20210504 Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī: A Jewel Mine of Ecstatic Love and Transcendental Conjugal Mellows

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 4th,2021 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Today we will continue with the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book. Today's chapter is entitled as:

Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī: A Jewel Mine of Ecstatic Love and Transcendental Conjugal Mellows

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.159

gopīgaṇa-madhye nāyikocita parama-camatkāra lakṣaṇamaya guṇa-vaicitrya:—

‘vāmā’ eka gopī-gaṇa, ‘dakṣiṇā’ eka gaṇa
nānā-bhāve karāya kṛṣṇe rasa āsvādana

Translation: “The gopīs can be divided into a left wing and a right wing. Both wings induce Kṛṣṇa to taste transcendental mellows by various manifestations of ecstatic love.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the confidential reason for Caitanya Mahāprabhu's appearance is to relish the types of ecstatic love of Rādhārāṇī in Vṛndāvana. So, some of these pastimes are where He is manifesting His confidential pastimes, otherwise His external pastimes is to establishing the saṅkīrtana-yajña.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.160

sarva-gopīśreṣṭhā kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhā śrī-rādhāra guṇa o svabhāva:—

gopī-gaṇa-madhye śreṣṭhā rādhā-ṭhākurāṇī
nirmala-ujjvala-rasa-prema-ratna-khani

Translation: “Of all the gopīs, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the chief. She is a jewel mine of ecstatic love and the source of all purified transcendental conjugal mellows.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.161

vayase ’madhyamā’ teṅho svabhāvete ’samā’
gāḍha prema-bhāve teṅho nirantara ’vāmā’

Translation: “Rādhārāṇī is grown up, and Her character is equipoised. She is always deeply absorbed in ecstatic love and always feeling in the mood of a left-wing gopī.

Purport: The left wing and right wing of the gopīs has been explained by Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi (Sakhī-prakaraṇa 26 and 32). The left wing is described in this way:

“A gopī who is always eager to be jealously angered, who is very enthusiastic for that position, who immediately becomes angry when defeated, who is never under the control of a hero, and who always opposes Him is called a vāmā, or a left-wing gopī.”

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī describes the right-wing gopīs in this way:

“A gopī who cannot tolerate womanly anger, who speaks suitable words to the hero, and who is satisfied by His sweet words is called a dakṣiṇā, or a right-wing gopī.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, these two types of gopīs generally worship Kṛṣṇa and of course there are slight differences in each one. Kṛṣṇa is the enjoyer of transcendental mellows. Mellows of the gopīs keep Him fully ecstatic.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.162

vāmya-svabhāve māna uṭhe nirantara
tāra madhye uṭhe kṛṣṇera ānanda-sāgara

Translation: “Because She is a left-wing gopī, Her womanly anger is always awakening, but Kṛṣṇa derives transcendental bliss from Her activities.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.163

ujjvala-nīlamaṇite śṛṅgārabhedakathane (102)—

aher iva gatiḥ premṇaḥ svabhāva-kuṭilā bhavet
ato hetor ahetoś ca yūnor māna udañcati

Translation: “‘The progress of loving affairs between a young boy and a young girl is by nature crooked, like the movement of a snake. Because of this, two types of anger arise between a young boy and girl — anger with a cause and anger without a cause.’”

Purport: This is a quotation from Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi (Śṛṅgāra-bheda-prakaraṇa 102).

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.164

prabhura harṣa vṛddhi, dāmodara-karttṛka śrī-rādhāra kṛṣṇaprema vā mahābhāva-sāra-parākāṣṭhā-mahima-vyākhyā-vistāra:—

eta śuni’ bāḍe prabhura ānanda-sāgara
‘kaha, kaha’ kahe prabhu, bale dāmodara

Translation: As Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard these talks, His ocean of transcendental bliss increased. He therefore told Svarūpa Dāmodara, “Go on speaking, go on speaking.” And thus Svarūpa Dāmodara continued.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya was a special avatāra of Lord Kṛṣṇa to especially appreciate the loving sentiments between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.165

