aslishya va padaratam pinashtu mam
adarsanan marma-hatam karotu va
yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato
mat prananathas tu sa eva naparah

(Sri Radha said:) “Krishna may embrace this girl, who is devoted to His lotus feet, or He may break Her heart by not showing Himself to Her. He can do whatever He wants. He is, after all, an independent womaniser. But still He, and no one else, is the Lord of My life!”

When the Lord recited the previous verse, yugayitam nimeshena, in the mood of virahini rai (Radha, who is separated from Krishna), He became agitated with sancari-bhavas (transitory moods) like envy, eagerness, humility and so on. Then, in the mood of Radha, He revealed His feelings to His (Her) girlfriends. Srila Kaviraja Gosvamipada describes how the Lord explained this verse:

krishna udasina hoilo korite parikshana
sakhi sob kohe – krishne koro upekshana
eteko cintite radhara nirmala hridoy
svabhavika premara svabhava korilo udoy
irshya utkantha dainya praudhi vinoy
eto bhava eka thai korilo udoy
eto bhave radhara mana asthira hoilo
sakhigana age praudhi sloka ye podilo
sei bhave prabhu sei sloka uccarilo
sloka uccarite tadrupa apane hoilo

“Krishna doesn’t care about Me anymore and He is testing Me. All My girlfriends are saying: ‘Just reject Krishna!’”.

When these thoughts came up in Radha’s pure heart, Her natural love for Krishna arose. Envy, eagerness, enthusiasm and great humility – all these moods then arose simultaneously. These thoughts made Radha’s mind unsteady, so She spoke this elevated verse to Her girlfriends. In that mood the Lord spoke this verse and as He did so, He felt just like Sri Radha.
One day Krishna showed indifference towards Sri Radha just to test Her love, and He did not go to see Her anymore. When Radha’s girlfriends came to tell Him how much She was suffering because of that, He pretended not to care, although He felt great heartache when He heard it. Sri Radha had become very unsteady because of being separated from Krishna, but Her girlfriends knew very well that Krishna was simply pretending to be indifferent to Her. Therefore they consoled Her by saying: “Radhe! You are premamayi (full of love)! It is not possible for Krishna to actually give You up! He’s only pretending, wanting to witness Your anxiety over Him! If You also showed such indifference towards Him, then He wouldn’t be able to stay calm, and He would personally come to see You!” Hearing these words of Her girlfriends, Radha felt Her natural desire to make Krishna happy coming up in Her heart. The definition of this natural love was given by Sri Rupa Gosvami in his Vidagdha Madhava Natakam (5.4):

stotram yatra tatasthatam prakatayac cittasya dhatte vyatham
nindapi pramadam prayacchati parihasa sriyam vibhrati
doshena kshayitam gunena gurutam kenapy anatanvati
premnah svarasikasya kasyacid iyam vikridati prakriya

“When one hears praise from the beloved, one outwardly remains neutral but feels pain within the heart. When one hears the beloved criticising, one takes it to be jokes and feels great joy. When one finds fault in the beloved they do not diminish the love, nor do the beloved’s good qualities increase it. This is how spontaneous love acts!”

Hearing these words of Her girlfriends, Sri Radha’s natural feelings of love awoke and She became simultaneously eager, enthusiastic, jealous and humble, and as these feelings (or sancari-bhavas) clashed within Her, She spoke this aslishya va padaratam-verse to Her friends. Sriman Mahaprabhu, who had accepted the feelings of Sri Radha, also thought that His girlfriends came to console Him with their advice. As the Lord perceived the feelings of Sri Radha, all these sancari bhavas simultaneously arose in His heart, and then He recited this verse that was originally spoken by Sri Radha.
There is a very deep meaning to this aslishya va padaratam-verse, which is the Lord’s final instruction, and the explanation is very extensive. Srila Kaviraja Gosvami has personally written: ei slokera hoy ati arthere vistara, sankshepe kohiye – tara nahi pai para.
“The explanation of this verse is very elaborate; I will speak it in short, because I also cannot find the limits to it.” In some editions of Caitanya Caritamrita this Bengali verse cannot be found. In this case it must be understood that the Lord personally relished the tripadis (Bengali-song-explanations) that follow the Sanskrit aslishya va padaratam-verse. And in those editions in which this verse (ei slokera hoy ati arthera vistara) is to be found it must be understood that Srila Kaviraja Gosvami revealed the feelings of the Lord. But anyway, whether the Lord personally relished the meanings of this verse through these tripadis or Kaviraja Gosvamipada revealed the Lord’s feelings, we will try to relish the explanation of this verse more extensively than the previous verses. It will be very difficult for anyone, however, to take the meaning of this verse to heart without first hearing something about the samartha-rati (competent love) or mahabhava of the gopis.
Prema thrives on the desire to make Krishna happy and the deeper this desire is, the more it will make even the most subtle desire for personal happiness disappear. No one knows so well how to devote all of one’s desires for the purpose of making Krishna happy other than the gopikas. Their samartha-rati is so intense that they forget everything else except the thoughts of how to make Krishna happy. Samartha sarva vismari gandha sandratama matah (Ujjvala Nilamani). This samartha-rati makes the gopis give up their homes, family-members, family-traditions, patience, shame and everything for the purpose of making Krishna happy.
It is to be known here that madhura rati means nothing else but sambhogeccha, or the desire of a hero and heroine to meet each other. There are two kinds of sambhogeccha – (1) The desire to have one’s own senses pleased by the lover,
and (2) the desire to please the lover with one’s senses.
The first kind is named kama, or lust, and the second kind is called rati, prema, or love. Samartha-rati has become totally identical with this second kind of rati, that’s why it has attained the nature of sri krishnanukulya tatparya (dedication to anything favorable to Sri Krishna) and sri krishnonmukhata (turning towards Sri Krishna). Sri Rupa Gosvami states in his Ujjvala Nilamani:

