Content
The burning pain in the hearts of those fortunate gopis, who were the very life of Krsna, had now been extinguished. Taking to heart the gentle, nectarean words flowing from the full moon of Krsna's mouth, the gopis went almost mad as they caressed Him with their trembling arms. They desired to enjoy their lover who displayed irresistible attraction. With His incredibly gorgeous form, looking more beautiful than a hundred thousand Cupids, Krsna served the gopis a continuous feast for their eyes. Then the enchanter the whole creation began His pastime of the rasa dance in order to fill the gopis' hearts with endless bliss. Krsna wanted the gopis to perform the joyful Hallisaka dance to display their talents and individual mellows. Bharata Muni, the authority on mundane dramatics, describes Hallisaka as a circular dance that girls perform while holding their hands on each other's shoulders. Desiring to enjoy this dance, Krsna spoke to His gopi lovers, who resembled the best jeweled flags. Krsna said, "0 my beloved gopis. I derive great happiness from all of you. Now please hear My words with faith. See this auspicious expanse of naturally brilliant beach made by the Yamuna River, her heart bursting with pleasure. It is like a well-ploughed field devoid of pebbles and shining like camphor. Although there are many of you, see if you can make a circle there." Hearing this, the gopis replied, "If we stand in a circle we will be far away from You. Our hearts are all trembling at this thought. Being so far away from You, we will not be enthusiastic, nor can we endure the sorrow." Krsna said, "Now just see the potency of My instructions. Though I will stand in the center of the circle with Radhika, I will also remain beside each of you rapidly twirling around in a playful mood." Their doubts dispelled, the gopis became anxious to see the fun. In great happiness they joined hands and formed a circle around their beloved Krsna. Their bodies seemed to merge into one form that spread out over the beach like circular waves expanding in an ocean of moonlight. That circle of all-attractive ladies looked like a golden net spread over the waters of eager love for catching the fish-like mind of Krsna with the bait of ripe tumbi fruits (their breasts). The rasa circle resembled a fortress of moonlight topped by the black flags of their swaying black braids, and decorated with golden pots shimmering in the reflection of their full moon faces. The rasa circle looked like a huge earring decorating the ear of the goddess of the earth, or a golden bracelet of Manasottara Lake surrounding Sumeru (Krsna), or like a giant bangle around the full moon of Krsna. It looked like a potter's wheel rotating from the touch of a potter expert in Cupid's sports. It appeared like a circular grove of interlocked golden desire creepers decorated with dew drops of perspiration, springing up instantaneously without any seed on the camphor dust beach beside the Yamuna. As literature is decorated with essays called sarvatobhadra, all forms of auspiciousness and happiness ornamented this dance. Like skillful poetry that can be read forward and backward, the rasa dance sometimes went one way and at other times the opposite way. As poetry is marked by equal flowing syllables., the dance progressed with balanced steps and no stumbling. As poetry is written in both local and Sanskrit languages, various statements and counter statements punctuated the dance. As poetry is ornamented with puns, which compress two meanings in one sound, tight embraces ornamented the circular dance. As poetry is adorned in alliteration, similarly, during the dance the gopis wore suitable clothing to accentuate the various movements of their hands and feet. As poetry is ornamented with repetition, so in the dance one Krsna appeared as many. As poetry has both flowing and syncopated meters, similarly, the dance sometimes proceeded steadily and sometimes in a halting motion. As the eye has a black spot in the center, the circle of dancers had Krsna in the center. Without anyone's notice, Yogamaya dressed the gopis in beautiful clothing and ornaments perfectly suited for the rasa dance. Without knowing why, Krsna felt overwhelmingly attracted to the gopis. Just see how expert Yogamaya is at satisfying Krsna's heart! At the beginning of the dance, the daughter of Vrsabhanu displayed the epitome of glory and beauty. Encouraged by the gopis, Radha stayed in the center of the circle with Krsna. Standing like a picture, Radhika bathed m bliss as She watched the dancing expertise of the other gopis. Fearing that they had become too spread out, the gopis gathered together again. As poetry may have the fault of looseness, the gopis placed their arms each other's shoulders in order to close up the gap between them. Then Krsna, the king of pleasure, left the center of the circle and quickly entered between each pair of gopis. Releasing their locked arms, Krsna placed His arms on the gopis' shoulders and danced with them, displaying fascinating poses. Coming between the pairs of gopis, Krsna first faced them and then hid behind their backs. Krsna held their necks between His arms and moved about. By this, the rasa. circle took on a spectacular appearance—like a firebrand twirling around, straight, then reverse, then zigzagging in motion. Krsna's attractive dancing movements filled the gopis with desires to associate with Him. Turning at full speed and putting His arms on the left and right shoulders of two gopis, Krsna simultaneously embraced both of them. Making a space between the two gopis whom He had just embraced, Krsna quickly moved behind them. Then taking His hand away from one, and using the shoulder of the other, He circled around again to face them. In this way the fun-filled rasa dance continued. Moving in this zigzag motion, Krsna rapidly and skillfully went around to embrace each gopi from front and back. Krsna's artistic dance of love filled His dearest gopi and all the others with ecstatic joy. Overcome with impatience to witness the rasa dance, unlimited numbers of demigods and their wives crowded the sky with their hundreds of celestial airplanes, which looked like planets hanging in the sky. The horizon looked like an assembly hall filled with the Caranas, Kinnaras, Siddhas, Sadhyas, Gandharvas and Vidyadharas. The demigods played