15-30 The eight Kunjas in Rādhā Kund
Vers
15
The six seasons, headed by their ruler, the spring, always serve this kunda.
Vrinda and her dasis sweep the pathways, courtyards and kunja grihas (the
private cottages that are found in various places around Vraja.) with scented
water.
Verse 16
Strands of flowers, overhanging tapestries, decorative archways, swings and
mandaps all add to Radha Kund's celestial atmosphere.
Verse 17
In the kunja-grihas, the beds are prepared with leaves,
topped with lotus
petals, and covered with soft-scented, stemless flowers pillows placed all
around.
Beside the bed are vessels filled with inebriating madhu, containers
filled with pan,
and golden jugs of freshened drinking water.
Tika: As the sakhis and manjaris carefully decorate the keli grihas with utmost loving attention, they contemplate, "We shall view Kishora and Kishori's mutual pleasure during their rati keli pastime!"
Such contemplation forms the sādhana or means, and such darshan forms the sādhya or goal of Gaudiya Vaishnava dharma. Sri Narottam Das Thakur confirms:
moner smaraṇa prāṇa, madhura madhura dhāma
yugala-vilāsa smṛti sāra
sādhya-sādhana ei, ihār por āra nāhi
ei tattva sarva vidhi sāra
Lila smaran is my life-a madhura-madhura abode wherein Radha Krishna's yugala
vilasa is the essence.
In one's daily sadhana and in the final attainment of perfection,
there is nothing more than this.
This is the essence of all regulative
principles! (Prema-bhakti-candrikA, 61)
In his Prārthanā, Sri Narottam Das reveals his heart's aspiration:
aruna kamala dale, śeja bichāibo,
basāibo kiśora-kiśorī
alaka āvṛta mukha, paṅkaja manohara
marakata śyāma hema gaurīprāṇeśvarī kabe
more habe kṛpā-diṭhi
ajayi aniya kabe, vividha phula-bora
śunabo vacana duhu miṭhimṛgamada
tilaka, sa-sindhura banāibo
lepabo candana gandhe
gāthi mālatī phula, hāra pahirāobo
dhoabo madhukara-vṛndelalitā kabe more, bījana deoāibo
bījaba maruta mande
śrama jala sakala, mitabo duhu kalebara
herabo parama ānandenarottama dāsa āśa pada paṅkaja
sevana mādhurī pāne
hoibo heno dina, na dekhiyā kona cihna
duhu jana herabo nayane
After smothering the bed with red lotus petals, I will bring Kishora and Kishori and seat them on it. Their lotus faces are enchanting with astrewn curling hair. Gauri is golden and Shyama resembles a glossy emerald.
Oh Praneshwari Radhe! When will you shower me with your karunamrita! Receiving your order, I shall bring a basket of assorted flowers and witness your sweet conversation upon the flower bed.
Then I'll paint kasturi designs on your forehead, place kunkum in your hair part, and anoint your body with chandan. As I string a malati mala and garland you, a swarm of bumblebees will appear!
Oh, when will Lalita hand me the chamara? Then I'll remove all of the perspiration from your bodies during rati keli and look on in paramananda! My desires rest at your lotus feet. When will I relish such seva-madhuri? Surely I'll get the opportunity, but still no sign is perceivable! O when will I see Sri Yugala Kishor?"
Verse
18-21
In the water are kahalaras (white lilies), raktotpalas (red lotus), pundarikas (white lotus), pankeruhas (pink lotus), indivaras (blue lotus), and kairvas
(lilies). Their pollen and sleeping honey keep the kunda fresh and sweet.
The swans, cranes, chakravakas, mudagu, dahuka and Lakshmana birds sweetly
resound in and around the water.
From the trees, the shukas and sari's recite Yugala Kishor's lila rasa kavya.
When the peacocks see Krishna, they mistake him for a rain cloud and open their
tail feathers to dance, calling ke-kA, ke-kA!
Verse 22-25
Seeing Krishna, other exotic birds such as the harita, chatak and parabat
shiver in joy and produce a song that is nectar for the ears!
And now the chakoras forsake the moon to relish Krishna Chandra's beautiful
face, which outshines innumerable full moons!
Aha! Radha Kund's waters and shores display their wonderful splendor only to
assist Sri Krishna's rohau-keli! The trees provide shade and bow down with
loads of ripe and unripe fruits, flowers, and newly-blossoming leaves.
As the white lotus patches sway like waves in the breeze, one could guess:
Radha Kund is laughing at the Milk Ocean's inferior beauty.
Tika: The word padma has two meanings: the lotus and Lakshmi. When the devatas churned the Milk Ocean (kshira-samudra), only one Padma appeared, but Radha Kund has countless padmas. Furthermore, within the Milk Ocean, Hari's lila took place in only one spot, whereas in Radha Kund, Krishna's pastimes happen everywhere, both on the banks and in the water.
Verse 26-27
Radha Kund's shore and waters spring from Sri Krishna's lotus feet, and then
merge with Shyama Kund in the Southeast.
Then from the north and expanding to the northwest are the eight major kunjas
of Radha's Ashta-sakhis. Each sakhi maintains her kunja to assist Radha
Krishna's prema keli.
Tika: These kunjas are situated as follows:
• Lalita's lightning-colored kunja in the north,
• Vishakha's cloud-colored kunja in the northeast
• Chitra's multicolored kunja in the east
• Indulekha's moon-white kunja in the southeast
• Champakalata's golden-colored kunja in the south
• Rangadevi's shyama-colored kunja in the southwest
• Tungavidya's red-colored kunja in the west
• Sudevi's green-colored kunja in the northwest
Verse 29
All of the pathways are crystal. Thus one could easily mistake them for small
streams.
Tika: The Gutika mentions that Radha Kund's pathways are emerald stone with a layer
of crystal on top, which causes outsiders to think that a network of streams,
with their wavy ripplets, are flowing through the kunjas.
Verse 30
There are mystical gem walls and gateways that separate the inner kunjas from
the sub-kunjas. If an outsider sees them, he will experience an optical
illusion, for the walls appear like gates and the gateways like walls!