sambhogeccha visesho’syah rater jatu na bhidyate
ity asyam krishna saukhyartham eva kevalam udyamah
“Samartha-rati is never separate from sambhogeccha. Therefore in it there is only a desire to make Krishna happy.”

When this samartha-rati increases, it reaches the stage of mahabhava. Iyam eva ratih praudha mahabhava dasam vrajet (Ujjvala Nilamani). Only the beautiful girls of Vraja possess this opulence of mahabhava. What to speak of other consorts, even Rukmini, Satyabhama and the other Queens of Krishna do not have it! Such is the teaching of Sri Rupa Gosvami in Ujjvala Nilamani:

mukunda mahishi-vrindair apy asav ati durlabhah
vraja devaika samvedyo mahabhavakhyayocyate

This mahabhava is like the greatest nectar, bringing the mind back to its constitutional position: varamrita svarupa srih svam svarupam mano nayet (Ujjvala Nilamani). Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti comments as follows on this verse in his Ananda Candrika-commentary: manah svam svarupam nayet maha-bhavatmakam eva manah syat mahabhavat parthakyena manaso na sthitir ity arthah. tena indriyanam manovritti rupatvad vrajasundarinam mana adi sarvendriyanam mahabhava-rupatvat tat tad vyaparaih sarvair eva sri krishnasyativasyatvam yukti siddham eva bhavet. “The meaning of the phrase ‘the gopis’ minds attain their constitutional position of mahabhava’ is that their minds are composed of mahabhava and other than mahabhava, nothing exists in them. The senses, like the eyes, the ears etc., are all extensions of the mind; therefore the gopis’ ten senses are also composed of mahabhava. All their activities are meant to give pleasure to Krishna and therefore Krishna is controlled by their love the most. The duty of mahabhava is to make Krishna happy, therefore the object of the gopis’ minds and senses is nothing else but that.”

…

sei gopigana madhye uttama – radhika
rupe gune saubhagye preme sarvadhika
(Caitanya Caritamrita)

“Amongst the gopis, radhika is supreme. Her beauty, Her qualities, Her good fortune and Her love are the greatest of all!”

Srila Jiva Gosvami writes in his Krishna Sandarbha (189):
tad evam parama madhura premavrittimayishu tasv api tat saram-sodrekamayi sri radhika tasyam eva premotkarsha parakashthaya darsitatvat –
“Sri Radhika comes forth from the essential part of all the sweetest and most loving gopis and She possesses the limit of the divine love called madana-mahabhava. The scriptures and the saints confirm this.” Srimat Rupa Gosvami gives the following definition of madanakhya-mahabhava in his Ujjvala Nilamani:

sarva bhavodgamollasi madano’yam paratparah
rajate hladini saro radhayam eva yah sada

“The essence of God’s pleasure potency is called prema, and the most blissful feeling of that prema is called madana. Only in Radha this is always present.”

This madana-bhava becomes manifest when Sri Radha-Madhava are meeting.
When Sriman Mahaprabhu was at Puri in His room called Gambhira, He tasted the limit of Sri Radha’s divine madness called mohana-bhava, the feelings She had after Krishna had left Vrindavana to go to Mathura. This divine madness, or divyonmada, is Radha’s exclusive emotional treasure and it only manifests in Her after Krishna has left Her to go to Mathura, as is described in the pages of Srimad Bhagavata. Factually Sri Gaurangadeva is the combined form of Sri-Sri Radha-Krishna and Radha-Krishna are therefore eternally together in Him. How is it then possible for Him to experience Radha’s divine madness after Krishna had gone to Mathura? This is a natural question to ask. The proper answer is that it became possible for Mahaprabhu to place the mohana-bhava on the foundation of the most blissful mood madana-bhava. Sri Rupa Gosvami says in Ujjvala Nilamani:

yoga eva bhaved esha vicitrah ko’pi madanah
yad vilasa virajante nitya lilah sahasradha

“The astonishing madana-bhava is manifest when Sri Radha-Madhava are united and with it They play thousands of kinds of eternal pastimes.”

Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti writes in his Ananda Candrika-commentary on this verse:
yada tu madanakhyah sthayi svayam udayate tat kshana eva cumbanalinganadi sambhoganubhava madhya eva vividham viyoganubhava ity ekasminn eva prakasa prakasadvaya dharmanubhavah sa ca vilakshana rupa eveti.
– “When the sthayi bhava called madana appears itself, then Sri Radha-Madhava not only experience all the different items of lovemaking, such as kissing and embracing, but They simultaneously experience the different feelings of separation. It is a special feature of the madana- bhava that one can experience different contradictory feelings at the same time.”

Therefore, although the full madana-rasa is always present in Mahaprabhu, it is not impossible for Him to taste the nectar of Radha’s divine madness out of topmost feelings of separation at the same time. Mahaprabhu is especially capable of tasting this mohana-bhava placed on the foundation of the madana-bhava than Sri Radharani is. Anyway, Sriman Mahaprabhu sings about these feelings of Sri Radha as follows:

ami krishna pada dasi, tenho rasa sukha rasi,
alingiya kore atma satha
kiba na dena darasana, jarena amara tanu mana,
tabhu tenho mora prananatha!
sakhi he! suno mora manera niscoya!
kiba anuraga kore, kiba duhkha diya mare
mora pranesa krishna anya noy

“I am the maidservant of Krishna’s lotus feet and Krishna is an abundance of blissful flavours. He may take Me to Him by embracing Me, or He may corrode My body and mind. Nevertheless, He is the Lord of My life! O sakhi! Listen to the resolution of my mind! Whether He gives Me love or misery, the Lord of My life is Krishna, and no one else!” (Caitanya Caritamrita, Antya-lila, chapter 20)

When Lalita, Visakha and other sakhis tell Radharani that Krishna has lost interest in Her, Radharani says: “Sakhi! I am the maidservant of krishna’s feet!” The use of the word pada indicates humility. It is in this mood that She speaks the entire verse aslishya va padaratam. The duty of a maidservant is to please the Lord of her life with her service. The Lord will never be pleased when a maidservant simply aims at her own pleasure, therefore Srimati Radhika says: “Sakhi! I am the maidservant of His lotus feet! How can I ever reject Him? I should feel happy when it pleases Him to reject Me! But there’s no question of Me ever rejecting Him, dear sakhi, because it is simply My duty to make Him happy!”
“Moreover, O sakhi, He is an abundance of rasa and bliss (the Vedas describe God as raso vai sah: He is rasa, and anandam brahma: brahman is bliss). All His actions cause bliss, and if anybody becomes unhappy because of Krishna’s dealings, then that is her/his own fault! There is no question of Him giving misery to anyone, because He is bliss and relish personified!” The purport of this is that Krishna is full transcendental bliss personified and He does not need any aid from outside to become happy. Only His transcendental pleasure potency (hladini sakti) is able to arouse desires in His heart. It is His nature to be greedy only after the taste of pure love. Sri Radha is Prema Lakshmi, the goddess of love Herself, so She is always able to arouse erotic desires in Krishna, who is Himself erotic mellows personified. Since He is rasika sekhara (the king of relishers), He has no other reason to be indifferent towards Sri Radha than His greed for rasa, or transcendental love-flavours.
So Srimati says: “O sakhi! Krishna, who is an abundance of bliss and rasa, may embrace Me or He may burn My heart, body and mind by not showing up, but He is the only Lord of My life! Since I am His maidservant, I should always be happy with whatever pleases Him! O sakhi, listen to My firm vow: My Pranavallabha Krishna may show attachment to Me or He may give Me great misery by rejecting Me, but He is the Lord of My life and no one else!”
“O sakhi! I tell you what’s the resolution on My mind, listen! My Pranaballabha Sri Krishna may show passionate attachment to Me or He may kill Me by making Me unhappy – He is the Lord of My life, and no one else!” Sri Krishna may give His love to Sri Radharani or may give Her lethal distress, that’s why She proclaims in the next tripadis:

chadi anya narigana, mora vasa tanu mana,
mora saubhagya prakata koriya
ta sabhare dena pida, ama sane kore krida,
sei narigane dekhaiya

kiba tenho lampata, satha dhrishta sakapata,
anya narigana kori satha
more dite manah pida, mora age kore krida,
tabhu teho mora prananatha

“Sometimes He will leave the other women and come under the control of My body and mind, showing My great fortune and hurting the other women by enjoying pastimes with Me in front of their eyes. But sometimes He cheats Me without shame and goes to enjoy with the other women right before My eyes, giving Me great pain. Still, He is the Lord of My life!”

