rādhe saṁga, shyāma khelaiṁ horī

English meaning

Shrī Rādhā and Shrī Kṛishṇa are playing Holī with each other. Shrī Rādhā is accompanied by innumerable sakhīs, and Shrī Kṛishṇa has also assembled innumerable sakhās. Vṛindāvana is the battleground and both parties have started their battle of Holī. Shyāmasundara has become red all over with red gulāla and so have become all the lanes of Braja. Both groups are holding pichakārīs in their hands, and are throwing water mixed with different colours on each other. While all this was going on, Kishorī Jī suddenly took hold of a pitcher, full of scented saffron-coloured water, and poured it all on Shyāmasundara. Seizing the opportunity, one of the sakhīs named Raṅgadevī, sneaked up and smeared gulāla all over Shyāmasundara’s face. Thus, the group of Shrī Kṛishṇa and His sakhās was defeated in the battle. As a result, they all ran away here and there, and Kishorī Jī was applauded by all for Her victory. When they saw Shrī Kṛishṇa running, the sakhīs chased and caught Him. Then, they tied Him up saying tauntingly, ‘You have always been troubling us, we will get even with You today!’ After that, adorning Him with all the sixteen embellishments, the sakhīs changed Him into a beautiful young maiden. Jagadguru Shrī Kripālu Jī says, “Seeing Shrī Kṛishṇa in the form of a beautiful young girl, I also started laughing with the sakhīs, all the while clapping and saying out loud, ‘Horī hai, Horī hai’ (i.e. It is Holī, it is Holī).”

Complete whole-pad meaning transcribed from the supplied English edition. The source provides no separate line-by-line or word-by-word meaning.

Prem Ras Madira (English), Part 2 · PDF pages 210, 211 · printed pages 545, 546.

Meanings: Smt. Padmā Devī. English translation and transliteration: Sushrī Braj Parikarī Devī. Source details.