THE SERVICE OF SRI RADHA’S LOTUS FEET

Not only the gopis desire the service of Sri Radha’s lotus feet, since She is the greatest of them all,
but even Sri Krishna Himself desires this. Once, after enjoying loving pastimes with Him, Sri
Radhika proudly orders Him to redress Her before Her girlfriends will notice that They have made
love, and will ridicule Her. Sripada, in his form as Radhika’s maidservant, brings all the items for
Her dressing. Srimati orders Krishna: “Anoint My feet with footlac!” Krishna places Nagari-mani’s
(Radha, the jewel of ladyloves) feet on His chest and starts the job. The kinkari brings Him a brush
and a cup with the liquid lac. Nagara holds the brush and the kinkari holds the cup. Nagara loses
Himself when He beholds the sweetness and beauty of Radhika’s foot soles. Sometimes He holds
them to His chest and sometimes He kisses them while tears of love flow from His eyes. Srimati
nervously says: “What are You doing? Put the lac on! Quickly!” Nagara’s hands shiver of ecstasy,
so Svamini slightly smiles and tells Her kinkari, “Nagara cannot do it, you do it!”, so the kinkari
softly pushes Krishna away, saying: “Syama, move up! You can’t do it!” Nagara thinks: “Alas!
When will I be so fortunate to serve Svamini’s feet like this kinkari? How can I become as qualified
as her?” This shows how even Krishna desires the foot service of Sri Radha.

The Kamadhenu (desire-cow) was churned out of the Milk Ocean by the demons and the demigods
and she fulfills all desires. In the same way the dust of Sri Radhika’s lotus feet gives Radhika’s
maidservants the perfection of rasa. Within the mellow of service these kinkaris also relish the
mellow of friendship. The writers of the rasa-sastras say that the parental mellow (vatsalya rasa) is
incompatible with the sweet amorous mellow (madhurya rasa), but in Sri Radhika’s storehouse of
rasa there is no shortage of parental affection for Her maidservants. The footdust of Sri Radhika is
thus a wish yielding Kamadhenu-cow, that contains dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhurya rasa. [An
excerpt from the commentary of the fifth verse.]

BASHFUL SRI RADHA

Syama hears from a parrot that Radha is going to the Yamuna to take a bath, so after milking His
cows He leaves His cowherd boyfriends behind on the pretext of wanting to admire the beauty of
the gardens of Nandisvara Hill, and goes to the bank of the Yamuna. Svamini sees Rasikendra’s
moonlike face from a short distance. First She was excited by waves of passionate feelings for
Syamasundara when She saw the blackish water of the Yamuna and now She even sees Her lover’s
moonlike face directly! Srimati’s limbs become beautified by the twenty bhavalankaras (emotional
ornaments), of which vilasa is one:

gati sthAnAsanAdInAM mukha netrAdi karmaNAm |

tat kAlikaM tu vaiziSTyaM vukAsaH priya saGgajam ||

“When the steps, sitting posture, face and eyes of the beloved become extra special because she
meets Her lover, it is called vilasa.” (Ujjvala Nilamani)

Srimati timidly looks down to Her own toenails. How sweetly She looks then! It is as if sweetness
gushes out of Her! In Govinda Lilamrta (9.11) it is described as follows:

puraH KrishnalokAt sthagita kuTilasya gatir abhUt

tiraz cInaM Krishnambara dara vRtaM zrI mukham api |
calat tAraM sphAraM nayana yugam abhUgnam iti sA
vilAsAkhya svAlaGkarana valitAsIt priya mude ||

“When Radha sees Krishna before Her She is stunned and Her gait becomes crooked. She bends
Her head and slightly covers Her face with Her blue veil, the pupils of Her eyes move about
restlessly and Her eyes become wide and crooked. When She is thus beautified by the
bhavalankara named vilasa She gives Her beloved great pleasure.”

In Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Sri Krishna says:

ei bhAva yukta dekhi rAdhAsya nayana |

saGgama hoite sukha pAy koTi guNa ||

“When I see these moods on Radha’s face and in Her eyes, I get a million times more pleasure than
when I directly unite with Her.”

The duty of mahabhava is to make Krishna happy. When anuraga becomes unlimited it becomes
like the powerful sun, destroying the darkness of personal desires in the cave of the heart and filling
even the most subtle realms of the heart with desires for Krishna’s happiness. This is called
mahabhava, and Sri Radha’s very form is composed of this maha-bhava. It is therefore logical that
all Her activities are meant for Krishna’s pleasure. Maha-bhava is as if gushing from Her
transcendental body. The kinkari sees how Srimati’s rasika anklebells jingle, twanging the strings
of Syamasundara’s heart with rasa. She experiences how Srimati is now caritabhirama, enchanting
the eyes and the minds of Syamasundara and Her maidservants. Sripada also considers his own eyes
and mind to be blessed by experiencing Srimati’s sweet behaviour and character. The maidservants
then accomplish the meeting of Srimati and Her Nagara, who is eager to enjoy Her sweetness.

THE EMBODIMENT OF SEVEN OCEANS

Srimati Radha is (1) vaidagdhya sindhuh, an ocean of cleverness. This means rasa panditya: She
is learned in the science of taste. She even teaches rasika sekhara, the king of relishers Sri
Krishna, expertise in the erotic mellow. Sri Krishna Himself admits in Caitanya Caritamrta:
radhikara prema - guru; ami - sisya nata; sada ama nana nrtye nacaye udbhata – “Radhika’s
love is the teacher and I am the dancing pupil. She always causes Me to dance different wonderful
dances!” She is the teacher of arts. Because of Her cleverness, Srimati is compared here with the
ocean of sweet water (the seventh cosmic ocean).

Srimati is (2) the only ocean of anuraga. Anuraga means maha-bhava. Anuraga is everfresh and
ever-astonishing. Srimati thinks Krishna’s sweetness is ever fresh and She always has more
taste for His sweetness, so She always relishes it. With the statement that Radharani is the only
ocean of anuraga rasa is meant that when anuraga increases, it becomes maha-bhava and that when,
maha-bhava increases it is called madana maha-bhava. Sri Radharani is the only one who has this
madana maha-bhava and She is the fountainhead of all maha-bhava, just as the ocean is the
fountainhead of all the rivers and ponds. The other gopis are Her phalanx that help Her to complete
Krishna’s relishing of transcendental mellows. Just as milk becomes thick ksira (cream) when it is
boiled down, anuraga turns into maha-bhava when it becomes ‘thick’ (intensified). Therefore the
anuraga-ocean is compared to the sixth cosmic ocean, the ocean of milk.

Sri Radha is (3) the ocean of vatsalya. Vatsalya means love for the poor and the fallen. Just as
Sri Radha is an inexhaustible storehouse of erotic rasa, She is also a great ocean of vatsalya-
affection. The writers of the rasa sastras (aesthetic scriptures) say that the vatsalya rasa is not
compatible with the madhurya rasa, but Radharani makes them compatible in some situations.
For instance, She gives the greatest bliss to Rasika Siromani (Krishna) and Her girlfriends and
maidservants when She gives this ‘motherly’ affection to Krishna while He takes His meal. Sri
Radha’s vatsalya towards Her girlfriends is also most wonderful. She is always controlled by
their affection. Because there is a lot of the essential part of affection in the vatsalya-ocean, just
as yoghurt is the essence of milk, this ocean can be compared to the fifth cosmic ocean, the
ocean of yoghurt.
Sri Radha is (4) the ocean of deep compassion, always showering Her devotees with the nectar
stream of Her mercy. Those who have been touched by the nectar of that compassion, can testify.
Srila Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami says: karuna vidravad deha – “Her body melts with
compassion”. Normally, a person’s heart melts with compassion, but only in Radharani’s case the
whole body melts with compassion. She always bathes in streams of ambrosial compassion, and
because Krishna accepted Her mood when He became Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Mahaprabhu is
so merciful! Mahaprabhu does not consider who is qualified or unqualified, who is from which
caste or from which asrama. He gives prema (love of God) without making such distinctions!
That is ‘a body melting with compassion’! It is Radha’s storehouse of compassion, not Krishna’s!
In Vraja-lila the storehouse of Radha’s mercy remained hidden and closed, but when Mahaprabhu
accepted the mood and complexion of Sri Radha, it became manifest to the world! Mahaprabhu
showed the people of the world how the body can melt with compassion, because He assumed Sn
Radha’s merciful mood. Because Radhika’s body melts with compassion, it can be compared to
the fourth cosmic ocean, the ocean of clarified butter.