Srimati says: “O dear friends! He is the lover and the Lord of many women in Vraja like Me, but still He loves Me the most, that is proven by the many pastimes that We performed! Therefore He rejects all His other sweethearts in favor of Me, and becomes mentally as well as physically completely under My control. In this situation He reveals My good fortune by enjoying with Me in front of all the other gopis, and thus gives agony to their minds. But sometimes He reveals Himself as a conniving debauchee and a bold womanizer, and then He enjoys with other Vraja-gopis right in front of Me, giving Me great heartache – despite all this He is the Lord of My life!” Actually, Krishna’s deceitfulness with the women is full of rasa. In his book Prema Samputa, Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti describes that Krishna once disguises Himself as a demigoddess and comes before Sri Radharani to interview Her about Her love for Krishna. At one point Sri Radha tells Him:

lampatyato nava navam vishayam prakurvann
asvadayann ati madoddhuratam dadhanah
ahladayann amrita rasmir iva trilokim
santapayan pralaya surya ivavabhati
(Prema Samputa, 56)

“Sakhi! This deceitfulness gives My beloved ever-fresh taste for love and He is wholly intoxicated by it. It pleases all the living beings of the three worlds with radiant beams of nectar just like the moon, but it also burns like the sun at the time of universal destruction!” This means that the hero (Krishna) blooms up when He has ever-fresh desires for enjoying always new women, and the heroines that are separated from Him always blissfully dream of their different past and future sports with Him when He has left them to sport elsewhere. In this way everyone is immersed in an ocean of rasa, thinking or dreaming of the pleasures of union. Just as the moon soothes the three worlds with its cool rays, so also the state of union gives indescribable taste to the hero and the heroine. At that time they think that the three worlds are full of happiness. During separation though, this prema is burning even more severely than a forest fire. Nevertheless, there is an indescribable undercurrent of transcendental bliss coming from this prema and that is accomplishing a great increase of ecstasy during the subsequent meeting. One should know how astonishing the sweet love of the beautiful gopis and Sri Krishna in Vraja is! Then again, Srimati sings:

na gani apana duhkha, sabe vanchi tara sukha,
tara sukhe amara tatparya
more yadi dile duhkha, tara hoilo mahasukha,
sei duhkha mora sukha varya

“I don’t care about My own misery, I only desire His happiness! My body, mind and senses only desire His happiness! His happiness is My purpose! If He becomes very happy by giving Me misery, then that is My greatest happiness!”
Glorifying the love of the gopis, Srila Kaviraja Gosvami has written:

atma-sukha-duhkha gopira nahika vicara
krishna sukha hetu ceshta mano vyavahara
krishna lagi ara sab kori parityaga
krishna sukha hetu kore suddha anuraga
. . .
tabe ye dekhiye gopira nija dehe prita
seho to krishnera lagi janiho niscita
ei deha koilu ami krishne samarpana
tara dhana – tara iha sambhoga sadhana
e deha darsana sparse krishna santoshana
ei lagi kore dehera marjana bhushana
ara eka adbhuta gopi bhavera svabhava
buddhira gocara nahe yahara prabhava
gopigana kore yabe krishna darasana
sukha vancha nahi sukha hoy koti guna
gopika darsane krishnera ye ananda hoy
taha hoite koti guna gopi asvadoy
ta sabhara nahi nija sukha anurodha
tathapi badaye sukha, podilo virodha
e virodhera ei eka dekhi samadhana –
gopikara sukha krishna sukhe paryavasana
(Caitanya Caritamrita, Adi-lila, chapter 4)

“The gopis don’t distinguish between their own happiness and distress, their mental and physical endeavours are all aimed at Krishna’s happiness. For Krishna’s sake they give up everything, and their pure passionate love for Krishna is only meant to make Him happy. So when you see that the gopis love their own bodies then know for sure that it is for Krishna’s sake! “I have offered this body to Krishna, it is the wealth of His enjoyment! When Krishna touches and sees this body He feels satisfied, and for this purpose I massage it and ornament it! There is another wonderful feature of the gopis’ nature, whose prowess is inconceivable to the human intelligence: When the gopis go to see Krishna they do not desire their own happiness, but still their happiness increases millions of times. The happiness that Krishna relishes when He sees the gopis is relished millions of times more by the gopis themselves. They don’t plead for their own happiness, but nevertheless their happiness always increases, that’s a contradiction. I can only see one explanation for such a contradiction, and that is that the gopikas’ happiness becomes complete when Krishna is happy.”

The gopis are happy when Krishna is happy, and they are unhappy when Krishna is unhappy. If you want to make the gopis happy, then you must make Krishna happy. They don’t have any independent feeling of happiness or distress. This feeling is most prominent in the crownjewel of gopikas, Sri Radha. Therefore She sings:

ye narike vanche krishna, tara rupe satrishna
tare na paiya kahe hoy duhki
mui tara paye podi, loiya yao hathe dhari,
krida koraiya koro tare sukhe

“When I see that Krishna eagerly desires a certain woman and that He is unhappy because He cannot get her, I will fall down at her feet, catch her hand and bring her to Krishna, so that He will become happy by playing lovegames with her.”

