diśi vidiśi vihāram ācarantaḥ
saha paśupāla vareṇya nandanābhyām
praṇayi jana-gaṇās tayoḥ kurudhvaṁ
mayi karuṇāṁ bata kākum ākalayya

O Loving companions of the children of the best cowherders (Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa)!
You always play and wander all over Vṛndāvana with Them!
Please hear about my sorrow and be merciful to me!

PRAṆAYI JANA KṚPĀ PRĀRTHANĀ
(Praying For The Mercy Of The Beloveds):

Makaranda Kaṇā Vyākhyā:

Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī is painfully eager and thus he laments out of strong desire for the service of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava. The aspirants will also get some of this eagerness while hearing and chanting the great words of the Gosvāmīs. He submits his heart’s anxious prayers to the feet of his beloved deity. I have no peace if I just practice smaraṇa or see You in visions or dreams – I want You directly! When a sādhaka hears and chants these eager prayers of the Gosvāmīs some of their eagerness will also be infused into his heart. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī is the guru of the sampradāya, and the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas do bhajana following in his footsteps.

Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī has written:

ābhīra pallipati putra kāntā dāsyābhilāṣāti balāśvavāraḥ
śrī rūpa cintāmala sapti saṁstho mat svānta durdānta hayecchur āstām
(Stavāvalī)

“The desire to serve the lover of the son of the king of the cowherd-village is like a strong rider. May he mount the spotless horse of remembrance of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī. This should be the desire of the wild horse of my heart.”

In other words: Let my desire for Śrī Rādhā’s devotional service be in faithful adherence to the longings of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. As much as the heart of a sahṛdaya (sensitive rasika) sādhaka thus associates with the mind of a great soul and attains the same feelings, to that amount eagerness will be infused into it, and to that amount he will relish the sweetness of the beloved deity.

In this verse Śrī Rūpa prays for the mercy of the loving associates of the Divine Couple for the fulfillment of his desires. Although the pastimes of the Divine Couple are all-pervading and self-manifest they can never be nourished without the aid of these associates.

vibhur ati sukha-rūpaḥ sva-prakāśo’pi bhāvaḥ
kṣaṇam api nahi rādhā-Kṛṣṇayor yā ṛte svāḥ
pravahati rasa-puṣṭiṁ cid vibhūtīr iveśaḥ
śrayati na padam āsāṁ kaḥ sakhīnāṁ rasajñaḥ
(Govinda Līlāmṛta 10,17)

“Just as the all-pervading Lord cannot be satisfied without His blissful cit-potency, so Radha and Kṛṣṇa’s great, self-manifest and blissful love cannot be nourished without Their girlfriends. Which man of taste will not take shelter of these ladyfriends?”

sakhī vinā ei līlā puṣṭi nāhi hoy;
sakhī līlā vistāriyā sakhī āsvādoy
(Caitanya Caritāmṛta)

“Without the sakhīs these pastimes cannot be nourished. The sakhīs expand these pastimes and the sakhīs make them relishable.”

Also, cowherd boyfriends like Subala, Ujjvala and Madhumaṅgala are well aware of these intimate pastimes and have therefore taken shelter of the mood of the sakhīs. This is the teaching of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi: ātyantika rahasyajñaḥ sakhī bhāva samāśritaḥ.

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī writes in his ‘Locana Rocanī’-commentary on this verse: sakhī-bhāvaḥ śrī Kṛṣṇas tat preyasyoḥ paraspara melanecchā taṁ samāśrita iti tena tasya puruṣa bhāvaś cāvṛta iti bhāvaḥ – “Sakhī-bhāva means taking full shelter of the mood of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His sweethearts as They desire to meet Each other. This mood covers over their masculine mood.”

Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī gives the following example:

pratyāvartayati prasādya lalanāṁ krīḍā kali prasthitāṁ
śayyāṁ kuñja-gṛhe karotyaghabhidaḥ kandarpa līlocitam
svinnaṁ vījayati priyā hṛdi parisrastāṅgam uccair amuṁ
kva śrīmān adhikāratāṁ na subalaḥ sevā vidhau vindati

Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī told her friend Bhaktimatī: “Sakhi! What service Subala is not qualified for? Sometimes, when Kṛṣṇa gets into a quarrel with His beloveds they walk out on Him and Subala brings them back after pacifying them with different humble words. He makes a bed of flowers fit for erotic fighting in the kuñja, and when Kṛṣṇa lies down on the chest of one of His sweethearts, tired of lovemaking, Subala serves them by fanning them!”

Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī prays: “O beloved associates of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava!”

How intimate is this address! In his Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi Śrī Rūpa says that one elevated stage of love of God is named viśrambha and that through that praṇaya is attained. Viśrambha is a technical term. viśrambhaḥ parijanena saha sasyābheda mananam (Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī). “When the lover considers himself to be nondifferent from the beloved out of great love it is called viśrambha.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī says: viśrambho viśvāsaḥ sambhrama rāhityam “Viśrambha means that faith in which you keep no thoughts hidden from each other and there is no awe and reverence.”

Therefore, the praṇayi girl- and boyfriends are the Yugala’s greatest objects of faith and trust in the madhura rasa. The Yugala Kiśora considers them to be nondifferent from Them and They always openly reveal Their most intimate thoughts to them. The sakhās and sakhīs reciprocate by serving Them accordingly. When the sakhīs watch Śrī Rādhā’s love for Mādhava awakening, they say:

rāi keno vā emona hoilā; ki rūpa dekhiyā āilā
marama koho nā moy; veyādhi ghucāo toy
nā pāri bujhite rīta; sab dekhi viparīta
sonāra varaṇa tanu; kājara bhoi gelo janu
nayāne bohoye dhārā; kohite vacana hārā
jñāna dāsa mone jāpa; kohile ghucibe tāpa

“Rāi! How have You ended up in this condition? Tell me frankly; I will soothe Your heartache! I don’t understand, I see everything opposite! I see Your golden body turning as black as eyeliner! Streams of tears flow from Your eyes and Your speech is taken away from You!” Jñāna dāsa mutters to himself:
“If You speak Your pain will be soothed!”