varieties of festive tunes and melodies to increase the pleasure of Radha and Krsna. They accompanied the rasa dance with muraja drums, shaped like poems of the same name. They beat drums (mrdanga), made from pure clay devoid of rocks and other debris from the earth (mrdanga). They rang small metal cymbals (panavas) as plentiful as an exchange of coins (pana) in buying and selling goods. The drummers held the beautiful alingya drums in close embrace (alinga). They played brilliant ankya drums suitable for the various acts of a drama. The anakadundubhi drums equaled the praiseworthy Anakadundubhi (Vasudeva) of the Yadu dynasty. The vibrations of numerous stringed instruments such as the vina (vitata) pervaded (vitata) the sky. The wind instruments (susiram) had needle-like holes (sasusiram), and the special drums (anaddha) were tied up (sanaddham) like precious jewels. The celestial musicians showered so many flowers that the bees thought they were the kajala-tinged tears of the goddess of heaven. With hairs standing erect in ecstasy, the Gandharvas sang the glories of Yasodanandana. The rhythmic sounds of the anklets and bracelets of Krsna and the gopis poured nectar into the ears of the devatas accustomed to drinking ambrosia, and destroyed their desire to taste anything else. Krsna submerged in unlimited bliss as He rapidly spun around between each pair of gopis and embraced them. When the circle of gopis combined with the single dark body of Krsna, it conquered the beauty of the combination of moonlight and darkness, of lightning and storm clouds, of campaka and blue lotus flowers, and of gold and sapphires. Ceasing their zigzag movements, the dancers started turning in a circle. As they merrily danced, the gopis' veils rustled, their earrings swung on their cheeks, their coral necklaces swayed playfully on their shoulders, and their bracelets, waist-belts and ankle-bells tinkled delightfully. The gopis, flashing like stationary lightning, sent waves of light around the universe of cloud formations (Krsna) whirling around in the dance. Then something extraordinary happened. Making smaller circles, Krsna danced close to Radha in the center, and then He expanded again to the circumference of the circle in order to dance close to the other gopis. Enjoying His pastime, Krsna appeared like a roaming sapphire necklace, freed from its thread, in the jewel box of the circle of gopis. Impelled by the festive sight and desiring to dance like the blissful gopis, the goddesses of dancing, singing, and playing instruments appeared personally at the rasa dance. The presiding deities of music and dance had attained expertise in these arts after long practice. In a blissful mood, the teachers of music and dance worshiped those skilled dancers. They welcomed the arriving demigods of hand positions (mudras) who assist them in their productions. As the gopis expertly sang and danced to the beat of the music, they displayed various mudras and enchanting bodily poses. Mudras are hand postures that tell a story or act out the drama of the music. In the following list, the mudra is first defined and then explained with a metaphor. During the rasa dance the gopis exhibited all of these mudras to express their different moods. 1) Pataka Mudra (flag): like a beautiful flag flying from the mansion of a wealthy man. 2) Tripataka (three banners): like the smoke from the sacrificial arena, the flag of the sacrifice. 3) Hamsa Mastaka (swan's head): as tender .as the lotus stem touched by a swan. 4) Kartari Mukha (betel nut clipper): a curved blade, like the thin moon on the second day after dark moon. 5) Suka Tundaka (parrot's head): brilliant, like the beak of a parrot, the color of the palasa flower. 6) Sandamsa: compressed like pincers pulling out threads of molten gold. 7) Khataka Mukha (suspicious face): like Siva holding a khataka (musical instrument) in His hands. 8) Padma Kosa (lotus bud): attractive as a lotus surrounded by eager bees. 9) Ahitunda Mudra: like a snake charmer skillfully holding a snake's head. 10) Suci Mukha (pinhead): like the head of the needle, plentiful in the tailor's shop. 11) Mrga-sirsaka (deer's head): like the constellation mrgasirsa during the full moon of the winter month. 12) Ardha Candra (half moon): like the moon on the eighth day. After thanking the hand position devatas, the goddesses of the performing arts welcomed the devatas of songs and ragas. The devatas in charge of various styles of prabandha and dhruva, and of irregular intonation such as harivilasa, svarartha, along with various rhythms such as caccatputa, caccaputa, hamsalila, gajalila, simhananda (extensive tolas), as well as ekatali, rupaka, pratimantha, nisaru, yati, triputa aduka, and adi tala were also in attendance. The music devatas of southern, tailanga, and western styles all gathered there. They received the devatas of ragas such as malara, mallara, bhairava, kedara, nata, karanta, kamoda, sama, desaga, gandhara, bangala, and vasanta; the devatas of raginis: gujjari, bahulagujjari, barati, desika, bhairavi, velavali, ramkiri, dhanasika, sri, pali, gori, todi, gondakiri, and kalyanika. They greeted the Laksmi of singing and the devatas of text and music, the seven melodies (svaras), the twenty-one fading notes (murcchana), three scales (grama), eighteen scales (jati) and twenty-two marginal notes (sruti). They welcomed four types of instrumental devatas: wind instruments such vamsi, muralika, pavika, upanga; string instruments like vina, mahati, kavilasika, vipanci, svara mandalika, kaccapi, rudravina and kinnari, drumming instruments like mrdu, mrdanga, damaru, dampha; and percussion instruments like cymbals. They welcomed the different tempos: fast, slow and medium, and the body poses of dance. Among them appeared devatas such as svaramandalika, vipancika, mahati, rupavati holding lutes and others holding tamburas. Many singers with drummers, vina, and flute players joyfully appeared there. Many expert karatala players kept the rhythm. All these devatas, the embodiments of the performing arts, and the Upanisads of the arts, attended the rasa lila with smiling lotus faces and looks of astonishment. The best dancers assembled there showing their expertise in both the improvised and the pure styles. They exhibited proficiency in all the secrets of music and graceful movements like a person who