tāmbūlārpaṇa-pāda-mardana-payo-dānābhisārādibhir
vṛndāraṇya-maheśvarīṁ priyatayā yās toṣayanti priyāḥ |
prāṇa-preṣṭha-sakhī-kulād api kilāsaṅkocitā-bhūmikāḥ
kelī-bhūmiṣu rūpa-mañjarī-mukhās tā dāsikāḥ saṁśraye
“I take shelter of Śrī Rādhikā’s maidservants, headed by Rūpa Mañjarī, who always engage in serving betel leaves, massaging the feet, serving water, and arranging for the Divine Couple’s secret trysts. These maidservants are even more dear to the great Queen of Vṛndāraṇya (Śrī Rādhikā) than the prāṇa-preṣṭha-sakhīs (the girlfriends who are dearer to Her than life), and She is therefore not at all shy before them!”
(Vraja Vilasa Stava, verse 38 – Śrīpāda Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī)
Stavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā: In this verse, Śrīpāda Dāsa Gosvāmī praises the mañjarīs, the maidservants of Śrī Rādhā who have a greater love for Rādhā and who are led by Rūpa Mañjarī.
Of the aforementioned five kinds of sakhīs, they are the prāṇa-sakhīs and the nitya-sakhīs.
yāḥ pūrvaṁ prāṇa-sakhyaś ca nitya sakhyaś ca kīrtitāḥ.
sakhī-snehādhikā jñeyās tā evātra manīṣibhiḥ
(Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi Sakhī Prakaraṇa 134)
“The sakhīs who I previously glorified as prāṇa-sakhīs and nitya-sakhīs are considered to be more affectionate towards the heroine.”
tadīyatābhimāninyo yāḥ snehaṁ sarvadāśritāḥ.
sakhyām alpādhikaṁ kṛṣṇāt sakhī snehādhikām tu tāḥ
(ibid. 131)
“Any sakhī who thinks ‘we are yours’, who thus always shows affection for Śrī Rādhā, and who has a little more affection for Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s beloved Śrī Rādhā than for Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, is called sakhī-snehādhikā.”
Śrīmat Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda has given this example:
viramatu tava vṛnde dūtya cāturya caryā
sahacari vinivṛtya bruhi goṣṭhendra sūnum
viṣama viṣadhareyaṁ śarvarī prāvṛṣeṇyā
katham iha girikuñje bhīrur eṣā praheyā
(Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi Sakhī Prakaraṇa 132)
“One of Śrī Rādhā’s foremost prāṇa-sakhīs forbade Vṛndā to send Her on Her love-journey, saying: ‘O friend Vṛnde! Let your clever message-carrying rest here! Go away from here and tell Goṣṭhendra-Nandana that this is a monsoon-night and there are poisonous snakes slithering around! How can we send our frightened friend Śrī Rādhā to that mountain-cave? He is able to defeat snakes like Kāliya, so let Him come this way Himself in secret!’”
These prāṇa-sakhīs and nitya-sakhīs, who have a greater love for Rādhā, are known as mañjarīs. Although they belong to the five classes of sakhīs they are maidservants who are always engaged in the service of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava. Hence it is said:
tāmbūlārpaṇa pāda-mardana payodānābhisārādibhir vṛndāraṇya maheśvarīṁ priyatayā yās toṣayanti priyāḥ
“By offering Her betel leaves, massaging Her feet, giving Her water and escorting Her on Her love-journeys, they always satisfy the great queen of Vṛndāvana!”
Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has written:
caudike sakhīra mājhe, rādhikāra iṅgite,
ciruṇī loiyā kore dhari
kuṭila kuntala sab, vithāriyā āṅcarab
bonāibo vicitra kavarī
“While I am surrounded by sakhīs, I take a comb in my hand, and on Her indication, I start to comb all of Rādhikā’s curly hairs with a comb, binding it into a wonderful braid.”
mṛgamada malayaja, sab aṅge lepabo,
porāibo manohara hāra
candana kuṅkume, tilaka bonāibo,
herabo mukha sudhākara
“I will anoint Her whole body with musk and sandalwood pulp and adorn Her with an enchanting necklace. I will make a tilaka for Her with sandalwood pulp and vermilion and look at Her moon-like face.”
nīla paṭṭāmbara, yatane porāibo,
pāye dibo ratana mañjīre
bhṛṅgārera jale, āṅgā caraṇa dhoyāibo,
muchāibo āpana cikure
“I will diligently dress Her in Her blue silken sāḍī and place jewelled anklebells on Her feet. I will wash Her reddish feet with water from a jug and dry them off with my hairs.”
kusuma komala dale, śeja vichāibo,
śayana korābo doṅhākāre
dhavala cāmara āni, mṛdu mṛdu vījabo,
charamita duhuka śarīre
“I will make a bed of soft flower petals for Them both and then I will make Them lie down, bring a white whisk-fan and start softly fanning Their exhausted bodies.”
kanaka sampuṭa kori, karpūra tāmbūla bhori,
yogāibo doṅhāra vadane
adhara sudhārase, tāmbūla suvāse,
bhokhabo adhika yatane
(Prārthanā)
“I will fill a golden box with camphor and betel leaves and place these delicacies in Their mouths. Afterwards I will enjoy even more diligently after Their lip-nectar has scented these betel leaves.”
