The heart of Śrī Raghunātha, which is suffering from separation, has gone once more to the kingdom of līlās.

In his svarūpāveśa he helps Svāminī to reach the bank of Rādhākuṇḍa to meet Kṛṣṇa there. Premamayī is so much in ecstasy that She must lean on Tulasī’s shoulder while they rush forward. How wonderfully beautiful this is!

coloite caraṇera, saṅge colu madhukara,
makaranda pāna ki lobhe
saurabhe unamata, dharaṇī cumbaye koto,
yāhā yāhā pada-cihna śobhe

“Bumble bees are flying along with Her moving lotus feet. How greedy they are to drink the honey from these lotus feet! Maddened by their fragrance they kiss the ground, wherever Her footprints are beautifying it.”

kanaka latā jini, jini saudāminī
vidhira avadhi rūpa sāje
kiṅkiṇī raṇaraṇi, baṅkarāja dhvani,
coloite sumadhura bāje

“She defeats the golden vine, She defeats the lightning strike! The Creator has created the limit of bodily beauty! How sweetly Her waist bells and ankle bells jingle while She walks.”

haṁsa-rāja jini, gamana sulāvaṇi,
avalambana sakhī-kāndhe
ananta dāse bhaṇe, cololi nikuñja vane,
pūrāite śyāma mana sādhe

“Her gait defeats the loveliness of the king of swans as She leans on the shoulder of a girlfriend. Ananta dāsa sings: “She has gone to the nikuñja-forest to fulfill Śyāma’s desires.”

In this way, Tulasī takes Premamayī along to the saṅkeṭa-kuñja (trysting-grove) on the bank of Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa.

Still Nāgara has not arrived in the kuñja. Śrīmatī waits for Her Nāgara in the condition of a Vāsaka Sajjikā:

svavāsaka vaśāt kānte sameṣyati nijaṁvapuḥ;sajjīkaroti gehaṁ ca yā sā vāsaka sajjikā
ceṣṭā cāsyāḥ smarakrīḍā saṅkalpo vartma-vīkṣaṇam; sakhī-vinoda vārtā ca muhur dūtīkṣanādayaḥ

“A heroine who has received a hint from her hero to meet him in a certain trysting-place, who eagerly waits there for him and meanwhile decorates herself and the grove is called a vāsaka sajjikā. The activities of such a heroine are planning the erotic games with her hero, looking out for him to come, discussing blissful topics with her girlfriends and constantly looking out for girl-messengers to come.” (Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi, Nāyikā-bheda 76, 77)

Nāgara is too late and Tulasī looks out for Him again and again. The practising rasika devotees of Vṛndāvana should also always meditate on themselves as assisting Svāminī in this way, always staying by Her side. The practising devotee should always float along on the waves of Svāminī’s happiness and distress. Without being completely absorbed in svarūpāveśa these feelings cannot be experienced.

“Although a person like me is actually living in Vṛndāvana he does not have any experience. I am always absorbed in bodily consciousness. Not even in dreams I think of myself as Rādhā’s maidservant! There’s no other way than surrender”.

Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas should take exclusive shelter of the lotus feet of the gopīs.

vrajapura vanitāra, caraṇa āśraya sāra, koro mana ekānta koriyā
(Ṭhākura Mahāśaya) –  “O mind! The essential thing is to take exclusive shelter of the lotus feet of the Vraja-gopīs!”

Śrīpāda Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī has said:

kadā syāṁ śrī rādhe cakita iha vṛndāvana bhuvi
(Rādhā Rasa Sudhānidhi 211) –  “O Śrī Rādhe! When can I live in Vṛndāvana in total (devotional) anxiety?”

Śrī Kṛṣṇa is late for His appointment and Svāminī becomes more and more upset.

anāgasi priyatame cirayaty utsukā tu yā; virahotkaṇṭhitā bhāva vedibhiḥ sā samīritā
asyās tu ceṣṭā hṛttāpo vepathur hetu-tarkaṇam; aratir vāṣpa mokṣaśca svāvasthā kathanādayaḥ

“When the innocent beloved did not show up for a long time the heroine becomes very anxious out of separation from Him. In that condition she is called an ‘utkaṇṭhitā nāyikā’ by the knowers of rasa. Her activities consist of a burning heart, shivering, speculating about why he does not show up, illness, shedding tears and speaking about her own situation.”
(Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi Nāyika 79, 80)

The Mahājanas describe the lamentations of an ‘utkaṇṭhitā’ as follows:

bandhura lāgiyā, śeja vichāyaluṁ,
gāṅthilu phulera mālā
tāmbūla sājāluṁ, dīpa ujāraluṁ,
mandira hoilo ālā

soi, pāche e sob hoibe ān!
se heno nāgara, guṇera sāgara,
kāhe nā milalo kāna

“I made the bed for My lover and strung a flowergarland for Him. I prepared betel leaves and I lit the lamps. I made the bower-house very beautiful; but, O My friend, all this will turn out differently! I will not meet My hero, Who is an ocean of attributes!”

