Krsna Bhavanamrta chapter 20

[Paramananda das]

 

 

Chapter 20

End of the Day

(10:48 p.m. - 3:36 a.m.)

 

 

After singing all these songs and playing different nice tunes with Their amazing musical instruments, Krishna and the gopis changed Their clothes for playing in the Yamuna river and entered a kunja where Vrinda brought Them dates, bananas, jack fruit, rose apples, mangoes and other kinds of juicy fruit. Radha and Krishna were enchanted by the nice forms and smells of the fruit, and praised them. The sakhis had brought Karpura Keli, Piyusa Parva, Amrita Keli, Sidhu Vilasa and Ananga Gutika cakes from home that Radha and Krishna jokingly relished with shining, smiling faces. Mukunda, whose teeth are as white as kunda flowers, relished the golden betel leaves given to Him by the maidservants. While chewing them, He looked like a sapphire topped by a moon that was washed with sweet mellows by the Creator, and in which stars were shining that were reddish inside.

 

When the moon of Krishna's glance rose, the darkness of Radhika's patience was vanquished and the lotus of Her bashfulness dried up and shriveled. But, Her erotic feelings began to bloom up like a field of ecstatic tears, just as the moon stones start dripping when the moon rises.

 

Krishna told Shri Radhika, "O restless eyed One, people become intoxicated with     when they see the spots of moonlight coming throught the small slits between the thick leaves of the trees that are trembling in the wind. It seems that the moon has engaged the moonlight in attending to Us here in Vrindavana. Therefor, Our friend, the wind, has caught the leaves, to swing them for Us." Shri Hari got up, held Radhika's hand, and said, "Let's rest on this very nice flower bed in this kunja of desire trees for a while." Kalanidhi held His left arm on Radhika's shoulder and brought Her to the bed where They both lay down. Then the kinkaris had their desires to massage Radha and Krishna's lotus feet fulfilled.

 

Two maidservants held the lotus feet of Radha and Krishna on their thighs, that were like golden seats, and worshipped these feet, offering padya (footwear) with their teardrops and arghya (hand water) with their hairs, that were standing up in ecstasy. But, this frightened them with the thought that Their tender lotus feet might be hurt by these erect hairs. They worshipped these lotus feet with their lotus-like hands, offered scents with the musk and camphor from their breasts, incense with their breath, lamps with their shining jewel-like nails, garlands with their glances, foodstuffs with their pomegranate-like breasts and a camphor lamp with their very lives, that are full of love and are mixed with the moonlight of their faces. Krishna's feet were like sprouts on the golden banana-like thighs of the maidservants, whose red lotus-like hands massaged them. Their bangles buzzed like bumblebees as they went up and down with the movements of their massgaing hands. Other maidservants fanned Radha and Krishna with flower fans, as if they wanted to gladden the poets by having their descriptions of their Master's glories dancing before them in personified forms. One maidservant stood on each of Radha and Krishna's sides, serving golden betel leaves filled with camphor, nutmeg and cloves. Radha and Krishna looked like spotless, rising full moons, sprinkled with two golden vines that constantly worshipped Them with their sprouts, with Their ambrosial moon beams.

 

Krishna said, "Dear Radha, look! Your maidservants are very tired. They perspire and their eyes are rolling. Let them take some rest. If Your feet are still tired, then I will massage them Myself." As soon as the maidservants heard this they left the kunja, like worshippers leaving the temple with the priests after having had their desires fulfilled. Then Krishna bathed in Cupid's holy lake, horripilating of cold (or 'erotic bliss'). His body was made shining by being washed, after which He joyfully engaged in worship, being expert in all particular religious functions of the smriti scriptures (or 'Cupid').

 

After bathing, Aghabid performed achaman (washing the mouth) thrice with nectar, after which He performed the regulated activities to get a body without hindrance, although He is ananga ('incorporal' or 'Cupid'). At the beginning of His sacrifice, Krishna had fixed all the directions with different paraphernalia, then He worshipped the demigods by placing His hand on a golden jewelled pitcher. He painted a moon on this pitcher and gave clothes in charity to the brahmanas. Then He became one with the demigods, smiling and riding on a wave of bliss.

 

[Note: The previous paragraph has a second meaning: When Aghabid stepped into Cupid's pond, His body horripilated from lustful agitation and was brightened up by it. He became eager for all the different aspects of erotic play. In the beginning of the union, He drank the nectar of contrary, unwilling Priyaji three times, and then He removed the obstacle of Her contrariness by embracing Her by force, etc. He was assured of His Priyaji's desires, that She expressed with the movements of Her hands. He made full moon shaped nail marks on Radhika's golden pitcher-like breasts, placing His hands on them, bit Her lips with His teeth, that are called dwija, like the brahmins. Then He united with His beloved, smiling and riding on a wave of bliss.]

 

Shri Radhika thought to Herself, "How can I make My sakhis share this happiness?" Krishna, understanding Her loving purpose, expanded Himself into as many forms as there were sakhis and enjoyed with them, too. The maidservants, who cannot live without seeing Radha and Krishna's pastimes, beheld Their play through the windows of the nikunja. One of them suddenly said, "Sakhis, just look at Radha and Krishna's amazing condition! They bind each other's bodies up with Their arms, lying there motionlessly for a while, then again They shiver and say "Ha ha!" with faltering voices, sprinkling each other with Their warm tears. Even if They give up Their embrace and sit facing each other, They strike Their own foreheads and become thin out of distress, unable to see each other through Their innumerable tears. (They were experiencing Prema Vaicittya or 'seperation even in union'.) The high waves of Radha and Krishna's prema vaicittya obstructed Cupid's rasa from flowing through, because those that are rich in passion are easily moved by the crooked waves of joy and sorrow.

