VERSE 23:

bhājanaṁ varam ihāsi viśākhe
gaura nīla vapuṣoḥ praṇayānām
tvaṁ nija praṇayinor mayi tena
prāpayasva karuṇārdra kaṭākṣam

O Viśākhe! You are the greatest object of golden Rādhikā’s and bluish Kṛṣṇa’s love! Please bless me and help me to obtain Their merciful glances!

KṚPĀ KAṬĀKṢAḤ (Merciful Glance)

Makaranda Kaṇā Vyākhyā:

In this verse Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī prays to Viśākhā’s lotus-feet: “You are the greatest object of Rādhā and Mādhava’s love! Please help me to attain the merciful glance of your beloved divine Pair!”
Viśākhā is nondifferent from Śrīmatī Rādhikā and is the supreme object of Her trust. Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī has written:

bhāva nāma guṇādīnām aikyāt śrī rādhikaiva yā
kṛṣṇendoḥ preyasī sā me śrī viśākhā prasīdatu

“May Śrī Viśākhā, Kṛṣṇa-candra’s beloved, who has the same mood, name (Viśākhā is another name of the Rādhā-constellation) and qualities as Śrī Rādhikā, be pleased with me!”

In the Yugala-pastimes Śrī Viśākhā is Śrī Rādhā’s narma bhūmi, the abode of Her confidence. In Viśākhānandadā-stotram it is seen:

viśākhā gūḍha narmokti jita kṛṣṇārpita smitā
narmādhyāya varācāryā bhāratī jayi vāgmitā
viśākhāgre rahaḥ keli kathodghāṭaka mādhavam
tāḍayantī dvirabjena sabhrūbhaṅgena līlayā

“Śrī Rādhikā smiles when She sees that Kṛṣṇa is defeated by Viśākhā’s intimate joking words. Viśākhā is the best teacher in joking and she defeats even Sarasvatī-devī in eloquence. When Mādhava reveals His intimate pastimes before Viśākhā, she playfully beats Him with her play lotus while frowning her eyebrows.”

In his Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi-grantha Śrīpāda Rūpa has revealed Śrī Viśākhā’s very rasika and confidential message-bringing, through which she has become the object of such great love for Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava.

tvam asi mad asavo bahiś carantas tvayi mahatī paṭutā ca vāgmitā ca
laghur api laghimā na me yathā syān mayi sakhi raṣjaya mādhavaṁ tathādya
(Dūtī Bheda – 87)

Śrī Rādhā told Viśākhā: “Sakhi! You are My life-airs on the outside (i.e. My second form)! You are both very clever and very eloquent! Therefore, today you must make Mādhava attached to Me in such a way that My prestige is not even slightly diminished!”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda has made a truly incomparably relishable commentary on this verse in his Ānanda Candrikā-ṭīkā:

Śrī Rādhikā said: “Sakhi Viśākhe! You are the external manifestation of My life-airs, and therefore I have great faith in you! You are very clever and eloquent, so please go and see Mādhava on the pretext of picking flowers, but pretend not to see Him. Just speak about Me casually with your girlfriends, describing the supremacy of My form, qualities and love in front of Him.
Hearing this, Kṛṣṇa will then ask you: “Sakhi! Whose wonderful sweetness are you glorifying?”
Then you will anxiously and carefully bite your tongue and say: “No, no-one’s!” Then Kṛṣṇa will say: “Sakhi, why are you afraid? There’s no harm in telling Me! All right, then don’t tell Me, but I’m already acquainted with Her anyway!”
Then you will have to say: “Mādhava! What’s the use to You of being acquainted to Her?”
He will say: “Sakhi, I have a very confidential relationship with Her!”
Then you must say: “Get out of here, Mādhava! There’s too much difference between the Two of You! There can’t be any intimacy between You!”
He will say: “Sakhi! What difference is there between Our natures?”
Then you must say: “You are a debauchee and She’s devoted to Her husband.
You are whimsical and She is steady. You are impious and She is devoted to the demigods.
You are dirty and She takes three baths a day, after which She puts on clean clothes!”
Kṛṣṇa will then say: “Viśākhe! (As far as chastity is concerned:) I’m also a brahmacārī! In the Gopāla Tāpanī Upaniṣad I am described as a brahmacārī! And how can you call Me whimsical? I held up Govardhana Hill for seven days with steady hand!
You were all able to see that! And how am I impious? On the order of My parents I took initiation into Viṣṇu-mantra from Bhāgurī Muni! (Brāhmaṇas like) Paurṇamāsī, Gārgī and Nāndīmukhī all know this! And I’m also not dirty, I’m śuci (purity, or eros) itself!
I can prove it through your own experience!”
Then you must say: “But Mādhava! Still You are a man and She’s a married girl.
She will never look at You!”
He will then say: “Even if She does not look at Me I will be blessed by looking at this virtuous girl even from afar!”
Then you must say: “Mādhava, how will You accomplish that?”
He will say: “There is one way. Today I will personally install a deity of the Sun god in a cave of Govardhana Hill, smear that temple with My own hands (with clay or unguents) and wait for Her from a distance. Then you must take Her there to see and worship that deity. When She sits there for doing pūjā I will be satisfied just by looking at Her from the back, and if you are kind upon Me then I will be allowed just to touch Her foot soles once!”
Then you must say: “Mādhava! What reward will You give me?”
He will say: “Sakhi! What more is there to give to you? I will sell My very soul to you!”
Then you must say: “Just wait Mādhava! I will fulfill all Your desires!”, and come back to Me to bring Me there!”

From this example, the assembled devotees can understand what a great object of love Viśākhā is to the Divine Couple, that she can take part in such a verbal exchange.
Viśākhā is also one of the leading sakhīs when it comes to māna śikṣā (teaching a proud huff) or māna bhanjana (breaking that same huff). In Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi Śrī Rūpa has written:

giro gambhīrārthāḥ katham iva hitās tena śṛṇuyāṁ
nigūḍho māṁ kintu vyathayati murārer avinayaḥ
mayollāsāt tasmai svayam upahṛtā hanta sakhi yā
kuraṅgākṣī keśopari paricitā sā srag adhunā
(Sakhī Prakaraṇa – 18)

It is the day before the auspicious fullmoon-day of Śrāvana (August), called Saubhāgya Pūrṇimā, and Śrī Rādhikā is māninī, possibly on the instruction of Viśākhā-sakhī. Campakalatā-sakhī then tells Viśākhā:
“O Viśākhe! Tomorrow it is Saubhāgya Pūrnimā and the proud huff of Śrī Rādhikā will be a source of great joy to Her enemies’ party! Please realise this and pacify Śrī Rādhikā’s māna!”
Hearing this, Viśākhā replied: “Sakhi! I agree with you, but Murāri’s great indecency gives me great pain! How amazing! I’ve seen the garland that I personally strung for Him with great joy on the hair of Candrāvalī’s girlfriend Kuraṅgāksī!”

Realizing Viśākhā’s special position in the pastimes of Rādhā and Mādhava, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī prays: “O Viśākhe! Please make me obtain the merciful glances of your beloved Rādhā and Mādhava!”

he viśākhe! śuniyāchi tomāra vaibhava;
gaura nīla vapu sei śrī rādhā mādhava
yugalera tumi śreṣṭha praṇaya bhājana;
tava kṛpā kaṇā yāce ei abhājana
tomāra praṇayī sei yugala ratane;
karuṇā kaṭākṣa saha korāo darśane

“O Viśakhe! I have heard of your glories. You are the greatest object of love for the Divine Pair Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava, who have golden and blue forms. This unworthy wretch prays for one drop of your mercy. Please show me these two beloved jewels of yours, and cast your merciful glance on me!”