Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c11.s5.62

c11.s5.62

The same fondness for alliteration and rhyming is in evidence throughout in the Svayam-utprekṣita-līlā, (also called Vilāsa-mañjarī) which, however, is not formally a Stotra but a little sketch, describing the familiar episode of Rādhā’s plucking flowers in the groves of Vṛndāvana, with the full knowledge of Kṛṣṇa’s presence nearby. Kṛṣṇa’s playful obstruction and threat of punishment, and the inevitable erotic witticism and raillery. It is composed also in thirty rhymed and alliterative stanzas, the metres used being Dodhaka, Mattā, Sragviṇī, Bhramaravilasita, Jaloddhatagati, Bhujaṅgaprayāta, Toṭaka, Āryā (which is a rarely used metre in Bengal Vaiṣṇava Stotras), Pajjhaṭikā, Svāgatā, Rathoddhatā, Lolā, and Mālinī. It is not necessary to multiply examples; one in the rare Mattā and another in the common Bhujaṅgaprayāta metre will perhaps serve to illustrate the style: