Śrī Raghunātha dāsa sees a sweet pastime with his spiritual eyes:
He sees himself as Tulasī Mañjarī, dressing up Śvāminī for Her rendezvous in the moonlit night.
To camouflage Her she has to dress Her up in fitting clothes and ornaments, so she dresses Her in a swan-like white sārī, anoints Her body with white sandal-paste and ornaments Her with pearls and diamonds,
so that it seems as if Svāminī merges with the moonlight.
ki kohobo rāika hari anurāga; niravadhi manahi manobhava jāga
sahaje rucira tanu sāji koto bhāti; abhisaru śārada pūnamika rāti
dhavala vasana tanu candana pūra; aruṇa adhare dharu viṣada kapūra
kavarī upore karu kunda vithāra; kaṇṭhe vilambita motima hāra
kairave jhāṁpalo karatala kāṅti; malayaja candana balayako pāṅti
cāndaki kaumudī tanu nahe cina; yaichana kṣīra nīra nahe bhina
chāyā vairī na choḍalo bāda; caraṇe śaraṇa koru yāminī ādha;
gopāla dāsa kohe – sucatura gorī; nūpura rasana tuli mukha purī
“What can I say about Rāi’s passionate love for Hari? Cupid is constantly awaking in Her mind!
Her body is naturally shining with beauty, and She goes out on rendezvous in a full moon night in autumn. Her body is draped in a white dress, instead of Her usual blue one, and anointed with white sandalwood pulp. She puts white camphor-lipstick on Her red lips, Her braid is beautified with a garland of Kunda-flowers and a pearl necklace hangs and oscillates on Her neck. A white Kairava-lotus is placed in Her hand-palm and rows of sandalwood-spots are made on Her jeweled bangles. In this way She cannot be distinguished anymore,
just as the moonlight cannot be distinguished from the moon and water can no longer be distinguished from the milk it is poured into. The shadow, that accompanies every embodied soul in the moonlight or in the sunlight as an inseparable enemy, can not harm Her anymore, for the night has already surrendered to Her, saying: “Alright, for You there won’t be any shadow anymore!”
Gopāla dāsa further sings:
“Thus clever Gorī (golden Rādhikā) goes out, loosening the strings of Her ankle bells (so that their jingling will not betray Her).”
Śrī Ānanda Gopāla Gosvāmī
Sri Ananta das Babaji
