Śrī-Śrī Prema Pūrābhidha stotram – “Praises like a stream of love”
(Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī)

VERSE 1:

MADHU MADHURA NIŚĀYĀṀ JYOTIR UDBHĀSITĀYĀṀ
SITA KUSUMA SUVĀSĀḤ KLṚPTA KARPŪRA BHŪṢĀ
SUBALA SAKHAM UPETĀ DŪTIKĀ NYASTA HASTĀ
KṢAṆAM API MAMA RĀDHE NETRAM ĀNANDAYA TVAM

O Rādhe! When You go out to meet Kṛṣṇa in a sweet moonlit spring-night, dressed in a white flower-like dress and anointed with ground camphor, You place Your hand on the shoulder of a dūtikā (girl-messenger) as You follow Kṛṣṇa’s friend Subala. Please delight my eyes for just a moment!

Commentary by Srila Ananta das Babaji:
Śrī Raghunātha dasa has named this prayer prema pūrābhidha stotram. Just as there may be some delicious pūra, or cream, inside a cake, similarly there is a very amazing and delicious taste in this stotram: the taste of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s most delicious and astonishing loving pastimes. The pastimes of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā Mādhava are the limit of transcendental ecstatic love. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead, the embodiment of bliss and flavour. The Upaniṣads say: raso vai saḥ (He, God, certainly is delicious). This transcendental truth, which is full of flavour and bliss, is expanding His transcendentally brilliant erotic pastimes to make the Vraja-gopīs relish the sweetness of ecstatic love, to make Himself relish the sweetness of their mahā bhāva (especially Śrī Rādhikā’s mādana mahā bhāva) and to make the rasika devotees relish the transcendental flavours of these great loving pastimes, thus making them feel blessed. In this prayer Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī relishes the sweetness of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s sweet intimate pastimes in his svarūpāveśa and he shows his strong desire to see his Īśvarī (goddess) Rādhikā once more when he loses that transcendental vision. Because his use of poetry here is highly astonishing as he describes these sweet pastimes, this prayer is justly called Prema Pūrābhidha stotram.
As Raghunātha dāsa suffers from the pangs of separation from Śrī Rādhikā in sādhakāveśa (external absorption), he cries and falls on the bank of Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa. Great waves of separation are rising in the ocean of his heart. He is unable to stay alive anymore without attaining the direct meeting with and the personal service of Śrī-Śrī Rādhikā and Mādhava. Then the transcendental vision of an amazing sweet pastime cools off his afflicted heart.
It is the night of vāsantī pūrṇimā (the full moon in spring), and the white rays of the full moon illuminate the whole of Vṛndāvana. When Kṛṣṇa sees the full moon in the sky He remembers Śrī Rādhikā’s full moon-like face and, becoming very eager to meet Her, He takes His friend Subala along into the forest of Vṛndāvana on the pretext of admiring the beauty of this forest, that is delighted by the moonlight. It is the sweet Mādhavī niśā (spring night) and Vṛndāvana is illuminated as if it is daytime. When the spring arrives it is as if the naturally beautiful forest of Vṛndāvana laughs in topmost ecstasy with its numberless Mallikā-, Mālatī-, Jāti- and Yūthikā-flowers. The forest is intoxicated by the scent of these flowers, whose honey attracts so many humming bumblebees. The cuckoos sing in the fifth note and all the other birds of Vṛndāvana chirp along. The deer, hares and other animals beautify the forest by freely rambling there. Śrī Kṛṣṇa becomes greatly agitated by desires for Śrī Rādhā when He beholds all this vernal beauty, and, seeing that His friend is overcome by feelings of separation from Śrī Rādhikā, Subala starts searching for the sylvan goddess Vṛndā, so that she can swiftly bring Her from Her abode Yāvaṭa.
Seeing the moonlit night Śrī Rādhikā also becomes very eager to meet Kṛṣṇa, and just as She starts wondering how She can accomplish such a meeting, She sees Vrndā, who tells Her about Kṛṣṇa’s condition in separation from Her. This makes Her very anxious to go on abhisāra. Śuklābhisāra (nocturnal love-journey in the light quarter of the moon). The sakhīs dress Śrīmatī with white garments and ornaments (as a kind of camouflage).
How wonderfully the Mahājanas have described the decoration of śuklābhisārikā Śrīmatī:

kunda kusume bharu kabarika bhāra; hṛdaye virājita motima hāra
candana caracita rucira kapūra; aṅgahi aṅga anaṅga bharipūra
cāndani rajani ujorali gori; hari abhisāra rabhasa rasa bhori
dhavala vibhūṣaṇa ambara banai; dhavalima kaumudī mili tanu coloi
heraite parijana locana bhūla; raṅga putali kiye rasa mahābūra
pūrati manoratha gati anivāra; guru kula kaṇṭaka ki koroye pāra
surata śiṅgāra kiriti sama bhāsa; milali nikuñje koho govinda dāsa

“Her braid is filled with (white) Kunda-flowers, on Her heart (chest) shines a pearl necklace, and Her golden, desire-filled limbs are anointed (and thus soothed) with sandalwoodpulp and beautiful camphor, ointments that are both colored white like Cupid. Gori (Rādhā) is illuminating even the moonlit night as She rushes on to meet Her beloved Hari. She is dressed in white garments, that merge with Her own fair complexion. Her family members will not recognise Her in this way, even if they look at Her. She looks like a colored puppet that is dipped in mercury. The course of satisfaction of one’s desires cannot be stopped; what can Her thorn-like superiors still do? Śrīmatī wears the white luster that equals the glories of erotic meeting and eagerly comes to the nikuñja to meet Śyāma!”

In a transcendental vision Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa sees śuklābhisārikā Śrīmatī going to the trysting-grove with Vṛndā. When Śrīmatī hears about Kṛṣṇa’s feelings of separation from her, Her limbs become overwhelmed by feelings of separation also. For this reason She holds Her hand on dūtikā Vṛndā’s shoulder and rushes on. Śrī Raghunātha dāsa, in his kiṅkarī-svarūpa, follows Her like Her shadow. Advanced devotees that are most experienced in remembering these pastimes feel as if these pastimes are directly going on before them. These pastimes are unlimited, self-manifest and complete. They are not limited by time, space, or individual. They become spontaneously manifest in the hearts of those devotees whose hearts are purified by viśuddha sattva (pure existence or transcendence). Śrī Raghunātha dāsa is an eternal maidservant of Śrī Rādhā, and his experiences are clearer than clear.
Meanwhile Kṛṣṇa also becomes very restless, noticing Śrī Rādhā’s delay, and He sends Subala out to search for Rādhā and Vṛndā. Subala meets them halfway and shows them the way to the kuñja. Śrīmatī’s heart is absorbed in rasa. Suddenly Śrī Raghunātha dāsa’s vision disappears, and he prays with anxious heart: “May Śrī Rādhā, who follows Subala in the sweet moonlit vernal forest, holding Her hand on the shoulder of a girl-messenger as She rushes out to meet Kṛṣṇa, delight my eyes!”

madhura vasanta kāla, gandha puṣpe bharā ḍāla,
jyotsnāya jhalamala kore
sumadhura rajanīte, gandhe bharā vanānīte,
yāy dhani hari abhisāre

“In the sweet springtime the branches of the trees are filled with fragrant flowers that glitter in the moonlight. In this sweet night, that fills the forest with fragrance, Rādhikā goes out to meet Hari.”

śubhra kusuma sama, aṅge vastra ācchādana,
dhavala bhūṣaṇa paridhāna
subala sakhāra saṅge, hasta rekhe vṛndā skandhe,
ṭhamake ṭhamake coli yāy

“Her body wrapped in a garment that shines like white flowers and Her limbs decorated by white ornaments, She walks along with Subala in a coquettish way, holding Her hand on Vṛndā’s shoulder.”

hari abhisāriṇī, mad īśvarī ṭhākurāṇī,
kṣaṇa-kāla daraśana dāne.
mora netra cakorere, ānanda vidhāna kore,
ei vāñchā hoy mora mone

“May my goddess, who goes out to meet Her beloved Hari, delight my eyes, that are like thirsty Cakora-birds, for just a moment. This is the desire on my mind!”