‘adhirūḍha mahābhāva’—rādhikāra prema
viśuddha, nirmala, yaiche daśa-vāṇa hema

Translation: “Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s love is a highly advanced ecstasy. All Her dealings are completely pure and devoid of material tinge. Indeed, Her dealings are ten times purer than gold.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.166

kṛṣṇera darśana yadi pāya ācambite
nānā-bhāva-vibhūṣaṇe haya vibhūṣite

Translation: “As soon as Rādhārāṇī gets a chance to see Kṛṣṇa, Her body is suddenly decorated with various ecstatic ornaments.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the ecstasy that Rādhārāṇī feels when seeing Kṛṣṇa and when not seeing Kṛṣṇa. In the pastimes of prema-sarovara, Kṛṣṇa was seated next to Rādhārāṇī but Madhumaṅgala said that Madhusudana had left, he was referring to a bumble bee that was disturbing Rādhārāṇī but She took it as Kṛṣṇa had left, She started crying in separation of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa said, “I am here,” but then seeing Her love for Him, He started crying, and then together Their tears filled the lake, prema-sarovara.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.167

kṛṣṇera paripūrṇa sukhaprada sarva-bhāvālaṅkāra-bhūṣitā śrī-rādhikā:—

aṣṭa ‘sāttvika’, harṣādi ‘vyabhicārī’ yāṅra
‘sahaja prema’, viṁśati ‘bhāva’-alaṅkāra

Translation: “The transcendental ornaments of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s body include the eight sāttvikas,or transcendental symptoms, the thirty-three vyabhicārī-bhāvas, beginning with harṣa, or jubilation in natural love, and the twenty bhāvas, or ecstatic emotional ornaments.

Purport: The thirty-three vyabhicārī-bhāvas, bodily symptoms manifest in ecstatic love, are as follows: (1) nirveda, indifference; (2) viṣāda, moroseness; (3) dainya, meekness; (4) glāni, a feeling that one is in a faulty position; (5) śrama, fatigue; (6) mada, madness; (7) garva, pride; (8) śaṅkā, doubt; (9) trāsa, shock; (10) āvega, intense emotion; (11) unmāda, craziness; (12) apasmāra, forgetfulness; (13) vyādhi, disease; (14) moha, bewilderment; (15) mṛti, death; (16) ālasya, laziness; (17) jāḍya, invalidity; (18) vrīḍā, shame; (19) avahitthā, concealment; (20) smṛti, remembrance; (21) vitarka, argument; (22) cintā, contemplation; (23) mati, attention; (24) dhṛti, forbearance; (25) harṣa, jubilation; (26) autsukya, eagerness; (27) augrya, violence; (28) amarṣa, anger; (29) asūyā, jealousy; (30) cāpalya, impudence; (31) nidrā, sleep; (32) supti, deep sleep, and (33) prabodha, awakening.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we see how these thirty three ecstasies were manifest in Rādhārāṇī.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.168

‘kila-kiñcita’, ‘kuṭṭamita’, ‘vilāsa’, ‘lalita’
‘vivvoka’, ‘moṭṭāyita’, āra ‘maugdhya’, ‘cakita’

Translation: “Some of the symptoms critically explained in the following verses are kila-kiñcita, kuṭṭamita, vilāsa, lalita, vivvoka, moṭṭāyita, maugdhya and cakita.”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.169

kṛṣṇa vāñchā-pūrttimayī śrī-rādhāra nānā bhāvālaṅkāra-śobhita rūpa-darśane kṛṣṇera gabhīra sukha:—

eta bhāva-bhūṣāya bhūṣita śrī-rādhāra aṅga
dekhite uthale kṛṣṇa-sukhābdhi-taraṅga

Translation: “When Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s body manifests the ornaments of many ecstatic symptoms, the ocean of Kṛṣṇa’s happiness immediately displays transcendental waves.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the various symptoms of Rādhārāṇī’s loving emotions is a stimulus for Kṛṣṇa’s tasting transcendental ecstasy known as Rasaśekhara or object of all transcendental mellows and we can see Rādhārāṇī is the possessor of all transcendental symptoms. So, this can give Kṛṣṇa unlimited happiness.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.170

