VERSE 6:

KĪRTIDĀ KANYAKĀ MĀTṚ SNEHA PĪYŪṢA PUTRIKĀ
VIŚĀKHĀ SAVAYĀḤ PREṢṬHA VIŚĀKHĀ JĪVITĀDHIKĀ

16) Kīrtidā kanyakā (Queen Kīrtidā’s daughter)
17) Mātṛ sneha pīyūṣa putrikā (Her mother’s beloved nectar-daughter)
18) Viśākhā Savayā (Viśākhā’s girlfriend)
19) Preṣṭhā Viśākhā Jīvitādhikā (Who is dearer than life to Viśākhā)

Stavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā:

Śrīmatī’s sixteenth and seventeenth name are Kīrtidā kanyakā and Mātṛ sneha pīyūṣa putrikā:
She is the jewel from mother Kīrtidā’s mine-like womb. Certainly Kīrtidā’s name (meaning: giver of fame) has become justified after having had a daughter like Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

kīrtigaṇa madhye jīvera kon boḍo kīrti? Kṛṣṇa prema-bhakta boli yāra hoy khyāti:
– “What is the greatest fame and glory for a living entity? It is to be called a devotee who loves Kṛṣṇa.” (C. C.).

Śrī Rādhā is the presiding goddess of love for Kṛṣṇa, and anyone who sees Her attains prema even without performing any sādhanā. Śrī Rādhā will kindly become manifest in them in the energy-form of hlādinī śakti, culminating in prema. Actually, nobody can attain prema without Śrī Rādhā’s grace, and any mother who has gotten Her as a jewel-like daughter, can justly be called ‘the bestower of fame in the world’.

Śrī Rādhikā is like a golden puppet that is showered by the nectar of Mother Kīrtidā’s motherly love, hence She is named mātṛ sneha pīyūṣa putrikā.

Actually, Śrī Rādhā is a puppet of mahā bhāva, whose each and every limb is composed of the nectar of mahā bhāva (ecstatic love).

premera parama sāra – mahābhāva jāni; sei mahābhāva rūpā rādhā ṭhākurāṇī (C.C.)

mahā bhāva is also called ‘varāmṛta’, the greatest nectar.

Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī says in Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi: varāmṛta svarūpa śrīḥ svaṁ svarūpaṁ mano nayet. –  “The best nectar is the innate treasure of mahā bhāva, and that brings the mind to its constitutional position.”

Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda writes in his ‘Ānanda Candrikā’-commentary on this verse: varāmṛtasyeva svarūpa śrīr yasya saḥ laukikeṣu svādanīya vastuṣu madhye’mṛtād adhikaṁ paraṁ nāsti tathaivālaukikeṣu prema viśeṣeṣu mahā bhāvād iti bhāvah.

“Just as nectar is the most delicious substance in the material world (in the heavens), so it is also in the spiritual sky. There it is known as mahā bhāva”. That’s why mahā-bhāva is also called varāmṛta, the greatest nectar. The deity of mahā bhāva has now descended to earth as the daughter of mother Kīrtidā.
priya eva varaṇīyo bhavati. Love makes even an ugly person look beautiful, this is a well-known saying. A mother thinks that even her most dullwitted son is more beautiful than the moon. The greater the love is, the more beautiful one finds the beloved. Because of Her boundless love, Śrī Rādhikā is the most beautiful and sweet girl, and when mother Kīrtidā showers Her with her natural motherly love, then it seems as if Rādhikā’s body is composed of this nectarean motherly love. Thus Her name mātṛ sneha pīyūṣa putrikā is completely justified.

Śrīmatī’s eighteenth name is Viśākhā savayāḥ, Viśākhā’s girlfriend, or contemporary, and the nineteenth name is preṣṭha viśākhā jīvitādhikā, which means that Viśākha loves Her more than her own life.

Viśākhā was born at the same moment as Rādhikā, and therefore she is Her confidante, the object of Her humor (trust). She never leaves Viśākhā’s company, not even for a moment and Śrī Rādhā is dearer to Her girlfriend Viśākhā than her own life!

Śrī Raghunātha opens his beautiful Viśākhānandadā stotra with the verse bhāva nāma guṇādīnām aikyāt śrī rādhikaiva yā. “Viśākhā is just like Rādhā because She has the same name, mood and attributes”.

Therefore Śrīmatī has no secrets for Viśākhā. This is explained in the commentary on verse 99 of “Vilāpa Kusumāñjalī”.

