Śrī-Śrī Rādhā Rasa Sudhānidhi, verse 218

Rādhākuṇḍa Mahānta Paṇḍita Śrīmat Ananta Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja

May that Rādhā, who constantly repeats the incomparible, rasa-laden syllables ‘Śyāma! Śyāma!’, with a voice that is sweeter than sweet, from whose eyes big pearl like tears trickle, whose body erupts with goose pimpels of ecstasy and who is astonishing at every step, protect us!

VĀSAKA SAJJIKA ŚRĪ RĀDHĀ

Commentary:

In his external consciousness Śrīpāda showed great humility in the previous verse. He considered himself unqualified to see Śrī Rādhā directly, and therefore He carried the desire in his heart to relish the sweetness of Vraja, even for millions of births.

By Rādhārāṇī’s grace that entire era (millions of births) is crossed within a second, because She personally appears to Him at once. In his kiṅkarī-form Śrīpāda sees a sweet bowerforest before her eyes, which Śrī Rādhā has personally decorated and in which She waits for Śyāma to come and make love with Her. (In this role She is called a vāsika sajjikā, see Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi, Nāyikā-bheda 42)

In order to keep the fire of Her separation burning low, Śrīmatī loudly sings the sweet names of Kṛṣṇa: Śyāma! Śyāma!”

These are not ordinary worldly syllables, they are the most merciful and delicious descent of Srī Kṛṣṇa, the akhila rasāmṛta mūrti (the embodiment of all nectarine flavours). A devotee whose tongue and mind are contaminated by offenses cannot relish the sweetness of these names and cannot develop love for Kṛṣṇa, but an offenseless chanter will gradually become free from all his anarthas (bad habits) and will spontaneously be able to relish all the nectar that the holy names contain. Although the descent of love, Śrīman Mahāprabhu, was well aware of the glories of the holy name, He nevertheless inquired about it in front of Haridāsa Ṭhākura’s straw hut on the beach of Puri, and He became wholly enchanted when Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī recited the following glorification:

tuṇḍe tāṇḍavinī ratiṁ vitanute tuṇḍāvalī labdhaye karṇa kroḍha kaḍambinī ghaṭayate karṇārbudebhyaḥ spṛhām cetaḥ prāṅgana saṇginī vijayate sarvendriyānāṁ kṛtiṁ no jāne janitā kiyadbhir amṛtaih kṛṣṇeti varṇa dvayī  (Vidagdha Mādhava, Act I)

“O! I don’t know how much nectar the two syllables ‘Kṛṣ-ṇa’ contain! When that name dances on the tongue, we desire many tongues, when it enters into the earholes we desire billions of ears, and when it appears on the courtyard of the heart, it conquers all of the senses!”

Śrī Yadunandana Ṭhākura has made the following sweet padyānuvāda, Bengali song-translation:

mukhe loite kṛṣṇa nāma, nāce tuṇḍa avirāma ārati bāḍāya atiśaya nāma sumādhurī pāiyā, dharite nā pāre hiyā, aneka tuṇḍera vānchā hoy

“When the mouth takes Kṛṣṇa’s names, the tongue constantly dances and my eagerness greatly increases. My heart cannot remain calm when I catch the sweetness of that name, and thus I desire many mouths!”

ki kohobo nāmera mādhurī! kemon amiyā diyā, ke jāni gaḍilo ihā, kṛṣṇa ei du’ ākhara kori

“How can I describe the sweetness of that name? I don’t know how much nectar there is in these two syllables ‘Kṛṣ-ṇa’!”

āpana mādhurī bhane, ānanda bāḍāya kāne, tāte kāle aṅkura janame vānchā hoy lakho kān, yabe hoy tabe nāma, mādhurī koriye āsvādane

“When I sing that sweet name, then my ears expand of joy and and I desire to have thousands of ears, so that I can fully relish the sweetness of that Kṛṣṇa-name!”

kṛṣṇa du’ākhara dekhi, juḍāy tapata ānkhi, aṅga dekhibāre ānkhi cāy yadi hoy koṭi āṅkhi, tabe kṛṣṇa rūpa dekhi nāma āra tanu bhinna noy

“Seeing the two syllables ‘Kṛṣ-ṇa’, my eyes are pleased and desire to see Kṛṣṇa’s body as well. When I have millions of eyes then I can see Kṛṣṇa’s form, for there is no difference between Kṛṣṇa’s name and His body.”

citte kṛṣṇa nāma yabe, praveśa koroye tabe, vistārite hoite hoy sādha sakala indriya gaṇa, kore ati āhlādana, nāme kore prema unamāda

“When the name of Kṛṣṇa enters into my heart it expands my consciousness and all my senses are greatly delighted, intoxicated by prema!”

ye kāne paraśe nāma, se tejaye ān kāma, sab bhāva koroye udoy sakala mādhurya sthāna, sab rasa kṛṣṇa nāma, e yadunandana koy

“Any ear which is touched by the holy name will give up all other desires, and the holy name and will cause all bhāvas to appear. Yadunandana says: All sweet transcendental flavours reside in the holy name of Kṛṣṇa!”

The more love a devotee has, the more he can savour the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s holy name. Rādhārāṇī’s love is the greatest, so naturally She savours this sweetness to the utmost!

The poet Dvija Caṇḍī dāsa sings about Rādhārāṇī’s first love (pūrva rāga) as follows:

soi! kevā śunāilo śyāma nāma? kānera bhitora diyā, marame paśilo go, ākula korilo mora prāṇa

“O Friend! Who sang the name of Śyāma? Through my ears it entered into My heart and agitated Me!” nā jāni koteko madhu, śyāma nāme āche go, vadana chāḍite nāhi pāre japite japite nāma, avaśa korilo go, kemone vā pāsaribo tāre

“I don’t know how much honey there is in Śyāma’s name, and my mouth cannot give it up! When I repeat this name I become overwhelmed! How can I forget it?”

Śrīmatī does japa of the incomparible rasa-laden syllables of Śyāma’s name and sometimes loudly sings Śyāma’s name in kīrtana with a very sweet voice, while big pearl-like tears of love trickle from Her eyes. Her mind is fixed on Śyāma’s arrival. When She hears the wind rustling through the dry leaves on the trees She thinks that She hears Kṛṣṇa’s footsteps and Her hairs stand on end of ecstasy and astonishment. The maidservant can fully relish the sweet sight of anxiously waiting vāsaka sajjikā:

Rādhā, who is decorated with different transformations of ecstatic love.