BRS 1.1.1 - Revision IV

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akhila-rasämåta-mürtiù prasåmara-ruci-ruddha-tärakä-päliù |

kalita çyämä-lalito rädhä-preyän vidhur jayati ||1||

 

Victory to the moon

Who is enamored by the star named "Rädhä"

Who is the embodiment of all flavor and vitality

Whose radiant luster dominates the galaxy of stars

And who owns the romantic graces of the dark night.

 

- Or -

 

Victory to moonlike Krishna

Who is enamored by Rädhä

Who is the embodiment of all pleasure and vitality

Whose radiant luster dominates the hearts

of the star-like girl named Tärakä

and the galaxy-like girl named Päli

And who owns the hearts

of the beautifully dark girl named Çyämä

and the romantic, graceful girl named Lalitä.

 

 

The first çloka of Bhakti-Rasämåta-Sindhu invokes Çré Rädhä-Krishna and their

associates.

 

 

Vidhu

 

The central word in this çloka is vidhu. A practical and literal translation

of this word is "unique." As such, the term is most often applied to two unique

 

entities: the moon, who is unique amongst all the luminaries of the night sky,

and the Supreme Being, who is unique among all beings. In this çloka Rupa

Goswami

synthesizes both meanings to create an eloquent and instructive double meaning.

 

 

Rädhä-Preyän-Vidhu

 

Rupa Goswami says that the moon is enamored by the star called "Rädhä." I am

not conversant with Vedic cosmology and it's modern correlations, but the moon

is said to pass most closely to a star called "Rädhä." Since it seems to make

it's entire journey across the dark sky just to come closer to this star, the

moon is said to be in love with the Rädhä-star.

 

Rupa Goswami describes the Supreme Being as "in love with a girl named Rädhä."

This has two effects, (1) it makes explicit that Rupa Goswami is talking

directly

about Krishna, who is famous as Rädhä's lover, and (2) it makes it clear that

Rädhä is not an ordinary entity for she is most dearly and intimately loved by

the Supreme Being.

Like the moon striving to reach his beloved star, Krishna's every effort and

movement focuses on only one thing: to come closer to his dear Çré Rädhä.

Akhila-Rasämåta-Mürti

 

In Vedic cosmology, the moon is considered the embodiment of all flavor (rasa)

and vitality (amåta). The moonlight is said to bestow all taste and nutrition

to the earth's vegetation. Like the moon, Krishna is the embodiment of all

pleasure

(rasa) and vitality (amåta). The potencies that radiate from his Being bestow

all enjoyment and vigor to the living entities.

 

If we take the words rasa and amåta as one unit ("rasämåta") we discover that

Krishna is the source not only of all temporary, phenomenal pleasures

(rasa-ämåta),

but of all eternal, transcendent pleasures (rasa-amåta) as well. The highest

pleasure is to love and be loved. Rupa Goswami calls this pleasure

"bhakti-rasa."

Later in this book, he will organize bhakti-rasa into twelve basic categories,

all of which, in both their phenomenal and transcendental forms, emanate like

cooling rays of moonlight from the effulgent Çré Krishna.

 

 

Prasåmara-Ruci-Ruddha-Tärakä-Päli

 

The splendor of the moon radiates in all directions, and dominates the galaxy

of stars in the night sky. Likewise, Krishna's splendors beauty radiates in all

 

directions and dominates the hearts of the gopi named Tärakä ("She who is like

a star") and the gopi named Päli ("She who is like the galaxy").

 

 

Kalita Çyämä-Lalitä

 

The moon owns the romantic grace (lalitä) of the dark night (çyämä) because

without

the moon the dark night would be more fearful than romantic, and more

troublesome

than graceful. Similarly, Krishna owns the hearts of the gopi named Çyämä ("She

 

who is dark and beautiful like Krishna") and the gopi named Lalitä ("She who

is graceful in all the arts of romance"). Without Krishna, the hearts of these

girls would neither beat nor continue to sustain their lives.

 

 

Rädhä

 

The gopi named Rädhä ("She who is devotion personified") is supreme. Though

Krishna

"dominates" some gopis and "owns" the hearts of others, Krishna himself, the

source of all bliss, is dominated and enthralled by the blissful beauty and

charms

of Çré Rädhä.

 

The other gopis gain their ability to similarly affect Krishna depending on how

 

closely they are associated with Çré Rädhä. Most removed is Tärakä, who belongs

 

to a group of girls that are competitive towards Rädhä. Next is Päli, who

belongs

to a group who are neutral to Rädhä. Next is Çyämä, who belongs to a group who

are friendly to Rädhä. Next is Lalitä, who belongs to Rädhä's own group of

intimate

friends. The more removed one is from Rädhä, the less affect one is able to

have

on Krishna.

 

 

Jayati

 

Rupa Goswami uses this word is in the present tense to remind us that Krishna's

 

loving relationship with Rädhä and her counterparts is supernatural, for

Krishna

is vidhu - the Supreme Being who is beyond all constraints like time and space,

 

and who is therefore fully present and tangible today, in the present.

 

We who are currently writing and reading these words can also join in the

loving

relationship between Rädhä and Krishna and thus directly experience the

embodiment

of all pleasure and vitality. The activities of this loving relationship

between

the soul and the supreme are the subject matter of Bhakti Rasämåta Sindhu.