Gopalacampu 1.21

Now begins the twenty-second chapter:

The Sufficiency of the Auspicious Service of the Wives of the Sacrificers.

[1] Then, in the morning discourse, as the renown of the dawn spread, Madhukaṇṭha, his longing blossoming forth, began to present that other pastime for the assembly to experience while praising it.

[2] Therein, the narration proceeds, preceded by an auspicious invocation linking it with the composition of the venerable Tenth Canto, as follows:

Having gone to Kāmyaka, making the southern cowherd settlement shine with minerals from the mountain, / going in the hot season to the Kṛṣṇā [Yamunā] that conquers the thirst of countless white cows, / praising the trees well along the path and drinking the Kṛṣṇā drunk by the white cows, / making mercy upon the wives of the sacrificers under the pretext of hunger—may Hari protect you!

For so it is told: / "Then Nandanandana, Yasodā's son, surrounded by cowherds, / went far from Vṛndāvana, pasturing the cows together with his elder brother. / In the fierce heat of the summer sun, seeing the trees acting as sunshades for themselves by their own shade, he addressed his friends:"

And there, indeed, heightening joy by his deep, sweet voice resembling the rumbling of a cloud, he turned the leading friends toward him one by one. Thus:

"O Stoka-kṛṣṇa! O Aṃśu! Śrīdāman! Subala! Arjuna! / Viśāla! Ṛṣabha! Tejasvin! Devaprastha! Varūthapa!"

And making them feel as if sprinkled with nectar from that very voice, he playfully said: "These trees stand facing us merely to delight me; therefore look at them and praise them each one by one."

They all laughed and said: "You alone among us, by your astonishing nature, are the crest jewel of the circle of poets. Therefore describe them yourself!"

Kṛṣṇa said with a smile: "Listen then!"

"These are considered truly great not merely in body, but in virtues as well, / since by dispelling heat and other afflictions through their own bodies, they sustain living beings. / And that their birth alone is seen to be fruitful—ponder it also thus: / they shine on every side as the means of life for all."

Moreover: / "With fruits, flowers, shade, bark, firewood, and the like, the trees / are by nature benefactors of all, their bodies blessed. / Human beings only occasionally perform such deeds under the sway of circumstance; / therefore the former are [true] devotees, while the others are merely secondary devotees pursuing merit."

Here, furthermore, that they dwell in Vṛndāvana surpasses even their praiseworthiness—such was his hidden intention.

They all said with a smile: "Could anything not be made most praiseworthy by you, the sovereign emperor of the circle of poets? Whatever you construct will surely triumph! For so it is:"

"Where you, clever in apt speech, have become the disputant, / even Vācaspati would not be a lord of speech in the least."

Kṛṣṇa too said with a smile: "Be that as it may, someday you too will experience this." So saying, amidst the forest of many trees that grant diverse comforts, he went with joy born of thirst to the bank of the daughter of the sun [the Yamunā]. And there—

Revealing his speech in praise of the trees and his grace toward the wives of the sacrifice, / when he abandoned the path of food coming from his own people and went to the Kṛṣṇā, / then he drank the purest, cool, auspicious, sweet waters, / and after that the herd of cows and the cowherd boys led by him drank them themselves.

And then, inferring that Kṛṣṇa was thirsty—having left far behind the multitude of trees sparse in fruit, and having missed the arrival of the midday meal sent by the queen of Vraja—Stoka-kṛṣṇa and others, themselves extremely seized by that hunger because their minds were absorbed in his mood, even while perceiving that there was no food, had their avoidance of his mealtime made manifest out of love and eagerness, and waving their hands, made this request:

"Rāma, Rāma, mighty-armed one! Kṛṣṇa, destroyer of the wicked! / Not far from here is a very great forest thick with palmyra trees."

Kṛṣṇa, however, said with a smile: "Here in this grove of Aśoka trees on the path of sight, where there is no edible fruit, hungry as you are, where will you get food to eat?

If you are indeed suffering, then set out along this clearly visible path, looking without contempt at the series of sacrificial halls situated north of the city of Śūrasena, which lies to the south from here, although near, made distant by the winding Yamunā. Go and beg those workers of rites in the name of the most expert preceptor of rites and of me. But you must bear in mind the instruction that for beggars, forbearance alone is proper."

