VERSES 4-5:

MUDĀ VAIDAGDHYĀNTAR LALITA NAVA KARPŪRA MILANA
SPHURAN NĀNĀ NARMOTKARA MADHURA MĀDHVĪKA RACANE
SAGARVAṀ GĀNDHARVĀ GIRIDHARA KṚTE PREMA VIVAŚĀ
VIŚĀKHĀ ME ŚIKṢĀṀ VITARATU GURUS TAD YUGA SAKHĪ

KUHŪ KAṆṬHĪ KAṆṬHĀD API KAMANA KAṆṬHĪ MAYI PUNAR
VIŚĀKHĀ GĀNASYĀPI CA RUCIRA ŚIKṢĀṀ PRAṆAYATU
YATHĀHAṀ TENAITAD YUVA YUGALAM ULLĀSYA SAGAṆĀL
LABHE RĀSE TASMĀN MAṆI-PADAKA HĀRĀN IHA MUHUḤ

May Śrī Viśākhā, the dearmost girlfriend of Gāndharvā and Giridhārī, the loving Couple of Vraja, who is overcome with love for Them and who is the teacher of all the maidservants, blissfully and proudly teach me how to make the sweet wine of different kinds of jokes mixed with the lovely fresh camphor of luscious cleverness.

May Viśākhā, whose voice is sweeter than the cuckoos, also teach me how to sing beautiful songs. By singing such songs during the Rāsa-dance I will make the young Couple of Vraja and Their friends very happy and I can constantly get jeweled medallions and necklaces from Them!

Stavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā:

In these two verses Śrī Raghunātha dāsa offers two prayers for the Śrī Yugala-sevā to Śrī Viśākhā, gradually revealing the desires to make honey from madhura rasa, scented by different kinds of joking rasika cleverness, and to learn how to sing to her.

The Rādhā-kiṅkarīs want nothing but the happiness of the Rasika Yugala. The supreme goal of the mañjarīs is the happiness of serving the Yugala. Therefore, the Rādhā-kiṅkarī will be expert in rendering any service that may please Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava. Although Śrīpāda is a nitya kiṅkarī that is eternally perfect in her rendering of all kinds of devotional service related to Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s amorous affairs, still, as Mahāprabhu’s associate, he considers himself a sādhaka who endeavors to learn the art of devotional service and teaches the sādhakas of this world similar expertise in devotional service. How can anyone enter into the rasa rājya (spiritual world of flavour) without first becoming expert in the proper devotional service? All services have to be learned from the nitya siddha sakhīs and mañjarīs.

Śrī Viśākhā is the Śrī Yugala’s priya sakhī, who is overwhelmed by love for Them. She has the same age as Śrī Rādhārāṇī and is the abode of Her greatest love. She is equal to Śrī Rādhārāṇī in beauty, attributes and disposition. Because she is non-different from Śrī Rādhā, she is the abode of Her humor and confidence.

viśākhā narma sakhyena sukhitā tad gatātmikā
(Viśākhānandada Stotra)

“She is delighted by Viśākhā’s humorous friendship and has given Her heart to her.”

Śrī Raghunātha dāsa, in his svarūpa of Tulasī Mañjarī, belongs to the group of Viśākhā-devī, and she will learn from her how to make sweet and delicious wine of different intoxicating, joking words for the pleasure of Gāndharvikā and Giridharī. Viśākhā is like a guru in that, very experienced.

In Viśākhānandada Stotra it is written:

viśākhā gūḍha narmokti jita kṛṣṇārpita smitā;
narmādhyāya varācāryā bhāratī jayi vāgmitā

“Viśākhā makes Rādhā laugh when she defeats Kṛṣṇa with her intimate joking words. She is the best teacher in joking words and in this she defeats even the goddess of speech, Bhāratī (Sarasvatī).”

Consequently, Viśākhā is the suitable guru for learning joking words, that are related to Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s amorous pastimes, from. By learning from Viśākhā how to serve the Śrī Yugala the honey-beverage of sweet joking words, Tulasī can contribute to the continuous, ever-increasing intoxication of the young Pair of Vraja, and these joking words are again mixed with the lovely fresh camphor of cleverness! Without this cleverness in arts and playfulness, the kiṅkarī cannot please Rādhikā and Mādhava with her devotional service during Their rasika pastimes – this is the purport! The sakhīs are qualified gurus that can teach different dexterities in Yugala-sevā, and the kiṅkarī prays for expertise in each particular service to the sakhī who is most expert in this.

