04/11/2025
šššššš
JÄvaį¹aā or YÄva-grÄma, lies approximately two miles east of Nandagaon, and is one of the places where the Divine Couple ÅrÄ« RÄdhÄ-Kį¹į¹£į¹a perform highly confidential pastimes. It is not possible to describe all the pastimes that took place here. Sometimes, rasika ÅrÄ« Kį¹į¹£į¹a would adorn His chest here with the red lac, or jÄvaka, from ÅrÄ« RÄdhikÄās lotus feet. This place, which is decorated with a vaį¹a (banyan) tree is renown as JÄvaį¹a or YÄva-grÄma.1
The gopÄ« Jaį¹ilÄ used to live in this village with her son Abhimanyu and daughter Kuį¹ilÄ. MahÄrÄja Vį¹į¹£abhÄnu married his beloved daughter, ÅrÄ« RÄdhikÄ, to Jaį¹ilÄās son Abhimanyu on the instruction of YogamÄyÄ Purį¹amÄsÄ«. Although Abhimanyu had the conception that he was ÅrÄ« RÄdhikÄās husband, by the power of BhagavatÄ« YogamÄyÄ he could not even touch Her shadow. Instead, out of shyness, he always busied himself by looking after his cows in the cowshed or spending time with his friends. Jaį¹ilÄ and Kuį¹ilÄ remained wholly occupied in household chores. On various deceptive pretexts the clever sakhÄ«s would arrange meetings between ÅrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhikÄ and ÅrÄ« Kį¹į¹£į¹a.
Actually these meetings were brought about by YogamÄyÄ to nourish the rasa of paramour love, because ÅrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhikÄ is the embodiment of ÅrÄ« Kį¹į¹£į¹aās pleasure giving potency (hlÄdinÄ«-Åakti), and the crown jewel of Kį¹į¹£į¹aās eternal beloveds. Fire and its power to burn, or the sun and its light, are intrinsically one in nature and cannot be separated from each other. Similarly, ÅrÄ« Kį¹į¹£į¹a and His parÄ-Åakti ÅrÄ« RÄdhÄ are eternally non-different and inseparable from each other; They are one soul manifest in two forms solely to taste rasa-vilÄsa. RÄvaį¹a could not so much as touch the original SÄ«tÄ. He was only able to kidnap her shadow. One can reconcile Abhimanyu and ÅrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhikÄās relationship in the same way.
MahÄrÄja Vį¹į¹£abhÄnu built a beautiful royal palace for his darling daughter in JÄvaį¹a, in which ÅrÄ«matÄ«jÄ« lived happily with Her girlfriends. Every morning, MukharÄ used to come here to see her beloved granddaughter. Bhakti-ratnÄkara gives charming accounts of the pastimes that took place here.2
One day, ÅrÄ« Kį¹į¹£į¹a could not meet with RÄdhikÄ because She was in mÄna. He became most agitated in separation from Her, so on the advice of ViÅÄkhÄ, He disguised Himself as a brÄhmaį¹a student. He donned a sacred thread across His shoulder and wooden shoes on His feet. Carrying a begging bowl and staff in His hands and a book under His arm, He arrived at the door of Jaį¹ilÄās house in JÄvaį¹a and began begging by calling out Godās name. Since it was morning time, Jaį¹ilÄ and Kuį¹ilÄ were making cow-dung patties and had not yet bathed. Because they were not clean, they could not give any alms in charity. They therefore called for RÄdhikÄ and ordered Her to give alms to the brÄhmaį¹a, but RÄdhikÄ refused to come before any man other than Her husband. The beggar boy had His own unique style. āMother,ā He said, āI cannot stay here very long. I can only wait for as long as it takes to milk a cow and no longer. It is already time for Me to go.ā
Jaį¹ilÄ thought, āIf this young brÄhmaį¹a leaves empty-handed, it will not be at all auspicious for my family and the cows or any of my family members may die.ā She entered the house and in a gentle way explained the situation to her daughter-in-law, repeatedly requesting Her to give the mendicant some alms. She then returned to make cow-dung patties. ÅrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhikÄ covered Her face with Her veil and carried a plate of flour, lentils and vegetables to the door. LalitÄ, ViÅÄkhÄ and the other sakhÄ«s accompanied Her. When She tried to offer them to the beggar, He humbly petitioned Her, āI have no need for these alms. Please place Your precious mÄna in My begging bowl.ā Now PriyÄjÄ« understood everything. She smiled, uncovered Her face a little and emptied the whole plate on top of His head. Delighted, the young beggar went His way, meditating upon the alms He had just received from RÄdhikÄ.