Then some of them, gathering together, set out. He himself, however, stood upon a great paved terrace near the river in order to watch their going and coming. And then—

"The fragrance, the column of smoke, the recitation of the Yajurveda, the white hall of the twice-born, / the coming and going and other activities, and the priests at the fire-altar accompanied by auspicious fires— / though these [boys], friends equal to the God who favors the brahmins, went and bowed repeatedly with folded hands, they stood there receiving no regard; and that grieves me."

And then, recognizing them as cowherds by a certain crude nature, by the distinctness of their forms, and by their dress, those [priests], having ascended the mountain of brahmin pride, stood casting their proud gazes in many directions. Even so, those friends, perceiving with aching hearts Kṛṣṇa's emaciation from hunger as if directly before them, pleaded on their own. For:

"Where words like 'huṃ', 'phaṭ', 'śrauṣaṭ', and 'vauṣaṭ' [resound], / in which the primary name of Kṛṣṇa is never [heard], / what taste could they have for that? Yet / for the sake of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, what would they not endure?"

[15] Now, this was the petition: “O gods of the earth! Please pay a little attention! Surely you, having heard of them, are well aware of Rāma and his younger brother, who are endowed with supreme power. And out of regard for tending the cows, the two of them have come right into the presence of people like you. But today, while they moved here and there before the amusement of their prowess in flawless play, the realm of the abode of the illustrious lord of the cowherds, though near and very close, seemed far away to us. And we did not ponder thus with the people of our household. For that very reason, having come without arrangements for food from a home that was like the direct abode of the Lord of Lakṣmī, and having grown hungry in their playful combat, and then treating you respectfully by analogy with their father according to the conduct handed down through family tradition, without considering any hesitation, they asked for food from your sacrifice as if from their father's house.”

[16] Then, when those miserable men, fancying themselves learned scholars, despised it under the influence of their taste for non-devotion in their hearts and remained silent, these [cowherd boys] again deliberated in their minds: [17] “Surely they thought us fools and spoke secretly; therefore, to eliminate any doubt that would make them find an alternative way, and to conclude their silence according to proper doctrine, let us thoroughly pierce [their silence].” [18] Then they spoke clearly once more:

“Until the end of the animal sacrifice to Agni and Soma, which begins with the initiation, / the food of the sacrificer is not to be eaten by the wise; / O brāhmaṇas, in the Sautrāmaṇī ritual it is never [to be eaten]; / elsewhere than those two, it is indeed to be accepted.”

[19] The meaning is: “From merely observing the performance of your reverences, that occasion was clearly discerned by us.”

[20] Thus, when even those who stood before them like people devoted to begging adduced the scriptural meaning, those teachers, who ought to have been restrained, considered it and reflected in their minds: “Alas! Our brāhmaṇas out of greed have given even these boys special instruction in the inquiry into Brahman, because of which they have become talkative with an air of authority in that very matter! Let it be; nevertheless, though they are known to be exceedingly wealthy, without any noble deed in the form of giving, on the contrary they have come here only to take. Ah, this is the very nature of a land where the Kali age has entered!

[21] Furthermore, some scholars ascribe supreme divinity to those two. Then, alas, how can these two be subject to hunger and the like, which are so censurable?”

[22] Having reflected thus, when they stood like that with ill feeling, being niggardly despite their abundant cooking, behaving like vulgar folk despite their twice-born status, and having arrived at the state of rogues among sacrificers, they [the boys], gazing at one another in distress over their downcast faces upon begging, slowly, with faintness caused by shame, found their way back to Śrī Govinda.

[23] And Govinda, bringing them into the path of his vision in that condition and knowing they were disheartened, smiled: “Come, we imagine that you have fetched what was due to you from the sacrificers just as from trees!”

[24] They too said with a smile: “Your lordship alone knows that, by the wind of whose instigation our minds were dispersed!”

[25] But Kṛṣṇa, knowing in his heart the wives of the sacrificers who were striving to behold him, and predicting certain gain there, laughed and said: “Ah! If you think thus, then all is well! But your reverences were dispatched only to determine the difference between these winged birds and those performers of soma sacrifices. And moreover:

Just as virtue resides in the humble, it does not in the proud; / if even today you do not believe it, go at once and believe their wives!

[26] And like you, the wives of the sacrificers possess wealth consisting solely of striving for love for me, who indeed, having discarded the conduct of worldly people full of new infatuation, drink water only after thirsting for two days, and eat a couple of morsels after passing three days.”

