gopendra-mitra-tanayā dhruva dhairya sindhu
pāna-kriya kalasa-sambhava veṇu nādam
vidyā mahiṣṭha mahatī mahanīya gāna
sammohitākhila vimohana hṛt kuraṅgām

O Kṛṣṇa! The sound of Your flute is drinking the ocean of patience of the daughter of king Vṛṣabhānu (the friend of the cowherdking Nanda)!
O Rādhe! You enchant the deer-like heart of world-enchanting Kṛṣṇa with the songs of Your Mahatī-vīnā! 

VEṆU-VĪṆĀ MĀDHURĪ (The Sweetness of the Flute and the Lute)

Makaranda Kaṇā Vyākhyā:

The ācāryas were relishing the sweetness of the Yugala and they were also preaching. No one reveals his own experiences; they have recorded their experiences in their books and they will be relished by their grace.
Their grace will descend on those who hear and chant the books they have written.
Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī is the most intimate maidservant of Śrī Rādhā, being the bud (mañjarī) of Śrī Rādhā’s form (rūpa).

In the present age she has descended along with Śrī Gaurāṅga to preach this confidential practise of mañjarī bhāva.
Each syllable he has written is filled with the sweetness of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava.
In this verse he describes how Śrī Rādhā and Śrī Kṛṣṇa intoxicate Each other with the sounds of His flute and Her Vīṇā.

The sweetness of the flute song is one of the four extraordinary sweetnesses of Kṛṣṇa, and through love that sweetness of Kṛṣṇa can be relished.

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says: Kṛṣṇa mādhuryasya premaikāsvādyatvām:
“Kṛṣṇa’s sweetness is only relishable through pure love.”

But not everyone tastes Kṛṣṇa’s sweetness in the same way. It is tasted according to the nature and the amount of one’s love:

āmāra mādhurya nitya nava nava hoy;
sva sva prema anurūpa bhakta āsvādoy
(Caitanya Caritāmrta):

“My sweetness is ever-fresh and each devotee relishes it according to his own love.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda writes in his commentary on this verse:

ayaṁ bhāvaḥ nahi vastu sad bhāva eva tad grahaṇe kāraṇaṁ kintu tatra indriyāṇāṁ śaktiḥ.
sā ca kāryaika samadhigamyā yathā kāryaṁ kalpyate.
ataḥ yasya yāvād indriya-śaktiḥ sa tāvad eva vastu gṛhnāti na tu sarve samānam indriya-śakter asamatvād iti yathā tathaiva pratyakṣībhūtasya man mādhuryasya sad bhāvo na tad āsvādane kāraṇaṁ kintu premaiva,
tat tu man mādhuryādyanubhava kāryaika gamyaṁ yathā kāryaṁ kalpyate.
ataḥ yasya yāvān premā sa tāvān man mādhuryam āsvādayati na tu sarve samānam.
tathā sati man mādhurya samagrāsvādana kārya samadhigamya samagreṇa premnā ekā śrī rādhikā man mādhuryaṁ samagram āsvādayati anye tu na tadvad āsvādayituṁ śaknuvanti tadvat premābhāvāt.

“It is not the presence of some object that makes it relishable, but the power that the senses may have for taking the object. We can also judge whether there is power in the senses to take the object when we see them taking the object. The more powerful the senses are, the more they can grasp their sense objects. A blind person is not able to see even an object that is right in front of his eyes. In the same way we can not say that everyone will be able to take (appreciate or relish) My sweetness, although it may be right before the eyes. Only love is the cause for relishing My sweetness, without love none of My sweetness can be relished. And again, this sweetness can be relished according to the amount of love one feels for Me. We can know whether a person loves Me, and how much he loves Me, according to the amount that that person relishes My sweetness. The prema of someone who relishes My sweetness unlimitedly is also unlimited, for other than unlimited love nothing can cause a complete relish of My unlimited sweetness. Limited love could never accomplish this.
And if somebody says, ‘Through sādhanā I can attain a love like Rādhikā’s and then I can also relish Kṛṣṇa’s full sweetness!’, then I will say:
“I alone am the Original Personality of Godhead, and no one else can become like Me. In the same way Śrī Rādhā is My complete svarūpa-śakti (innate potency), and no one else can become like Her. It is therefore not possible for anyone to relish My sweetness to the extent that Rādhikā can.”