The mañjarīs consist of nothing but the transcendental mellow of devotional service. Their hearts are dedicated to devotional service, and without service they do not know anything else. Because of their steadiness and fixation in the mellow of service, we can see that they are even more trusted by the Yugala in Their coming and going to Their private places of kuñja-vilāsa than the sama-snehā parama-preṣṭha-sakhīs like Śrī Lalitā.
prāṇa preṣṭha sakhī-kulād api kilāsaṅkocitā bhūmikāḥ keli bhūmiṣu. The purport of this is that all the five kinds of sakhīs that we have discussed in the past are happy to arrange for Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s meeting with Śrī Kṛṣṇa and none of them either desire or endeavour to have independent meetings with Him. Nevertheless, Śrī Rādhā sometimes desires to arrange for Śrī Kṛṣṇa to have erotic pastimes with Lalitā and the sakhīs –
yadyapi sakhīra kṛṣṇa saṅgame nāhi mana;
tathāpi rādhikā yatne korāya saṅgama
nānā chale kṛṣṇe preri saṅgama korāya;
ātmā-kṛṣṇa-saṅga hoite koṭi sukha pāya
(Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya Chapter 8)
“Although the sakhīs have no interest in personal erotic pastimes with Kṛṣṇa, still Rādhikā carefully arranges for their meetings with Him. With different pretexts, She urges Kṛṣṇa to have erotic pastimes with them and thus She attains millions of times more happiness than if She would personally unite with Kṛṣṇa.”
But although the mañjarīs are in the class of the sakhīs, they never have sexual erotic pastimes with Kṛṣṇa, due to their fixation in a pure service-attitude. Even if Śrī Kṛṣṇa makes a pass at them or even if their own Yūtheśvarīs are eager for them to do this, they never desire personal erotic pastimes with Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
ananya śrī rādhā padakamala dāsyaika rasadhī
hareḥ saṅge raṅgam svapana samaye nā’pi dadhati
balāt kṛṣṇa kūrpāsakabhidi kim apy ācarati kā-
py udāśrur meveti pralapati mamātma ca hasati
(Vṛndāvana Mahimāmṛta 16,94)
“The maidservants, who are exclusively devoted to the service of Śrī Rādhā’s lotus feet, which are like an ocean of nectar, do not enjoy with Śrī Hari even in their dreams. When Kṛṣṇa forcibly pulls at their bodices, they cry out: ‘No, no!’, while Rādhikā watches and laughs.”
By laughing, Śrī Rādhā shows that she approves of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s actions.
In his Ānanda-Candrikā-ṭīkā of Śrī Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi, Nāyaka-Sahāya-Bheda-prakaraṇa, verse 15, Śrīmat Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda has written –
yadyapi sakhyo hi sva sva yūtheśvarīṇāṁ śrī rādhādīnām eva śrī kṛṣṇāṅga saṅga-sukhena sukhinyaḥ na tu svāsām, tad api tāḥ sāmānyato dvidhā bhavati – prema-saundarya-vaidagdhyādīnām ādhikyena śrī kṛṣṇasyāti lobhanīya gātryas teṣāṁ nyūnatvena tasyānati-lobhanīya gātryaś ca. tata eva sva yūtheśvarīṇām apyāgrahādhikyāc ca kadācit śrī kṛṣṇāṅga saṅga spṛhāvatyo’pi bhavantī, tāś ca lalitādyāḥ parama preṣṭha sakhyādayaḥ. uttarām tu tad dvayābhāvāt kadāpi kṛṣṇāṅga saṅga spṛhāvatyo na bhavanti, tāś ca kasturyādayo nitya sakhyaḥ
“Although the sakhīs are happy when they can arrange for the meetings of their Yūtheśvarīs with Śrī Kṛṣṇa and do not desire the bliss of personal union with Him, still we can generally distinguish two kinds of them. To the first belong those who have bodies that are very attractive for Śrī Kṛṣṇa because they have more love, beauty and cleverness, and to the second belong those whose bodies are not so attractive to Him because they have less love, beauty etc.