[27] All of them said with embarrassment: “Alas, this is indeed true!”

[28] Kṛṣṇa said: “Certainly.”

[29] All of them said in astonishment: “Then let us witness this wonder!”

[30] Thus, when they, full of affection, were eager to go there that very moment following Kṛṣṇa's initiative, Kṛṣṇa eagerly said: “And request food there for my sake, together with the venerable elder [Balarāma] and the others.”

[31] Then, running past one another out of supreme curiosity, they beheld the wives of the brāhmaṇas in the chamber of the wives, and were beheld by them, and [the wives] were certain: “They are indeed from Kṛṣṇa.”

[32] But the sequence of events before the beholding was as follows:

That indescribable sweetness of sound, technical mastery of notes, and charm of rāgas, / accompanied by the auspicious arrangement of syllables, the display of wonder worthy of praise by poets, / the contemplation of the qualities, form, and pastimes of the enemy of Kaṃsa, and the moistness with tears and the like— / grasped by the women of the sacrifice, successively made the friends here moist again and again.

[33] And then they—

Beholding those who had clothes bound for cow-paths, / who held splendid canes, who carried flutes before them, / whose crests were peacock feathers, and who were handsome with ornaments, / they thought that Kṛṣṇa himself had arrived.

And then, when those best of the wise bowed and informed them / of the arrival of Kṛṣṇa, / they, considering it both something already twice spoken and yet unprecedented and original, / did not know what was to be done.

They who were almost shattered by the perpetual desire to behold him— / his very life-friends came in person at his instigation! / They declared his arrival, and moreover there was something to be requested, and that too was food! / Tell me, how could they maintain their composure there?

And then: / Not determining in the display of food that had to be brought / what was proper here and what was improper, / the fair-browed wives of the brāhmaṇas / swiftly took all of his vessels.

Then, having placed the sons of the cowherds in front, / with vessels of various foods upon their heads, / advancing step by step a short distance forward, / those thirsty women set forth.

Fragrance, a flood of radiance, speech conferring delight, roaring powerfully,
lightning, the splendor of a cloud of lightning, the spreading charm of the moonlight of His smiling face,
and the sweetness of gesturing with His hands to say “Come!”—that gradually manifested from Kaṃsāri,
and at every step it drew them powerfully forward. // 18

Sporting with delight along with the cowherd boys
in an aśoka grove by the Yamunā,
He was seen by the wives of the brāhmaṇas, who gazed upon Him,
thinking that their very meditation had materialized before their eyes. // 19

Where the wives of the brāhmaṇas reached Him whose state is meditated upon by the gods,
that sorrowless grove (aśoka-kānana)
became truly a grove devoid of sorrow (a-śoka-kānana). // 20

Then, their bodies thrilling with horripilation, they gazed upon Him.

Thus indeed went the song of the people:

They beheld Kṛṣṇa, clad in yellow silk, / wearing most worshipful luster, the root of the lightning-flash's radiance in a fresh cloud. [Refrain]

Bearing a cluster of peacock feathers on His head, a garland on His chest, and mineral pigments from the mountain, / surpassing by far the sweet twilight sky amidst a pair of rainbows;

Resembling darkness touched by the faint rays of the rising dawn, displaying an enduring beauty, / draped with fresh sprouts and leaves, captivating all longing throughout His locks of hair;

With locks of curling hair meeting across His forehead, lotus-like ears, and raised cheeks, / a smiling face resembling the moon's orb adorned with a pair of stars that define its beauty;

Possessing enhanced beauty that bore the extraordinary characteristics of an actor's special costume, / as though a king among rain-clouds had arisen here to shower nectar;

A wondrous sight there: His left hand placed upon a friend's shoulder, / splendid with the charm of His right hand waving a spotless lotus! // 21 // Thus.

“Ah, He whom we constantly hoped to behold after hearing of Him has been seen in person!”
Thinking thus, their host of sorrows caused by that longing vanished at once;
and if any slight remnant remained due to having been separated from Him,
even that ceased to manifest in them because of the absorption equal to an embrace. // 22

Then, as they stood having placed the vessels of food upon their heads, He—discerning in every emotion, foremost in the sweetness of His own face characterized by smiling glances—carefully considered the purpose for which they had striven; and comprehending that, He who was clad in golden garments, partly granting their desire and partly concealing it, spoke a golden word: “Welcome to you, O fortunate ones!” And this was largely His intention:

“Ah, O fortunate ladies, you have borne a great burden;
that makes us feel shy, and therefore we ask if you have had a welcome arrival.” // 23

Having thus offered them a welcome and considering their hesitation to reply, He said again: “Please be seated.”

