VERSE 3:

ALAṀ MĀNA GRANTHER NIBHṚTA CAṬU MOKṢĀYA NIBHṚTAṀ
MUKUNDE HĀ HETI PRATHAYATI NITĀNTAṀ MAYI JANE
TAD ARTHAṀ GĀNDHARVĀ CARAṆA PATITAṀ PREKṢYA KUṬILAṀ
KADĀ PREMA KRAURYĀT PRAKHARA LALITĀ BHARTSAYATI MĀM

Once Mukunda flatters me in private and cries out: “Alas! Alas!”, asking me to help Him untie the knot of Rādhā’s causeless pique, so for His sake I go and fall at Gāndharvā’s lotus feet.
When will harsh Lalitā cast crooked glances at me and rebuke me out of loving cruelty?

Stavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā:

The Gosvāmīs, like Śrī Rūpa, Sanātana, Raghunātha and Śrī Jīva are the great architects of Vraja-rasa. Just as from a single material – gold – many ornaments, such as necklaces, bangles and earrings can be made, showing the variety in designs that can be made from one material, similarly different pastimes are manifest in the hearts of the Gosvāmīs, emanating from one and the same substance – prema rasa. There is no comparison to the variety in Vraja’s erotic pastimes.

A confidential pastime of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava is manifest before Śrīpāda Raghunātha’s eyes.
In his transcendental vision he sees Śrī Rādhā being angry with Kṛṣṇa in a kuñja. Why She is angry, nobody knows, perhaps it is causeless pique. The course of love is crooked like that of a snake; and thus pique arises, with or without a cause. Sneha can become so elevated that it assumes the form of opposition and crookedness. In this new manifestation of sweetness it is called māna. Not the form is relishable, but the substance. A piece of rock-candy that is shaped like a Nimba (bitter) fruit does not taste bitter, rather it is very sweet. In the same way māna, the culmination of sneha, is very relishable.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa says in Caitanya Caritāmṛta:

priyā yadi māna kore koroye bhartsana;
veda stuti hoite hare sei mora mana

“If My beloved chastises Me in a sulky mood, that takes My mind away from the prayers of the Vedas.”

Śrī Rādhā is māninī. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has tried different means to soothe Her pique, but all was in vain. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is named Mukunda in this verse because His teeth (mukha) shine like Kunda-flowers, that are able to remove Rādhā’s pique. Mukunda also means ‘the bestower of liberation”. His sweet, rasika flute-playing frees Śrīmatī from the bondage of Her girdle, Her bodice and Her braid. But now He finds no way to please His Priyājī, so He desperately turns to Rādhā-kiṅkarī Tulasī, asking her with many flattering words to help Him soothe Śrī Rādhā’s pique.

That is the extraordinary greatness of the mañjarīs’ bhāva: The Lord of the Universe Himself humbly falls at their feet and begs them to help Him!

At the end of his Cāṭu Puṣpāñjalī Śrīmat Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda prays to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s lotus feet:

karuṇāṁ muhur arthaye paraṁ tava vṛndāvana cakravartini
api keśi-ripor yayā bhavet sa cāṭu prārthana bhājanaṁ janaḥ

“O Empress of Vṛndāvana! I pray for Your mercy again and again, so that even Keśiripu (Kṛṣṇa) will have to flatter me!” 

If You become angry with Kṛṣṇa, He will fall at my feet and pray: “O merciful girl! O Sundari! Tell Vṛṣabhānunandinī how much I miss Her and make Her pleased with Me once more!”, thus trying to please me. Thus the Nāgara, who is suffering the pangs of separation from Śrī Rādhā, displays His heartache to Tulasī while wailing and weeping. In this way the sky-like heart of Śrī Hari, the personification of bliss and remover of all distress for the whole world, becomes covered with the clouds of miserable separation from Śrī Rādhā! Rasarāja thus weeps to the kiṅkarīs and desires their contentment, knowing that if they are pleased, Priyājī’s māna will easily be removed. That is the special power of Rādhā’s maidservants! Tulasī’s heart melts of compassion when she sees Kṛṣṇa in this miserable condition; after all, she is made out of pure love for the Divine Couple; how can she tolerate seeing her Svāminī’s Prānanātha suffering like that?

Tulasī consoles Śyāmasundara and goes to Svāminī, falling at Her feet and telling Her of Nāgara’s misery and agitation. Desiring Gāndharvā’s contentment, she says:

“Oh Īśvari! Be pleased! Give up Your causeless pique! Your Nāgara Maṇi, who is dearer to You than millions of life airs, is so anxiously praying at the feet of wretched maidservants like us, I can’t tolerate the sight anymore! He is Mukunda, He can remove Your pique by showing You His smile, that shines like white Kunda-flowers! How long can You maintain this māna? What do You want to accomplish by making the Lord of Your Life suffer for no reason, tell me?”

In this way Tulasī anxiously falls at Gāndharvā’s lotus feet and tries to make Her favorable to Kṛṣṇa again.

But then fierce Lalitā understands that Nāgara had sent Tulasī to Rādhā to soften Her pique, so she comes into the kuñja and severely rebukes Tulasī, looking at her with crooked glances and saying with loving cruelty:

“Hey, Tulasi! Stop trying to soothe Śrīmatī’s pique, choosing the side of this cheater! Go, get out of this kuñja! You don’t know the character of this cheater! He always hurts my sakhī Rādhā with or without reason and He always makes Her cry!”

Lalitā rebukes Tulasī with crooked glances, then takes her by the hand and throws her out of the kuñja.

Suddenly the transcendental vision stops and Śrīpāda Raghunātha eagerly prays for more rasika chastisement by Lalitā-sakhī:

śrī rādhikāra niṣkāraṇa māna granthike; śithila korite Kṛṣṇa bolibe āmāke
māna vṛttānta vistāra śravaṇa koriyā; govinda vimarṣa vadana darśana koriyā
māna bhaṅga lāgi āmi gadgada bhāve; patita hoibo yabe gāndharvikā pade
prema kuṭila netre prakharā lalitā; bhartsanāya bujhāibe mānera maryādā (3)

“Once Kṛṣṇa tells me to slacken the tight knot of Śrī Rādhikā’s causeless pique. When I see Govinda’s sad face and elaborately hearing from Him about Her pique I fall at Gāndharvā’s feet and try to break Her pique with stuttering words. But then harsh Lalitā will come with crooked eyes of love and will teach me the etiquette of pique by chastising me.”