turns ordinary words into songs. Something more may be added. There are two types of songs, marga (song, dance and music according to the rules laid down by Brahma) and desi (regional). There are thirty-four types of marga and forty types of desi songs. In musicology, the cancaputa beat is famous. The recitation of beats (bol) sounded most attractive: thaiya tatha-tatha-thaiya, tatha-tatha-thaiya-tathatti-tatha-thaiya, thaiya-tatha-tatha-thaiya, thaga-thaga-thaga-tattitha-diganathai. Following this recitation, the rhythm keepers kept karatalas in their hands. Moving them left, right, up and down, they sang an attractive new eighth note, though there are only seven notes in the scale, playing in different measures (laghu, guru, pluto, drat, and virago) sometimes with bol and sometimes without. ? When the drummers raised a tumultuous sound by hitting the ends of the drums with their hands, their lips shone and their throats quivered. The female singers took on a splendor as they turned their ears towards the sound of the instruments thundering with great skill. The seven notes revealed their beauty in four ways according to their placement in the tune: anuvadi, vivadi, vadi and samvadi. The vadi is like a king; it is used frequently and defines the svarupa or essence of the raga. The samvadi acts like the fifth note and is called the minister. Any of the other four notes may be the vivadi, or enemy. The remaining notes of the raga are called anuvadi, the followers of the king and minister. The constituents of the svaras are called srutis, which re twenty-two in number named tivra, kumudvati, and so on. When these combine they form three types of grama (scales): sadja, madhyama and gandhara. When a svara (melody) fades into a raga it is called a murcchana (fading note). Raga develops by using murcchana. There are a total of twenty-one murcchanas (seven svaras times three scales) such aspancama, rodri, and others. All these murcchanas appeared during the rasa-lila. Playing the murcchanas in ascent is called tana. There are forty-nine tanas (key notes). From them minor tanas arise. It is impossible to count their varieties. In the rasa-lila 300,000 tanas appeared. Jatis are the archetypes of ragas. There are seven pure jatis and eleven secondary jatis, a total of eighteen. Though only eighteen in number, seventeen thousand nine hundred jatis appeared in this rasa dance. There are three types of complete ragas appearing in fifty forms. By omitting and retaining notes many forms of ragas resounded within the rasa dance. There are six main ragas such as sri and vasanta, and thirty-six raginis (wives of the ragas) or derivative forms such as mala, sri, and todi. Unlimited varieties of ragas and raginis arise by mixing those forms. In order to sing the srutis, jatis, murcchanas and the fifteen gamakas (trills or making a melody pulsate), Brahma supplied fixed and changeable tuning on the vina. While sounding the vinos to regulate the pitch of the gopis' voices, one wondered about the accuracy of the vinas tuning. Proud of their ability to test the pitch of voices, the vinos themselves became tested by comparison with the gopis' voices. The gopis sang a type of song called suddha prabandha. There are nine types of suddha: adi, yati, nisaru, adda, triputa, jhampaka, manthaka and ekatali. Then the gopis sang dhruva and mantha songs of the salaga suddha style using various irregular beats. They also sang prabandha songs. Excitedly uttering the bol, "thaiya thaiya tatha tatha thaiya thaiya thaiya— tigara ta-thaiya, the gopis, stamping their feet on the ground and raising their arms in the air, danced sweetly from left to right, while going around the circumference of the circle. To further relish the singing the gopis made mudras to dramatize the words of the songs. As they gracefully turned their necks, their eyes darted from left to right glancing at Krsna with looks of love. Raising their arms high and shaking their bangles while spinning around, the gopis danced with lightning speed. Because they tasted such ecstasy within, they could not stop. Being strung on the thread of Krsna's beauty within their hearts, they flawlessly and continuously moved their feet to the left and right. While stamping their feet to the beat "dhi dhidhi dhita dhidhi," their bodies swayed in time and their jeweled ankle-bells softly jingled. The cloth slipped from their breasts, and it seemed their thin waists would soon snap in half. But fearlessly, they swung their arms around and danced in joy, twisting left and right. The vina and flute players also danced with precise steps. The singers and rhythm makers danced according to the beat of the song. The drummers played loudly and danced in unison. Their sound was like a thread tied to the bodies of the dancing gopis. When Krsna turned to the left while moving around in the rasa circle, the gopis turned to the right. And when Krsna turned to the right, they turned to the left. Dancing in this manner, they appeared as figures spotlighted by a moving lamp, which cast shadows first on one side then on the other side, as the combination of golden bodied gopis and dark blue Krsna repeatedly reversed their positions. The instrumentalists, situated outside the circle, assisted the pastime of the Lord by playing according to the dancing of the gopis. The gopis sang various songs about the sweetness of Krsna, "the personification of all nectarean enjoyment." In response, Krsna sang about the beauty of the moon, "who brings pleasure to the night." In a gentle ragini, the gopis sang, "His face is the abode of sweetness..." As the beat picked up and the gopis stamped their feet harder, drops of perspiration fell from their lotus feet like honey on the sand. Astonishingly, the fury of the dancing did not raise a speck of dust. The image of Krsna's dancing, which reflected on the gopis' tilaka, swayed to the rhythm of the dancing gopis as they rocked their heads. The gopis seemed to be saying to that reflected image of Krsna, "0 skillful dancer, Your dancing can never, never, never compare with the splendid dancing of the gopis in the rasa mandala." At the end of the dance, all the lotus-eyed gopis tightly embraced Krsna. Trembling in ecstasy, they sang another raga in loud voices, conveying their intense longing. The devatas of music all fainted upon hearing this raga. One gopi, joining Krsna in His singing, sang pure melodious tones with full feeling in the gandharva scale made pleasant by suitable jati, sruti and gamakas. Pleased, Krsna showed great appreciation for her performance, saying "Excellent! Excellent!" She pleased Krsna by singing the seven notes of the scale embellished with twenty-two srutis presented with the principle ornaments in the introductory passages (alapa). Hearing the mrdangas playing "ta dhik ta dhik" the dancers of the heavenly planets filled with cheer. Though critical of any competition, they filled with delight on hearing that sound. The gopis kept dancing and the instruments kept playing. Due to intense attraction to Radhika, Mukunda, swelling with bliss and pride, performed a danced a solo exhibiting His eternal nature as the embodiment of rasa. Wearing a peacock feather in His hair, Mukunda showered the rasa dance in a cloudburst of nectarean prema by embracing Radha in His arms. Krsna looked like a tamala tree embraced by a golden creeper, a cloud flashing with lightning, or like a perfect medicine produced by the goddess of amusement herself to bring satisfaction and to dissipate all lamentation. The splendor of Krsna's elegance conquered the pride of a million Cupids. Like a magnet, Krsna attracted the flower buds of Cupid's arrows of love. Seeing Radha dancing with Krsna, the other gopis wanted to enhance Her expert dancing, but they could not keep up with Radha's proficient playing, singing and dancing. This performance was not simply a result of practice, nor a show of expertise in learning singing and dancing, nor a momentary display of enthusiasm based on a little talent cultivated through repetition. Radha's impeccable qualities are eternally present and eternally perfect. They do not depend on practice to manifest. Radhika's natural perfection far exceeds that of all the famous women in creation. The dancing skills of Urvasi cannot be compared to Radha's. What to speak of the other Apsaras who hide themselves in the pleasant waters of bashfulness before Radhika. In front of Radha, the wives of the Caranas retreated to the edge of the forest, the wives of the Siddhas gave up their pride, and the wives of the Gandharvas lost their noble character. Fixing their minds on the great fortune of Krsna's intense love for Radha, the wives of the devas arid munis sprinkled flowers. In a mixture of joy, enthusiasm, and a desire to outdo each other, Radha and Krsna, overcome with attraction, sang the alapa (introductory part) with the initial note (graha) and the sixth note. They sang all the notes of the ascending and descending scales withgamaka (trills or wavering). This invoked various tastes, induced more singing and dancing, and spread auspiciousness all around. It did not, however, appear to be a manifestation of any material skill. As the rhythms faded out jUast before the end of the song, Krsna concluded the song with the final note (rtyasa), extending His lotus hand (nyasa} to touch Radhika's breast. Although intrigued by Krsna's witty behavior, Radhika pretended to be angry and pushed Krsna's hand away with Her left lotus hand. Merciful Krsna captivated all the gopis with the sweetness of His face and His broad, playful smiles, which ga\ye rise to selfless love. Though Krsna's heart overwhelmed with the desire for conjugal love, He continued to dance a little more, while swingiiing His head. Sometimes Krsna moved to the outside of the circle and danced with the tribal Abhira women standing on the edge, and other times He moved to the center of the circle to dance with Radhika. After relishing the dancing, Krsna wanted to see the expertise of the gopis in performing other intimate pastimes. He stood before them, showing His radiant face and attractive arms while interacting with each one according to her individual rapture. Krssna said, "0 my beloved gopis. Now take sufficient rest for some time. ' Then we will see how to enjoy ourselves." Saying this, Krsna and the gopis relaxed j on the cooling, camphor-white sands along the bank of the Yamuna. The intelligent Yogamaya, Vrnda-devi, and her associates came there; knowing the time had come for their service. They brought plenty of elegant and appropriate things to give to the gopis. With great affection they offered wild flower honey, cooling fruit juice in palasa leaf cups more attractive than jeweled dishes, garlands, and betel nuts, with a taste so satisfying and perfect that no ordinary person could have made it. Krsna forgot about His pastimes of eating on the riverbank with His cowherd friends. It occurred to Krsna that He had now fulfilled His desire to picnic directly with the gopis on the bank of the Yamuna. Krsna passed the time playfully eating with them in unlimited bliss. Intensely desiring to see the fun, Brahma and the other devatas did not go anywhere. But since they had previously offended Krsna when He picnicked with His cowherd boyfriends, they did nopt have the courage to gaze on this secret picnic. Thus they raised their clqoths to cover part of their faces. After savoring the ecstatic rasa dance, Krsna enjoyed in a different way in that solitary place, joking and laughing in the madness of love. Devoid of restraints, the ocean of prema in the rasa mandala swelled with high, unlimited waves. In that condition, Gopinatha and His lovers tasted the sweet fruits and nectar drinks. With great pleasure Krsna sipped the cool water brought by respectful vanadevis. He relished the betel nuts flavored with camphor and sara root, which He held before His mouth in a unique way. The wind passing over the Yamuna carried the scent of lotuses and the blissful sound of cranes and ducks as it blew gently on Krsna's body. After drinking His fill of liquor before the battle, Krsna left His sitting pastime with a desire to dance again in the artful battle of love. Standing up, Krsna played an amazing raga in the gandharva scale on His flute. It so much surpassed His previous songs that even the expert musicians could not touch it. The devatas sang along accompanied by mrdangas. Because it is impossible to describe the fantastic dancing of the individual gopis, the dancing of one gopi of Radha's group will now be described, from which everything can be understood. As the voices and instrumental music blended in a pleasant way, one gopi, who embodied the essence of the art of dancing, stood up amidst the singers like the center of a flower surrounded by golden petals. When the beat fell off, she appeared like a deity making a sudden appearance to the clanging of musical instruments. That gopi had a very thin waist and heavy swollen breasts. While bending her delicate left and right hands to show the ardhendu (half-moon) and padmakosa (lotus bud) mudras, she glanced slowly from right to left. Perspiring profusely, her body seemed to be as soft as molten wax as she moved gracefully executing difficult dance steps. According to proper method, she extended and contracted her arms while touching her waist, forehead, neck and knees, and forming mudras such as hamsasya. Dancing in this way, her waist became even thinner and her breasts more firm. Her braid licked her heels and the three lines on her belly disappeared. When the beat stopped, she waved her hands in the air and suddenly bent her back in such a way as to conquer the beauty of the campaka flower bow of Cupid. Fixing her knees firmly on the ground and stretching her arms out to the sides, she twirled around with lightning speed. Her ornaments jingled, her necklace and earrings swung, and swarms of bees circled around, being attracted by the fragrance of her mouth. She appeared like a golden wheel spun rapidly by a mad potter. The combination of the pale luster of her gold necklace, the redness of her lips, and the blackness of the bees made an extraordinary picture. While contracting her belly, dropping her sash, and expanding her breasts, this gopi dug her toes into the earth, straightened her legs and raised herself on her feet. Clenching her fists and pressing her thumb against her breasts, she recited the bol "tathd td-thdi thai td-thai thai ta-thdi" in unison with the beat while ringing her bangles and ankle-bells. When the song finished she suddenly disappeared from the center of the circle and positioned herself on the circumference. While the voices, vinas, flutes, karatalas, and mrdangas resounded, this gopi stood behind the singers and rested her arms on the shoulders of a friend. While chewing betel nut, she extended her legs so that a friend could untie the strings of her ankle-bells. To relieve her fatigue her friends stood around fanning her with their shawls. Her breasts heaving, she took a few deep breaths and fell asleep. After resting some time, she heard the singers expertly reciting the alapa to introduce a new song. Then she reentered the rasa mandala like Cupid personified. Illustrating the song with intricate mudras, she danced so enthusiastically that Siva became inspired to perform His tandava dance. Her thumb had the best of beauty, her forefinger excelled the pride of Cupid, her middle finger defeated the grace of the universe, her ring finger defeated the pride of Cupid's wife, and her little finger established the meaning of colorful expression. ' This gopi with beautiful teeth, raised firm breasts, and nicely shaped buttocks, waved her hands, exciting her golden bracelets to jingle attractively. She raised her knees and arms in turn to the beat of "tat-ta ta-thdi tiki-dd tiki-thai." This golden gopi appeared like a continually rising golden light as she twisted and turned higher and higher. She appeared like a stream of golden pollen stirred up by a storm amongst a group of lotuses composed of singers and musicians. As she swayed in the sky like a glowing vine, she displayed many complicated movements. Indeed, this did not arise from dance lessons. As the essence of gracefulness, her feet never touched the ground. If a group of lightning bolts from a cloudless sky remained stationary for a long time swaying in the breeze and roaring with the beat "tat-td ta-thdi" it might compare with this gopi's dancing. As the beat subsided and her footsteps softened, this gopi with full breasts swayed her body back and forth, revealing the perfection of beauty in her upper limbs. Her friends feared that her thin waist, unable to bear the bending, would break like a tender lotus stem. When her golden ankle-bells signaled the beginning, she danced with great skill. Moving her feet to the different beats (laghu, guru, pluta, druta, drutata, and ardha drutapada), she rang all her ankle-bells. Sometimes she jingled only a few, and sometimes not even one bell sounded. Pleased with her, Radha and Krsna cheered out, "Very good! Very goodF and embraced her. This gopi's spectacular performance astonished the assembly of Apsaras and devatas. After watching each gopi dancing in this way, Krsna commenced His performance. Displaying inconceivable dancing prowess, He moved with abandon along with all the gopis. Abounding in joy, He sang and danced and induced the gopis to sing and dance. Dancing in this way the night passed in an instant, although it extended for the length of Brahma's night. In this extraordinary rasa dance, sometimes the gopis danced alone or in a group. Sometimes they danced singly in turns, or joined with Krsna to sing and dance a duet. Feeling both tired and extremely satisfied from the blissful rasa dance, the gopis opened their bodices and rested their arms on Krsna's shoulders. The gopis looked as gorgeous as golden creepers hanging on the branches of a tarnala tree caressed by the breeze. Embraced by the exhausted gopis, Krsna appeared to be the embodiment of conjugal rasa embraced by the embodiment of ecstasy. One gopi, with swaying necklaces, lotus bud earrings, and an elegant dress, put her left arm on Krsna's shoulder. As her belt and ankle-bells chimed along, she sang and danced in a slow, artistic manner. Krsna danced after her, following her movements. One love-excited lotus-eyed gopi grabbed the border of Krsna's golden dhoti in her lotus hand, and danced back and forth while pulling it and making Krsna dance in response. Another gopi, charged with emotion, sang and danced in an even tempo responding to the sweet sound of Krsna's flute. In a mood of jest, Krsna intentionally played some dissonant notes. With her glance that gopi chastised Krsna while at the same covering her own discordant notes. The gopi said, "Krsna! You are playing out of tune to distract me and point out my faults. I know Your tricks. Your gestures reveal Your intention to make me sing out of tune!" After dancing for a while to His flute song, one gopi induced