And His intention was this:

“Inquiries such as ‘Welcome’ and the like
only delay the work of resting;
therefore, I abandon that formality:
let your good selves just sit down.” // 24

And then, renowned for being led by love, in order to relieve their hesitation, He Himself set down their burden, sat down, and made them sit down right in that place.

And He spoke again: “What may We do [for you]?”

And in this regard, He manifested this sentiment as an entreaty:

“He whom one wishes to benefit
feels embarrassed without [doing] that;
thus, feeling embarrassed in myself,
let the goddesses of the earth (the brāhmaṇa wives) kindly grant me that privilege.” // 25

Then, after considering that their only desire was to behold Him, He said: “That you have come with the desire to see Us is indeed fitting for you.”

And the meaning here is this:
“That your only desire was the sight of Us is indeed appropriate;
for the reason is that you possess such an exceedingly virtuous nature.” // 26

Then, demonstrating the excellent nature of that disposition, He spoke again:

“Your affection toward Me arises only from wisdom, not from anything else;
since all wise people are observed to show love toward Me.” // 27

There, demonstrating the a fortiori case of the wise, He said:

“I see here that all love for everything in the world
arises from a fraction of love for Me;
since a living being loves Me unconditionally,
whereas it loves elsewhere conditionally.” // 28

Thus, declaring this to be the general rule and also refusing their request to remain in His presence, He said:

“My manifestation does not occur everywhere at all times, alas!—so that our fulfillment is not universal;
but for you it is eternal, which is in fact identical with My presence. // 29
Therefore, go quickly to your homes, filled with your husbands and sons;
and from that My happiness will be great, for I desire harmony everywhere.” // 30

Thus, hearing this speech from the young prince of Vraja, which, though gentle, was composed of words unbearable because they lacked immediate kindness, they replied:

“You ought not to speak in this manner, O Lord;
they say that none compares to you except yourself; therefore be pleased!
Make true your promise, ‘What may We do?’ and grant us acceptance,
bestowing upon us the status of attendants at your own feet! // 31

Abandoning other friends and taking refuge at the lotus feet of the mistress of the king of Vraja’s house,
let us serve that You always;
accept this clever prayer that has reached supreme completion,
O You of immense renown, O delight to the ears, O Lord of Śrī!” // 32

Then, His eyes resembling blooming lotuses, observing their distress and injustice [of departure], He spoke with humility:

"Act so that your kinsmen do not feel malice, nor my people,
and the gods approve; do not act otherwise.
For you, wives of brāhmaṇas, the bringing of service [here]
would not be approved by anyone; therefore wait for the [proper] time."

Thus, desiring to stay a long time with Kṛṣṇa, the object of their eyes' thirst, yet perceiving his hesitation, lingering there not too long, taking up his command, placing the food into leaf-plates and vessels, gathering their own brass pots, respectfully dismissed by him, followed by his friends, turning back again and again to look only upon him, feeling ever-increasing distress, somehow or other making their way home, and spreading abroad the fame of the foremost among their own lineages, they entered into the house. But—

Whichever direction those brāhmaṇa women looked upon, ah,
he swiftly fulfilled their desires at every step in those very [directions];
for, repeatedly placing in their sight that dark form with golden garments,
he produced a state of wonder.

When they had thus reached home after a long time—

Seeing the food containers transformed into vessels of jewels,
the masters of the house, enjoying the celebration, were completely unable to comprehend it.

Then, however:

Seeing their houses filled with jewels through this fruit purchased by [Kṛṣṇa's] childhood play,
those brāhmaṇas conformed to the understanding of their wives.

And they said:

"Those women who brought what was fit for his enjoyment to him who is beneficial to the whole universe—
they alone acted for their own true welfare; but wretched indeed are men like us!

May he not live, whose eye and other senses do not move toward Kṛṣṇa;
and while dying, may that not happen to him, whose [senses] do not proceed toward him!