Srimati is (5) the ocean of lavanya. Srila Rupa Gosvami defines lavanya as follows in his ‘Ujjvala
Nilamani’: muktAphaleSu chAyAyAs taralatvam ivAntarA | pratibhAti yad aGgeSu lAvaNyam tad
ihocyate || “The luster that gushes out of each bodily limb like the luster shining out from inside
pearls, is called lavanya.” Srimati is the ocean of lavanya, or elegance. The fishlike eyes of Sri
Krishna, who is called lavanya sara (the essence of lavanya, or elegance) in Srimat Bhagavata
(10.44.14), never get tired of swimming in the ocean of Sri Radha’s lavanya. Indeed, His desire to
swim in that ocean simply increases! Sripada Bilvamangala Thakura said in Krishna Karnamrtam
(3): lavanyAmRta vici lolita dRsaM – “Krishna’s eyes billow on the waves of nectarean lavanya.”
Srila Krishna Dasa Kaviraja writes in his ‘Saranga Rangada’-commentary on this verse: zrI
rAdhAyA evA lAvanyAmRta vIcibhir lolite satRSNIkRte dRzau yasya tam – “Sri Krishna’s eyes
have become very thirsty after the nectar waves of Sri Radha’s lavanya.” Because Krishna is
intoxicated by seeing Radha’s lavanya and Her maidservants and girlfriends are intoxicated by
seeing Krishna looking at Radhika like this, the ocean of lavanya is compared to the third cosmic
ocean, the ocean of wine. The practicing devotees should also forget everything related to this
world or the next world and become intoxicated by worshiping the lotus feet of that Sri Radha!

Sri Radha is (6) the ocean of amrta cchabi rupa. She is the very form of glowing nectar and Her
form is like a vast ocean. She is mahabhava personified and mahabhava is compared to nectar. It
is the deepest possible love for Krishna, and Radha’s form reveals this beauty and tastefulness to
the utmost, therefore She is the amrtacchabi rupa sindhu. Although Sri Krishna inundates the
world with a mere drop of His beauty, even He drowns in the nectar ocean of Radha’s form!
Because the ocean of Sri Radha’s form is so sweet, it is compared to the second cosmic ocean, the
ocean of sugarcane juice.

Srimati is (7) the ocean of playfulness, which means Her frolics with Her beloved Syamasundara.
She keeps Syamasundara immersed in the waves of the ocean of Her pastimes when She meets
Him. When the waves of madana rasa swell in the ocean of Sri Radha’s pastimes even Sri
Krishna, the transcendental youthful Cupid of Vrindavana, does not dare to place His boat-like
heart on its surface, just as a boatman fearfully keeps his boat on the bank of the Ganga when her
huge waves meet the ocean. This ocean of play is compared to the first cosmic ocean, the ocean
of salt water, because although the very sight of this ocean destroys all sins, a person who drinks
it’s water will die. Similarly, when one faithfully chants and hears about the pastimes of Radha
and Madhava one will become free from all sins and from the heart’s disease of lust, but when
one tries to imitate these pastimes one will perish.

[An excerpt from the commentary of the 18th verse.]

