For Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī there is nothing in this world except his connection with Śrī Rādhā. In Bhakti Ratnākara (Fifth Wave) it is described how, in his spiritual absorption, he rejected buttermilk from Sakhīsthalī, the village of Rādhā’s arch-rival Candrāvalī:
dāsa nāme eka vrajavāsī etha roy; dāsa gosvāmīra tāre sneha atiśoy teho eka dina sakhī-sthalī grāme gelā; bṛhat palāśa patra dekhi tuli’ nilā dāsa gosvāmīra kothā mone mone kohe; annādika tyāga koilā dāruṇa virahe eka donā takra piye niyama tāhāra; ithe kichu atirikta hoibe āhāra aiche mone kori ghare āsi donā koilā; tāhe takra loiyā raghunātha āge āilā navya patra donā dekhi’ jijñāse gosāi; e bṛhat patra āji pāilā kon ṭhāi dāsa kohe – sakhī-sthalī genu gocāraṇe; pāiyā uttama patra āninu ekhāne sakhī-sthalī nāma śuni’ krodhe pūrṇa hoilā; takra saha donā dūre phelāiyā dilā koto kṣaṇe sthira hoiyā kohe dāsa prati; se candrāvalīra sthāna – na yāibā tathi
“There was one Vrajavāsī (inhabitant of Vraja) named Dāsa who loved Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī very much. He went to the village of Sakhīsthalī (close to the town of Govardhana) and found a big leafcup there, which he brought along, thinking of Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī, who had given up eating all solid food out of coarse separation from Rādhārāṇī. Dāsa thought:
“It is Raghunātha Dāsa’s rule to drink only one cup of buttermilk a day. When I give Him this bigger leafcup he can eat a little more”, and brought some buttermilk from his house to fill up the big leafcup. When he came before him, Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī, seeing the new cup, asked him: “Where did you get this big leaf cup from?” Dāsa said: “I went to Sakhī-sthalī to herd my cows and I found this good leaf cup there and brought it to you!” Hearing the name ‘Sakhī-sthalī’, Raghunātha Dāsa became filled with anger and threw the leaf cup with the buttermilk far away. After some time he calmed down and told Dāsa: “That is the place where Candrāvalī lives! Don’t go there!”
Post view 519 times
