Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c11.s3.24

c11.s3.24

The Vidagdha-mādhava² is a more extensive work. It is a regular Nāṭaka in seven Acts, which is meant to present in a dramatic form the entire Vṛndāvana-līlā of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, beginning with Pūrva-rāga and ending with Saṃkṣipta Saṃkīrṇa Sambhoga¹ from first love to first union, as defined and described in Rūpa's *Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi*. In a sense, the theme is the same as that of Rāmānanda's little play, but it is more elaborately worked out. It pays homage to Caitanya as Śaci-nandana (1. 2) in a famous verse;² and we are told that Rūpa was inspired in a dream by Saṃkara-deva (the Gopīśvara Śiva of the temple at Brahmakuṇḍa, as the commentator Viśvanātha Cakravartin explains) to compose the drama. It is noteworthy that the Pāripārśvaka, in the Prologue, ascribes the work to the Sūtradhāra, with the obvious implication that Rūpa himself must have taken the rôle of the stage-director in the enacting of the play at Vṛndāvana.