THE COURSE OF SRI RADHA’S LOVE

When Krishna plays His all-enchanting flute, Srimati rushes out to meet Him as a forceful river
goes forward to meet the ocean. Just as during the rainy season current of a river becomes very
forceful and floods its own banks (dukula), similarly the Ganga-river named Radha overflows the
restrictions of Her dukula (two families, Her own and Her in-laws’ family) when it is filled with
extraordinarily sweet waves of passionate love for Krishna, and forcefully flows on towards the
Krishna-ocean. That is why Sripada calls Svamini suratararigini, the river of the Gods Ganga,
here in this verse. This river of passion breaks all dams of religious or traditional principles with
its great force of desire for Krishna, not caring about the dangers that might occur on the way.
[An excerpt from the commentary of the 21st verse.]

THE SIX JEWELS

cintAmaNiH praNamatAM vraja nAgarINAM

cUDAmaNiH kulamaNir Vrisabhanu nAmnAH |
sA zyAma kAma vara zAntimaNir nikuJja
bhUSAmaNir hRdaya samputa san maNir naH || 27 ||

“May Sri Radhika, Who is a Cintamani-gem for the surrendered souls, the crown jewel of
girls in Vraja, the jewel of Maharaja Vrisabhanu’s dynasty, the jewel who pacifies Syama’s
desires and the jewel who adorns the cottage in the play bower, be the real jewel in the
jewelbox of our hearts!”

Just as a Cintamani-jewel fulfills all desires, Sri Radhika is the prema-cintamani, fulfilling the
single desire of the surrendered souls: devotional service and love of God. Sri Radha is a storehouse
of compassion for the surrendered souls. Cintamani also indicates the remembrance practised by the
devotees. She is like a jewel (mani) playing within the thoughts (cinta) of the surrendered souls.
When that remembrance becomes intense, then that Cintamani will be visible inside out. The holy
name is also Cintamani, and is appearing on the devotees’ tongues. Srimat Jiva Gosvami writes: yat
tattvaM zrI vigraha rUpeNa cakSur AdAvudayate tad eva nAma rUpena vAg AdAviti sthitam –
“The deity-form of the Lord appears before the eyes, and the name-form appears on the tongue and
from the throat.” In this way the devotees can feel this Cintamani-gem in all of their senses and
become blessed.

Sri Radhika is the crown jewel of millions of sweet Vraja-gopis of Sri Vrindavana who are all
endowed with mahabhava, and all the gopis, even Candravali, are simply Her expansions. Just as
there is no difference between musk and its fragrance and fire and its heat, so there is also no
difference between God (Krishna) and His energy (Radha), but still, in the kingdom of lild, Radha
and Krishna have separated for the sake of playing sweet pastimes with Eachother and with Their
devotees. For this reason Krishna has made Radha the queen of Vrindavana. This is confirmed in
the Puranas: vRndAvanAdhipatyaM ca dattaM tasyai pratuSyatA.

Sri Radha is the jewel that brightens Vrisabhanu Maharaja’s dynasty. Srila Raghunatha Dasa
Gosvami wrote in his Radhikastakam: vrajavara vRSabhAnoH punya gIrbAna-vallI – “She is the
blessed desire-vine of Maharaja Vrisabhanu, the best man of Vraja.” She greatly increased the
prestige of Maharaja Vrisabhanu’s dynasty by taking Her birth in it. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti
comments as follows on the verse rAjan patir gurur alaM bhavatAM yadUnAm (5.6.18) from the
Bhagavata: “When Maharaja Pariksit heard from Suka Muni about his dynasty, the Puru-dynasty,
he understood that the Lord had not descended in it, so he was very disappointed. Suka Muni could
understand what was on the emperor’s mind and consoled him by saying: “O King! God may not
have descended into Your family personally, but Love of God has certainly descended in it, and I
cannot praise the dynasty in which prema has descended, enough!” From this follows that the
dynasty of Maharaja Vrisabhanu is even more brilliant than the dynasty of Nanda Maharaja,
because maha-bhava Herself has descended in it! Maharaja Nanda’s name and his family are
certainly successful, because nandayati jagad iti: “He who gives joy to the world, is named Nanda.”
Nanda Maharaja caught the Krishna-bird in the net of his own love and made the whole world most
happy by making Him visible to their eyes. But a life without love does not attract Krishna, who is
transcendental bliss personified, therefore Maharaja Vrisabhanu gave Him Premalaksmi Srimati
Radharani, the goddess of love. His name Vrisabhanu has thus become a success. Vrisa means the
astrological sign of Taurus (April-May, a very hot time of the year in Vraja) and bhanu means the
sun. Maharaja Vrisabhanu illuminates the cave-like hearts of all the people of the world with the
sunrays of his love! Who has a more glorious name and dynasty than him? Srimati Radha is the
jewel of that dynasty.