Of them, the first are Lalitā and other parama-preṣṭha-sakhīs, who desire bodily erotic pastimes with Śrī Kṛṣṇa because of the great eagerness of their Yūtheśvarīs, and the second group is never eager to meet with Kṛṣṇa, even if He requests it and their Yūtheśvarīs are eager to accomplish their meetings also. They are the nitya-sakhīs or mañjarīs like Kasturī.”
The purport of this is that, according to the kind and the amount of the devotees’ love, the Lord is greedy to taste the flavours of his/her love. The love of the sama-snehā-sakhīs can allow their Yūtheśvarī Rādhā to agree with their bodily erotic pastimes with Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and the desire to unite with them may also awaken in the heart of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
But the love of the mañjarīs, who are exclusively fixed in a service-attitude, will not make them desire to unite with Śrī Kṛṣṇa even in dreams, what to speak of in a wakeful state! Therefore, Śrī Kṛṣṇa will also never desire to unite with them. If He requests them to unite with Him, then it is only an external show, or done as a joke, it is never real.
Śrī Rādhā’s efforts to make them unite with Kṛṣṇa should similarly be seen as an external act or as a mere joke.
Because of the complete purity of their attitude, Śrī Rādhā has accepted the mañjarīs as Her Own Self, so that they automatically gain free access to all the places where the Śrī Yugala meets and performs pastimes.
The Śrī Yugala considers them to be like the embodiments of Their absorption in Their erotic pastimes. Because of this exclusive privilege, the mañjarīs are situated in the highest position in the kingdom of prema. The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas perform their bhajana in allegiance to them. This is the unprecedented merciful gift of Śrīman Mahāprabhu.
śrī rūpa mañjarī sāra, śrī rati mañjarī āra,
labaṅga mañjarī mañjulālī
śrī rasa mañjarī saṅge, kasturikā ādi raṅge,
prema sevā kore kutūhole
“I will eagerly render loving service with Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī, Śrī Rati Mañjarī, Labaṅga Mañjarī, Mañjulālī Mañjarī, Śrī Rasa Mañjarī, Kasturikā and others. ”
e sab anugā hoiyā, prema sevā nibo cāiyā,
iṅgite bujhibo sab kāje.
rūpa guṇe ḍagamagi, sadā hobo anurāgī,
vasati koribo sakhī mājha
“Following all of them, I will beg for devotional service, understanding what to do simply by receiving their hints. I will always float in the forms and attributes of the Divine Pair and live amongst the sakhīs.”
vṛndāvane dui jana, catur dike sakhīgaṇa
samaya bujhiyā rasa sukhe
sakhīra iṅgita hobe, cāmara ḍhulābo kobe,
tāmbūla yogābo cāṅda mukhe
“The Divine Pair of Vṛndāvana is surrounded by Their girlfriends. Understanding the time has come, I will, by the indication of the sakhīs, fan Them with a whisk-fan or place betel leaves in Their moon-like mouths in rasika-bliss.”
yugala caraṇa sevi, nirantara ei bhāvi,
anurāgī thākibo sadāy
sādhane bhāvibo yāhā, siddha dehe pābo tāhā,
rāga pathera ei se upāya
“I will always think about the lotus feet of the Yugala Kiśora and remain passionately devoted to them. Whatever I think of during my practice I will get in my siddha-deha. These are the ways of rāgānuga bhakti.”
Śrīpāda Raghunātha says: “I take shelter of these maidservants of Śrī Rādhā, headed by Rūpa Mañjarī!”
In many ways and many places in this Stavāvalī, one can see Śrī Raghunātha thus speaking of the Yugala-sevā and Śrī Rūpānugatya-bhajana. All this will become known to us at the proper places.
tāmbūla dāna, pāda mardana, jala dānādite;
nitya abhisāre rādhāya kore paritṛpte
prāṇa preṣṭha yoto sakhī lalitā pradhānā;
tāṅhādera ho’te yārā sevāte pravīṇā
niḥsaṅkoca citte tāi rahaḥ keli sthāne
sevā kārye kore yārā gamanāgamane
śrī rūpa mañjarī ādi rādhā dāsīgaṇe;
āśraya loiyā bhaji ei mora mane
“In my mind I worship Śrī Rādhā’s maidservants, headed by Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī, who satisfy Her by serving Her betel leaves and water, massaging Her feet and escorting Her on Her love-journeys. They are even more expert in devotional service than Śrī Rādhikā’s heart’s friends, headed by Lalitā, and they can freely come and go in and out of the places, where the Divine Pair perform Their intimate pastimes, to render their services there.”
Amrita-Tarangini 