śāśuḍi nanade, vañcanā koriyā,
āiluṁ gahana vane
boḍo sādha mone, e rūpa yauvane,
milabo bandhura sane

patha pāne cāhi, koto nā rahibo,
koto prabodhibo mone,
rasa śiromaṇi, āsibo ekhoni,
dīna caṇḍī dāsa bhaṇe

“I deceived My mother-in-law and My sister-in-law to come into the deep forest, and with great effort I decorated My beautiful youthful body to meet My lover. I’m looking down the road for Him to come, telling My mind that this crown-jewel of relishers will certainly come now. Thus sings the wretched Caṇḍī Dāsa.”

Kṛṣṇa, while on the way to meet Rādhikā, had met Śaibyā and Padmā, the girlfriends of Rādhikā’s rival Candrāvalī, who had taken Him to Candrāvalī’s kuñja, where a bed of jasmine-flowers made by Candrāvalī’s own hands was waiting for Him. When Śrī Rādhikā, waiting in Her own kuñja, became desperate, the wind of Vṛndāvana thought to himself: “Let me see what I can do!”, and became Rādhikā’s servant by carrying Her sublime fragrance into Candrāvalī’s kuñja and straight into Madhusūdana’s nostrils.
Śyāmasundara became startled, suddenly got up from Candrāvalī’s hand-made bed of flowers and told her: “Dearest One! I completely forgot! My mother told Me to do something for her and I just went off without finishing that duty! I have to go right now!” Naive Candrāvalī, seeing Kṛṣṇa’s anxiety, said: “Go, and come back as soon as You’ve finished Your duties!”

Our Hero then promptly followed Rādhikā’s excellent fragrance, like a bee (madhupam iva) who leaves all the other flowers to search for a blooming golden honey-filled lotus flower. That is the glory of Her exclusive love!

Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī says in Rādhārāṇī’s name:

tatrāpi mayyatitarām anurajyatīti loka pratītir api na hy anṛtā kadāpi
yat prema merum iva me manute parāsāṁ no sarṣapaiś tri caturair api tulyam eṣaḥ

“Although all the gopīs have causeless love for Kṛṣṇa, still He is mostly attached to Me. All the people know that. That can never be false. He considers My love to be endless like the Mount Meru, whereas He does not compare the love of the other gopīs for Him even with three or four mustard-seeds.” (Prema Sampuṭa – 62)

Actually, Candrāvalī has been made a rival equal to Śrī Rādhā in the līlā by rasa itself just to make Kṛṣṇa relish Śrī Rādhā’s different delectable moods like utkaṇṭhā, māna (pique), and kalahāntaritā (girl repenting having picked a quarrel). Actually Śrī Rādhā’s love is beyond comparison.

Tulasī stands at the gate of the kuñja when Kṛṣṇa arrives there and says: “Tulasi, here! I have come! Arrange for My meeting with Rādhā!” Tulasī admonishes Him by saying: “Where do You come from? Where have You been all this time? Svāminī is very upset and is crying because of You! Tell Me the truth, otherwise I won’t let You meet Her!” Kṛṣṇa shortly and honestly explains to Tulasī why He is delayed, and when Tulasī hears that He has been to Candrāvalī’s kuñja, she becomes very upset and says: “Oḥ! That’s why You’re so late! Go! Go there where You came from! I cannot let You meet Her! I will sing Your glories to Svāminī!”
Our Hero then offers hundreds of prayers to Tulasī with folded hands until she finally allows Him to come in and see Rādhikā. How complete is the mañjarīs’ control over Śrī Kṛṣṇa!
Because Nāgara is making so many endeavours, and because Nāgara and Nāgarī-maṇi are so eager to meet, Tulasī finally allows Them to meet. Tulasī’s heart is filled with pride when she sees that the love-fragrance of Svāminī drew Nāgara right out of Candrāvalī’s kuñja back into Her own domain.

“Kṛṣṇa cannot stay anywhere else for even a moment without my Svāminī. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is ours!”

This pride fills Tulasī’s heart.

garvam ācakṣate darpaṁ vihārotkarṣa sūcakam
(U.N. Harivallabhā 26) – “This is pride over seeing the superiority of Kṛṣṇa’s enjoyment with the heroine (of one’s own party over Kṛṣṇa’s enjoyment with the enemies’ party).”

In his ‘Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi’ (Hari Vallabhā 27), Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī gives the following example of this pride:

vidmaḥ puṇyavatī śikhāmaṇim iha tvām eva harmye yayā
nīyante śarad indu dhāma dhavalāḥ svapnotsavena kṣapāḥ
ko’yaṁ naḥ phalati sma karma viṭapī vṛndāṭavī kandare
śyāmaḥ ko’pi karī karoti hṛdayonmādena nidrā kṣayam

“One day the gopīs were listening to Nāndīmukhī (a learned brāhmaṇa-girl) reciting the Purāṇas. When Padmā saw her rival Lalitā dozing off, she sarcastically laughed, so Lalitā told her: “Sakhi! You are the crown jewels of fortunate girls, because you can happily sleep on your balconies in the moonlit autumn-nights! But we don’t know when we can enjoy such results of virtuous works (from previous lives) ourselves! Whenever we fall asleep in the caves of Vṛndāvana, some mad blackish elephant (Kṛṣṇa) forcibly wakes us up to be with us. We are much more attractive to Him than you!”

Tulasī’s heart is filled with similar pride over the superiority of Rādhā’s own party over the party of Her enemies.

– From the tika of Srila Ananta das Babaji and Srila Ananda Gopal Goswami to Sri Sri Vilapa Kusumanjali