The following pastime also took place here. Once, Mother YaÅodÄ was in her storeroom, organising some skirts, blouses, shawls and other expensive clothes and ornaments to be placed in a large chest, when mischievous Kį¹į¹£į¹a burst into the room. He came up behind her, put His arms around her neck and insisted on knowing what she was doing. āMaiyÄ, is it My birthday today?ā He asked. āAre you preparing all of these clothes and ornaments for Me?ā
āGo and play now,ā MaiyÄ answered with some irritation. āDo not disturb me.ā Kį¹į¹£į¹a felt somewhat dejected and left, only to observe what His mother was doing from a hidden place. Mother YaÅodÄ was preparing this box to send to ÅrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhikÄ in JÄvaį¹a. She would occasionally send such gifts to please the hard-hearted Jaį¹ilÄ, so that she would not prohibit her daughter-in-law from coming to Nanda-bhavana. Clever ÅrÄ« Kį¹į¹£į¹a understood this fact, so when His mother finished packing the chest and became absorbed in other household chores, Kį¹į¹£į¹a made His way with Subala SakhÄ to the room in which the chest lay. They unlocked it and removed its contents, and Kį¹į¹£į¹a climbed inside. Subala closed the lid and locked it as before.
YaÅodÄ had requested Abhimanyu to personally come and collect the box because it was filled with expensive gifts and should not be given to anyone else. Abhimanyu put the box on his head and with great difficulty carried it to his mother in JÄvaį¹a-grÄma. Jaį¹ilÄ said, āMy son, this box is filled with very expensive clothes and ornaments for my daughter-in-law, so put it in Her room.ā He happily placed the box in ÅrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhikÄās room and left. When the sakhÄ«s eagerly opened the box and saw the mischievous ÅyÄmasundara inside, they burst out laughing. Their bliss knew no bounds. With intense prema, RÄdhÄ and Kį¹į¹£į¹a met, which filled the sakhÄ«s with great satisfaction.
Once, ÅrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhikÄ was in mÄna and did not meet Kį¹į¹£į¹a for several days. The sakhÄ«s tried various means to convince Her to give up Her mÄna, but on this occasion Her mÄna was fixed and therefore difficult to subdue. Kį¹į¹£į¹aās separation from RÄdhÄ filled Him with great distress. Subala SakhÄ therefore began to hatch a plan to help Him meet with RÄdhÄ. Subala exactly resembles ÅrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhikÄ in age, beauty, speech and so forth and is skilled in many arts. He consoled Kį¹į¹£į¹a, saying, āWhy are You so distressed? You should wait in this kuƱja for a short time while I arrange Your meeting with PriyÄjÄ«.ā Saying this, he went to YÄva-grÄma. When Jaį¹ilÄ saw him there
she cried out, āSubala, you are the friend of that licentious debauchee Kį¹į¹£į¹a; why are you hovering around our house? Leave this place immediately.ā
Subala replied, āMaiyÄ, one of my calves is lost and I cannot find it anywhere. I have come to search for it.ā
āYour calf has not come here,ā Jaį¹ilÄ answered. āLeave at once.ā Subala repeatedly requested her to please allow him to look for his calf, and she finally relented. āI am going now to make cow-dung patties. Go to the cowshed and search for your calf, and if you find it, take it.ā
