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Radharani’s Manjaris: Tattva & Lilas 033 “Manjari Stays Beside Radha”

Mahanidhi Madan Gopal Das

This series of posts presents the facts (tattva) regarding the identity, moods (gopi-bhava), intimacy and sevas of Srimati Radharani’s beautiful, talented handmaidens known as manjaris, kinkaris, or dasis. Many wonderful lilas are also presented to highlight the manjaris intimate sevas to Srimati Radhika and Her beloved Krishna.

The information here comes from the commentaries of Advaitavamsa Acharya 108 Sri Ananda Gopala Goswami and 108 Sri Ananta Dasa Babaji Maharaja on “Vilapa Kusumanjali” and “Radha Rasa Sudhanidhi” translated by Sri Advaita Dasji.

Manjaris Stay Beside Radha

Tulasi Manjari says, “O Madhura-mukhi Radha! When the wind carries Your excellent bodily fragrance to Candravali’s handmade play bed, where Mukunda enjoys with her, Krishna uses a clever excuse to meet You on the shore of Radha Kunda, like a bumblebee leaving an inferior flower. When will I proudly witness this?” (VK 74)

Premamayi Radha is so much in ecstasy that She leans on Tulasi Manjari’s shoulder as they run to Radha Kunda to meet Shyam. How wonderfully beautiful this is!

Bumblebees fly above Radha’s fragrant lotus feet greedy to drink the honey therein. The maddened bees kiss the ground beautified with Radha’s footprints. How sweetly Sriji’s waistbells and anklebells jingle as She walks.

Shyam has not yet arrived in the kunja. Srimati waits patiently for Her Nagara in the bhava of a vasaka sajjika. In Ujjvala Nilamani, Sri Rupa Goswamipada says a vasaka sajjika lover waits in the kunja for her beloved, and meanwhile decorates herself and the grove. She mentally plans erotic games with her hero, and eagerly looks out for him to come. She discusses blissful topics with her sakhis and constantly looks out for the sakhi messenger to come with news.

Shyam is too late for His appointment so Tulasi Manjari looks out for Him again and again. Svamini feels very upset. Radharani becomes anxious out of separation and enters the bhava of an utkanthita nayika.

Ujjvala Nilamani says such a lover experiences a burning heart, shivers, cries, speculates about why Krishna has not yet come, and laments about her predicament.

Radha says to Tulasi Manjari, “I made the bed for Shyam and strung a flower mala for Him. I prepared betel leaves and lit the lamps. I made the kunja very beautiful. But sakhi, all this will turn out differently if I don’t meet My Nagara!

“I decorated My beautiful youthful body to meet My lover. I’m looking down the road for Shyam to come, telling My mind that this Rasa Shiromani Shyam will surely come now.”

Manjari Controls Madhava

Tulasi Manjari stands at the gate of the kunja. When Krishna finally arrives, He says, “Tulasi, I have come! Arrange My meeting with Radha!”

Tulasi admonishes Shyam, “Where have you come from? Where have you been all this time? Svamini is very upset and is crying because of You! Tell me the truth, otherwise I will not let You meet Radha!”

Krishna honestly explains why He is late. When Tulasi hears that Krishna came from Candravali’s kunja, she becomes very upset and says, “Oh! That’s why you’re so late! Go! Go back where you came from! You cannot meet Radha! I will sing all about Your glories to Svamini!”

Folding His hands, Krishna then offers hundreds of prayers to Tulasi Manjari until she finally allows Him to come in and see Radhika. How completely the manjaris control Krishna! Tulasi Manjari’s heart fills with pride knowing that simply the love-fragrance of Radha pulled Krishna right out of Candravali’s kunja. The thought that “Krishna is ours” fills Tulasi’s heart with pride.

Manjari Bhava Sadhaka Meditation

Radharani often plays hide-and-seek with Her surrendered sadhakas doing lila smarana. Radha-Krishna regularly appear and disappear in Sri Raghunatha Das Goswami’s meditations. One minute he floats in an ocean of blissful union, and then he gets trapped in whirlpool of separation.