Śrī Rādhā therefore relishes the sweetness of Kṛṣṇa’s fluteplaying to the utmost.

yaśomatī śune vāṁśī nanī de mā nanda-rāṇī;
pitā nanda śune vāṁśī ei ye bādhā āni;
sakhā-gaṇa śune vāṁśī colo goṣṭhe yāi;
kamalinī śune vāṁśī bāhira hao rāi

“When Mother Yaśomati, Nanda’s Queen, hears the flute she thinks it says:
“Mā, bring Me butter!”
When father Nanda hears the flute he thinks it says: “Daddy, I’ll bring your shoes!”
When the cowherd boys hear the flute they think it says: “Come, let’s go to the meadows!”, and when the female lotus (Rādhā) hears the flute She think it says:
“Rāi (Rādhikā), come out!”

Wherever there is prema, there are also the good qualities of patience and gravity.
Śrī Rādhā has the greatest love, and therefore She is like an ocean of patience and gravity.

Once Agastya Muni (who is called kalasa sambhava, or the pot-born, in this verse) drank the water of all the seven oceans, reducing them to a spoonful, and now the flute song of Kṛṣṇa acts as an Agastya Muni on the deep ocean of Śrī Rādhikā’s patience. On the day that She first heard the flute, Her patience vanished and She could not find out whether it was a flute song or an enchanting mantra, so She told Lalitā-sakhī:

kadambera vana hoite, kibā śabda ācambite,
āsiyā paśilo mora kāne
amṛta nichiyā pheli, ki mādhurya padāvalī,
nā jāni kemon kore prāṇe

“What sound was that, coming from the Kadamba-forest so suddenly and entering into My ears? These sweet songs are showering Me with nectar! I don’t know how to maintain My life anymore!”

sakhi he! niścoy koriyā kohi tore!
hā hā kulāṅgaṇā mana, grahibāre dhairya-gaṇa,
yāhe heno daśā koilo more.

“O sakhi! I tell you for sure: O! O! How has the patience in the mind of a housewife been grasped like this, so that I have attained this condition?”

śuniyā lalitā kohe – anya kona śabda nahe,
mohana muralī dhvani eho
se śabda śuniyā kene, hoilā tumi vimohane,
raha nija citte dhari theho

“Hearing this, Lalitā said: “This is no other sound than an enchanting flute song!
Why are You so enchanted by hearing that sound? Keep Yourself together!”

rāi kohe – kebā heno, muralī bājāya yeno,
viṣāmṛte ekatra koriyā
jala nahe hime janu, kāmpāiche sab tanu,
prati tanu śītala koriyā

“Rāi said: “Who is playing the Muralī-flute like that, mixing nectar with poison?
This is not water, it is ice, making My whole body tremble of cold!”

astra nahe mone phuṭe, kāṭārite yeno kāṭe,
chedana nā kore hiyā mora.
tāpa nahe uṣṇa ati, poḍāye āmāra mati,
vicārite nā pāiye ora.

“It is not a missile, but still it is cutting My heart as if it is a log of wood.
It is not fire, but it is still very hot and it burns My intelligence,
so that I cannot think in a discriminative way anymore.”

eteko kohite dhanī, udvega bāḍilo jāni,
nāre citte prabodha korite.
kohe śuno āre sakhi, tumi mithyā boile dekhi,
muralīra nahe ei rīte.

“As Rādhikā spoke like this, Her agitation grew and She could not keep Her heart in balance anymore, so She said:
“Listen, O sakhi, You’re seeing it all wrong! That’s not the custom of this flute!”

kono sunāgara ei, mahā-mantra poḍe sei,
harite āmāra dhairya yoto
dekhiyā e sab rīta, camaka lāgalo cita,
dāsa yadunandanera mata

“ ‘This is some great lover who is stealing all My patience by reciting a great mantra.’ Yadunandana dāsa says: “My heart is astonished by seeing all these pastimes.”