 

VERSE 2:

SMARA GṚHAM AVIŚANTI VĀMYATO DHĀMA GANTUṀ
SARAṆIM ANUSARANTĪ TENA SAṀRUDDHYA TŪRṆAM
BALA SABALITA KAKKVĀ LAMBHITĀNTAḤ SMITĀKṢĪ
KṢAṆAM API MAMA RĀDHE NETRAM ĀNANDAYA TVAM

O Rādhe! Being unsubmissive, You once refuse to enter into Cupid’s abode and You turn around to go home, but then Kṛṣṇa quickly and forcibly stops You and brings You back, while pitifully praying to You. Please delight my eyes for just a moment, while Your eyes respond by smiling at Him!

Commentary by Srila Ananta das Babaji:
When the vision disappears Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa is very upset. His heart is still absorbed in the sweetness of abhisārikā Śrī Rādhā’s sweet form, which he humbly thinks is very difficult to attain. Therefore he lets Her know with an anxious heart that he wants to see Her sweet form again, be it even for just a moment. It is said of Kṛṣṇa’s form that puruṣa yoṣita kibā sthāvara jaṅgama; sarva cittākarṣaka sākṣān manmatha madana (C.C.) “Men and women, mobile and immobile, He attracts everyone’s hearts, being the enchanter of even Cupid!” Enchanted by His form the Vraja-gopikās are saying: akṣanvataṁ phalam idam na paraṁ vidāmaḥ (Bhāg. 10.21.7) “We do not know of any greater fruit for those who have eyes than the sight of Kṛṣṇa!” They also say: trailokya saubhagam idam ca nirīkṣya rūpaṁ yad go-dvija druma mṛgāḥ pulakāny avibhran (Bhāg. 10.29.40) “O dearly beloved one! Seeing Your form, which is most beautiful within the three worlds, even the deer, birds and trees are studded with goosepimples of ecstasy!”
Even Kṛṣṇa Himself is astonished when He sees His own beauty: vismāpanaṁ svasya ca (Bhāgavata 3.2.12). rūpa dekhi āpanāra kṛṣṇera hoilo camatkāra (C.C.). But even this endlessly beautiful and sweet Kṛṣṇa is highly astonished and enchanted by Śrī Rādhikā’s sweet form, so it is not so astonishing that the maidservants, who have given their lives to Her, are so upset when they are deprived of the relish of Her sweet form.

Such an anxious desire to see the sweet form of Rādhārāṇī should also awaken to some extent within the hearts of the mañjarī-bhāva sādhakas. This eagerness will gradually reveal higher and higher ecstasies of love within the hearts of the sādhakas. All sādhakas that anxiously do bhajan with the passionate desire within their hearts to experience the sweet form of their beloved deity will swiftly be blessed with Her compassion.

While Śrī Raghunātha dāsa thus cries out of lack of experience, the previous verse’s pastime appears before his spiritualised eyes. Vṛndā and Subala have taken abhisārikā Śrīmatī to the gate of the kuñja where Kṛṣṇa is anxiously waiting for Her, but when Śrīmatī sees Kṛṣṇa inside, She becomes unsubmissive and turns around to return home, asking Vṛndā and Subala: “Why have you brought Me here?” How sweet is Her mood, with which She makes Her beloved relish the most wonderful flavours!

gopīgaṇa madhye śreṣṭhā rādhā ṭhākurāṇī; nirmala ujjvala rasa – prema-ratna khani
vayase ‘madhyamā’ teṅho – svabhāvete ‘samā’; gāḍha prema-bhāve teṅho nirantara ‘vāmā’
vāmya svabhāve uṭhe ‘māna’ nirantara; uhāra vāmye uṭhe kṛṣṇera ānanda sāgara

(Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya 14)

“Of all the gopīs, goddess Rādhā is the greatest. She is a mine of jewels of love and splendid spotless mellows. She is of ‘madhyamā’-age (early puberty) and Her nature is ‘samā’ (equipoised). Because of Her deep love She is constantly opposed to Kṛṣṇa, and that unsubmissive attitude creates an ocean of bliss for Him.” Just as many kinds of valuable gems are dug from a mine, there are also many kinds of jewels of ecstatic love dug from the jewelmine of transcendental flavours, Śrī Rādhārāṇī. Because each bhāva is born from Her mādanākhya mahā-bhāva, Śrī Rādhā’s vāmya-bhāva is also able to make waves on the ocean of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s bliss. Although Kṛṣṇa is the Original Personality of Godhead and the Supreme Lord of all the worlds, He is still controlled by love – that is the great sweetness amidst His vast display of prowess. All of Rādhārāṇī’s limbs are composed of mādana mahā bhāva, the essence of love of God, and therefore Her loving movements control Kṛṣṇa the most.
Kṛṣṇa becomes enchanted by the sweet feelings Rādhikā shows as soon as She turns back and wants to return home, and in a bewildered and greedy state He stops Her and begs Her to enter the kuñja with Him anyway. Many deep emotions appear on Rādhikā’s beautiful face because of Kṛṣṇa’s endeavours and She tells Him: “Go out of the way! I’m a married girl!” Kṛṣṇa sees that Śrīmatī is externally unsubmissive, but that in Her heart She desires Him, so He forcibly grabs Her hand and brings Her back to the playgrove. Although Śrīmatī’s mouth says: “No! No!”, the twinkle in Her eyes and Her slight smile show the actual desires of Her heart. This external sign of anger and pain and internal desire is called kuṭṭamita bhāva.

stanādharādi grahaṇe hṛt prītāv api sambhramāt
bahiḥ krodhā vyathitavat proktaṁ kuṭṭamitam budhaiḥ

(Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi)

“Although the heroine enjoys it when the hero kisses Her lips or grabs Her breasts She externally shows signs of pain and anger. The learned call this kuṭṭamita bhāva.”
Śrī Raghunātha dāsa, in his kinkarī-form, is in ecstasy as he sees this wonderful display of sweet ecstatic love by ecstatic love personified. Vṛndā, Subala and Rasarāja (Kṛṣṇa, the king of relishers) are also floating in an ocean of transcendental flavours.
Suddenly Raghunātha dāsa’s vision disappears and, in external consciousness, He prays that He may see these sweet feelings of bhavamayī Rādhikā, even if it is just for a moment.

he śrī rādhe vinodini, vāmya vaśataḥ tumi,
vilāsa kuñje praveśa nā kori.
nija gṛhe gamanete, yokhon yābe se pathe,
śrī govinda bol prakāśa kori.

“O delightful Śrī Rādhe! Once, when You are overcome by feelings of opposition You refuse to enter into the playgrove and You want to go back home.
At that time Śrī Govinda shows His strength.”

patha avarodha kore, praṇati minati kore,
nibe tomāy madana kuñjete
mṛdu madhura hāsya chole, punaḥ kuñje yābe cole,
amṛta chaḍāye pade pade

“He blocks Your path and humbly prays to You before taking You back to Cupid’s grove.
Then, on the pretext of smiling sweetly and softly You shower nectar around at every step as You go back to the grove.”

he sundari! nivedana, daraśana kori dāna,
kṣaṇa kāla netra cakorere.
ānanda vidhāna koro, mahimā khyāpana koro,
e minati tuyā pada dhare.

“O beautiful girl! I pray to You: Reveal Yourself to my Cakora-bird-like eyes for just a moment!
Make me happy by revealing Your glories to me; this is my humble prayer unto Your lotus feet!”