śrī-rādhāra ‘kila-kiñcita’-bhāvera dṛṣṭānta-sthala:—

kila-kiñcitādi-bhāvera śuna vivaraṇa
ye bhāva-bhūṣāya rādhā hare kṛṣṇa-mana

Translation: “Now hear a description of different ecstasies, beginning with kila-kiñcita. With these ecstatic ornaments, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī enchants the mind of Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Rādhārāṇī is also known as Madana-mohana mohīnī or Madan mohīnī, that She is able to enchant the mind of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.171

rādhā dekhi’ kṛṣṇa yadi chuṅite kare mana
dāna-ghāṭi-pathe yabe varjena gamana

Translation: “When Śrī Kṛṣṇa sees Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and wants to touch Her body, He prohibits Her from going to the spot where one can cross the river Yamunā.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.172

yabe āsi’ mānā kare puṣpa uṭhāite
sakhī-āge cāhe yadi gāye hāta dite

Translation: “Approaching Her, Kṛṣṇa prohibits Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī from picking flowers. He may also touch Her in front of Her friends.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.173

ei-saba sthāne ‘kila-kiñcita’ udgama
prathame ‘harṣa’ sañcārī—mūla kāraṇa

Translation: “At such times, the ecstatic symptoms of kila-kiñcita are awakened. First there is jubilation in ecstatic love, which is the root cause of these symptoms.

Purport: Whenever Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī leaves Her house, She is always well dressed and attractive. It is Her womanly nature to attract Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s attention, and upon seeing Her so attractively dressed, Śrī Kṛṣṇa desires to touch Her body. The Lord then finds some fault in Her and prohibits Her from going to a river crossing and stops Her from picking flowers. Such are the pastimes between Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Being a cowherd girl, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī regularly carries milk in a container and often goes to sell the milk on the other side of the Yamunā. To cross the river, She has to pay the boatman, and the spot where the boatman collects his fares is called the dāna-ghāṭi. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa stops Her from going, telling Her, “First You have to pay the fee; then You will be allowed to go.” This pastime is called dāna-keli-līlā. Similarly, if Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī wants to pick a flower, Śrī Kṛṣṇa claims to be the garden’s proprietor and prohibits Her. This pastime is called kila-kiñcita. Rādhārāṇī’s shyness arises due to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s prohibitions, and ecstatic loving bodily symptoms called kila-kiñcita-bhāva are manifest at this time. These ecstatic symptoms are explained in the following verse, which is from Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi (Anubhāva-prakaraṇa 39).

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.174

kila-kiñcita-bhāvera saṁjñā:—

ujjvala-nīlamaṇite anubhāva kathane (71)—

garvābhilāṣa-rudita-smitāsūyā-bhaya-krudhām
saṅkarī-karaṇaṁ harṣād ucyate kila-kiñcitam

Translation: “‘Pride, ambition, weeping, smiling, envy, fear and anger are the seven ecstatic loving symptoms manifested by a jubilant shrinking away, and these symptoms are called kila-kiñcita-bhāva.’

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we see that the loving ecstasies between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are a great science, and that Rādhārāṇī feels the different ecstasies mainly based on what Kṛṣṇa is doing, and these ecstasies always increase the pleasure of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya hearing these pastimes, His ocean of bliss is overflooding.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.175

garbbādi saptabhāvera uhāte yugapat milanaphale ukta ‘mahābhāvera udaya:—

āra sāta bhāva āsi’ sahaje milaya
aṣṭa-bhāva-sammilane ’mahā-bhāva’ haya

Translation: “There are seven other transcendental ecstatic symptoms, and when they combine on the platform of jubilation, the combination is called mahā-bhāva.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.176

garva, abhilāṣa, bhaya, śuṣka-rudita
krodha, asūyā haya, āra manda-smita

Translation: “The seven combined ingredients of mahā-bhāva are pride, ambition, fear, dry artificial crying, anger, envy and mild smiling.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this māhā-bhāva is very rare. Particularly Rādhārāṇī experiences these māhā-bhāva.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.177

nānā-svādu aṣṭa-bhāva ekatra milana
yāhāra āsvāde tṛpta haya kṛṣṇa-mana

Translation: “There are eight symptoms of ecstatic love on the platform of transcendental jubilation, and when they are combined and tasted by Kṛṣṇa, the Lord’s mind is completely satisfied.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.178

miṣṭa-pānāra sahita upamā:—

dadhi, khaṇḍa, ghṛta, madhu, marīca, karpūra
elāci-milane yaiche rasālā madhura

Translation: “Indeed, they are compared to a combination of yogurt, candy, ghee, honey, black pepper, camphor and cardamom, which, when mixed together, are very tasty and sweet.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.179