Even if Krishna unites with other Vraja-gopis it does not actually give Sri Radha distress, rather it makes Her happy; hence She says: “Sakhi! If Krishna is attracted to the form and qualities of another woman and He desires to unite with Her, but still that woman does not want to meet Him, then I will go to the house of that woman, fall at Her feet and convince her to go and meet Krishna! I will take her by the hand and personally place her in Prananatha Sri Krishna’s hand, and in this way I will make Him happy by convincing that girl to make love with Him! I will not let My Pranavallabha remain alive suffering the agony of not getting the woman He desires!”
These words of Sri Radharani brilliantly show how pure and selfless Her absolute love for Krishna is. Krishna is firmly bound up by the bonds of this very sweet mahabhava-love and therefore Sri Radha is the centre of His sensual desires. The following song describes how Krishna fell in love with Sri Radha:

nayana putali radha mora; mana majhe radhika ujora
kshititale dekhi radhamoy; gaganeho radhika udoy
radhamoy bhelo tribhuvana; tabe ami koribo kemon
kotha sei radhika sundari; na dekhi dhairaja hoite nari
e yadunandana mone jage; ki na kore nava anurage

“Sri Radha is the apple of My eye and Radhika shines in My heart. On the surface of the earth I see nothing but Radha and in the sky also Radhika appears. The three worlds have become full of Radha. Now what shall I do? Where is that beautiful Radhika? I cannot stay calm without seeing Her! Yadunandana Thakura thinks: “What will He (Krishna) not do out of fresh passion?”

Sri Krishna is not “a man addicted to women”. He is self-satisfied and eternally fulfilled. He is God Himself. Only pure, selfless transcendental love can arouse such intense desires as are described above in Him, and only for Sri Radha’s love He becomes maddened like this. Human thoughts, words and feelings can never conceive of Sri Radha’s pure sweet love.
One may then ask: If Sri Radha is really willing to take another woman by the hand and bring her to Krishna to be enjoyed by Him, then why does She become proudly jealous whenever She finds Krishna in Her rival Candravali’s bower, as is described so often in the books of the acaryas? To answer this, Sri Radha sings the next couplet in Caitanya Caritamrita:

kanta krishne kore rosha, krishna pay santosha,
sukha pay tadana bhartsane
yatha yogya kore mana, krishna tate sukha pan,
chade mana alapa sadhane
sei nari jiye kene, krishnera marma vyatha jane,
tabhu krishne kore gadha rosha
nija sukhe mane kaj, podu tara sire baj,
krishnera matra cahiye santosha!

“When a certain gopi is jealously angry with Krishna and chastises Him, then Krishna becomes very happy and satisfied. She shows her pride suitably and that makes Krishna happy. Then, with some endeavour, she gives up her pique. Why does a woman continue to live who knows Krishna’s heartache, but who still continues her deep anger towards Him? She’s only interested in her own happiness! Let a thunderbolt fall on her head! We only want Krishna’s satisfaction!”

When Radhika becomes jealous and angry with Krishna for going to the love-bower of Her rival-gopi Candravali, it is only meant to make Krishna taste the sweetness of that jealous mood of Hers. In Ujjvala Nilamani, Srila Rupa Gosvami gives the definition of mana, or a lover’s proud huff, as follows:

dampatyor bhava ekatra sator apy anuraktayoh
svabhishta slesha vikshyadi nirodhi mana ucyate

“When the hero and the heroine are together and they are in love with each other and want to embrace each other, but there is some mood which stops them from fulfilling these desires, that is called mana.”

Although at first sight it seems that such an obstruction is making the hero and heroine unhappy, it results in an increase of their love. Not only an increase, it keeps their love ever-fresh. Mana becomes manifest to make the stream of love more pure, more powerful and more fresh. Mana is the best means to give that which is always relishable its ever-fresh sweetness and attractiveness. Therefore mana is a reviving elixir in the kingdom of love, a wonderful magic trick! When mana arises, the heroine’s sweetness, beauty, form and taste become fresh again for the hero. Like a bumblebee, the hero becomes eager to drink the honey from the lotuslike face of his proud and angry heroine and He prays to her to remove the deep darkness in His heart with the moonbeams of her teeth as she smiles at Him (as is depicted in the song danta ruci kaumudi in Sri Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda). Finally He will fall at her feet and pray dehi pada-pallavam udaram: “Give Me your generous lotus feet!” The nectarean angry words of the heroine give the hero even more pleasure than the reverential hymns offered to Him by the Vedas. Krishna declares that in the Adi-lila of Caitanya Caritamrita:

priya yadi mana kori koroye bhartsana
veda stuti hoite hare sei mora mana

Sri Radharani says: “Sakhi! The anger of the proud consort is giving Krishna unlimited joy! He is very satisfied when she chastises Him! This consort should become pleased with Him again after He has done a little effort to pacify her, but if she stays angry with Him, although she knows about His heartache, then she’s only interested in her own happiness! Let a thunderbolt then fall on her head! In other words: a hundred curses on her! Krishna’s consorts should only endeavour for Krishna’s happiness!” Sri Radharani only desires Krishna’s happiness, nothing else. She explains that in more detail as follows:

ye gopi mora kore rosha, krishnera kore santosha,
krishna yare kore abhilasha
mui tara ghare yaiya, tare sevo dasi hoiya,
tabe mora sukhera ullasa.