She is syama kama vara kantimanih, the jewel that instantly pacifies Syamasundara’s
intensely burning lust, which leaves a poisonous scorching effect in His heart. In Sri Jayadeva’s
Vasanta Rasa it was shown that apart from Sri Radha none of the Gopa Sundaris were able to
extinguish the poisonous fire of Rasika Siromani’s (Krishna’s) lusty desires.

zata koTi gopIte nahe kAma nirvApana |

ihAtei anumAni zrI rAdhikAra guNa || CC ||

“Billions of gopis could not extinguish the fire of His lust; from this I can understand Sri Radhika’s
glories.”

On Srimati Radhika’s mere sight or touch this vast fire of lust is extinguished. Syama kamavara
means Syamasundara’s greatest desire. This is not the desire of this material world, which is base
and is simply centered around personal sense gratification.

Sri Radhika is the nikunja bhusamanih, the jewel of the bowers. The bower houses of
Vrindavana are the holiest places in existence, but when Sri Radha doesn’t appear in them, they will
die of misery. Our hero (Krishna) will have an empty heart when He sees the empty bowers,
without Radha, and when He becomes agitated by feelings of separation from Her all the moving
and nonmoving beings of Vrindavana begin to weep along with Him. The darkness in Syama’s
desperate heart will then also fill the bower houses, that thus lose all their beauty as soon as Sri
Radha appears in the bower house, She illuminates the cave-like hearts of Syama and all the other
moving and nonmoving beings that are present there. Sripada knows all these confidential pastimes,
and therefore he calls Sri Radha nikunja bhusamanih, the jewel decorating the bowers.

Finally he says: “Sri Radha shines like a genuine gem in the jewel-boxes of our hearts!” Just as
nobody cares for a box without jewels, similarly a heart without the jewel-like Radhika is empty. A
great devotee of Radha can get that Radha-jewel in the box of his heart simply by constantly
remembering Her. Without Her, the hearts of these devotees are filled with darkness, therefore
Sripada submits to Srimati’s lotus feet: “May this glistening Radha-jewel always illuminate the
jewel boxes of our hearts!”

THE DEEP LOVE OF RADHA

Sri Radha is a deep and unbridled ocean of nectarean love (premamritambudhim agadham
avadham). Although that nectar flows eternally, the ocean never dries out. Sri Radha is the shelter
of all the innumerable devotees of Krishna. The material oceans may dry up, but the
transcendental love-ocean named Radha is only increasing Her volume; not a single drop is ever
lost, therefore She is called agadha, or deep. In the material oceans there are dangerous crocodiles
and sharks, but in the nectar ocean of Radha s love there are no crocodile and shark- like obstacles
in the form of desires for personal enjoyment or liberation, and therefore this ocean is called
avadha, or unobstructed. O Saintly mind! Quickly take shelter of this Supreme Personality named
Radha! [An excerpt from the commentary of the 28th verse.]
 SRI RADHIKA’S ARROW-LIKE GLANCES

veNuH karAn nipatitaH skhalitaM zikhandaM

bhraStaM ca pItavasanaM vrajarAja sUnoH |
yastyAH kaTAkSa-zara ghAta vimUrcchitasya
tAM rAdhikAM paricarAmi kadA rasena || 39 ||

“When can I blissfully worship that Radhika, whose arrow-like glances cause the prince of
Vraja to faint, His yellow cloth to fall off, His crown to loosen and His flute to fall from His
hand?”

