Srimati Radhika cooks and Lord Krishna spies on Her
In his svarūpāveśa Śrī Raghunātha has a vision of his devotional service and when the vision vanishes he prays:
“Ayi Kuśale! O all-auspicious Svāmini! When will You enter the kitchen after washing Your feet and offering Your obeisances to Vrajeśvarī Yaśodā and other superiors?”
The maidservant changes Śrīmatī’s clothes and ornaments and dresses Her in clothes that are fit for use in the kitchen. Śrī Raghunātha clearly perceives this pastime.
During visualization it appears as if it is directly happening, but after the vision subsides, one considers: “Oh, that wasn’t real – it was just a vision!”
Then with piteous cries one prays again. Then the meditation appears again as if it is directly happening. In this way the līlā smaraṇa gradually continues.
When a sensitive devotee hears and recites this he will think:
“Aho! Blessed is Śrī Dāsa Gosvāmī! He was totally free from bodily consciousness when he fell on the bank of Rādhākuṇḍa, the crownjewel of Vraja, and was blessed with the full vision of the greatly swelling sweetness of the Divine Couple, day and night! Will I ever attain even a single drop of this ocean of bhāva, by his grace?”
Śrī Kavi Karṇapura teaches in Alaṅkāra Kaustubha:
vibhāvayati utpādayatīti vibhāva – A vibhāva causes the inherent desires for devotion to awaken in the hearts of the devotees who have similar feelings (sahṛdaya).
Although, perhaps, Śrī Dāsa Gosvāmī is not able to awaken his listeners’ emotions to the same extent as his, he is still able to water the seeds in their hearts, making them fit for such desires to fructify in them. The more the devotees hear and read the words of Dāsa Gosvāmī, the more the seed of their inherent love of God will fructify and grow.
This is the effect that vibhāva has on the listener.
āsi dāsīgaṇa, rādhāra caraṇa,
dhoyālo śītala nīre
ati sukomala, o-thala kamala,
muchā’lo pātala cīre
rohiṇī sahite, randhana korite,
bosilo rājāra jhi
sab sakhīgaṇa, yogāya yogāna,
śekhara yogāya ghi
“The maidservants came and washed Rādhā’s lotus feet with cold water. They wiped Her feet that are very tender, like land-lotuses, with soft towels, and then this princess sat down with Rohiṇī to cook. All the sakhīs hand Her the ingredients and Rāy Śekhara hands Her the ghī (clarified butter).”
Mother Rohiṇī also blesses Śrī Rādhā as if She is her own daughter, saying:
pacana caturatāratāsi jāte; pacamanasā tava bhāti yad yathā tat
(Kṛṣṇa Bhāvanāmṛta 5,61)
“O daughter of mine! You are a very good cook, cook whatever You like!”
Hearing mother Rohiṇī’s words Svāminī shyly bows Her head down. The kiṅkarīs change Svāminī’s regular dress and ornaments for a dress suitable for cooking.
Affectionately mother Rohiṇī seats Śrīmatī close to the stove on a golden chair covered with a white sheet.
The fire is burning on cedar, aloe and pinewood and all the ingredients are lying before Svāminī, handed to Her by a maidservant whenever She needs any.
jvalana kalana pātra dhāraṇonnaty avanati mūrchhana darvi cālanādyaiḥ
trivali kuca bhujāṁsa kampa celoccalana vaśād udapādi yas tad āsyāḥ
(Kṛṣṇa Bhāvanāmṛta 5.64)
“Sometimes Svāminī checks whether the fire is burning well or not, sometimes She lifts the lid from the cookingpot to see if the preparation is cooked, sometimes She adds some spices and sometimes She stirs the preparation with a spoon. While She does that Her three-lined belly, breasts, arms and shoulders are moving along and cause Her to shine constantly with matchless sweetness.”
Tulasī says: “You are Rasavatī, an expert cook, or a girl full of spiritual flavour, and now You plunge me into an ocean of bliss, filling up the whole kitchen with spiritual flavour also!”
What is so spiritually relishable in that kitchen then?
Śyāmasundara finished His bath and had Himself dressed and now He sits down in His bhajan kuṭīra (meditation room) to repeat the name of Rādhā and to meditate on the Rādhā-mantra.
His mother and father had Him initiated into Nārāyaṇa-mantra by Bhāgurī Muni.
For Gopāla’s own benefit, mother Yaśodā says: “Go Gopāla! Practise Your mantra in Your bhajan kuṭīra!”
Kṛṣṇa sits down and thinks: “Whose mantra shall I practise?”
āmā hoite gunī boḍo jagata asambhava;
ekāli rādhāte tāhā kori anubhava
(C.C. Ādi 4, 241)—
“No one in the world can possibly be more qualified than Me. I only experience that in Śrī Rādhā!”
Therefore He meditates on Śrī Rādhā, His eternally beloved goddess!
