May Sūrya-deva, who was diligently worshipped by Sri Radha, who was affectionately kept in a nearby hidden place by her father for her own welfare, out of fear of Kamsa, and who wanted to attain a beautiful youth with the complexion of deep monsoon clouds, protect us.
vinikṣiptā rādhā rahasi kila pitrā prakṛtitaḥ
sphurantaṁ taṁ dṛṣṭvā kam api ghana puñjākṛti-varaṁ
tam evāptuṁ yatnād yam abhajata sūryo’vatu sa naḥ
Stavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā : In this verse Raghunath Das Goswami praises Suryadeva, who was worshipped by Sri Radha for the sake of attaining Sri Krishna. Out of fear of Kamsa, Vrishabhanu Maharaj kept his daughter Sri Radha hidden away in a solitary place. Kamsa had become frightened after hearing the words of Devakī’s daughter Ekanamsha and had begun the atrocities of killing all the young boys and kidnapping all the young girls.
This is what Devi Ekanamsha had said:
yaṁ vṛndāraka-vṛnda-vandita-pada-dvandvāravindaṁ viduḥ
ānandāmṛta-sindhubhiḥ praṇayināṁ sandoham ānandayan
prādurbhāvam avindad eṣa jagatī kando’dya candrodaye
mattaḥ sattama-mādhurībhir adhikāḥ śvo vā paraśvo’thavā
gantāraḥ kṣiti-maṇḍale prakaṭatām aṣṭo mahā-śaktayaḥ
vṛndiṣṭhe guṇa-vṛnda-mandiratayā tatra svasārāv ubhe
rājendro bhavitā harasya ca jayī pāṇau gṛhītā yayoḥ
O Kamsa! He who chopped off your head with his raised disc in your previous birth when you were known as Kālanemi, who is described by the scholars as he whose lotus feet are worshipped by the demigods, and who is the root cause of the universe, has now risen like the moon to increase the nectar-ocean of the bliss of his beloveds!
Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow eight great śaktis, who are even sweeter than me, and who are named Radha, Chandravali, Lalita, Vishakha, Padma, Shaibya, Shyamala and Bhadra, will appear on earth. Of these eight great śaktis two sisters (Radha and Chandravali) are again the most qualified and will become most famous as gopī-group leaders. He who marries these two sisters will become the greatest of all kings and defeat even Mahādeva (Śiva) in battle! (LM 1.16-17)
After hearing these words of Devi, Kamsa began to attempt to kidnap Sri Radha as well as Krishna, and thus Maharaj Vrishabhanu began to keep her in hidden places. It is here that Sri Radha saw an endlessly sweet boy who was as deeply dark as the monsoon clouds and who was called Sri Krishna. Attracted to his sweet mood she became eager to attain him as her dearmost beloved. The Mahājanas describe this world-enchanting sweetness of Sri Krishna in their songs –
megha puñja jini varaṇa suchānda
kuñcita keśa, khacita śikhi-candraka,
alakāvalita lalitānana cānda
āota re nava nāgara kāna
bhāvini bhāva, vibhāvita antara,
dinā rajanī nāhi jānato āna
Bhāvinī (sensitive Radha) cannot think of anyone else, day and night, but her young lover Kāna (Krishna) who has come to her, his complexion defeating the colour of a blue lotus flower, a sapphire, crushed eyeliner or a host of monsoon clouds, his curly locks, that are flanking his lovely moonlike face, crowned by a peacock feather.
sumadhura muralī virāja.
bhāṅga vibhaṅgima, kuṭila nehārai
kulavatī umati dūre rahu lāja.
gaja gati bhāti, gamana ati manthara,
mañjīra bājata ruṇu jhuniyā
heraite koṭi, madana mūrachāyai,
govinda dāsa koho dhani dhaniyā
His sweetly smiling lips are very enchanting and he plays his flute so sweetly. He makes charming movements and casts crooked glances that madden the married girls and removes their shame. His slow gait resembles that of an elephant and his ankle bells jingle runu jhunu. Govinda Das says: “O fortunate girl! Seeing him, millions of Cupids faint!
For attaining this Shyamasundar, who enchants millions of Cupids, Sri Radha worshipped Suryadeva. Srimati’s sūrya-pūja is just another way of loving Sri Krishna. It is the sweetness of her human-like pastimes that makes Sri Radha, who is herself worshipable by all the demigods including Sūrya, always worship Suryadeva to pray for establishing a meeting with him or for his good health.
Raghunath Das Goswami is Sri Radha’s beloved maidservant, so he also covets the mercy of the sun god so that he can attain the audience and the devotional service of Sri Sri Radha and Mādhava.
sneha bhare maṅgalera tare
śrī rādhāya gopya sthāne, rakṣā koilā sayatane,
yāra mādhurī khyāta viśva bhare
Out of great fear of Kamsa Vrishabhanu Rājā affectionately kept Sri Radha, whose sweetness is world-famous, in a secret place for her own welfare.
se pītavasana vanamālī
śrī kṛṣṇera prāpti lobhe, bhaji nitya sūryadeve,
anurāge sakhīgaṇa mili.
When she saw enchanting Śyāma, who resembled an excellent monsoon cloud and who sported a yellow garment and a garland of forest flowers, she became eager to attain that Sri Krishna and passionately began to worship Suryadeva with her girlfriends.
rakṣā koru sarva vighna hoite.
vāsa kori nanda vraje, bhaji śrī rādhā govinde,
sūryadeva! koro āśīrbāde
I humbly that this Suryadeva will protect me from all obstacles and allow me to live in Nanda’s Vraja to worship Sri Radha-Govinda. O Suryadeva! Bless me like this!
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Commentary of Sri Radha Kund Mahant, Pandit Sri Ananta Das Babaji Maharaj is named Stavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā (a drop of the nectar of Stavāvalī), and was published in Gaurābda 503 (1989 A.D.) from Sri Krishna Chaitanya Shastra Mandir, Vrajananda Ghera, PO Radhakunda (district Mathura), U.P., India.
Devotional songs in Bengali that follow each commentary were composed by Dr. Haripada Sheel.
© Translated by Advaita dāsa in 1994
More of Ananta Das Pandit’s writings in English translation can be found at Tarun Govinda’s blog,Amrita Tarangini.
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