In his ṇnanda Vṛndāvana Campū, Śrīla Kavi Karṇapūra has described how the flute song is like a very powerful abhicāra (destructive) mantra that destroys the patience of the Vrajasundarīs:

sa hari muralikāyā niḥsvano’bhūd vadhūnāṁ
śravaṇa savidhacārī manmathonmāthakārī
avicala kula śīlācāra caryābhicāro
dhṛti vighaṭana tantraḥ ko’pi mantraḥ svatantraḥ

“When Hari’s flute song extends itself to the ears of the Vraja-gopīs it brings erotic agitation to their hearts. This sound destroys their patience and becomes like an abhicāra-mantra that freely destroys their social reputation and the immovable reputation of their families.”

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who descended to earth to purify the age of Kali, assumed the mood of Śrī Rādhā and experienced how Kṛṣṇa’s flute song destroyed Her patience in the following way:

………………….

āmarā dharma bhoy kori, rahi yadi dhairya dhari,
tabe āmāya kore viḍambana
nīvi khasāya guru āge, lajjā dharma korāya tyāge,
keśe dhari yeno loiyā yāya.
āni kore tomāra dāsī, śuni loke kore hāsi,
ei mata nārīre nācāya.

“We fear religious principles, and therefore we remain calm, but then the flute mocks us, making our girdles slacken before our superiors, making us give up all shyness and virtue and dragging us along by the hair.
The flute then brings us to You as Your maidservants and when the people hear about this they start laughing.
In this way the flute makes the women dance!”

śuṣka bāṅśera kāthi khāna, eto kore apamāna,
ei daśā korilo gosāi
nā sahi ki korite pāri, tāhe rahi mauna dhari,
corāra māke ḍāki kāñdite nāi

“This flute is just a dry piece of bamboo, but it is insulting us like this!
This is the condition in which the Gosāi (the master Kṛṣṇa or the flute) has brought us! What can we do to tolerate it? We just remain silent; the mother of a thief cannot cry for justice!”

Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī says:
“O Rādhe! In the same way You also enchant the deer-like heart of world-enchanting Kṛṣṇa with the playing of Your Vīṇā and with Your singing!”

vīṇā vādana saṅgīta rāsa lāsya viśāradā (Stavāvalī) –
“She’s very expert in singing, dancing the Rāsa and playing the Vīṇā.”

The Rāsa-dance is going on. Kṛṣṇa plays His flute and Rādhā plays Her Vīṇā.
The sweetness of the Vīṇā covers over the sweetness of Kṛṣṇa’s world-enchanting flute playing. Every twang hits Śyāma’s mind.
How sweetly Śrīmatī’s fingers, that resemble golden Campaka-buds, are running over the strings! The tunes of Her Vīṇā enchant the deer-like heart of world-enchanting Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa stops playing His flute to listen attentively to Śrīmatī’s singing and Vīṇā-playing and He gets beside Himself, like a deer who is enchanted by the song of a hunter and thus loses its life. Kṛṣṇa is especially enchanted because He hears how much love She has for Him.

vṛṣabhānu tanayāra, mahā dhairya pārāvāra,
viśve tāra ke jāne sandhāna.
śyāmera muralī dhvani, yemata agastya muni,
niḥśeṣete sab kore pāna.

“Who in the world knows the limits of the ocean of Vṛṣabhānu-nandinī’s great patience? Śyāma’s flute sound acts just like Agastya Muni by drinking it to the bottom!”

amṛta nichiyā pheli, ki mādhurya padāvalī,
śrī rādhāra vīṇāra saṅgīta.
viśva vimohana kārī, śrī kṛṣṇera-o camatkārī,
citta-mṛga hoya vimohita

“How much nectar these sweet songs are showering when Śrī Rādhā sings and plays the Vīnā! They even astonish world-enchanting Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s deer-like heart!”