When will I worship my most beloved lightning-fair Radha and deep cloud-blue Shyam, whose splendid lustre is reflected on the surface of each other’s hearts, who passionately wear each other in their hearts, whom the creature crafted from the summit of good fortune, and who are the topmost Abode of all the beauty in the three worlds?
VERSE 55:
kāntyā hanta mithaḥ sphuṭaṁ hṛdi-taṭe sambimbitaṁ dyotate
prītyā tan mithunaṁ mudā padakavad rāgeṇa vibhrad yayoḥ
dhātrā bhāgya bhareṇa nirmitatare trailokya lakṣmyāspade
gaura śyāmatame ime priyatame rūpe kadāhaṁ bhaje
Stavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā: In the previous verse, Das Goswami, who has taken shelter of Sri Radhakuṇḍ, praised the Kuṇḍ by glorifying the great Lalitānandada-kuñj on its shore.
Das Goswami, who was absorbed in bhajan on the bank of the kuṇḍ, then suddenly perceived the divine Form of Sri Sri Radha-Mādhava before him, seated on a jeweled platform within Lalitānandada kuñj.
In this verse, he reveals his memory of the delight of this transcendental vision. In this vision Das Goswami saw the Divine Pair seated on a jeweled platform. The lustre of Shyam’s cloud-blue Form and Sri Radha’s lightning-fair form illuminate the bank of the Kuṇḍ.
It is as if the sweetness of Their lustre comes gushing out of Their transcendental bodies, and the treasure of beauty of all the three worlds is blessed by merging into their every limb.
How much bhāv and ras is revealed from the embodiments of mahābhāv and rasarāj! It is as if the whole world is inundated by the innumerable billowing waves of the ocean of bhāv and the ocean of ras!!
śrī mukha sundara vara, hema nīla kāntidhara,
bhāva bhūṣaṇa koru śobhā
nīla pīta vāsadhara, gaurī śyāma manohara,
antarera bhāve duhuṅ lobhā
“Their most beautiful faces bear a golden and bluish lustre, and are beautified by ornaments of ecstasy. Enchanting Gauri (golden Radhika) and Shyam (dusky Krishna) wear blue and yellow garments respectively, and they are eager for each other’s heart’s feelings.” (Prema-bhakti-candrikā 46)
There is no way to describe the billowing ocean of the great beauty and sweetness of Radha and Krishna’s forms. When there is bhāv (feeling) in the heart it can be relished somewhat, that is for sure, but there is no way to put that relish into words. Words are completely insufficient here.
Still these feelings want to come out through the current of verbal expression, but alas! Words do not have the power to contain the strong urge of bhāv! Words succumb under the pressure of bhāv and become stunned. In this condition the heart can bloom because of anything that supports the bhāv, but words can only express a drop of this and remain helpless, standing before the bhāvuk (the ecstatic lover of God) like a beggar.
This inferior media of words is a very powerful stream of bhāv that is poured into the senses of the bhāvagrāhī bhakta (sensitive devotee) like a waterfall and assists the bhāvuk in awakening his bhāv. The result, nature and dignity of whatever power bhāv can invest into words is unlimited.
At various places in this rasa-kāvya (delicious poetry) Raghunath Das Goswami, who is a direct seer of the sweetness of the Divine Pair, is flowing fast in countless directions on the powerful Yamuna and Jāhnavī streams of the transcendental sweetness of Radha and Krishna, just to cool the hearts of the rasik devotees who are eager to relish that sweetness.
dhātrā bhāgya bhareṇa nirmitatare trailokya lakṣmyāspade gaura śyāmatame “Lord Brahmā created this Radha of golden luster and this Shyam of bluish luster from the summit of good fortune, and thus They are the topmost abode of all the beauty in the three worlds.” When we study this part of Das Goswami’s verse, we can understand how true these words are. The Mahājans have also written: prati aṅga kon vidhi nirmilo kise. dekhite dekhite koto amiyā variṣe “Which Creator has fashioned Their each and every limb? How much nectar is showered upon me when I see this?” Actually the sweetness of the Divine Pair is not fashioned by any Creator. It is an eternal, everlasting and self-manifest thing. But out of great ecstasy and astonishment arising from seeing these extraordinary, supernatural transcendental Forms, these words are used.
Das Goswami sees that kāntyā hanta mithaḥ sphuṭaṁ hṛdi-taṭe sambimbitaṁ dyotate prītyā tan mithunaṁ mudā padakavad rāgeṇa vibhrad yayoḥ – Radha and Mādhava’s splendid lustre is reflected on the surface of Each other’s hearts (because of Their great mutual love) and they passionately wear each other in the heart as medals.” The desire of passion is: To always have the beloved close by.
Sri Radharani said:
hātaka darapaṇa, māthaka phula; nayanaka añjana, mukhaka tāmbūla
hṛdayaka mṛgamada, gīmaka hāra, dehaka saravasa, gehaka sāra
pākhīka pākha, mīnaka pāni, jīvaka jīvana, hām tuhuṅ jāni
tuhuṅ kaise mādhava koho tuhuṅ moya, vidyāpati koho – duhuṅ dohā hoy
(Pada Kalpataru)
“You are the mirror in my hand, the flower in my hair, You are the kohl to my eyes, the betel leaves in my mouth. You are the musk on my breasts, the necklace around my neck, You are the all-in-all for my body and the essence of my house. I know You as the wing of the bird, the water for the fish and the life for the soul. O Mādhav! How can I explain to You what You are to me?” Vidyāpati says: “They are everything to Each other!”
Although out of great love, Sri Sri Radha-Mādhava are always entwined with Each other in the heart, still externally they have difficulty in meeting Each other because of Their extramarital relationship.
kabhu mile kabhu nā mile, daivera ghaṭana
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta)
“Sometimes they meet and sometimes they don’t meet, it is up to Fate.”
It is because they have so much difficulty in meeting Each other that Sri Sri Radha-Mādhava are so passionately attached to Each other and Their very brilliant bluish and golden complexions are reflected on the surface of Each other’s hearts, so that they shine in Each other’s hearts like medals. It is as if Das Goswami’s heart is drowning in the ocean of the Forms of the Divine Pair.
As he gazes at Them they disappear. He cannot see Them anymore. The vision has vanished, and he starts to lament.
As great humility awakens, Das Goswami thinks: “I don’t do any bhajan, so I am unqualified to see Them. They were so kind that they revealed Themselves to me once, but because I don’t do any bhajan I have lost Them again!” Therefore he humbly does not desire to see Them, but he just wants to do bhajan, for he feels that will ultimately make him qualified. Therefore he says: “When will I worship my most beloved dual form of Sri Sri Radha-Mādhav, who are bluish like a cloud and golden like the lightning?”
prīte aṅga kānti dvāre, hṛdi-taṭe paraspare,
pratibimbe koreche ujjvala
vidhātāra bhāgya bhāri, sṛjana kalā bolihārī,
gaḍiyāche dampati yugala
śobhāra āspada rūpa, tribhuvane rasa-kūpa,
abhinava gaura śyāma tame
nitya nava anurāge, bhajibo kiśora yuge
vrajavāsi saṅge anukṣaṇe
“Along with the Vrajavasis I will always worship the Divine Couple, Who are lovingly reflected on the surface of Each other’s hearts through Their brilliant complexions, Who were artistically created by Lord Brahmā from the summit of good fortune, Who are the Abodes of beauty and the Wells of nectar in the three worlds, and who shine with fresh golden and bluish complexions, with ever-fresh loving passion.”
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