“When a gopi is angry with Me, but she manages to satisfy Krishna, and Krishna desires her, then I will go to her house and serve her like a maidservant. Then I will become very happy!”

kushthi viprera ramani, pativrata siromani,
pati lagi koilo vesyara seva.
sthambhilo suryera gati, jiyaile mrita pati,
tushta koile mukhya tina deva

“The wife of a leprotic brahmana was the crownjewel of dedicated wives. For the sake of her husband she served a prostitute, stopped the course of the sun, revived her dead husband and satisfied the three chief Gods (Brahma, Vishnu and Siva).”

…

How can a person, who is thus absorbed in selfless feelings of love for Krishna, think of anything else? “How will Krishna be made happy?” Absorption in this thought is named prema.When a person is absorbed, how can he experience (either mentally or sensually) anything else? The gopis’ bodies are made for fulfilling even Krishna’s most subtle desires and Sri Radharani is the greatest of them, therefore She manifests the mohana bhava: asahya duhkha svikarad api tat sukha kamata – She will even accept intolerable suffering for the sake of His happiness. Svabhutair api tat sanga trishna mrityu pratisravat etc. When Uddhava was about to return to Mathura after having spent a few months with the gopis and the Vrajavasis in Vraja, he asked Radharani: “Radhe! What message should I give from You to Krishna?” Radharani gave the following reply in Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Ujjvala Nilamani:

syan nah saukhyam yad api balavad goshtham apte mukunde
yady alpapi kshatir udayate tasya magat kadapi
aprapte’smin yad api nagarad artir ugra bhaven nah
saukhyam tasya sphurati hridi cet tatra vasam karotu

“O Uddhava! Although we would be so happy if Krishna came back to Vraja, if He feels even the slightest discomfort by coming back here, then He should never come! Although we are suffering tremendously from His separation He should always live in Mathura, if that is what makes Him happy!” And also, if any of the five elements of Srimati’s body, like earth, water or sky, gives Krishna even the slightest pleasure by serving Him, then She wants to make Him happy with it, although She may prefer to die.

yaha pahum aruna carane coli yato
taha taha dharani hoiye majhu gata
yo sarovare pahum niti niti naho
majhu anga salila hoi tathi maho
e sakhi viraha marana niradanda
aiche milai yab gokulacanda
yo darapane pahum nija mukha caho
majhu anga jyoti hoi tathi maho
yo vijane pahum vijai gata
majhu anga tahi hoi mridu bata
yaha pahum bharamai jaladhara syama
majhu anga gagana hoi tachu thama
govinda dasa koho kancana gori
so rasamaya tanu tohe kiye chodi
(Pada Kalpataru)

“Wherever My Lord places His reddish footsoles My body becomes the ground, in whichever lake My Lord bathes I make My body the water. O sakhi! Death is the only pacification at times of separation! But when I meet the moon of Gokula, then… In whatever mirror He wants to admire His face, I make My body the reflecting light, with whatever wind He is fanned, I will make My body that wind, and whenever I mistake a blue monsooncloud to be My Lord I will make My body the sky that He can float in. Govinda dasa says: ‘O Kancana Gori! Tell Me, how can He keep His rasa-laden body away from you?’”

…

krishna mora jivana, krishna mora prana-dhana,
krishna mora pranera parana
hridoya upore dharon, seva kori sukhi koron,
ei mora sada rahe dhyana

“Krishna is My life! Krishna is the treasure of My life! Krishna is the life of My life! I keep Him upon My heart and make Him happy with My service. That is My constant meditation. Sakhi! Krishna is dearer to Me than millions of life-airs! I am happy when Krishna is happy, just as the body and the senses are pleased when the life-airs are pleased. There is no separate happiness for Me outside of this! I always meditate on His happiness, and His happiness is My only desire. The life-airs are existing within the heart, and I cannot possibly keep Him also within the heart, therefore let Me at least keep Him on top of My heart and always please Him there with My service – these are My constant concerns and these are My long-standing desires!”
The mahajanas sing in Radharani’s words:

bandhu, tomara garave, garavini ham,
rupasi tomara rupe.
heno mone loy, o duti carana,
sada niye rakhi buke

“O friend! I am proud of Your glories and I am the form of Your form! Thinking like this I always keep Your lotus feet in My heart!”

anera achaye, aneka jana,
amari kevala tumi
amaraparane hoite, sata sata gune,
priyatama kori mani

“Others have many to call their own, I have only You! I consider You to be hundreds of times dearer than even My own life-airs!”

bandhu, sisukala hoite, mayera sohage
sohagini bodo ami
sakhigana mane, jivana adhika,
parana bandhuya tumi

“O friend! From My very childhood I loved My mother more than anyone, and My girlfriends are dearer to Me than My life. (But) You are the friend of My heart of hearts!”

amaranayanera anjana, angera bhushana,
tumi se kaliya canda.
jnana dasa kohe -kaliya piriti,
amaraantare antare bandha

“You are the eyeliner around My eyes and the ornaments on My body; You are that blue Krishna-moon! Jnana dasa sings: My heart is bound to the love of Kaliya (Krishna)!”
One may ask here: “If Radharani does not meditate on anything else but Krishna’s service in the mood of a maidservant and is not interested in Her personal happiness, then how does She unite with Him as a lover, being a maidservant?”

