(Page 319)
Dear Vijay,
With love, Jai Shri Hari.
The onset of summer inflames an ardent longing for romantic dalliances in the sakhis and their sacred couple, Shri Radha-Krishna. And these enchanting amorous frolics makes one unaware of the strong blasts endorsing the scorching summer. At times coolness, on the banks of the lake...inner realm of bowers or nikunjas, in thickets of sensuous creepers on the shores of the Yamuna, make Krishna, the handsome supreme lover, consort Radha and the herd of young maidens...ecstatic...by joyously responding to the magical autumnal like love of the most glorious season.
Spellbound, their beautiful frames shiver with the cold in reality. Wow! What exotic dallying in the summer season;their bodies smeared with sandalwood, the bower exuding a fragrance of scented flowers and comforting waves of crystal clear lakes!
Often the sakhis decorate the space within the nikunja consisting of many interconnected bowers and thickets comprising a secret, magical world removed from the everyday. They arrange for water sports and creating a canopy of flowers, spur the ardent longing of Shri Radha-Krishna for an amorous frolic. The herd participates in the joyous abandon and is impassioned by the touch of the supreme lover's handsome body.
But romantic escapades are not bound by fixed norms. Solely the order of love predominates this domain;one principle reigns...the skilled instructions of Kamadeva (God of love.)
Today the supreme lover Krishna stealthily, decorated the overgrown grove of jasmine blossoms on the banks of the Radha Kund (pool);secretly from the sakhis and without a word to Radha; laying out lotus petals on the way so that the feet of gentle Kishori (Radha, Krishna's consort) tap sensuously on the tenderly cool carpet.
Lata madhuri kunj suhai.
Nikat sarovar Priya naam ko,
Nija kar rachna lal banai.
A cool, fragrant and gentle breeze blew. The elements of nature are the perpetual followers of Shri Radha-Krishna; acting according to their moods. That beautiful patch covered with lotus petals...rows of trees whispering due to the threefold breeze...the fragrant ambience coloured by lotus pollen! What a luminous picture is resplendent inside the ornamented, transcendental shrine-like bower of overgrown creepers.
The handsome god made a bed of tender budding shoots and breathing love into his flute, passionately drew Shri Radha. She came along with Shri Lalitaji and other sakhis to her beloved pond. Probably they were roaming nearby. The footfalls of Shri Radha...tinkling anklets and merry laughter signalled their arrival, leading Shri Krishna to the entrance of the kunja ...
Ah! The supreme object of Krishna's passionate love; Radha the very embodiment of that irresistibly attractive feminine principle, surrounded by her close sakhis arrived...causing a sensation...tugging at their heart-strings...! She looked intently at the expectant love-laden eyes of the supreme lover, and was completely absorbed in the terrifying rush of love.
Priyatam welcomed everyone ardently and taking Priyaji, sat on the throne made of blossoms. The sakhis too like gathering dense clouds, encircled Shri Radha-Krishna and sat around them. The flute thrilled at being held by the lotus hand of Krishna, seemed to spring up. The sakhis burst out laughing...Priyatam followed and Priyaji giggled a bit.
Her faint laughter spurred the eagerly desirous Krishna for a new playful dalliance. He appraised her with a side-long glance-seeming to ask her consent. Priyaji looked longingly at him and snuggled in his blue-hued arms...placed the flute on her lips, filling it with the breath of love. The call to eternity, broke into an eternal melody.
At times the flute resonated with Priyatam's breath of passion and occasionally Priya made it come alive with her exaltation. The sakhis bloomed delightfully on listening to the mellifluous notes of the flute play. And soon enough all the musical instruments were produced. Shri Lalitaji took out the veena (a large instrument of the type of the lute) and Vishakhaji held the mridanga (a double drum tapering from the middle towards the end) and rest of the sakhis took control of others.
The Saranga Raga resounded in the environs with the rhapsody giving rise to sensual earthly love of Kandarpa ( a title of Kama, the god of love). Nobody had an inkling when these instruments halted,the flute play turned silent and the musical notes came to a standstill. A blissful state reaching the heights of elation and ecstasy prevailed for some time.
The terrifying rush of love and sakhis plus their adorable Yugal (Shri Radha-Krishna), were absorbed in its enthused exultation. Priyaji's amusing flute play had urged the innovative playful dalliance in that motionless and still nikunja. And soon enough there was further commotion in the shrine of the nikunja. One never knows for how long blued-hued Krishna was thrilled with its joyous abandon.
And the sakhis also enchanted by physical contact and its erotic connotations roamed around in the bower, giving in to sensuous pleasure. Priyaji's intermittent laughter similar to the flash of bright lightning,was gifted to the terrifying rush of love encompassed in Krishna, the colour of the dense cloud.
The blackness of the evening merged into the night's darkness. Intoxicated by a mantra, those enraptured maidens staggering along, stepped out of the bower. They went and sat in thickets of creepers, somewhat lost in a trance. Soon enough...the terrifying rush of love drifted away from these maidens. That impassioned Kishore (a title of Krishna as thought of in conjunction with Radha, his consort) united with Priyaji as he bent down to take her in his arms.
Citing the buzzing of the inconstant black bee he asked,' Priye! Guess what this capricious black bee hovering over the flower is singing.' (Krishna could be counted to alight upon flower after flower to savour its sweetness intoxicated by sweetness itself.) Radha did not comment though she was engulfed by surges if exquisite desire to possess Krishna singularly and without cease. It was an escapade of Kandarpa (a title of Kama, the god of love) which steeped both of them in a fresh amorous frolic. The moment midnight passed, melodious singing took the place of the evening's water sports, leading to another charming dalliance.
So in the silence of that isolated sensuous night, a totally new picture sprang forth. Consciously, the sakhis peeped from behind the creeper thickets:
Sej sarovar rajat hain jal madik roop bhare tarunai.
Angni aabha tarang uthain, tahan meen katakshani ki chaplai.
Pyasi sakhi bhari anjuli nain, piye te girin upma 'Dhruv' pai.
Prem gayand ne dare hain tori kai kanchan kanj chahoon disi mai.
The sakhis saw the thrusts of ecstasy; Shri Radha-Krishna's secret most intimate transcendental exchange. Savouring the fusions of delight and desire, those beauties were impassioned once again.
The bliss of Shri Radha-Krishna's union in the secret magical shrine-like world inside the bower and the sight of those sakhis steeped in love, swooning with the pathos of separation, in the world outside the bower. The nikunja had thus divided two worlds into opposing realms.
With love,
Yours Bobo.
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