He is a worthless soul, a vile brāhmaṇa, and a wretched deity,
who does not worship the lotus-eyed one until his life's end!"

Then those brāhmaṇas of Mathurā felt a thirst for Kṛṣṇa;
yet, terrified of Kaṃsa, they did not dare to go and see Kṛṣṇa.

It is heard that previously one of them, having restrained his wife
as if she had transgressed nobility, obtained liberation in [her] restraint.

And therefore it was fitting for them, because—

The uneven course of the insignificant, who go high one moment and low the next,
is observed to be like [the movement] of dust particles carried by iron-workers.

He who was formerly engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service, or who always desires that,
or who has studied the Bhāgavata, having previously been a devotee, should worship him.

And there, being served with those delicious foods and other delicacies, Madhumaṅgala said to Śrī Kṛṣṇa: "This collection of perfectly cooked sweet food, begged from someone, tastes like nectar. We did not obtain such water, let alone nectar! Indeed, we desire to eat even a grain fallen on the ground, mixed with dust. Therefore, let them build huts and dwell near our leaf-huts; and we, your companions of equal age, will deliver to you the warm, freshly cooked preparations of sweet confection, cooked greens, soups, cakes, and pastries made by them. In that case too, when it is said, 'I shall become the first receiver because of being the foremost recipient,' what fault is there? But out of fear of your anger we were unable to speak."

Kṛṣṇa said: "O glutton, surely through madness you have gone beyond even shameful shamelessness!"

Then all the boys, laughing, said: "Dear companion! If he has acquired a taste for another's food, then let this very belly-stroker, paying court to those beautiful brāhmaṇa women and dwelling in a cottage near their enclosure, becoming well fed, make his own wish by eating the sweet remnants of what was offered!"

Kṛṣṇa said: "Well said! We shall clearly make this known to the revered lady [Pūrṇamāsī]."

Madhumaṅgala, however, said as if in anger: "O prince! Out of greed, those who fill their own bellies, who continually remind us of hunger and are everywhere called gluttons, and who appear ready to eat any food because of their relentless exertion in begging—they are the ones, not we!"

All replied: "O chatterbox! As a brāhmaṇa, being intensely given to sacrifice and resorting to muttering prayers, a snake among the foremost offerings, you display vigilance to taste them! We, on the other hand, merely tested your twice-born caste!"

While the companions assembled there were thus laughing, he, fully satisfied having himself eaten a feast of cooked rice that gave full nourishment, the benefactor of all, playing his flute, reached the cows; and from the delight of those various conversations, having reached the glorious Vraja whose gaze followed the cows for his sake, extinguishing the fire of their separation, he refreshed [everyone] with the nectar of his own form.

The friends, out of embarrassment thinking, "We went to the sacrificial priests and we ate," did not tell anyone at all.

Then the narrator spoke the conclusion of the story:

[45 missing]

This is that lord of your family, O lord of Gokula, who has been described,
whose qualities, through their attraction, have made all people conform to his virtues.

Thus ends the twenty-second chapter, titled
"The Full Accomplishment of Good Service by the Wives of the Sacrificial Priests,"
in the auspicious Gopālacampū.
||22

Now the twenty-third chapter:

The Melody of Clever Dialogue Born from the Delight of the First Union.

Now, at the commencement of the rāsa-līlā, making known the terms of my own vow, I make this request:

Writing that in my poem there is the full unfolding of all aesthetic rasa,
if out of audacity the secret of my heart has been made plain here,
then this, depicting the conduct of the beloved women of Vraja in secluded places with Govinda,
should be placed by those who hold it only into the ear of a qualified person, not in a public assembly.

Then, as the fame of the night’s narration was being woven together, Madhukaṇṭha, holding close to the affectionate Snigdhakaṇṭha, spoke, where he first revealed this with joined palms:

The sport of the rāsa-dance brought about sleeplessness;
clearly its narration should do the same.
In whatever manner a cause exists,
its effect is deemed to have a condition of that very nature.

Hearing this and looking at one another joyfully, they all said: “This has indeed been said with complete reasoning, because—

If that supreme current of rasa
undergoes interruption in the middle,
due to the lack of integration between earlier and later,
it does not at all attain its true nature.

Therefore let this be presented just as you please, without any interruption.”