A raganuga sadhaka should meditate on oneself assisting Radharani in this way, always staying by Her side like Tulasi Manjari. One should float along on the waves of Radha’s happiness and distress. These divine feelings can only be experienced by being completely absorbed in one’s beautiful manjari svarupa.

Radharani’s manjari ki jai! Jai Jai Sri Radhe!

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Radharani’s Manjaris: Tattva & Lilas 032 “Loving Feet”

Mahanidhi Madan Gopal Das

This series of posts presents the facts (tattva) regarding the identity, moods (gopi-bhava), intimacy and sevas of Srimati Radharani’s beautiful, talented handmaidens known as manjaris, kinkaris, or dasis. Many wonderful lilas are also presented to highlight the manjaris intimate sevas to Srimati Radhika and Her beloved Krishna.

The information here comes from the commentaries of Advaitavamsa Acharya 108 Sri Ananda Gopala Goswami and 108 Sri Ananta Dasa Babaji Maharaja on “Vilapa Kusumanjali” and “Radha Rasa Sudhanidhi” translated by Sri Advaita Dasji.

Rati (Tulasi) Manjari says, “O Kanaka Gauri Radha! May I carefully and happily massage Your lotus feet while Sri Rupa Manjari massages the lotus feet of Goshtendranandana on whose arm You are resting Your head?” (VK 72)

Allegiance in Manjari Sadhana

One starts manjari bhava sadhana by eagerly reading, hearing, and meditating on the expert sevas of the nitya siddha kinkaris like Sri Rupa Manjari and Rati (Tulasi) Manjari. (Cc. 2.8.220).

Manjari bhava sadhana is performed in allegiance (anugamya) to these leading manjaris. One who cannot clearly visualize one’s siddha-deha or who has difficulty doing smarana, should first read about the glories of gopi-bhava and manjari seva by reading and remembering verses from Utkalika Vallari, Vilapa Kusumanjali, Prema Bhakti Candrika, Prarthana, and Vrindavan Mahimamrita.

By living in Vrindavan, mentally or physically, and always lovingly remembering Sri Rupa, Sri Sanatana Goswami, Sri Raghunatha Das, and Sri Jiva Goswami one will get the mercy to become absorbed in one’s siddha-deha and free from material consciousness.

Manjari’s Seva Intimacy

In the kunja, there is flower bed and flower pillow under Shyam’s head.  Svamini’s pillow is Shyam’s left arm. Sri Rupa lovingly gives Tulasi the seva of massaging Radhika’s lotus feet, while she massages Shyam’s lotus feet. After love dalliance Radhe-Shyam lie facing each other sweetly smiling, gazing at each other, and whispering romantic words to each ther.

They are oblivious to the manjaris serving them. Rupa and Tulasi softly massage Radhe-Shyam’s feet while listening to Their sweet words and looking at Their sweet forms. After Yugala Kishora fall asleep Tulasi thinks: “What if I get up and stop massaging? Radhe-Shyam may wake up.” Tulasi caresses the lotus feet of Svamini on her lap and massages them with her hair because it is softer than her hands.

Unlike the sakhis, the manjaris can do such intimate services without embarrassing Radha. There is some hesitation before her sakhis, but the manjaris are nondifferent in feelings from Radhe-Shyam, so Lila Yugala don’t feel any hesitation. Radha trusts her maidservants completely.

The manjaris are totally absorbed in relishing the sweetness of Radhe-Shyam.

Suddenly the vision vanishes and Sri Raghunatha Das cries out, “Ha Kanaka Gauri! Where are your lotus feet now, and when I can softly massage them in topmost bliss?”

Sri Radha’s manjaris ki jai! Jai Jai Sri Radhe!

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Who is woman?

Mahanidhi Madan Gopal Das

Jai Jai Sri Radhe!

What does woman really mean? Veda says women means prakriti, the material energy or maya. Atma is an individual conscious person, a tiny particle of eternal consciousness.