Śrī Viśākhā teaches Tulasī how to use joking words full of cleverness, that are fit for the madhura rasa. – ‘blissfully and proudly’. Blissfully because she engages Tulasī in the Yugala-sevā and thus contributes to Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s ever-increasing pleasure, and proudly because Tulasī is a qualified disciple, who will increase her (Viśākhā’s) fragrant fame as a guru later by displaying her expertise in devotional service.

Śrī Tulasī will also learn the best arts of singing from Viśākhā. Viśākhā’s voice is even sweeter than that of a cuckoo. The cuckoo’s sweet voice is praised by the whole world, but its body and its voice are still products of the five gross material elements, whereas the gopīs’ voices, like their whole bodies, are made of prema, and are therefore incomparable. An effort has been made to explain this with the words kuhū-kaṇṭhī kaṇṭhāda api kamana kaṇṭhī.
Tulasī wants to learn the art of most charming song from Śrī Viśākhā, whose delectable voice is made of prema and the best place to serve Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava by singing is the place where the Rāsa-dance takes place.

The eternal Rāsa-dance takes place and Rādhā and Mādhava and Their sakhīs now take some rest after dancing for a long time. The maidservants then come forward and begin to serve Them by giving Them fresh, cool water and betel leaves, and by fanning Them and massaging Their feet.

Śyāmasundara then tells Śrī Rādhārāṇī: “O Rādhe! Now I have enjoyed the sweet singing and dancing of You and Your sakhīs for so long, but I’ve heard that Your maidservants have also become very good singers! Won’t You let Me enjoy their singing and dancing a bit?”

During the Rāsa dance the gopīs, headed by Rāseśvarī Rādhā, all take care of the singing while the kiṅkarīs are engaged in the service of Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava and Their sakhīs. Now, when they are all tired, Śyāmasundara likes to hear the singing of the mañjarīs.

Śrī Rādhārāṇī knows that Tulasī has learnt singing very well from Viśākhā, so She winks at Viśākhā, who orders Tulasī, who was just engaged in fanning Rādhā and Mādhava, to sing for Them. Tulasī begins to sing in such a wonderful way that Rādhā and Mādhava feel boundless bliss and praise her again and again, giving her jeweled lockets and necklaces as rewards. Guru Śrī Viśākhā becomes very proud of her disciple Tulasī when she sees this. She has given her knowledge to such a qualified disciple! All her labor has become successful! The sakhīs are also very happy when they hear Tulasī’s singing; they also praise her and give her necklaces, earrings and lockets as rewards. Tulasī thinks she is blessed that she was able to make Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava and Their sakhīs happy in this way.

Thus Śrīpāda Raghunātha wants to learn singing from Śrī Viśākhā during the sweet vision of a transcendental pastime.

prema vivaśā sakhī śrī viśākhā nāma; cāturālī vidyāya ye sakhīra pradhāna
se viśākhā guru hoiyā nava dāsī boli; śikhāibe madhu rasera yoto cāturālī
seri parihāsa vākya ati manorama; karpūra milane yaiche madhu āsvādana
mora mukhe śuni sei vākya parihāsa; śrī rādhā govinda hṛde hoibe ullāsa (4)

“Viśākhā, who is overwhelmed by feelings of ecstatic love, is the chief of all dexterous sakhīs. This Viśākhā, being the guru, calls me her new maidservant and teaches me all different clever services in the honey-sweet amorous rasa. Her joking words are very enchanting and they taste like honey mixed with camphor. Śrī Rādhā Govinda’s hearts will be delighted when They hear these joking words (that I learned from Viśākhā) from my mouth.”

kokilā kākali jini madhu kaṇṭha yāra; viśākhā śikhābe more gāna punarbāra
sva gaṇa sahita yabe śrī rāsa maṇḍale; sabhā ujjvala koriyāche navīna yugale
prema kaṇṭhe sei sab viśākhāra gāna; śrī rāsa maṇḍale gābo sabhā vidyamāna
gāna śuni sakhī saṅge śrī rādhā govinda; ullāsete gadagada nā dhare ānanda
maṇi padaka doṅhāra divya kaṇṭhahāra; puraskāra prasādī more dibe bāra bāra (5)

“Will Viśākhā, whose voice defeats the sweet singing of a cuckoo, again teach me singing? When the Youthful Couple illuminates the assembly of the Rāsa-circle with Their sakhīs I will sing all these songs of Viśākhā there with a loving voice. When Śrī Rādhā and Govinda and Their sakhīs hear these songs they stutter of ecstasy and their bliss knows no bounds. Then the Divine Pair will again and again give me Their leftover divine necklaces as rewards”.