Madhukaṇṭha said:

His face causing abundant delusion to sprout in the moon-faced girls,
the pair of His eyes causing rolling in the eyes of these deer-eyed beauties,
His body breaking the composure of the gathering of slender-waisted maidens—
such did Śrī Hari become when the festival of the rāsa sought its birth.

His face bewildering the moon, His eye fascinating the lotus-eyed maidens,
His bodily luster imparting the delights of a first embrace suitable for a dense cloud’s glow—
such did the lover of Lakṣmī become, adorning the ranks of beautiful women with His loveliness,
when the festival of the rāsa sought its birth.

Then, in the previously established sequence, when that incident described in the verse beginning “The Pulinda women are fully blessed” [BhP 10.21.17] occurred at Pūrṇimā’s hermitage, Hari, thinking it fully verified, felt a passionate longing solely to attract Rādhikā: “Ah, how might this be accomplished in secret?”

Thereupon, a forest-dwelling maiden, who had previously been smeared with His saffron, spoke out of compassion toward Śrī Rādhā to Him whose eyes were like fresh red lotuses:

“Just like your flute, that one with the uneven arrows (Kāmadeva) has been utterly conquered by you;
alas, I do not know how it is that he makes her dried out and pierced [with grief].”

And then this voice from the sky was uttered by forest deities:
“‘This dear flute of yours, born of a good bamboo (or of good family),
is dried out and pierced all around with a heated probe’—having certainly realized this, Kāma,
making that girl of noble birth (Rādhā) have a withered body, now pierces her limbs
with his five arrows, alas, O enemy of Baka, for your pleasure!”

Just then, wandering restlessly, the garlanded Lord saw this inscription in saffron on a certain tamāla tree:
“Pierced by the flames of Love, my mind absorbed in Your exceedingly lovely limbs,
I held in the flute the multitude of the fragrances of the beauty of passion;
always I contemplated Your dark splendor in every direction,
and so blackness (kṛṣṇatva) has been acquired by me; yet even so, O Kṛṣṇa, You are nowhere around.”

Hearing this and then seeing it, the crusher of Mura considered: “Ah, ah! This writing, possessing extraordinary words and meaning, surely belongs to Rādhā alone! Such a thing is possible. Even so, because of her noble birth, she remains concealing the agitation of Kāma. Therefore, the proclamation of my flute, which destroys all concealments, is my only refuge.”

Thus, afflicted by the famine of the nectar of Rādhā, He endured it patiently, practicing solely the art of flute-playing as His begging. While doing so, even the rainy season passed, producing thirst, and the autumn also grew halfway, with abundant longing.

Regarding this, it is said; and as for His practice in secret:

When, in His lessons on the flute, Hari gradually performed the procedure to attract her,
then those successive agitations were experienced by her after a long time:
trembling, reeling, shifting from her seat, taking two or three steps, departure from the house,
turning toward the forest path, and wandering forth onto the distant road.

Moreover:
Whatever practice of the flute was performed then to attract Rādhā,
that very practice, though directed by Him with earnest intent, remained entirely silent;
with bowed head and bristling hair of delight, I always praise loudly that flute,
which, oh wonder, again and again fulfilled Kṛṣṇa’s series of desires!

To explain: Thus, throughout the rainy season, Kṛṣṇa, thirsty to test His flute practice and waiting for the right time, perceived the beauty of autumn as having arrived. And as He observed it, He thought:

“Indeed, if this [autumn], naturally pure, assumes the role of an accessory to my divine play, then I shall attain the assembly of women. But, by the very nature of time, I see this season subduing even that love which subdues everything—just as Rādhā subdues even me.

Therefore, if I can cast off this subjection to her and produce a feeling infused with a different sentiment, then I consider myself to have become unhindered in placing it upon Rādhā as well.”
Deliberating thus, and noticing an auspicious omen ahead, He said: “Ah! It is determined that tomorrow will bring the highest fortune! For:
Fate, bringing my lotus eyes delightful with the play of wagtail birds,
will swiftly unite them with the face beaming with Rādhā’s charming eyes.”

Experiencing this auspicious omen, until the full moon arrived, the flute-player sent forth the notes of the flute in all directions. And then—

Observing the nights joyful again and again in autumn,
arising from the art of the flute’s power,
with jasmine flowers that reached an incomparable blooming state,
that brother of Rāma made love with the cowherd maidens for the sake of delight.