Krsna to dance proudly by singing and playing her vina. Just for fun, in the middle of the dance, Krsna moved with a complicated, irregular gait. Becoming very impatient, the gopi thought, "That Krsna is not going to make me laugh and miss the beat." Thus Krsna gave pleasure to all the young ladies of Vrndavana by embracing them, glancing lovingly at them with His playful smiles, kissing them, and drinking the nectar of their lips. All the different gopis present at the rasa mandala got a chance to dance and individually enjoy with Krsna. In this way, the gopi group leaders, their followers, and maidservants all relished the greatest ecstasy in the rasa dance festival. Fatigue personified as a friendly sakhi to decorate the gopis' foreheads with beads of perspiration that looked like attractive strings of pearls. Their limbs hung loosely from lethargy as if they were drunk from liquor. But even in their exhaustion the gopis looked elegant and effulgent. Her body drooping from weariness, one gopi draped her arms on Krsna's shoulders. Not being able to bear the weight of the mountain of her good fortune, she had to load it on the shoulders of her lover in order to rest for some time. After getting intoxicated on honey wine, one gopi completely discarded her bashfulness. Brimming with affection, she went mad to enjoy without restraint. She looked particularly beautiful due to shaking from the fatigue of bearing the weight of her heavy breasts. Upon her shoulders Krsna placed the jeweled batons of His arms, whose natural blue-lotus fragrance mixed with that of the sandalwood pulp anointing them. As the gopi relished that fragrance, she submerged in an ocean of ecstasy. Then riding the high waves of satisfaction, she kissed Krsna's arms. Next to Krsna's cheek one tired gopi put her own, beautified by effulgence of her jeweled earrings, which glittered as she danced. Admiring her soft splendid face, Krsna kissed her and slowly offered His chewed betel nut to Her honey sweet lips. Though they were exhausted, some exceedingly elegant gopis, inspired by the auspicious fragrance of Krsna's body, continued to sing and dance. In doing so, their bodices heaved with their heavy breathing, their necklaces moved like billowing waves, and they moved in frivolous ways. While they danced like this, Krsna grabbed both their breasts with one hand. It appeared like a blue lotus covering two golden water pots. Being so closely set, touching one breast equaled touching the other. The ears of the lotus-eyed gopis moistened with drops of perspiration from the exertion of dancing and singing. As the intense dancing gradually slowed down, the tinkling of their jeweled ankle-bells ceased. The.n another enthusiastic gopi stepped forward to dance with Krsna, accompanied by her pleasant singing, precise movements, and the delicate vibrations of her ankle-bells. Although the long night of Brahma passed away, the joyous adventures of intimate love raged on. Krsna sported like an engrossed boy with members of the groups assisting the performance of the rasa dance. As expansions of their group leaders, these gopis embodied portions of individual - arts and skills. Krsna, the source of Narayana, smiled, talked to them, embraced them, kissed them, and drink the nectar of their lips. Krsna performed all these loving pastimes simply to fulfill the desires of the gopis. The doe-eyed girls with thin, creeper-like arms swam in the river of desire for Krsna, inundated by the delight of directly serving Him. In the gopis' ecstasy, their hair, bodices, and clothing had unknowingly loosened. The devatas headed by Siva and Brahma praised the son of the king of Vrndavana, the Supreme Person, who stole the minds of all beautiful iwomen in the universe, who is endowed with all wonderful qualities, and who is always absorbed in His pastimes of love. The wives of the devatas fainted simply seeing Krsna from the sky. What an astonishing, incomprehensible pastime! Even the stars in the sky, caught in the whirlpool of love manifested there, lost their intelligence, became attracted by the desires of their minds and fainted. From its very beginning, the rasa dance disturbed the movements of the moon. The night served Krsna's desire by lasting as long as Brahma's night. Following the rasa dance, Krsna enjoyed with each gopi in separate solitary bowers. Krsna and the gopis were mutually attracted to each other. Thus Krsna satisfied each gopi to the limit of her desires. Krsna's love displays a wonderful sweetness in union. With His tender lotus hand Hari affectionately wiped the drops of perspiration from the beautiful faces of the smiling gopis, who had tired from the varieties of love sports. But the touch of Krsna's hand saturated their minds with ecstasy, and made the gopis perspire even more! Seeing His lack of expertise in this matter, the gopis themselves took pieces of cloth and wiped their own faces. Then the gopis, who had exhibited their talent in performing enthralling dances, sang some unique self-composed songs, which were charmingly sweet, evoking compassion, and endowed with exquisite beauty. Playing in the Yamuna To dispel the gopis' fatigue from dancing and exhaustive conjugal pastimes, Krsna entered the Yamuna, followed by swiftly moving, singing bees. Their lengthy pastimes on the bank had covered Krsna and the all gopis with dust. With great enthusiasm they entered the lotus-filled currents of the Yamuna River. Krsna looked like a lordly elephant playing in the water with his consorts. While bathing in the Yamuna the exquisite lotus faces of the gopis defeated the beauty of thousands of lotus flowers, their thin arms defeated the lotus stems, their full, rounded breasts defeated flocks of cakravaka birds, and their graceful flowing movements defeated the flocks of swans gliding on the water. When the gopis submerged themselves up to their necks, the sky filled with the golden lotuses of their faces. Upon touching their pot-like breasts, the river rose in waves to serve those pairs of cakravaka birds. Their many slender arms hanging down in the river appeared like hundreds of lotus stems. Smelling the fragrance of the gopis' bodies, the swarms of black bees gave up the lotuses and soared towards the gopis. It appeared as if the black Yamuna had come to respectfully greet them. When the swans flapped their wings, it