 

VERSE 7:

PRĀṆĀDVITĪYA LALITĀ VṚNDĀVANA VIHĀRIṆĪ
LALITĀ PRĀṆA LAKṢAIKA RAKṢĀ VṚNDĀVANEŚVARĪ

20) Prāṇādvitīya Lalitā (For Whom Lalitā is not different from Her own life-breath)
21) Vṛndāvana Vihārinī (She who sports in Vṛndāvana)
22) Lalitā Prāṇa Lakṣaika Rakṣā (She who is protected with hundreds of thousands of Lalitā’s lifebreaths
23) Vṛndāvaneśvarī (The Queen of Vṛndāvana).

Stavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā:

In this verse Śrīpāda reveals four names of Śrīmatī. For the 20th name he says: prāṇādvitīya lalitā – “Lalitā is non-different from Her life-breath” and for the 22nd he says: lalitā prāṇa lakṣaika rakṣā – “She is protected with 100,000 life airs of Lalitā.”

Of all the thousands of sakhīs, Lalitā-devī is known as Śrī Rādhā’s dearmost girlfriend. She is also the chief of the famous eight sakhīs.

atrādya lalitādevī syād aṣṭāsu varīyasī
priya sakhyā bhavej jyeṣṭhā sapta viṁśati vāsaraiḥ
anurādhatayā khyātā vāma prakharatāṁ gatā
gorocanā nibhāṅgī sā śikhi pincha nibhāmbarā
jātā mātari sāradyāṁ pitur eṣā viśokataḥ
patir bhairava nāmāsyāḥ sakhā govardhanasya yaḥ
(Rādhā Kṛṣṇa Gaṇoddeśa Dīpikā, 81)

“Lalitā is the chief of all of Rādhikā’s eight girlfriends, she is 27 days older than Her, and she’s also known as Anurādhā (She who follows Rādhā). Her nature is harsh and unsubmissive, Her bodily luster shines like Gorocana-pigments, and her dress resembles the shades of peacock feathers. Her mother is named Sāradī, her father Viśoka, and her husband, who is a friend of Govardhana Malla, is named Bhairava.”

Lalitā is nondifferent from Rādhā’s life-breath, and she is the leader (adhikā) of all the sakhīs.

In Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi it is said: prema saubhāgya sād guṇyādyādhikād adhikā sakhī:

“The ādhikya sakhīs are the most qualified and the most beautiful, and their love is the greatest.”

Lalitā is nondifferent from Rādhikā’s life-breath, because she loves Her the most. Lalitā feels even the slightest inconvenience that Rādhā may feel, and that also gives her great pain then! In Rādhā’s party, Lalitā is adhika prakharā, the most ‘harsh type’ (this is another manifestation of ecstatic love).

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has given the following example in his ‘Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi’:

sumadhye mā yāsīs tvam adhikam amībhir mṛdulatāṁ
madasyopādānaiḥ śaṭha kula guror jalpa madhubhiḥ
ayi krīḍā-lubdhe kim u nibhṛta bhṛṅgendra bhaṇite
kuḍuṅge rādhāyā klamam api visasmāra bhavatī

“One day Śrī Rādhā was angry with Kṛṣṇa, so Kṛṣṇa plaintively convinced a sakhī named Sumadhyā to go and appease Her for Him. Then Lalitā rebuked Sumadhyā, saying: “Don’t you know Kṛṣṇa’s character? He’s the master of all cheaters; don’t become softened by His honey-sweet words! O Krīḍā-lubdhe (girl who is eager to enjoy)! Have you forgotten how much Śrīmatī suffered in this kuñja after having been enchanted by His deceitful words?”

From this verse we can clearly understand how much pain Lalitā feels when Śrī Rādhā is suffering, and why she is like Śrīmatī’s very life!

In this world people keep their life-airs very carefully within their bodies, but in the world of prema it is quite the opposite. Lalitā is the life-air, and Rādhā is the body, therefore Rādhā should protect Lalitā, but instead Lalitā protects Śrī Rādhā with hundreds of thousands of life-airs! This is a very special wonder! Lalitā is fully dedicated to Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s protection in all dangers, while She goes on abhisāra (rendez-vous), while She is separated from Kṛṣṇa and when She gets in trouble with Her superiors.

When we see her loving endeavours it appears as if Śrīmatī is protected through 100,000 life airs by Lalitā.

Śrī Rādhā 21st name is Vṛndāvana vihāriṇī.

