Bitterberries – Govinda-lilamrta Kṛṣṇa desires Rādhārānīs darśana and Rādhārānī has desire to see Kṛṣṇa. In the mid-day, Rādhārānī performs sūrya-pūjā, worship of the sun. Rādhārānīs age is that of a youthful kiśorī. The forest of Vṛndāvana is filled with attractive birds, animals and trees that are all also youthful. There is one tree in the forest whose fruits are like Rādhārānīs mother-in-law and sister-in-law. This is called the nirasa fruit. They are very bitter, grow profusely and are completely useless. Jaṭilā and Kutilā, the mother and sister-in-law of Rādhārānī, are not helpful and kind guardians. They are very bitter. Without any cause, they always complain and look for faults. They always try to make a bitter situation. They try to make others lives miserable. Their only duty and desire is to complain and find faults. When Rādhārānī brings flowers back to Yavaṭa, Jaṭilā interrogates Her, “Who gave You these? Where did You collect them?” Seeing Rādhārānī holding a blue flower, Jaṭilā says, “Why do You like this color so much?” Sometimes Rādhārānī makes a flower decoration and Jaṭilā asks, Why did You give this yellow flower in the center? Do You like yellow? Kṛṣṇa wears yellow. Is that why You put this flower here?” Jaṭilā always disturbs Rādhārānī, while sleeping, eating, walking, moving, going to sūrya-pūjā, or anything She does, Jaṭilā is suspicious and makes some complaint. In the forest there are many thorn trees that pierce the skin. And there is a type of itchy tree, where if you touch it, you get an skin rash. These are like Jaṭilā and Kutilā. How did these ladies take birth in Vraja-maṇḍala? Kutilā and Jaṭilā were born only to disturb others in Vraja. They are cruel and bitter and are like chili ladies. They always endeavor to make Rādhārānīs life difficult. When Rādhārānī goes to sleep, they ask, “Why are You so sleepy? Why are You sleeping now? Have You stayed up late last night and thus become so tired now?” And when She is not sleeping, they ask, “Why arent You sleeping? Are You thinking of someone You shouldn’t be?” If She is eating, they say, “Why are You always eating? What makes You so hungry?” And if She’s not eating, they ask, “Why are You not eating, are You morose and pouting? Are You trying to become weak so You won’t have to do any housework, is that why Youre not eating? Sometimes, Rādhārānī comes out of Her house and goes into the forest with Her sakhīs. She sits in a secluded place where the flowers are very fragrant. Kṛṣṇa moves through the forests and gardens, searching for Rādhārānī. Rādhārānī thinks, There are no deer or birds in the northern side of the forest, where have they all gone? Then She understood, “Kṛṣṇa must be in the south, therefore everyone went from this side to be with Him.” Kṛṣṇa also thought, Many peacocks are flying from the south to the north. Rādhā must be in the north.” Many golden creepers embrace the tamāla trees and climb to the top of them, where they blossom, decorating the tree with a bonnet of flowers. On top of the tamāla trees, the creepers make a flower kuñja. Then the gopīs think Kṛṣṇa is sitting, hiding on top of the tamāla tree. Rādhārānī has this suspicion. She thinks, Kṛṣṇa is sitting on top of this tree, therefore, many peacocks are dancing nearby.” Seeing any dark-colored object, the peacocks have become very happy. When they see rain clouds, they become very happy. The peacocks are now dancing under a tamāla tree, and the gopīs think, Kṛṣṇa must be there. Rādhārānīs heart has some great pain. She worries, If Kṛṣṇa comes down and attacks Me, what will I do? Dhaniṣṭhā says, What is Your worry? No one is here. It is a secret place.” Look at the top of the tamāla tree,” Rādhārānī says, “Something is there. I will not wait here to be ambushed. Dont worry,” Dhaniṣṭhā said, “nothing is here. Then why are the peacocks very happy and dancing there? Dont worry, Kṛṣṇa is not here. Rādhārānī looks on top of the tamāla tree, thinking Kṛṣṇa will come down. She says, “Those creepers are certainly in the company of Kṛṣṇa, for they are shivering and nectar is dropping from their flowers. Let us remain here no longer or else He will attack us and we will not be able to return home quickly. You are only dreaming,” Dhaniṣṭhā said, It is not Kṛṣṇa. “No,” Rādhārānī said, “everyone criticizes Me and calls Me unchaste. I am honest and do not want to see or meet with Him. His friends will come with Him and they are big thieves. They know many types of cheating and are very clever. They will make a boundary on all four sides of us with the calves and will not let us cross through. I do not want to be arrested here. Let us run quickly from here, or else we will be trapped. All this news will go to Jaṭilā and she will send Abhimanyu to go to Mathurā and complain to Kaṁsa. Dont worry,” the sakhīs said, “there is one deer named Sāranga who is very intelligent. He is favorable to us. We will send him to the top of a hill to find where Kṛṣṇa is with His sakhās and calves. He will come back and give us the news and we can know where to go to be safe. We will find out