The answer to this is:

mora sukha sevane, krishnera sukha sangame
ataeva deha den dana.
krishna more kanta kori, kohe tumi pranesvari,
mora hoy dasi abhimana

“My happiness lies in service and Krishna’s happiness in sexual union, therefore I give My body to Him. Krishna thus makes Me His lover and says: ‘You are the Queen of My life!’, but still I consider Myself to be a mere maidservant.”
“O Sakhi! Although Krishna may call Me the queen of His life, I don’t consider myself as such! I always only think that I am Krishna’s maidservant!” It is the nature of Krishna-prema that it gives everyone the identification of a servant.
Caitanya Caritamrita (Adi-lila, 6.53) states:

krishna premera ei eka apurva prabhava
guru sama laghuke koray dasya bhava

“Love for Krishna has this wonderful power: It makes Krishna’s superiors, equals and inferiors all accept the mood of servants.”

It is also so blissful that it makes the bliss of the non-personal brahman seem completely insignificant:

krishna dasa abhimane ye ananda sindhu
koti brahma sukha nahe tara eka bindu (ibid.)

In this age the Original Personality of Godhead Vrajendra-nandana has accepted the lustre and the mood of Sri Radha and is absorbed in the sweetness of the service-mood (as Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu). For Krishna’s pleasure Sri Radharani plays and unites with Him. The service gives Her more pleasure than the union. She sings:

kanta seva sukhapura, sangama hoite sumadhura,
tate sakshi lakshmi thakurani
narayanera hride sthiti, tabu pada sevaya mati
seva kore dasi abhimani

“The service of My lover is the abode of happiness and it is much sweeter than union with Him. That is shown also by the goddess of fortune. She is residing on Lord Narayana’s chest, but still she likes to serve His feet as if she is His maidservant.”

Actually, the gopis’ service to Krishna is much sweeter than Lakshmi-devi’s service to Lord Narayana in Vaikuntha, because in these human-like pastimes they consider themselves to be ordinary girls and Krishna to be an ordinary boy. With this the beauty of human-like pastimes is accomplished. The goddess of fortune left the service of Her husband Narayana’s lotus feet and went to Vrindavana to perform penances to attain the lotus feet of Sri Krishna, but she was not successful. After this Srila Kaviraja Gosvami sings:

ei radhara vacana, visuddha prema lakshana,
asvadaye sri gaura raya.
bhave mana asthira, sattvike vyape sarira,
mana deha dharana na yaya

“Lord Gaura thus tasted the words of Radha, which showed the symptoms of pure love. In that mood His mind was unsteady, His body was studded with sattvika ecstasies, and He could not sustain His mind and body.”

vrajera visuddha prema, yeno jambunada hema,
atma-sukhera yaha nahi gandha
se prema janaite loke, prabhu koilo ei sloke,
pade koilo arthera nirbandha.

“The love in Vraja is as pure as gold from the Jambu-river, and there is not a whiff of personal happiness in it. The Lord spoke this verse (aslishya va pada) to teach this love to the world and explained its meaning also in this pada.”

From the words ami krishna pada dasi until the words seva kore dasi abhimana the words of this tripadi are Radharani’s own words, explaining Mahaprabhu’s aslishya va padaratam-verse. These words are completely free from all desires for personal happiness and are revealing the symptoms of pure selfless love, which aims only at Sri Krishna’s happiness. Lord Gauranga descended to earth in the mood of Sri Radha to taste and to show the pure sweet love of Radha and the people of Vraja, and seeing it He was stunned and speechless and became greedy after tasting even more. Because of this, nowadays Gaura-lila has become the relishable subject for the devotees. One cannot understand the weight of something unless and until one puts it on the shoulders. In the same way, as soon as the viewer feels the weight of Krishna-lila he gets the bodily symptoms of sattvika ecstasies like tears in the eyes, horripilations, loss of bodily colour, shiverings etc. These moods will strike the body and mind until one cannot keep them together anymore. Because Maha-prabhu was attracted to the mood of Radha, He sometimes became deformed like a turtle, and sometimes the joints of His bones became disconnected.
The gold from the Jambu-river has no pit and it is valuable because it is genuine. In the kingdom of love personal desires can be compared to a pit. The love in Vraja has no such pit. Especially the love of the gopis and, most of all the love of Radha, is completely pure. Mahaprabhu recited this Sikshashtakam to teach the people of the world what are the symptoms of pure love and He personally explained these verses. Srila Kaviraja’s words at the end of the verses of instruction for the people of the world, se prema janaite loke, “This prema He taught to people”, mean that He taught vraja-prema to them. This sadhana for Vraja-prema is the unprecedented merciful gift of Sriman Mahaprabhu. He himself and the Gosvamis headed by Sri Rupa and Sanatana, who took shelter of His lotus feet, told the residents of the world about the raganuga-bhajana which is saturated with the following of the ragatmika-bhakti of the residents of Vraja. Suddha-bhakti is of two kinds, vaidhi and raganuga.

