VERSE 10:

KENĀPI NĀGARA VAREṆA PADE NIPATYA
SAṀPRĀRTHITAIKA PARIRAMBHA RASOTSAVĀYĀḤ
SA-BHRŪ-VIBHAṄGAM ATI RAṄGA-NIDHEḤ KADĀ TE
ŚRĪ RĀDHIKE NAHI NAHĪTI GIRAḤ ŚṚṆOMI

O Śrī Rādhike! O jewel of play! When will I see You frowning Your eyebrows and hear You saying “no no!” (although You are actually very happy) when Kṛṣṇa, the best of lovers, falls at Your feet and begs You for a delicious festival of embraces?
ŚRĪ RĀDHĀ, THE JEWEL OF PLAY:

Commentary: Śrīpāda returns to his siddha svarūpa. The more intense the transcendental vision is, the sweeter it is. There is no way to put such visions into words, only experienced devotees can understand that. By Śrīmatī’s grace, anxious Śrīpāda becomes conscious of another sweet pastime. He sees Śrīmatī eagerly hurrying to a forestbower to meet Kṛṣṇa, but Kṛṣṇa has not yet arrived on that appointed place yet. Just to please Kṛṣṇa Rādhikā begins to decorate the place, being sure that He will come soon. Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī writes in ‘Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi’ (Nāyikā-bheda Prakaraṇa):

sva vāsaka vaśāt kānte sameṣyati nijaṁ vapuḥ
sajjīkaroti gehaṁ ca yā sā vāsaka sajjikā
ceṣṭā cāsyāḥ smara-krīḍā saṅkalpo vartma vīkṣaṇam
sakhī vinoda vārtā ca muhur dūtīkṣaṇādayaḥ

“The girl who goes out to meet Her lover and who decorates Her house (or bower) and Her body before He arrives, is called vāsaka sajjikā. She plans to have amorous plays with Him, looks down the road for Him to come, speaks about nice things with Her girlfriends and constantly looks out for Her messenger girls to return.”

The poet Vidyāpati colorfully describes how Śrīmatī plans the amorous play in the following way: “When He comes on My yard, I will slightly smile at Him. When He enthusiastically grabs Me, I will try My best to escape. When He tries to pull at My bodice, I will push His hands away and look at Him in a squinted way, and when He tries to approach Me, I will turn My head away and say: “No! No!” In this way many hundreds of waves of naughty plans flow in Śrīmatī’s heart, which is filled with passionate love for Kṛṣṇa. Śrīpāda, in his kiṅkarī form, is engaged in Śrīmatī’s service. The jewel of lovers arrives in the bower and seeing Him, Śrīmatī angrily gets up to go back home, chastising Her kiṅkarī with Her glances: “Why did you bring Me here? Quickly take Me back home!” Attracted to Śrīmatī’s sweetness Kṛṣṇa pulls at the edge of Her sārī, but Śrīmatī tugs back and says: “Leave it! Don’t touch Me! I’m a chaste housewife!”

Her face is illuminated with a slight, sweet smile mixed with feigned anger. How beautifully Her sweetness swells up! Kṛṣṇa, who is the very form of transcendental bliss, becomes obsessed with desire for union with Her. All Her activities are caused by Her mahā-bhāva, that’s why rasika śekhara is so enchanted. Śrīmat Rūpa Gosvāmī has defined a bold ladylove as follows in his ‘Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi’: bhūri bhāvodgamābhijṣṇ rasenākrānta vallabhā – “She is expert in showing strong emotions and she attacks her lover with rasa.”

Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī writes in his Locana Rocanī commentary on this verse that rasa means the flavour of pure, selfless love. Her activities are only meant to please Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the jewel of lovers, is so overwhelmed by the sweetness of Rādhā’s moods that He anxiously falls at Her feet and prays to Her for just one festival like embrace. This causes many more rasika feelings to arise in Śrīmatī’s heart, and these moods come out through Her beautiful face and Her beautiful eyes. Nevertheless She stubbornly says “No, no!”, enchanting Her lover with the sweet movements of Her eyebrows. Actually these gestures are only Her pretenses. She would actually feel very happy if Kṛṣṇa would touch Her and enjoy Her. Śrīpāda, as a kiṅkarī, knows this and calls Her therefore raṅganidhi, an ocean of playfulness. Openly Svāminī says “no! no!”, but in Her heart She says: “Yes, yes!” There is no “no” within that “no”, it is as if a “yes” has swallowed the “no”. She who is worshipping Kṛṣṇa is named Rādhikā. No other beautiful girl of Vraja can worship and enchant Kṛṣṇa as sweetly as She can, therefore She alone is named Rādhikā in Vraja, nobody else, and therefore Śrīpāda addresses Her in this verse as Śrī Rādhikā. Then Śrīpāda’s transcendental vision stops and He eagerly prays: “Ha Śrī Rādhike! When can I see these sweet gestures of Yours and when can I hear You say “no! no!” to Your lover when He starts to embrace You?”