Just as a hero at war may faint and drops His bow and arrows while his crown falls off and his
clothes become disarranged when he is hit by an arrow, so also Krishna, the transcendental
youthful Cupid of Vrindavana, drops His flute while His peacock feather crown falls off and His
yellow dhoti becomes disheveled when He is hit by Sri Radhika’s arrow-like glance. An ordinary
hero may slay hundreds of soldiers on the battlefield, but when a great hero (maha vira) strikes
him with an arrow, then even the ordinary hero will faint. Similarly, Krishna can make hundreds
of gopis faint with His glances, but when the great heroine Sri Radhika casts even one single
arrow-like glance at Him, even He will faint!

Hundreds of gopis squirm like deer struck by arrows when they hear the song of Krishna’s flute,
but when Radha casts one single glance at Krishna, that same flute will fall from His hand! That
peacock feather, that is the unique hallmark of the Vraja-pastimes and that enchants all the
beautiful girls of Vraja, rolls in the dust of Vraja, and that yellow cloth, that looks most beautiful
like a steady lightning strike within a rain cloud (Krishna’s body), or like a golden line drawn by
a whetstone, and that steals the pride of the beautiful girls of Vraja’s families, is now falling from
Krishna’s waist when Radhika casts one powerful glance at Him! The force of love brings ecstasy
to Sri Krishna! Sri Krishna, Who is the very form of transcendental bliss, has fainted from one
single glance of Sri Radha, and Sripad is very upset with that! She tries to bring Him back to life
in different ways, but to no avail! Finally Svamini desperately takes shelter of Her maidservant,
saying: “O, I could not remove Priyatama’s swoon, why don’t you see what you can do?”

Now the rasika service of the rasika maidservant starts. In order to revive Nagara, the
maidservant sings a sweet love song that Svamini once taught her in a cave of Govardhana Hill.
After the maidservant brought Syama back to consciousness in this way, the sweet pastimes of
the divine Couple begin. How blissful that makes our rasika paricarika (maidservant)! After
these love-pastimes the maidservant fans the divine Couple and serves Them cold water, betel
leaves and flower garlands.

SRI RADHA’S LOVING DELUSION

saMgatyApi mahotsavena madhurAkArAM hRdi preyasaH

sva cchAyAm abhivIkSya kaustubha maNau sambhUta zokA krudhA |
utkSipta priya pANi tiSTha zunayetyuktvA gatAyA bahiH
sakhyai sAsra nivedanAni kim ahaM zroSyAmi te rAdhike || 247 ||

O Sri Radhike! Will I hear You tell Krishna: “O Knower of morality (meant sarcastically)!
Stay away!”, and see You slap His hand before You go out of the kunja and angrily lament to
Your girlfriends with tear-filled eyes that You saw Your own sweet form reflected in the
Kaustubha gem on Your lover’s chest (and You thought it was some other girl) although You
just met Him during Your festival of love?
Sri Krishna’s illusion is gone when Radhika smiles at Him and He understands now that He
mistook His own reflection in Her shining breasts for some other boys. Now He continues His job
of redressing and ornamenting Srimati. Just then the sakhis enter the kunja, laughing and making
great waves on the ocean of the divine Couple’s sweetness. The maidservant sees it all as a great
festival of rasa. You cannot make a festival with just one or two people, more people are required,
and the sakhis help to complete that festival.

sakhI vinu ei lIlA puSTa nAhi hoy |

sakhI lIlA vistAriyA sakhI AsvAdoy || CC ||

“Without the sakhis, the pastimes of Radha and Krishna are not complete. They expand these
pastimes and make them relishable.”

