sarasa-surati-rasa sarasa so rati-rasa, barasata vṛindā-vipina majhāra

English meaning

The nectar of the most intimate divine love, whose bliss surpasses even the bliss of the gyānīs in their absolute identity with the Impersonal God, is flowing freely in Vṛindāvana. At Vanshīvaṭa, on the bank of the river Yamunā, where the earth is studded with transcendental pearls and gems, and where the giver of intense happiness, the full moon of Sharat Pūrṇimā, is shining in the sky, the crest-jewel of all the rasikas, Shrī Kṛishṇa is pleasing His object of worship, Her Majesty Shrī Rādhikā, according to the most unintelligible way of love. When He saw jasmines and other such springtime flowers blooming in autumn, even the mind of the ātmārāma and pūrṇakāma Shrī Kṛishṇa was fascinated, and the desire to perform mahārāsa sprouted in it. He understood that Kāmadeva had come, arrayed with the spring season with a desire to fight with Him. The sages of Daṇḍakāraṇya who were given a boon by Bhagwan Rāma, the earlier incarnation of Bhagwan Kṛishṇa; the maid servants of the Hlādinī Shakti (the exhilarating energy of God) Sītā Jī, who were given a boon in Janakapurī; and the hymns of the Vedas who undertook severe penances – all assumed the form of gopīs with the sole desire for mahārāsa in mind. Moreover, the nitya siddha gopīs residing in Goloka incarnated themselves as well. Hearing the all-attractive melodious notes of Manamohana’s flute, the heart of the gopīs was enraptured and thus captivated, they ran and gathered at the spot where Shyāmasundara was, and formed a circle for the performance of the rāsa. Shrī Rādhā and Kṛishṇa, like lightning and cloud, beautified the centre of the circle. With the help of His internal potency, yogamāyā, Bhagwan Kṛishṇa assumed as many forms as there were gopīs, so that there was one Shrī Kṛishṇa between two gopīs, and one gopī between two Shrī Kṛishṇas. In harmony with the seven keys of music ‘Sā, re, gā, mā, pā, dhā, nī’, various ragas such as malhāra etc, were begun to be sung, with very many tānas and ālāpas. This delightful scene was being watched by the consorts of the heavenly gods sitting in their aerial vehicles. Then, there arose the sweet melodious music with several accompanying instruments such as jhāṁjha, mṛidaṅga, chaṅga, etc. in accordance with the tone of the singing. The gopīs are performing various feats of dance, using the five parts of their body. They are repeatedly bending and twisting their waist and moving forward with a variety of foot-movements. Making their eye-brows dance, they are casting sideways glances, lost in the divine elation, and moving their hands and forehead exactly according to the various symbolic gestures of the classical dance. Dancing in this manner, the gopīs have become completely intoxicated with the nectarean wine of divine love. Their hair are dishevelled; their clothes and ornaments have become loose and disarranged because of the extreme ecstasy of love. The anklets encircling their ankles, the kaṅkaṇas around their wrists and the karadhanī around their waist are producing the sweet jingle in this holy and divine recreation of the gopīs. The crest-jewel of the rasikas, Shrī Kṛishṇa, who is the most expert in the intimate arts of love is performing divine amorous līlās with the gopīs in the same way as a child plays with his reflection. Seeing this extraordinary divine rāsa play, the movable living beings such as birds and deer stood motionless, forgetting to blink their eyes, whereas the immovable beings such as stones, etc. began to melt and flow out in motion. Thus, all of them began to sway in the ecstasy of divine bliss. The moon itself was fascinated by seeing this divine bliss of mahārāsa. Even Kāmadeva forgot all about the intended battle and lost himself in the ecstasy of this unalloyed bliss. Blessed is that Sevā-kuñja and blessed is the divine abode, Shrī Vṛindāvana. Also blessed are the gopīs who are supreme among all rasika saints, as well as the Swāminī of the rāsa Shrī Kishorī Jī, and Shrī Kṛishṇa. Jagadguru Shrī Kripālu Jī says, “Even those female-servants of the gopīs are blessed who constantly drink the nectar of watching this divine rāsa and recreation by the grace of the divine couple Shrī Rādhā-Kṛishṇa.”

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 396, 397, 398, 399 · printed pages 731, 732, 733, 734.

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