops of honey, whose flowers smile and constantly inspire romance by filling all the directions with their fragrance, and who are actually all great sages and saints who have taken birth as trees to witness Krishna’s pastimes.”
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