The laughter and joking of the sakhis make the Divine Couple eager for loving pastimes once more.
The sakhis understand that and discretely leave the kunja. But right in the beginning of the love-
play Svamini sees Her own sweet form reflected in the glittering Kaustubha-gem on Krishna’s chest
and She becomes angry and upset, thinking it to be another girl sporting with Krishna. Krishna,
very disappointed that Svamini rejects Him right at the beginning of the love-play, holds His hand
on Her body and asks Her why She is angry with Him, but Svamini angrily pushes His hand away
and says: “O Knower of morality! Don’t try to flatter me! Just find your own enjoyment!”, and goes
out of the kunja to meet Her girlfriends. The maidservant understands everything and laughs within
herself. The sakhis are surprised to see Srimati coming out of the kunja just after Her festival of
love has started, and they ask Her why She is so angry.

With tear-filled eyes Srimati tells them: “O Friends! This king of debauchees is embracing another
girl right in front of me! Who can tolerate this?” The sakhis say: “Radhe! We’ve been standing by
the door of this kunja all the time; we didn’t see any other girl entering! We think You must have
been hit by some wave of illusion while You were swimming in the ocean of love!” Srimati replies:
“I saw this other girl myself, how could I have come under such an illusion then?” Then the sakhis
ask the maidservants if they understand what is going on, and the maidservants tell them that
Srimati mistook Her own reflection in Krishna’s Kaustubha jewel for some other girl. When the
sakhis hear this they have so much fun! They bring Svamini back to Syamasundara and make so
many waves of laughter with Them. The fishlike hearts of the maidservants blissfully enjoy
swimming on these waves.

SVAMINI IN SEPARATION

It is afternoon. Srimati is back home after having played many blissful love sports with Her beloved
at Radhakunda, Kusuma Sarovara and Suryakunda at noontime. Now again the fever of Her
separation goes up. Her girlfriends try to console Her, but despite that Srimati feels that Her in-
laws’ house is like a dark blind well and Her bashfulness is like a thunderbolt. She laments to Her
friends: “O fair-faced friends, how long will it take before this day is over and I can see
Vrajendranandana walking by, His curly locks that flank His sweet smiling face, grayed by the dust
thrown up by the hooves of the cows?” In this state of separation Srimati repeatedly mutters the
nectarine syllables ‘Syama, Syama!’. How much more sweet this name sounds when it is sung by
the nectarine, love-laden voice of Srimati Radhika! The maidservants can feel this in their heart of
hearts! While Svamini loudly sings Syama’s name, She can visualize all His transcendental
qualities, forms and pastimes and this causes goose pimples as big as the buds of Kadamba-flowers
to erupt on Her beautiful limbs.

Srimati very eagerly looks down the road, hoping that She can see Syama coming, and She
restlessly walks all over Her house, to Her watchtower (candrasalika), Her balcony and Her terrace,
but nowhere She can find peace. The word sarvatroccatana, She cannot find peace anywhere, refers
to the uccatana-sacrifice, a kind of black magic which takes care that one’s enemy cannot find
peace anywhere, not even in his own house. In the same way Svamini, bitten by the snake of
separation from Krishna, walks around restlessly everywhere, unable to find peace unless and until
She can see a glimpse of Krishna. She tells Her friends: “It only takes a few hours before Syama
walks by My house on His uttara gostha yatra, but even these few hours don’t seem to end! It is as
if they last for thousands of ages! Has the creator made these hours like a rod that have to grind My
heart to pulp every day?”

In this way Srimati waits in great misery. No material misery can compare to the misery of even a
minute of Radhika’s separation from Krishna. The door to these realizations remains firmly closed
for those who do not accept the mood of the gopis. Srimati is uselessly angry at the sun, because it
doesn’t seem to want to set.

[An excerpt from the commentary of the 255th verse.]