Text 15

A prayer to attain the service of Śrī Rādhā birth after birth is given in Śrī Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi (40):

तस्या अपार-रस-सार-विलास-मूर्तेर् आनन्द-कन्द-परमाद्भुत-सौख्य-लक्ष्म्याः
ब्रह्मादि-दुर्लभ-गतेर् वृषभानु-जायाः कैङ्कर्यम् एव मम जन्मनि जन्मनि स्यात्

tasyā apāra-rasa-sāra-vilāsa-mūrter ānanda-kanda-paramādbhuta-saukhya-lakṣmyāḥ
brahmādi-durlabha-gater vṛṣabhānu-jāyāḥ kaiṅkaryam eva mama janmani janmani syāt

May I attain the position of being a maidservant of the daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu birth after birth. She is the personification of playful pastimes (vilāsa-mūrti) of Śyāmasundara, who is Himself the essence of limitless rasa. She is the happiness of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and She is most difficult to attain for Brahmā and others.

अपार-रसेर सार, विलास-मूरति
परम-अद्भुत-सौख्य-आनन्द निर्वृत्ति

apāra-rasera sāra, vilāsa-mūrati
parama-adbhuta-saukhya-ānanda nirvṛtti

ब्रह्मादिर सुदुर्लभ वृषभानु-कन्या
जन्मे जन्मे ताङ्र दास्ये है येन धन्या

brahmādira sudurlabha vṛṣabhānu-kanyā
janme janme tāṅra dāsye hai yena dhanyā

Commentary: Bhajana-rahasya-vṛtti:

In a voice filled with extreme distress, the poet is praying to become a maidservant of Śrī Rādhā. It is not possible that this prayer ever be fulfilled in a gross material body. The sādhaka attains his spiritual body and eternal identity (svarūpa) by continuously reciting the mantras and the holy name given by his spiritual master. Upon receiving his svarūpa, deep attachment for Svāminī Śrī Rādhā arises in his heart, and he receives an internal vision (sphūrti) of Her sweetness and beauty. Śrīmatī Rādhikā is the personification of Śyāmasundara’s playful pastimes (vilāsa). In other words, Her intrinsic nature as concentrated rasa manifests in the kuñjas, where it is tasted by Śrī Śyāmasundara, the emporium of all rasa. Śrī Rādhā, the essence of all rasa, is the personification of playful pastimes. She is the essence of unlimited mādhurya-rasa.

The joy of meeting is hidden within the mind of Śrī Govinda, who is the embodi ment of condensed happiness. Śrī Rādhā’s mādanākhyaprema causes this joy to blossom, thus making Him restless and beside Himself to meet with His beloved by any means possible. Therefore, in His eagerness to meet Her, He sometimes dresses Himself as a woman, and sometimes He bows down at the feet of the sakhīs. The bliss of meeting (sambhoga-rasānanda) that Śrī Svāminī provides is indescribable, even more so than Govinda Himself can imagine.

रात्रि-दिन कुञ्जे क्रिडा करे राधा-सङ्गे
कैशोर-वयस सफल कैल क्रीडा-रङ्गे

rātri-dina kuñje kriḍā kare rādhā-saṅge
kaiśora-vayasa saphala kaila krīḍā-raṅge

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 8.189)

Day and night Śrī Kṛṣṇa enjoys the company of Śrī Rādhā in the kuñjas of Vṛndāvana. Thus His early youth was made successful through His loving affairs with Her.

Śrī Rādhā is the hlādinī-svarūpa-śakti of Vrajacandra, who is ānanda-kanda, the source of transcendental bliss. She is a dhīrādhīrā-nāyikā, a heroine who with tearful eyes speaks crooked words to her beloved, and for this reason Śrī Nanda-nandana is completely controlled by Her. As stated in Śrī Rādhā-kṛpā-kaṭākṣastavarāja (3): “nirantaraṃ vaśī-kṛta-pratīti nanda-nandane–She always brings Nanda-nandana into submission.” Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the source of transcendental bliss and Śrīmatī is His supremely wonderful saumya-lakṣmī, gentle goddess of fortune. Lakṣmīdevī, who always enjoys pastimes on the chest of Śrī Nārāyaṇa, is restless and proud of her opulence, but the prema-lakṣmī of Vraja, Śrī Rādhā, is very sweet and endowed with a gentle, steady nature. She is kṛṣṇa-mayī in prema [which means She sees Śrī Kṛṣṇa everywhere, internally and externally], She is gaurāṅgī in rasa [which means She is so expert, so beautiful, dances so well and sings so sweetly that She becomes golden-limbed (gaurāṅgī), and Śrī Kṛṣṇa becomes so attracted by Her that He becomes rādhā-mayī and gaurāṅga], She is sarva-lakṣmī-mayī in aiśvarya [which means She manifests everywhere, and Śrī Kṛṣṇa sees Her everywhere], and She is the prominent gopikā in mādhurya.

It is very difficult for Brahmā and other demigods to attain Vṛṣabhānu-nandinī Śrīmatī Rādhikā’s service. Brahmā, being endowed with an awareness of the Supreme Lord’s majesty (aiśvarya-jñāna), is unable to comprehend the mādhurya-rasa of Vraja. He could not even understand Śyāmasundara’s early boyhood pastimes (paugaṇḍalīlā ), and he became an offender by stealing the calves and cowherd boys. How, then, can he possibly understand the profound secrets of the highly confidential adolescent pastimes (kaiśora-līlā)? Only the vraja-gopīs have the qualification to serve in these most confidential pastimes that take place in the secluded bowers. Without following in the footsteps of the sakhīs, it is impossible to attain this service.

सखी विना एइ लीलाय अन्येर नाहि गति
सखी-भावे ये ताङ्रे करे अनुगति
राधा-कृष्ण कुञ्ज-सेवा-साध्य
सेइ पाय सेइ साध्य पाइते आर नाहिक उपाय

sakhī vinā ei līlāya anyera nāhi gati
sakhī-bhāve ye tāṅre kare anugati
rādhā-kṛṣṇa kuñja-sevā-sādhya
sei pāya sei sādhya pāite āra nāhika upāya

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 8.204–205)

Without the guidance of the sakhīs, one cannot enter these pastimes. One who worships Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the mood of the sakhīs, following in their footsteps, can attain the service of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in the kuñjas of Vṛndāvana. There is no other means to achieve this goal.

Śrī Kiśorī’s maidservants (kiṅkarīs ) are always devoted to Her service. The word kaiṅkarya expresses a mood of being ardent to serve, and it means kiṃ karomi, “What may I do? What service may I do? What service can I do?”–this mood is expressed in pure rādhā-dāsya, or mañjarī-bhāva. May I attain this kaiṅkarya of Śrī Vṛṣabhānu-nandinī birth after birth.

To serve exclusively under the guidance of the vraja-devīs is called tat-tad-bhāva-icchāmayī kāmānugā-bhakti. This is the deep meaning of this Text.