yatra raganavaptatvat pravrittir upajayate
sasanenaiva sastrasya sa vaidhi bhaktir ucyate

“Normally devotion to God is either generated by sacred greed or on the order of the scriptures. When there is no spontaneous inclination towards God one must follow the orders of the revealed scriptures. This is called vaidhi-bhakti.” This kind of devotion is based on fear of punishment in hell or in a lower species of life for not serving God according to the strict rules outlined by the revealed scriptures.

virajantim abhivyaktam vrajavasi janadishu
ragatmikam anusrita ya sa raganugocyate
(Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu, 1.2.270)

“The devotion of the eternally perfect associates of Krishna in Vraja is called ragatmika-bhakti and devotion that follows in its wake is called raganuga-bhakti.”

There are two kinds of ragatmika associates of Krishna, namely sambandhatmika and kamatmika-associates. The eternally perfect sambandhatmika-associates are Krishna’s servants like Raktaka and Patraka, His eternal friends like Sridama and Subala, and His eternal parents Nanda and Yasoda, and the gopis of Vraja, headed by Sri Radha, are the kamatmika associates. The devotion of the kamatmika-associates is considered to be most intimate, and this kamatmika-bhakti is again twofold: sambhog-ecchatmika and tat bhavecchatmika. The sambhogecchatmikas are the Lord’s consorts and the tad bhavecchatmikas are the girlfriends of these consorts. In this way there are two kinds of raganuga-bhakti: sambandhanuga and kamanuga. Those devotees who follow in the footsteps of the Lord’s servants, friends and parents are the sambandhanuga-devotees and those who follow in the footsteps of the gopis are kamanuga-devotees. The manjari bhava sadhana, which belongs to the division of tad bhavecchatmika kamanuga sakhi-bhava and follows in the wake of Sri Radharani’s eternal maidservants like Sri Rupa Manjari, Sri Rati Manjari etc. is the great gift of Sriman Mahaprabhu. This practice of Vraja-rasa was practised and preached by the Gosvamis, headed by Sri Rupa and Sanatana. This manjari-bhava alone is proclaimed to be the pinnacle of raganuga-bhajana. This manjari-bhava is the goal of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas who have taken shelter of Sriman Mahaprabhu’s feet.
Sri Caitanya Caritamrita (Madhya-lila, 22.156-157) states:

bahya antara – ihara dui to sadhana
bahya – sadhaka dehe kore sravana kirtana
mone – nija siddha deha koriya bhavana
ratri dine cinte vraje krishnera sevana

“There are two kinds of transcendental devotional practices. One is external and the other is internal. The external practice consists of hearing and chanting in one’s material body and the internal practice is a mental one, in which one thinks of one’s perfect spiritual body with which one serves Krishna in Vraja day and night.”

With one’s material body the practising devotee lives in Vraja (in the district of Mathura in the state of Uttara Pradesa in India), or if he is unable to do that, he lives in Vraja mentally after at least having physically been there for some time. In the physical state he follows in the footsteps of the people of Vraja like Sri Rupa and Sanatana Gosvami by following the process of hearing, chanting, and remembering the pastimes of Sri-Sri Radha-Krishna and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Within his mind he conceives of his spiritual body or a manjari-body, following in the footsteps of the people of Vraja like Srimati Rupa Manjari and others, remembering Sri-Sri Radha-Madhava’s ashta kaliya lila, Their eternally revolving eightfold daily pastimes and mentally serving the Dual Divinities as is proper for the particular time of day. The following divine aspirations will constantly awaken within the minds and hearts of such devotees:

radha krishna prana mora! yugala kisora!
jivane marane gati ara nahi mora
kalindira kule keli kadambera vana
ratana vedira upore bosabo du’jana
syama gauri ange dibo (cuya) candanera gandha
camara dhulabo kobe heribo mukha canda
ganthiya malatira mala dibo donhara gale
adhare tuliya dibo karpura tambule
lalita visakha adi yoto sakhivrinda
ajnaya koribo seva caranaravinda
sri krishna caitanya prabhura dasera anudasa
narottama dasa kore seva abhilasha

“O Radha-Krishna! O Youthful divine Couple! You are My life! In life or in death, there is no one else for me but You! In a playforest of Kadamba-trees on the bank of the Yamuna I will seat Them on a jewelled throne. When will I anoint Their bluish and golden bodies with sandalwoodpulp, fan Them and behold Their moonlike faces? I will string garlands of Jasmine-flowers and hang them around Their necks and put betelleaves laced with camphor in Their mouths. I will serve Their lotus feet on the order of the sakhis like Lalita and Visakha. Narottama Dasa, who is the servant of the servants of Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, desires these services.”

These aspirations fill the lives of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas! They spend their lives doing bhajana while holding these desires in their hearts and when they leave their material bodies they are blessed with the direct service of Sri Sri Gauracandra and Sri-Sri Radha-Madhava in spiritual bodies in the kingdom of Their transcendental pastimes.