appeared that out of affection the Yamuna fanned the tired gopis. When swarms of black bees gathered above them and the devatas showered white flowers, it appeared like strings of pearls sewn on a dark blue cloth, shaking in the wind. Keeping their beloved in the center and making a circle around Him, the gopis hit the water while holding their hands together. This caused little waves to rise from the Yamuna, which in turn splashed against the chest of Krsna. The waves looked like the hairs of Yamuna's body standing on end in ecstasy. Interlocking their fingers, the gopis gathered water in their hands and forcefully splashed Krsna. It appeared that Hari had been wounded by the power of Cupid's water weapon. Knowing that Cupid's weapon could not be destroyed, but it could be counteracted, Krsna dove under the water. Moving His hands, Krsna playfully snatched the sashes of the gopis. Pretending to be afraid, they jumped up and ran away as Krsna pursued them splashing water. After quickly defeating the gopis in the water fight, Krsna grabbed all their necklaces as booty and stored them under His armpit. Radha secretly approached from behind, loosened Krsna's arm, and seized the necklaces. Radhika tried to hide amongst some golden lotus flowers but was afraid of the deep water. Radha looked fearfully when Krsna discovered Her hiding place and swam toward Her. Coming up from behind, Krsna suddenly placed His hands firmly on Radha's breasts and lifted Her up. The other gopis just stared in amazement at His behavior. Radhika startled when some restless saphari fish (minnows) suddenly brushed against Her legs. Out of fear, She clutched Krsna's neck and embraced Him again and again. Then Radha glorified the genuine friendship of the saphari fish and broke out in a tender smile. While some gopis competed to pick lotus flowers and stems they laughed and felt no distress. They faced but one difficulty—the desire born from the bliss of seeing Krsna, who happily witnessed their actions. Afflicted thus, they appeared to be stupefied from a beating. When Krsna approached these gopis and tried to caress their cakravaka breasts, they crossed their arms in front. Their crossed arms looked like lotus stems embracing their throats. The gopis appeared to be sniffing lotuses as they shyly covered their faces with their lotus hands. In this way, by various gestures, the intensity of passion grew in the water games between Krsna and the gopis. While drenched in the ghana rasa (water, or smgara rasa) the gopis' kunkuma ran off their breasts, their necklaces broke, the kajala washed off their eyes, their lips lost their red color, their jeweled belts came undone, and their hair braids loosened. In this condition, the luscious beauty of the gopis doubled. This is the nature of persons drowning in the pleasurable waters of madhura rasa. After offering their precious gems and jeweled ornaments to the Yamuna River as a gift, the gopis fashioned earrings of spotless water lilies, hair ornaments of lotuses, necklaces of lotus stems, and belts of saivala plants. Their bangles tinkled when they scooped up water in their left hands and slapped them with their right hands to imitate the music of frogs. Thus the water pastimes met a fitting close. After rubbing oil on their bodies, the golden-hued gopis bathed and then climbed up on the bank of the Yamuna. They looked very beautiful with their loosened undergarments and dark locks of hair dripping with water. It appeared as if the bright rays of the moon, pursued by dense darkness, now retreated and wept. The gopis towel dried their bodies and put on ornaments, clothing, and cosmetics supplied by the all-auspicious Yogamaya, who is always active and expert in supplying the right things at just the right time. While dressing themselves the gopis took on the role of women who dominate their lovers (svadhina bhratrka). With their pleasing complexions and dangling earrings, the gopis looked like the goddesses of fortune. Intelligence judges them as the topmost reservoirs ofprema and the abodes of sweetness covered with festive joy. Surrounding the supreme enjoyer and Lord of their lives, who wore an elegant crown, a kaustubha necklace, and other effulgent ornaments, the gopis entered the courtyards of the forest kunjas along the Yamuna, which resounded with flocks of singing swans and other water birds. The vanadevis provided delicious, fragrant madhu (honey liquor made from flower extracts) in jeweled pitchers. Intoxicated by the fragrance, swarms of bees flew in from all directions and circled overhead. Though lit by full moonlight, the evening sky appeared darkened by their presence. Illumined by the moonbeams, the strand of beach looked like a silver band and the crystal wineglasses looked enchanting. Because the moonlight and the crystal glasses glistened with equal intensity, one could distinguish them only by touch and not by sight. Gazing at the intoxicating beverage in front of the gopis, Krsna paused a moment to ponder its specialty. To better understand how it causes intense madness and varieties of bewilderment, Krsna eagerly drank the madhu. Joking with the manjaris, Krsna said, "0 beautiful eyed women! Fill the crystal cups and freely distribute this delightful drink to all the group leaders." After giving Krsna His share, the manjaris distributed the rest. Krsna and the gopis sat on the bank of the Yamuna, which was purified by the lotus-scented wind and washed by the nectar of the full moon's rays. The madhu appeared to be all-attractive due to its reflecting the image of the moon in the crystal glasses, the presence of the intoxicated bees circling overhead, and the sweet fragrance of full-blooming lotuses emanating from the drink. It is a well-known fact that drinking madhu produces amazing effects. With the first sip the eyes become bloodshot, with the second sip words stop, and the third sip makes a person fearful of harmless objects and fearless before danger. Knowing the characteristics of madhu, the assembled gopis were reluctant to drink it and show these amusing symptoms for Krsna's pleasure. Nevertheless, the gopis sipped the strengthening potion (madhu increases one's virility and amorous prowess) as they approached the battlefield of love. The beautiful faces of Radha and Krsna looked like a combination of a nectar-filled moon and a