Lalita continued:
“Oh, Sakhi, Gosthesvari Sri Yasoda affectionately told You,
“May You be beautifully adorned with this gift.”
Moreover, Your husband and mother-in-law have also approved of it.
Gandharvika[1], You should therefore act in full obedience to the order of these three superiors[2].”
When Sri Radha heard Lalita’s words, shyness overwhelmed Her.
Radha:
“My friend, Vrajesvari must certainly have put a collection of jewelled ornaments for Me in this box.
But a cunning thief has stolen them and hidden them somewhere, and then He has crawled into the box Himself!
Quickly go and tell My mother-in-law what has happened[3]!”
Lalita said to Krishna:
“O You who desire to meet Sri Radha!
You rode on Abhimanyu’s head in order to rendezvous with his own wife, Radhika!
By doing this, are You desirous of seeing the earth become completely bereft of all chaste women?
Well, all right, what’s done is done, but now You should immediately return all the cloth and jewels that You stole from inside the box; if not, then by bringing Jatila here I will expose the real truth of Your fame and glory.”
Hearing this Krishna said:
“Listen, Lalita, this friend of yours, Radha, is cunning and skilled in getting Her own way.
I got into this box merely out of curiosity, and then She sent Her husband to bring Me here by force.
Now She is concealing this truth from all of you[4].”
Then, laughing and laughing, He said to Radhika:
“My dear Radha!
I became fascinated by smelling the natural wooden fragrance of this box; sending all of the items it contained to You via Dhanistha, I then climbed into the box just to make Myself nicely scented.
Right at that moment, Your husband happened to come along by chance, grabbed the box and brought Me here.”
After saying this to Radha, He said to all of Radha’s assembled girlfriends:
“Oh assembly of girls!
I now place the topic of this accusation before you all.
Just think it over carefully and then decide, if Sri Radhika is at fault, then I will rightfully punish Her; or if I’m at fault, then I will allow Myself to be tied up in the binding-noose of each and every one of your arms.
In this way I will voluntarily spend three nights of miserable imprisonment here.[5]“
We offer our obeisances to that eternally youthful couple of Vraja, Sri Radha-Krishna, who are constantly absorbed in playful pastimes.
Through Their majestic influence, the sakhis have completely fulfilled the desire of their cakora bird-like eyes; Cupid has made his arrows fully successful; the devotees have made their meditation completely fruitful; rasa has made enjoyment complete; the poets have made their amazing verses successful; and the fame and glory of this earthly Vrindavana has been broadcast throughout the fourteen worlds[6].
Thus end the first prank of Sri Camatkara Candrika[7] entitled “The meeting in the box”.
[1] One who is expert in singing and dancing.
[2] Jokingly Lalita is suggesting Radha that now She can enjoy Krishna’s company since all the superior had arranged for it.
[3] Here Radharani wants to put in danger Krishna’s plan by revealing it to Jatila.
[4] Krishna is now accusing Radha to have orchestrated this situation to ruin His reputation.
[5] Either ways Krishna would enjoy Radha’s association for some time.
[6] According to the Puranas this universe is divided into fourteen worlds (lokas), which are: 1. Satyaloka, 2. Tapoloka, 3. Janaloka, 4. Maharloka, 5. Suvarloka, 6. Bhuvarloka 7. Bhuloka, 8. Atala, 9. Vitala, 10. Nitala, 11. Rasatala, 12. Mahatala, 13. Sutala, 14. Patala. Some texts give different names but the concept is the same.
[7] A moonbeam of complete astonishment
This is a section of the book “Camatkara Candrika”.
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