Śrīmatī also openly tells Her praṇayi girlfriends what’s on Her heart:

ālo mui keno geluṁ yamunāra jale;
chaliyā nāgara cita hari nilo chale
rūpera pāthāre āṅkhi ḍubiyā rahilo;
yauvanera vane mana hārāiyā gelo
ghare yāite patha more hoilo aphurāna;
antare vidare hiyā kibā kore prāṇa
candanera cānda mājhe mṛgamada dhāndā;
tāra mājhe parāṇa putalī roilo bāndhā
kaṭi pīta-vasana rasanā tāhe jaḍā;
vidhi niramilo ghāṭe kalaṅkera koḍā
jāti kula śīla sab heno bujhi gelo;
bhuvana bhariyā mora ghoṣaṇā rahilo
kulavatī hoiyā du-kūle diluṁ dukha;
jñāna dāsa kohe – dṛḍha kori thāko buka

“Why did I go to the water of the Yamunā, where this tricky lover stole My heart? My eyes drowned in the ocean of His beautiful form and I lost My mind in the forest of His youthfulness. My homeward path seems to have become endless and My heart is broken. How can I remain alive then? The puppet of My heart only remains (alive) amidst (soothing substances like) sandalwood pulp, camphor and musk. The yellow dhoti on His waist is bound by a sash. It is as if the Creator has made Him as a lash of infamy. I understand that My caste, My family and everything is being proclaimed throughout the world. I see that I have given misery to both My families (My parents’ family and My in-laws’ family.”

In the same way Subala describes Śrī Mādhava’s beginnings of love after having witnessed them:

anukṣaṇa heriye tohe āna cita;
dūra geo muralī ālāpana gīta
marama nā koho kāhe prāṇa sāṅgāti;
tuyā mukha heri jvalata majhu chāti

“I see that Your thoughts are constantly wavering! Your flutesongs have gone far away. O Heart’s friend! You don’t reveal Your heart to anyone! When I see Your (sad) face my heart is burning!”

marakata jiniyā kalevara kāṅti;
so aba jhāmara kuvalaya bhāṅti
heraite niramala locana jora;
ko jāne kaiche koroto hiyā mora
śunaite aichana sahacara vāṇī;
choḍi niśvāsa ulaṭāyala pāṇi
dūra avagāha marama abhilāṣa;
samujhiyā koho ghanaśyāmara dāsa

“Your body, which normally shines like an emerald, is now shining like a Kuvalaya-flower (darker than before). Who knows how my heart feels when I see Your spotless eyes crying all these tears?” Ghanaśyāma dāsa says: “Hearing these words from His friend, Kṛṣṇa breathed out deeply and turned His hand around. He understood that His friend had gone down (entered) deep into the desires of His heart.” When Kṛṣṇa heard Subala’s words He openly revealed His heart to him:

kāliya damana dina māha; kālindī kūla kadambaka chāho
koto śata vraja nava bālā; pekhaluṁ janu thira vijurīka mālā
tohe kahoṅ subala sāṅgāti; taba dhari hāma nā jāno dina rāti
tahi dhanī maṇi dui cāri; tahi mana mohinī eka nārī
so rahu majhu mone paiṭhī; manasija dhūme ghume nāhi diṭhi
anukhaṇa tahika samādhi; ko jāne kaichana viraha veyādhi
dine dine kṣīṇa bhelo dehā; govinda dāsa koho aiche nava lehā

“How many hundreds of Vraja-gopīs didn’t I see under the shade of the Kadamba-tree on the bank of the Yamunā on the day I subdued the Kāliya-snake, looking like a garland of lightning? I tell you, O friend Subala! Then (I was so startled that) I didn’t know whether it was day or night! Amongst them there were about two or four jewellike girls, and among them there was again one particularly mind-enchanting girl. She entered My mind and the resultant smoke of Cupid did not allow me to sleep anymore. I am now constantly meditating on Her; who knows how the pain of separation feels? My body becomes skinnier and weaker every day.” Govinda dāsa says: “Such are the ways of new, young love!”

After that follows the anxious meeting of the praṇayī girl- and boyfriends, that help with the supreme nourishment of pastimes like māna (pique), kalahāntaritā (repentance after a quarrel), prema vaicittya (separation even during union), viraha (separation) and milana (meeting). These extra-marital affairs are eternal and transcendental, and not temporary. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī said: “O Loving associates of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava! You are always rambling all over Vṛndāvana with Them! This wretched maidservant is very unhappy, because she does not have the service you are already engaged in! You are most merciful! Please give one drop of your mercy to me, seeing how much I am suffering!”

he praṇayi jana gaṇa yugala pārṣada
tomādera prāṇa-dhana śrī rādhā mādhava
yugalera saṅge nitya ei vṛndāvane;
sukhe vicaraṇa koro koriyā sevane
āmāra marama duḥkha kori vivecanā
suprasanna hoiyā sabe koroho karuṇā

“O beloved associates of the Divine Pair! You always blissfully wander all over Vṛndāvana with your heart’s beloved Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava to serve Them. Please consider my heartache, be pleased with me and give me all your mercy!”