śrī-rādhāra kila-kiñcita bhāva-darśane kṛṣṇera pragāḍhatama sukha:—

ei bhāva-yukta dekhi’ rādhāsya-nayana
saṅgama ha-ite sukha pāya koṭi-guṇa

Translation: “Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is thousands upon thousands of times more satisfied when He sees Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s face light up from this combination of ecstatic love than He is by direct union with Her.

Purport: This is further explained in the following verse from the Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi (Anubhāva-prakaraṇa 41) of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.180

śrī-rādhāra kila-kiñcita-bhāvera dṛṣṭānta-sthala:—

dāna-kelikaumudīte (1) o ujjvala-nīlamaṇite anubhāvakathane (73)—

antaḥ smeratayojjvalā jala-kaṇa-vyākīrṇa-pakṣmāṅkurā
kiñcit pāṭalitāñcalā rasikatotsiktā puraḥ kuñcatī

ruddhāyāḥ pathi mādhavena madhura-vyābhugna-torottarā
rādhāyāḥ kila-kiñcita-stavakinī dṛṣṭiḥ śriyaṁ vaḥ kriyāt

Translation: “‘May the sight of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s kila-kiñcita ecstasy, which is like a bouquet, bring good fortune to all. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa blocked Rādhārāṇī’s way to the dāna-ghāṭi, there was laughter within Her heart. Her eyes grew bright, and fresh tears flowed from Her eyes, reddening them. Due to Her sweet relationship with Kṛṣṇa, Her eyes were enthusiastic, and when Her crying subsided, She appeared even more beautiful.’

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the ecstatic symptoms of the conjugal rasa gives Kṛṣṇa unlimited satisfaction.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.181

Govinda-līlāmṛte (918)—

bāṣpa-vyākulitāruṇāñcala-calan-netraṁ rasollāsitaṁ
helollāsa-calādharaṁ kuṭilita-bhrū-yugmam udyat-smitam

rādhāyāḥ kila-kiñcitāñcitam asau vīkṣyānanaṁ saṅgamād
ānandaṁ tam avāpa koṭi-guṇitaṁ yo ’bhūn na gīr-gocaraḥ

Translation: “‘Agitated by tears, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s eyes were tinged with red, just like the eastern horizon at sunrise. Her lips began to move with jubilation and lusty desire. Her eyebrows curved, and Her lotus like face smiled mildly. Seeing Rādhārāṇī’s face exhibit such emotion, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa felt a million times happier than when He embraced Her. Indeed, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s happiness is not at all mundane.’”

Purport: This is a quotation from the Govinda-līlāmṛta (9.18).

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the material world is a perverted reflection of the pure conjugal love in spiritual world. One is happy after the union here because one gratifies the senses, but here we see Kṛṣṇa is happier just by seeing the manifestations of ecstatic symptoms of Radharani.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.182

śrī-rādhāra bhāva-śravaṇe svarūpake prabhura āliṅgana:—

eta śuni’ prabhu hailā ānandita mana
sukhāviṣṭa hañā svarūpe kailā āliṅgana

Translation: Upon hearing this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu became very happy, and being absorbed in this happiness, He embraced Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya He was so appreciative of hearing these transcendental pastimes, the glories of Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa, that He embraced Svarūpa Dāmodara. So these are very esoteric pastimes and one can only appreciate these in pure love. We see that pure love is the basis of the transcendental relationships in the spiritual world. So Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He enjoys a particular type of love. So the love a servant and master, love of a friend and friend, love of the parent and the child, and then the conjugal love. So, Kṛṣṇa relishes all the types of love, and that is the secret actually. That in the material world, people hardly have love, it is more like lust, but in spiritual world there is pure love and more the love is pure and complicated, the more it pleases Kṛṣṇa.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī: A Jewel Mine of Ecstatic Love and Transcendental Conjugal Mellows.