 

After some time, one maidservant said, "O sakhis, don't be sad anymore. Look! Now They embrace each other again and blissfully sprinkle each other with cool tears of union. Listen, Krishna tells Radhika, 'O proud, angry girl, where have You gone, leaving Me behind?' and Radhika said, 'O Dear One, why have You hidden Yourself to joke with Me?'" The dasis and sakhis giggled while they relished these utterances of loving delusion.

 

One maidservant said, "Why do these Two feel separation from each other? And why do They still meet, although no one arranged for it?"

 

Another maidservant, speaking on the conclusions of the science of rasa, said "These clever maidservants know Their moods. When They are separate, They constantly meditate on each other and even when They see each other They think that that vision is false. When They stretch out Their arms to embrace each other, Their touch mitigates the pangs of Their separation. O sakis, this separation caused Their eagerness to meet each other to increase a million fold, and in this way, remaining stationary for a long time, it also increases the pleasure of Their union. Look! The Loving Couple, fearing separation from each other, tightly embrace each other and remove each other's clothes as if They make each other enter into each other's hearts, softly telling each other, 'I'm entering into that mind, where You are always keeping Me, to play there.'

 

"It is certainly proper for this enjoying couple to become one in Their embrace, since They are already one soul and one mind, but not yet in body. Is this why the wise men have quickly united Them in erotic oneness?

 

"Seeing the vastness of Shri Radhika's bosom, Shri Krishna proudly thought, 'Only I am huge in this world, do these breasts want to defeat Me? I will smash their pride.' Is this why He is massaging them like that? Screams and lotus flowers, two friends of Cupid, are both abja ('born from the mouth' and 'born from the water'), so they should be friends, but instead they are enemies. Is Cupid therefor forcing them to embrace each other when Radha and Krishna are kissing? Or are Radha and Krishna's faces lotus fowers that grow in the lakes of Their bodies that are deep and filled with erotic rasa? The honeybees scream when they get stuck in between these two lotus flowers when They are united by the blowing of Cupid's gale.

 

"The moon that Lord Brahma created is single, not always full and has spots, but Cupid made two ever full spotless moons in the form of Radha and Krishna's beautiful faces. Have Their dark, curly locks now boldly surrounded these moonlike faces, wanting to combat them? O beautiful friend, after Krishna kissed the collyrium from Radhika's eyes, Her bimba fruit-like lips anxiously thought, 'Ahaha! Who has put ink on Krishna's lotus-like lips like a spot on the moon? Let Me take it away and put the red color of My chewed betel leaves there.' Sakhi, when I see how They bite each other's lips, I think that four bandhujiva flowers are fighting over each other's honey and that the kunda flower shafts of king Cupid have pierced these bandhujiva lips.

 

When I see how Krishna scratched Shri Radhika's breasts with His nails and how the pearls from Her necklace are falling on the ground one by one after Krishna broke the string. I think that Cupid has pierced his enemy, Shiva, with the half moon marks of his arrows, after binding them up with two sprout-like ropes. Seeing this, the Ganga, who falls on Shiva's head, became afraid and began to cry, her white pearl-like tear drops falling on the ground one by one. Look! The lightning is empowered by Cupid and topples the cloud after attacking him."

 

Seeing this, the sakhis and manjaris cried tears of loving ecstasy that showered the windows of the nikunja. The maidservants that stood outside of the kunja pulled the strings of the ceiling fan. They were angry at their tears of loving ecstasy, feeling sorry that they stopped them from witnessing Radha and Krishna's loveplays. Did the honeybees get angry at the moon, unable to tolerate his drinking the nectar of their blue lotus flowers, that they now forcibly drink the nectar of the moon? A string of pearls dances on the sunglobe that rose above the clouds to attain liberation and the golden swans on earth blissfully began to play music with the avadhuts (asocial mendicants). Others could not come on that golden ground and when Madhusudana came there, He sang sweet songs that made the vinelike bodies of all the rasika devotees melt from ecstasy. Many Madhusudana honeybees came there, being attracted to Radha and Krishna's nice fragrance, and began to sing sweet songs that made the vine-like bodies of the rasika kinkaris melt.

 

Crooked and foolish people wander around restlesly, attatched to the fruitive activities prescribed in the Vedas that will grant them residence on the moon (or Crooked locks of hair swing here and there and become fit for decoration as they are bound behind the ears.) The Divine, ever youthful Couple who were intoxicated from drinking an unlimited amount of nectar, whose shields of sandalwood paste were smashed and that had bound each other in Their snake-like arms, were ever more eager to defeat each other through Their ever fresh desires for union. Radha and Krishna competed with each other in erotic cleverness, but Their fight ended with fatigue that brought Nidradevi, the goddess of sleep, to promptly stop the fight.

 

I worship Shrila Rupa and Shrila Sanatana goswami who brought Radha and Krishna, the King and Queen of Vrindavana, out of their hearts into this world, who revealed Their pastimes from the Vedic scriptures, and who are followed by all the anuragi (divinely passionate) devotees of the world.

 

I take shelter of the Shri Krishna Chaitanya cloud, who showers the whole world, making it drink the stream of His luster, that is like billions of Cupids so fair, and who destroys the darkness of the material world.

 

Thus ends chapter twenty of Shrila Visvanatha Cakravrti's "Krishna Bhavanamrita Mahakavya," called 'End of the Day.'

 

Thus ends Shrila Visvanatha Cakravrti's "Krishna Bhavanamrita Mahakavya," which describes the transcendental eight fold daily pastimes of Shri Radha and Shri Krishna.