Śrīpāda Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī writes (Rādhā Rasa Sudhānidhi 96):
kālindī taṭa kuñja mandira gato yogīndravat yad pada jyotir dhyāna parā sadā japati yam premāśru pūrṇo hariḥ
“With His eyes filled with tears of love, Lord Hari always repeats the two most tasteful syllables ‘Rā-dhā’ and meditates on the spiritual effulgence of Her lotus feet like the king of yogīs in a temple in a kuñja on the bank of the Yamunā.”
sakhi! rādhā nāma kevā śunāile;
śuni mora prāṇa juḍāile
ei nāme āche ki mādhurī;
śravaṇe rahalo sudhā bhari
koto nāma āchaye gokule;
heno hiyā nā kore ākule
cite niti mūrati vikāsa;
amiyā sāgare yeno vāsa
dekhite nayane lāge sādha;
e yadunandana mana kānd
“sakhi! Who told Me this name Rādhā? Hearing it I felt My heart was soothed! How much sweetness is there in that name?
It filled My ears with nectar! How many names aren’t there in Gokula? None of them agitated Me like this one!
When Her form manifests itself in My heart it is as if I reside in an ocean of nectar!
Yadunandana’s mind weeps: When I see Her My eyes are fulfilled!”
No other consort is so fortunate! Kṛṣṇa can forget everything, but not Her! This is the Lord we worship! He is līlā vilāsī, a playful enjoyer.
The killing of demons and other worldly duties are performed by Lord Viṣṇu. He performs these duties through Kṛṣṇa’s hands.
Kṛṣṇa kore viṣṇu dvāre asura saṁhāra
(Caitanya Caritāmṛta).
He is the carefree Dhīra Lalita-hero, enjoying in every kuñja with Śrī Rādhā. Playing and playing, He infuses His prema in the trees and vines.
He revives the old and dry trees and causes the rocks to melt with His flutesong. We will not see our worshipable Lord outside of His pastimes.
In the Gambhīrā Śrīman Mahāprabhu embraced Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara and Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya and wept. His heart, that was burning in the fire of love-in-separation, was soothed by the cooling nectar of suitable songs and verses from Kṛṣṇa Karṇāmṛta, Gīta Govinda, Caṇḍīdāsa and Vidyāpati that were sung to Him by Svarūpa and Rāma Rāya.
caṇḍī dāsa vidyāpati, rāyera nāṭaka gīti, karṇāmṛta śrī gīta govinda
svarūpa rāmānanda sane, mahāprabhu rātri dine, gāya śune parama ānanda
(Caitanya Caritāmṛta)
“Day and night Mahāprabhu was most blissfully singing and hearing the songs of Caṇḍīdāsa and Vidyāpati, the songs from Rāmānanda Rāya’s play,
and the verses of Kṛṣṇa Karṇāmṛta and Śrī Gīta Govinda, together with Svarūpa Dāmodara and Rāmānanda Rāya.”
Mahārāja Pratāparudra attained the Lord’s mercy by reciting the verses of the Gopī Gītā to Him.
The Lord relished this Himself and also taught all the devotees of the world that Gopījanavallabha Śrī Govinda is our worshipable deity.
While practising this meditation in His bhajan kuṭīra Kṛṣṇa becomes eager to see the object of that contemplation, so He goes to the kitchen.
When He peeps through the kitchen-window He sees Śrīmatī cooking there.
Aha! Such sweetness! She does not have Her veil on straight, and Her dress and ornaments are loosened because of the hard work.
Her face shines with a reddish glow because of the nearby burning fire and Her cheeks are beautified by pearl-like sweatdrops.
Śyāma can not move His feet anymore as He beholds the object of His meditation. pādau padam na calatas tava pādamūlāt , in such a condition.
His eyes are widened of ecstasy from seeing Her. Suddenly Svāmini sees Śyāma.
Out of shyness She cannot pull the veil on Her head straight and She gives a wink to Tulasī to pull Her veil back over Her head.
Then She chastises Tulasī with a blink from Her eyes:
“Tulasi, didn’t you see Him? Why didn’t you tell Me He is watching Me?”
Tulasī replies with her eyes: “I also didn’t see Him, I was absorbed in grinding paste!”
Actually Tulasī had seen Kṛṣṇa before, but our Hero had silently requested her not to tell Svāminī that He was watching Her.
Rādhikā’s and Śyāma’s eyes meet and with Her glances Svāminī lets Kṛṣṇa know:
“Mā Rohiṇī is here, go now!”
Kṛṣṇa asks with His eyes: “Will I not see You anymore?”
Svāminī blinks: “Yes!”
Our hero is enchanted by Her arrow-like glances and thinks: “Aha! How much trouble She’s taking to cook for Me! Her face has gotten a reddish glow from being close to the fire!
Her maidervants are wiping Her face, that is adorned with sweatdrops!”
How sweet is this exchange of Rādhikā’s and Mādhava’s glances! It fills the kitchen up with spiritual flavour and thus makes it a true Rasavatī.
– From the tika of Srila Ananta das Babaji and Srila Ananda Gopal Goswami to Sri Sri Vilapa Kusumanjali <3
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