There are always so many obstacles on the path of the ‘extra-marital’ lovers Rādhā and Mādhava – many obstacles, a hidden desire and the fact that the beloved is hard to obtain.

There are obstacles at home, obstacles in the forest, obstacles from people, and obstacles from the mind.
They must conquer all these obstacles from the stage of pūrva rāga (first love), if They want to establish a meeting. Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s meeting is not a pleasant, comfortable meeting like the one between Kṛṣṇa and His lawfully wedded queens in the city of Dvārakā.

This precious love always wants to pull Them over the forest paths. The gopīs will forget about themselves and go to the Yamunā-river on the pretext of fetching water after they hear Kṛṣṇa’s flute in that direction. In this way, Vṛndāvana-enjoyments continue all of the time.

In Vṛndāvana, the first meeting is in the Mahā Rāsa. After that there are Rādhā and Mādhava’s precious meeting places, like the forest groves and the grove-cottages (nikuñja mandira) in Vṛndāvana, grown over by trees and vines. Rādhārāṇī always sports in Vṛndāvana, hence She is named Vṛndāvana vihāriṇī.

Śrīmatī’s 23rd name is Vṛndāvaneśvarī.

In the Padma Purāṇa (Pātāla khaṇḍa 46/38) it is said: vṛndāvanādhipatyaṁ ca dattaṁ tasyai prasīdatā – “When Kṛṣṇa was pleased with Rādhā, He made Her the Queen of Vṛndāvana”.

On the basis of these Purāṇic words, the Gosvāmīs have elaborately described how Śrī Rādhārāṇī was crowned as Vṛndāvaneśvarī with an abhiṣeka.

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda has described Śrī Rādhā’s sovereignty over Vṛndāvana in Stavamālā’s ‘Rādhāṣṭaka’, in Dāna Keli Kaumudī and in Premendu Sudhā-satra.

Śrīmat Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmīpāda has described Śrī Rādhā’s royal Vṛndāvana-abhiṣeka in his Mukta Carita, in Vraja Vilāsa Stava (61) and in verse 87 of ‘Vilāpa Kusumāñjali’.

Śrīmat Jīva Gosvāmīpāda used all their evidence and acted according to Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda’s wish by elaborately describing Śrī Rādhā’s Vṛndāvana-rājyābhiṣeka in his vast poem ‘Mādhava Mahotsava’. Thus he blessed Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s beloved devotees by serving them flavours they never relished before.

Not only in the world of rasa Rādhikā is the supreme goddess, also in the world of tattva (spiritual truth). It’s therefore easily understood that She is the Queen of Vṛndāvana.

In the Bṛhad Gautamīya Tantra Kṛṣṇa says: sattvaṁ tattvaṁ paratvaṁ ca tattva trayam ahaṁ kila tri-tattva rūpiṇī sāpi rādhikā prāṇa-vallabhā: “Just as I am certainly the Supreme Existence, the direct and indirect cause and the Supreme Truth in all three aspects, so is Rādhikā, My heart’s lover!”

Just as Śrī Kṛṣṇa is called the Supreme Personality of Godhead in Bhagavad Gītā and Śrīmad Bhagavata, similarly Śrī Rādhā is called the Supreme Energy and the Supreme Goddess in scriptures like the Nārada Pañcarātra and the Gautamīya Tantra. Therefore, both in aiśvarya and mādhurya Śrī Rādhā is the Queen of Vṛndāvana!

VERSE 8:

VRAJENDRA GṚHIṆĪ KṚṢṆA PRĀYA SNEHA NIKETANAM
VRAJA GO GOPA GOPĀLĪ JĪVA MĀTRAIKA JĪVANAM

24) Vrajendra gṛhiṇī Kṛṣṇa prāya sneha niketana: The Queen of Vraja (Yaśodā) loves Her as much as she loves Kṛṣṇa.
25) Vraja go-gopa-gopālī jīva mātraika jīvana: Who is the only life of the cows, cowherd boys, cowherd girls and indeed all the creatures of Vraja.

Stavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā:

Śrī Rādhā’s 24th name, vrajendra gṛhiṇī Kṛṣṇa prāya sneha niketanam, means that the queen of Vraja, Yaśomati, loves Her as much as she loves Kṛṣṇa.

The actual transcendental truth is: rādhā-Kṛṣṇa eka ātmā dui deha dhari; anyonye vilase rasa āsvādana kori (C.C.) -“Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one soul who assume two bodies to taste the mellows of Each other’s pastimes.”