honey-filled lotus. Drops of betel nut juice stained Their lips with an attractive reddish hue. While drinking the madhu, Radha and Krsna also sipped the nectar of each other's lips. As the festival progressed, Krsna became as proud and uncontrollable as an intoxicated elephant. Krsna, who is the infinite ocean of bliss and the precious jewel of sweetness, abandoned all discrimination as He played madly with the gopis. Appearing intoxicated, Krsna listened to Himself without speaking. The gopis quenched their thirst with their first sip of madhu, and with the second sip they felt stupefied. They conversed with the manjaris in drunken voices. Noticing the reflection of the moon in her glass, one gopi asked, "Hey sakhi. Is the moon drinking up my liquor?" While fanning her, a sober manjari replied, "He is not only drinking your madhu, but he is stealing the beauty of your face as well. It has already gone down his throat. Quickly bite him with your teeth, for he is immortal anyway." The gopi replied, "Oh, I will not drink his leftovers!" Then she drank some madhu and threw away the glass. Another garrulous gopi, with slurred incoherent words, tightly grasped Krsna and said, "Oh, look, the sky is f-f-falling! Ooh! The earth is t-t-turning! 0 Lord, please h-h-hold me! My body is shaking! I will fall o-o-over!" Seeing the reflection of the bees swarming over her glass, one intoxicated gopi said, "This is the dregs of the wine." Then she poured the wine into another glass to remove the dregs before offering it to Radha. Being totally intoxicated from drinking madhu and the nectar of Krsna's association, Radhika looked extremely attractive as She repeatedly addressed Krsna as "0 lady friend!" Radhika said, "0 lady friend!" Playfully matching Her mood, Krsna replied, "Yes, 0 Lord of my life!" Radha said proudly, "You are called Hari because Your are a thief and You take away all women." Krsna said, "0 Krsna, be gracious towards Me." [Actually Krsna meant to say, "0 Radha, may You be happy."] Becoming angry, Radha replied, "0 lady friend Syame, has Krsna met you?" [Radhika intended to say, "0 Krsna, has My friend met with You?"] Krsna said, "0 Lord, I worship You." [He meant to say, "0 Radha, I worship You alone. There is no one else in this world but You."] Radha and Krsna bewildered Cupid with Their inverted conversation caused by drinking madhu. After some time the intoxication of the liquor wore off and They recovered their self-awareness. The lethargy, dizziness, and so on from being intoxicated caused a lessening of desires. Now Radha and Krsna entered a state of transcendental madness in love wherein inebriety decreased and desire increased. In this way the beautiful gopis of Vrndavana spent the night, which lasted as long as Brahma's day, intimately associating with the Lord of their lives. Thus the crest jewel of enjoyment, whose body is made of intense bliss, revealed His playful pastimes of love in the company of the Vraja gopis who are expansions of His personal potency known as hiadini sakti. Since the conjugal affairs of materialistic men are devoid of spiritual rasa, the poetic works written about them are all useless productions. Therefore Krsna displayed His transcendental pastimes to show the perfection of such activities. Cupid also attained success by assisting Krsna's divine pastimes in Vrndavana. The multitude of stars in the sky, which seemed like the remnants of flowers showered by the wives of the devatas, looked like the fading morsels of the moon's repast. The pearls of the night queen had been torn from their strings and scattered about in play by her consort the moon. Now, the night collected them again. The remaining stars in the sky looked like the last stray pearls, which gradually disappeared as the night drew to a close. The moon appeared like a silver ship traveling from one continent to another on the ocean breast of the sky. Being trapped by the counter winds of the rasa-lila, that ship could not move forward for a long time. When the rasa-lila subsided, the ship again moved and soon arrived at its destination in the west. As the moon and stars gradually disappeared, the long night, feeling sorrowful due to its impending separation from the Lord, appeared ready to give up its body. The wives of the devatas, their hearts being pierced by the lance of separation, also disappeared from the sky. Though the night had been as long as a day of Lord Brahma, upon the conclusion of the rasa dance at the end of that night, the gopis returned to the homes of their "so-called" husbands. Their husbands, however, did not find any fault in them, for Yogamaya had made duplicate copies of each gopi. The husbands took these forms to be their wives. These duplicate gopis spent the whole night sleeping next to their husbands. Thus the "so-called" husbands never actually had any intimate contact with Krsna's transcendental consorts known as the Vraja gopisi For Krsna, the possessor of unlimited energies (saktiman), and the gopis, the embodiments of His hiadini sakti, there is no question of immorality in His enjoying His own svarupa sakti manifesting as the forms of the Vraja gopis. However, to nourish the taste of His pastimes, Krsna's relationship with the gopis seems to be unchaste illicit love according to the conventions of mundane society. The deep attachment Krsna has for His beloved Vraja gopis is never seen in the Lord of Dvaraka and Rukmini, or the Lord ofVaikuntha and Laksmi. The full taste of rasa that Krsna experiences in the parakiya-bhava (paramour love) of the Vraja gopis far exceeds the rasa tasted in the svakiya-bhava (wedded love) of His Queens in Dvaraka. The parakiya bhava lila (the rasa-lila) is not simply a temporary manifestation. This perfectly pure transcendental pastime is eternally going on, even though it may be invisible to our eyes. Krsna displays this marvelous pastime in the material world just to bestow His mercy upon the conditioned souls. Anyone who faithfully hears or describes Krsna's rasa-lila with the gopis will attain inestimable good fortune. Among literary works, those about Hari are sweet, but those describing Krsna in Vrndavana are the sweetest quintessence of nectar! As the Ganga forever flows, among the topics of Krsna the rasa-lila is the ever-flowing embodiment of bliss. May my mind always swim in that river of nectar.