where Kṛṣṇa is and quickly go in the opposite direction. They called Sāranga. His body has nine different colors in patches. When the sun shines on him, he becomes brighter, and at nighttime he is cloaked in the dark. This deer Sāranga is very powerful and special. At night he can hide and no one can see him, and in the daytime, he is very effulgent and strong. He is very intelligent and is the sakhī’s messenger. He is fearless, and knows how to do everything. Sometimes He sleeps outside the house of Jaṭilā and Abhimanyu. Seeing him when they first wake up, they say, “It is an auspicious sign.” He then dances before them, keeping their attention averted as Rādhārānī comes back late from the kuñja and slips into Her room. Anyone who sees a deer when they first wake should know it to be a very auspicious sign. But if one sees a monkey in his dream, or wakes and first sees a monkey, it means a very dangerous time is coming. Dreaming of monkeys is very dangerous. And if one sees snakes, it means they are indebted to someone and that person will soon come to steal his money. There are many omens like this. Sāranga now went to find Kṛṣṇa, and meeting with the peacocks and birds, He began to dance happily. Dhaniṣṭhā asked, Rādhārānī, arent You happy seeing this dancing?” No, Im feeling great pain. We should not stay here any longer. If that cheater comes He will make such a great problem.” “But just see how the peacocks and deer are dancing so wonderfully. Let us stay for a little longer. “I am afraid that black cheater will come.” O Rādhe, if someone is always speaking negatively about something, it is likely they are very attracted to it and cannot think of anything else.” Yes, so does that mean Jaṭilā and Kutilā like Me so much, and that is why they are always thinking bad about Me and spreading so many complaints? Rādhārānī asked. Yes, they like You so much, therefore they are always thinking about Your welfare,” Dhaniṣṭhā said. “And You have so much attraction towards Kṛṣṇa, therefore anything You see, it reminds You of Kṛṣṇa. Dhaniṣṭhā told the sakhīs, Just see the wonderful dancing of the forest dwellers. You should call Kṛṣṇa and invite Him here. Kṛṣṇa respects and gives gifts to anyone who has excellent qualities. If He comes here, perhaps He will join the dance, and then Rādhārānī will not be able to constrain Herself, and will also dance.” Hearing this, Rādhārānī became surprised and said, “No! Dont invite Kṛṣṇa here. See this creeper embracing the tamāla tree, I am not like this creeper. Dont call that clever boy. The sakhīs understand the desire of Rādhārānī and go to search for Kṛṣṇa. They are all very thirsty to drink the nectar of Kṛṣṇas beauty. They planned amongst themselves to try and bring Kṛṣṇa to meet with Rādhārānī. Rādhārānī now proceeded to Keli kusuma kuñja to worship the sun. A deity of the sun is present there. The gopīs sent an informant to Kṛṣṇa, telling Him that Rādhārānī was coming to the Keli kusuma kuñja. Rādhārānī came to this place and offered obeisance first to the deity of the sun. She prayed, I have come to worship you, and supplicate you to bestow Bhagavān’s blessings upon Me.” The deity appeared to be very pleased. Rādhārānī offered obeisances and then said, The sun is pleased with Me, now we should go. I am worried some misfortune may befall us if we tarry. Lalitā Devī said, Tulāsi and Dhaniṣṭhā, bring the paraphernalia for sūrya-pūjā and place them here.” In the meantime, Kṛṣṇa is absorbed in thoughts of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī, and in His heart, emotions are surging up like waves of the Gaṅgā. He thinks, How can I please Her? A wonderful fragrance was coming from Her body and Kṛṣṇa became maddened by it. Vṛndā-devī met with Kuñja-rāja Kṛṣṇa. Vṛndā-devī gave a blue lotus on Kṛṣṇas ear and musk on His body. She then took the prasāda lotus from Kṛṣṇa’s ear and brought it to Rādhārānī. Touching this lotus, many moods came up one after the other in Her heart. Rādhārānī asked, Vṛnde, where have you come from?” I have come from nearby Kṛṣṇas lotus feet,” Vṛndā-devī said. Where is He,” Rādhārānī asked. “He is on the bank of Rādhā-kuṇḍa,” Vṛndā-devī said. “What is He doing?” Rādhārānī asked. “He is learning the art of dancing.” “Who is His guru?” “Your Deity,” Vṛndā-devī said. “He sees Your form in all creepers and trees and from them He learns the art of dancing.” “Vṛnde,” Rādhārānī asked, “have you lost your mind? My Deity! Why would My Deity be there?” “At Rādhā-kuṇḍa, Kṛṣṇa sees Your form in all beings. He feels very despondent without you. Candrāvalī or Śaibyā are not anywhere nearby. They invited You and Kṛṣṇa to Gauri-tīrtha to try and capture Kṛṣṇa, but He did not go, knowing You were not there. Rather, He has come nearby Your kuṇḍa.” “Well,” Rādhārānī said, “I have come here to worship the sun on the order of my mother-in-law. I want nothing to do with that Kṛṣṇa.” – Article of Śrīpāda Premānanda Prabhu, penned by his amanuensis This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 03:10:29 +0000
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