Prema is the touchstone with which we can recognise the actual truth. No matter how the truth appears before us, prema will help us to grasp it.

Ever since mother Yaśodā saw Śrī Rādhāraṇī, she loved Her as much as she loved her own child Kṛṣṇa. She asks Śrīmatī to come to her home Nandīśvara eternally, every morning, to cook Kṛṣṇa’s breakfast.

Mother Yaśodā feels as much pain when she cannot see Rādhā as when she cannot see Kṛṣṇa. As soon as she sees Rādhā, she immediately comes and embraces Her, and Śrīmatī then melts in her arms like a puppet of butter. Mother Yaśodā then sprinkles Rādhā with her loving tears, smells Her head, kisses Her and cuddles Her, as if She is her own daughter-in-law. Śrīmatī then starts to cry and says with faltering voice: “Ma! I am yours!”

Actually, Śrīmatī is Yaśodā’s daughter-in-law, but Yogamāyā takes care that mother Yaśodā does not realize this, so that Kṛṣṇa’s enjoyment of extra-marital love will not be spoiled. That is why, when Śrīmatī has cooked and Śrī Kṛṣṇa has eaten, Śrīmatī and Her sakhīs have eaten and taken rest and Śrīmatī wants to return home, mother Yaśodā embraces Her and weeps –

o mora bāchani dhani, satīkula śiromaṇi,
kṣaṇeka viśrāma koro sukhe
nā hoye uchara belā, sakhīgaṇa koro khelā,
karpūra tāmbūla dāo mukhe
rūpa guṇa kāja tora, parāṇa nichani mora,
śutiyā svapane dekhi sadā
toma heno guṇa nidhi, āmāre nā dilā vidhi,
hṛdaye rahiyā gelā sādhā
dhātāra māthāye bāja, ye heno koriyā kāja,
āmāre bhāṅgilā kibā doṣe
bāchāra vivāha tāre, heno nārī nāhi pure,
cāhiyā nā pāi kon deśe
yaśodāra viṣāda kothā, śuni vṛṣabhānu sutā,
vadane vasana diyā hāse
pulake pūralo gā, mukhe nāhi sare rā,
bhāsilo nārīra sneha rase

“O my precious little girl, O crest-jewel of chaste girls, happily take rest for a while. It is not so late, so play a little with Your friends and enjoy some betel leaves with camphor! Your form, qualities and activities soothe my heart and I always dream of them when I sleep. My heart feels pain when I wonder why Fate did not bestow a ocean of virtues like You upon me. Let a thunderbolt fall on the head of the Creator (Fate) for doing this! What wrong have I done to be devoid of a daughter like You? I cannot find any girl in the whole area as suitable to marry to my boy as You! Hearing Yaśodā’s sad words, Vṛṣabhānu’s daughter laughed naughtily, covering Her smile with Her veil. Both were floating in the nectar-stream of female affection, their bodies studded with goose bumps and their mouths unable to make any sound out of ecstasy”.

Śrīmatī’s 25th name is vraja go gopa gopālī jīva mātraika jīvanam: She is not only the beloved of mother Yaśodā, She is also the only life for all the cows, cowherd boys and cowherd girls of Vraja. The cowherders, the cowherd women, the cows and indeed every creature in Vraja loves Śrī Kṛṣṇa. As soon as love for Kṛṣṇa awakens in the heart, that love becomes the very life of the devotee. Śrī Narottama dāsa sings:

jala vinu yeno mīna, duḥkha pāy āyu-hīna
prema vinu ei mata bhakta
cātaka jalada gati, emata ekānta rīti,
yei jāne sei anurakta
lubadha bhramara yeno, cakora candrikā teno,
pativratā jana yeno pati.
anyatra nā cole mana, yeno daridrera hema,
ei mata prema-bhakti rīti

“Without prema, the devotee feels miserable and lifeless like a fish out of water. He is exclusively attached to prema, just as a Cātaka bird only lives on rain-water. The devotee remains fixed in Kṛṣṇa, just as a bumble bee is in the honey, the Cakora-bird is in the moonlight, the chaste wife is in her husband and the poor man is in gold. He does not go anywhere else.”

Śrī Rādhā is the embodiment of love for Kṛṣṇa. As Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s formless pleasure-potency She remains in the Lord’s heart and in this energetic form She also enters the hearts of all the devotees, culminating there into prema. That Śrī Rādhā is the presiding goddess of the hlādinī śakti and is its embodiment. Therefore She is the only life-support for everyone in Vraja.