Subala became delighted and reached ÅrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhikÄās balcony through the cowshed. He gave such a heart-rending description of Kį¹į¹£į¹aās condition of separation that ÅrÄ«matÄ«jÄ«ās heart melted. She immediately gave up Her mÄna and prepared Herself to go and console Kį¹į¹£į¹a, but how would She be able to leave Her house? Subala then gave Her his clothes and She disguised Herself as him, carrying a stick and wearing a twisted turban on Her head, a dhotÄ« around Her waist, and a necklace of guƱjÄ-seeds around Her neck. Carrying a small calf in Her arms, She appeared to be Subala happily leaving, having found his lost calf. She held the calf in such a way that no one would notice Her breasts and become suspicious. Meanwhile, Subala, disguised as RÄdhikÄ, became immersed in conversation with the sakhÄ«s. When Jaį¹ilÄ saw ÅrÄ«matÄ«jÄ« disguised as Subala leaving the cowshed, she asked, āSo, did you find your calf ?ā
RÄdhikÄ answered in Subalaās voice. āJust see, MaiyÄ,ā She said, āI have found it.ā Jaį¹ilÄ did not become even the slightest bit suspicious. ÅrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhikÄ finally reached Kį¹į¹£į¹a, having made Her way to the location as indicated by Subala. Distressed in separation, Kį¹į¹£į¹a asked Her, āSakhÄ, were you unable to bring My beloved? My life is coming to an end. What should I do? Where should I go?ā Upon seeing Kį¹į¹£į¹a in such a miserable condition, ÅrÄ«matÄ«jÄ« could not contain Herself. She put the calf down and embraced Him. By Her tender touch and by the fragrance of Her body, Kį¹į¹£į¹a understood everything and all His sorrow went far away. He repeatedly praised the intelligence of Subala, and proceeded to enjoy delightful pastimes with His beloved. After some time, Subala also arrived there and became so happy to watch Their meeting.
Once, ÅrÄ« Kį¹į¹£į¹aās desire to meet RÄdhikÄ was so intense that He became very restless. That evening, with the hope of meeting RÄdhikÄ, He went to JÄvaį¹a and waited outside Jaį¹ilÄās mansion under a ber tree. Climbing upon a branch of that tree, He started cooing like a black cuckoo (kokila). ÅrÄ«matÄ« and Her girlfriends understood that this kokila was none other than ÅrÄ« Kį¹į¹£į¹a in the ber tree eagerly awaiting a meeting. However, whenever Kį¹į¹£į¹a tried to enter the house, the vigilant Jaį¹ilÄ, hearing a sound, would call out, āWho is there?ā and Kį¹į¹£į¹a would again hide in the bushes. This continued all night long, and thus Kį¹į¹£į¹aās attempts to meet with ÅrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhikÄ were repeatedly foiled. In the end, He gave up hope and left, dejected.
ÅrÄ« RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« has described this incident in his book Ujjvala-nÄ«lamaį¹Ä« (1.16):
saį¹
ketÄ«-kį¹ta-kokilÄdi-ninadaį¹ kaį¹sa-dviį¹£aįø„ kurvato
dvÄronmocana-lolaį¹
khavalaya-kvÄį¹aį¹ muhuįø„ Åį¹į¹vataįø„
keyaį¹ keyam iti pragalbha-jaratÄ«-vÄkyena dÅ«nÄtmano
rÄdhÄ-prÄį¹
gaį¹a-koį¹a-koli-viį¹api-kroįøe gatÄ ÅarvarÄ«
In this verse, one sakhÄ« is describing ÅrÄ« RÄdhÄ-Kį¹į¹£į¹aās parÄdhÄ«natÄ3 of the previous night to her dear friend: āLast night, ÅrÄ« Kį¹į¹£į¹a was standing under a ber tree in ÅrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhikÄās courtyard, cooing like a kokila again and again. ÅrÄ«matÄ«jÄ« underĀstood His signal but, whenever She went to open the door, Her bangles and ankle-bells made such a loud sound that even ÅrÄ« Kį¹į¹£į¹a heard them. From inside the house, haughty old Jaį¹ilÄ would repeatedly call out, āWho is there?ā Hearing her loud call, ÅrÄ« Kį¹į¹£į¹a, with a distressed heart, spent the whole night under that ber tree.ā
May ÅrÄ« YÄva-grÄma be victorious as it conceals so many sweet memories.
