TAN NAḤ PRATIKṢAṆA CAMATKṚTA CĀRU LĪLĀ
LĀVAṆYA MOHANA MAHĀ MADHURĀṄGA BHAṄGI
RĀDHĀNANAṀ HI MADHURĀṄGA KALĀ NIDHĀNAM
ĀVIRBHAVIṢYATI KADĀ RASA SINDHU SĀRAM

When will Śrī Rādhā’s moon-like face, that is like the matchless quintessence of the ocean of nectar, and whose ever astonishing playful elegance causes Mohana (enchanting Kṛṣṇa) to stand in His sweet threefold bending form, become manifest to us?

ŚRĪ RĀDHĀ’S FACE IS THE QUINTESSENCE OF THE OCEAN OF RASA:

Commentary: In the previous verse Śrīpāda saw his Iśvarī as the nikuñja devī. Devī means ‘the worshiped’. It is even more astonishing when Rasikendra Maulī (Kṛṣṇa, the king of relishers) worships Rādhikā in the kuñja as when the sakhīs and mañjarīs do it. She is called devī because even rasika śekhara serves Her. When Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa enter the kuñja, Kṛṣṇa lovingly wants to serve Priyaji in different ways, so the maidservants bring Him a pitcher of water. With the water from that pitcher Kṛṣṇa washes Priyājī’s lotus-feet and dries them off with His yellow dhoti. The maidservants understand Śyāma’s mind and they bring flowers. Kṛṣṇa offers a handful of flowers at Svāminī’s lotus-feet, chants jaya premamayi! and then offers His obeisances while tears of love flow from His eyes.
pāda sparśa rasotsavaṁ praṇatibhiḥ (verse 61):
Touching Rādhikā’s feet and bowing down to them is like a festival of rasa for Kṛṣṇa. How beautiful Śrīmati’s face is when She looks at Kṛṣṇa’s face at that time! How many amorous pastimes Her beautiful face reveals! How enchanting are the movements of Her eyes and Her eyebrows!

Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī explains the meaning of the word lāvaṇya which is used in the text, as follows in his ‘Ujjvala Nilamani’:

muktāphaleṣu chāyāyās taralatvam ivāstarā
pratibhāti yad aṅgeṣu lāvaṇyam tad ihocyate

“Lāvaṇya is a luster that shines in the limbs as if it shines from within pearls.” Streams of luster gush from Śrīmati’s face. How wonderful are the movements of Her eyes and eyebrows. They show the bhāva bhūṣaṇa (emotional ornament) called lalita.

vinyāsa bhaṅgi raṅgānāṁ bhrū-vilasa manoharā
sukumāra bhaved yatra lalitaṁ tad udīritam

“The lalita alaṅkāra is shown by a tender girl who makes playful enchanting gestures with the eyebrows and all Her limbs.”

Just as the moon was churned from the Milkocean, Rādhā’s spotless moon-like face was churned from the ocean of transcendental love mellows. These mellows are most precious and powerful, and Śrī Rādhā’s moon-like face is the quintessence of the entire ocean of them! This face is not a material luminary, it glows with the taste of mahā-bhāva. It is useless to try to compare Her face with the moon, Her eyes with lotus-flowers and Her nose with sesameflowers. Śrī Rādhikā can be understood only through pure love, and not through any use of words! One can also read this verse in the following way: “When will the moon-like face of Śrī Rādhā, that causes even Śyāmasundara, Who is astonishing at every moment and Who enchants the whole world, to stand in His beautiful threefold bending form, be manifest to me?” The maidservants have seen that Śyāmasundara’s elegance is astonishing at every moment while He worships nikuñja devī Rādhikā. Syama’s pastimes are most astonishing when He submits Himself to Śrīmatī’s service! All of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are sweet, but His amorous pastimes with Śrī Rādhā and extra special. The Gaṅga fountain of the maidservants’ ecstatic love flows in innumerable directions when they see how Śyāma submits Himself to Svāminī during Their amorous sports.
Why does Śyāma show His threefold bending form? Because He is enchanted by seeing the sweetness of Rādhā’s face and He tries to touch the edge of Her skirt with His heel. He slightly bends down to the left, casting crooked glances. He stands in His threefold bending form as if He is unable to bear the weight of tasting Rādhā’s sweetness! The devotees can taste Kṛṣṇa’s sweetness according to the amount of love they feel for Him.

In Caitanya Caritāmṛta Śrī Kṛṣṇa says:

āmāra mādhurya nitya nava nava hoy;
sva sva prema anurūpa bhakte āsvādoy

“My sweetness is ever-fresh and My devotees taste this according to their love for Me.”

Since Śrī Rādhā has the greatest love for Kṛṣṇa, She can taste His sweetness to the utmost and the more She loves Him, the sweeter He appears to Her.
The word kalā nidhāna (abode of arts) contains the syllables ka and la, the key to the important kāma-bīja (transcendental seed of desire, the invocatory sound of the kāma gāyatrī and gopāla mantras). The limbs of Śrī Kṛṣṇa are present in each of the 24 and a half syllables of the kāma gāyatrī mantra (in which Kṛṣṇa is the transcendental Cupid) and they fill the world with desire, just as the moonrays do. But by seeing Rādhā’s moon-like face even Kṛṣṇa is pierced by Cupid’s arrows.
When Rādhā’s moon-like face rises, the ocean of lusty desires of Kṛṣṇa, the transcendental youthful Cupid of Vṛndāvana, swells up, just as the ordinary ocean makes waves when the ordinary moon rises. After Śrīpada experienced all this in the abode of pastimes, being absorbed in his siddha svarupa (transcendental identity), the revelation disappears and in his sādhakāveśa he prays: “When will we see Rādhā’s moon-like face in this way?”, in other words: “When will I be blessed with the service of my beloved Svāminī?” With the words tan naḥ (may we all, not only me, be blessed like this) Śrīpāda shows his great compassion.

rādhāra vadana cānda, sucandra candrikā dhāma,
lalita lāvaṇya niketana
madhurāṅga mahojjvalā, akalaṅka ṣola kalā
sudhānidhi sukhada madana

“Rādhā’s moon-like face is the abode of beautiful moonrays and tender elegancy. Her sweet form is very effulgent like a spotless full moon, showing all its sixteen phases and giving joy to Cupid with its treasure of nectar”.

madhure mohana mahā madhurāṅga bhaṅgi āhā,
nimeṣe nimeṣe abhinava
anukṣaṇa camatkṛta, cāru līlā adabhuta
daraśane mugadha mādhava

“Her very sweet limbs are very enchanting and are fresh at every moment. When Mādhava sees Her wonderful, beautiful pastimes, that are astonishing at every moment, He becomes enchanted.”

bhaṇe śrī prabodhānanda, he bhānukula canda,
kunjeśvarī ei nivedana
hāy hāy! āra kobe, bhāgye ki udoy hobe,
candra koṭi cāru se ānana

“Śrī Prabodhānanda sings: “O Moon of Mahārāja Vṛṣabhānu’s dynasty! O Queen of the bowers! I pray to you; ‘Alas! alas! When will we be so fortunate to see Your face, that is more beautiful than millions of moons, rise?”