Maiden to her Paramour

Scene of Radha a cow-herdress addressing her beloved Lord Krishna. As promised by Him, He agrees to meet her on a full-moon night on the banks of River Yamuna. At the specified time, Radha rushes out of her home, kith and kin in a state of exceeding love to meet Him. As they meet, Lord Krishna holds back her approaches. To Him, the love-lorn Radha addresses in words that are not only of deep love but also of legendary devotion. (scroll down for explanations on the verses)

1. In the moon-cooled sands by the abundant river,
Bathed by Thy eyes that art a love-filled quiver,
I stand transfixed facing thy benevolence’s might,
Oh! I am killed even with death nowhere in sight.

2 Lured out of the walls, you now have me in sight,
Now if unclaimed, how pathetic is my plight.
Fickleness in my love and this poisonous vanity,
Needs Thy embrace that would kill all Duality.

3 From the Lord who claimed all worlds by His strides,
Three steps of Earth I beg, that would lead to His side,
On the Stage of our love and to the tunes of Thy flute,
May we dance in ecstasy, my thoughts thus rendered mute.

4. A pompous bird that flew out from these sands,
To heights only lesser than her pride’s pangs,
Unleash Thy gravity that would slay my wings,
And bring me to Thy bosom, to what exalted bearing!

5 The butter that Thee hold is from incessant churning,
Of this creamy milk, behold! Here is my learning!
Thus pray churn me out from my entangling ignorance,
Hold me, deem me and consume me in Thy Fragrance.

6 All said, there still remains this cruel distance from Thee,
On one end, art the Lotus and on the other, a restless bee.
Embrace me so that there be no individuality, even a wee,
For, to the yearning seekers, the Divine Paramour art Thee!

1. Radha meets Krishna on the moon-light banks of River Yamuna. By "love-filled quiver" she means His eyes to be a quiver of arrows that aim love-darts at her. She is transfixed by His beauty and smile that she finds herself life-less even though there was "death nowhere in sight". Alternatively the egoism is killed.

2. Lured out of the walls: compounds of her home. Alternatively, the 5 sheaths that according to Hindusim sepearate the human from the divinity within him/her. Radha laments, if thus lured and not claimed, her plight is unimaginable. She believes her love is weak, and she is proud, and only His embrace can kill all these weakness and Duality in her thoughts. Killing of the "Duality" is supposed to be the highest spiritual state that is attained after the "5 sheaths" are broken.

3. The Lord is believed to have covered all the worlds by his strides in an episode. Radha requests just 3 steps of all he has covered, the 3 steps that seperate Him from her so that she could reach Him. She wishes to dance with Him in bliss to the tunes of His flute.

4. Radha compares her pride to the wings of the bird that breaks away from the earth's gravitation to fly high. She begs Him to break her wings and bring her back to earth, alterantively to kill her pride and bring her back to His bosom.

5. Just like butter is formed by continous churning of milk and then taken out of the container, Radha prays Krishna bring her out of ignorance by put her through various travails of life so that she can become one in union with Him. The reference to butter particularly is because of Krishna's strong liking for butter. Radha compares her to be his butter.

6. Radha compares herself to a restless bee that seeks the beautiful lotus, that is Krishna. She prays He embraces her so close that they are one in union and they are no more individuals. Alternatively, the killing of duality explained above and in various Hindu texts. Needless to say she treats Him as a Divine Paramour who would not only love her but also lead her to Liberation spiritualy.

And so it happened.