ŚRĪ RĀDHĀ EMBODIES THE SEVEN OCEANS – part 1 (THE SWEET-WATER OCEAN)

When will Śrī Rādhā, Who is an ocean of cleverness, an ocean of anurāga rasa, an ocean of motherly affection, an ocean of very deep compassion, an ocean of elegance, a nectar-ocean of glistening transcendental forms and an ocean of play, be manifest in my heart?
(Radha Rasa Sudhanidhi , verse 18)

Tika:

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī writes in his Prīti Sandarbha that, along with a desire to please the deity, there is also a natural desire to have an intimate relationship with Him and to attain Him. The devotee who is fixed in smaraṇa attains direct association with his chosen deity within his mind. Just as the devotees have discussions with Each other in this world, so do the girlfriends and maidservants of Śrī Rādhā have them in the spiritual world! upa means ‘close by’ and upāsana means: sitting close by. The practicing devotee can stay close by them (the sakhīs and mañjarīs) in his spiritual body (siddha deha) by constantly practicing smaraṇa. This is beautiful sāsaṅga bhajana, devotion with spiritual attachment.

Now that Śrīpada has returned to his sādhaka-consciousness he feels great separation from Svāminī and prays that She will be revealed within his heart once again. It is as if Īśvarī plays hide-and-seek with her maidservants. Sometimes She shows the sweetness of Her form, attributes and pastimes and sometimes She withdraws this vision. When the devotees are separated from Her they also see Her extraordinary sweet qualities. Śrī Rādhā is as beautiful as Sapta-sindhuvati Dhāritrī, the planet earth with her seven oceans. There are seven oceans in the material world: one of salt, one of sugarcane juice, one of wine, one of clarified butter, one of yoghurt, one of milk and one of sweet water. Śrī Rādhā’s cleverness, anurāga, affection, compassion, elegance, forms and pastimes are compared with these seven oceans in opposite order.

Śrīmatī Rādhā is:

(1) vaidagdhya sindhuḥ: An ocean of cleverness. This means rasa pāṇḍitya: She is learned in the science of taste. She even teaches rasika śekhara, the king of relishers Śrī Kṛṣṇa, expertise in the amorous mellow.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself admits in ‘Caitanya Caritāmṛta’:

rādhikāra prema – guru;
āmi – śiṣya naṭa;
sadā āmā nānā nṛtye nācāye udbhaṭa

“Rādhikā’s love is the teacher and I am the dancing pupil. She always causes Me to dance different wonderful dances!”

She is the teacher of arts.

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī writes in ‘Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi’ (Rādhā Prakaraṇa 21):

ācārya dhātu citre pacana viracanā cāturī cāru cittā
vāg yuddhe mugdhayanti gurum api ca girāṁ paṇḍitā mālya gumphe
pāṭhe śārī-śukānāṁ paṭur ajitam api dyuti keliṣu jiṣṇur
vidyā vidyoti buddhiḥ sphurati rati kalāśālini rādhikeyam

Kundalatā told Gārgi: “O devi! What more can I say about the artful expertise of Śrī Rādhikā? She is the teacher by example of making pictures of mineral pigments (Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda writes in his ‘Ānanda Candrikā’-commentary on this verse: ācārya na tu kadācid api kasyacic chiṣya….evaṁ sarvatra jñeyam – “The word ācārya means that She did not learn this science from anyone, it was spontaneously manifest to Her”), She is expert in cooking, She can stifle even Śrī Kṛṣṇa in a verbal battle, She is very learned in stringing flower-garlands, She is expert in teaching the śāri and śuka-parrots how to recite beautiful verses, She can defeat even the unconquerable Ajita in the dice game, and She has a keen intelligence.”

Because of Her cleverness, Śrīmatī is compared here with the ocean of sweet water (the seventh cosmic ocean).

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