“Man or woman” are gender upadhis relating only to a temporary external body made of prakrti, material energy or maya. The eternal truth is that both man and woman are eternal atmas or mini purushas.

So, any atma who identifies with his/her external body and tries to enjoy it is prakriti or woman and in maya, illusion.

It’s a grand illusion, Mahamaya, to think, “I’M A MAN! I’M A WOMAN. The eternal truth is that you and everyone else is an eternal loving servant of Bhagavan Sri Krishna. “I AM KRISHNA DASA’, “I AM KRISHNA DASI.”

All atmas are meant only to eternally love and affectionately serve the supreme atma, Bhagavan Sri Krishna! What we call the female qualities of humility, surrender, seva, and affection are generally found in women. However, these are the eternal qualities present in all liberated atmas in the spiritual realm whether they possess male or female eternal spiritual bodies.

Thus, all of us, both men and women REALLY NEED to develop and display more humility, love, affection, surrender and seva.

May Radha-Krishna bless you all! Jai Jai Sri Radhe!

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Nothing Good Nothing Bad

Mahanidhi Madan Gopal Das

When Sanatana Gosvami asked Sri Chaitanya not to touch him because of his oozing sores from a tropical disease, Mahaprabhu said: dvaite bhadra abhadra-gyana, saba manodharma ei bhala, ei manda, ei saba bhrama, “In this world, ideas of good and bad are all creations of the mind. Therefore, saying, ‘This is good and this is bad,’ is an illusion.” (Cc. Antya 4.176)

Mahaprabhu told Sanatana Gosvami that his body was completely spiritualized and therefore He took great pleasure in embracing him. The material body is neither good or bad.

When one is fixed in Krishna consciousness one understands that in the material world of duality nothing is good or bad. Likes and dislikes, good and bad, are all due to the three modes of material nature—goodness, passion, and ignorance (sattva, rajas, tamas) which bind everyone in ignorance.

Srimad Bhagavatam (11.28.4) confirms this point:

kim bhadram kim abhadram va, dvaitasya vastunah kiyat

vacoditam tad anrtam, manasa dhyatam eva ca

 “That which is expressed by material words or contemplated by the mind is all false. What, therefore, is actually good or bad within this insubstantial world of duality, and how can the extent of such good and bad be measured?”

Visvanatha Cakravartipada tika: Duality (good & bad) is false (avastunah). The meaning for the devotee is: because Bhagavan Sri Krishna’s form, abode, name and devotees are all spiritual entities, they are Brahman and nothing else. What arises by words or by the mind related to duality is all false. In that case, what does good or bad mean? Later Sri Krishna says, nirguno mad-apashrayah: My devotee is beyond the gunas. (SB 11.25.26)

Sri Krsna continues: The only perceptions that are true are those that include the relationship of the object being perceived with the Absolute Truth. Seeing or naming an object as good or bad that has no relationship with the Absolute Truth is the definition of illusion.

To attain this clear vision of reality, one needs “the sword of transcendental knowledge sharpened by worship of the spiritual master, gyana asina upasanaya shitena.” (SB 11.28.17)

Comment: The actual absolute truth is Bhagavan Sri Krishna, from whom everything emanates, by whom everything is maintained, and in whom everything rests. The idea of good and bad as separate from Sri Krishna is like the good and bad dreams experienced when sleeping. Both dreams are equally unreal.

Sri Krishna compares the soul’s material life to a dream: one experiences events in a dream as if they are real, but upon awaking one realizes those events were unreal. For conditioned souls, good and bad, enjoying and suffering occur, but they have no substance because they are part of the material dream. It’s all illusion: Night dream,  day dream,

When one awakens to one’s actual eternal spiritual identity, one stops being affected by their dreams. But if one stays locked into one’s dream worlds, Sri Krishna says, “One will eternally experience lamentation, elation, fear, anger, greed, confusion, and hankering, and repeated birth and death which are all experiences of the false ego and not of the pure soul, shoka harsha bhaya krodha lobha moha sprha ahankarasya janma mrtyuh na atman.” (SB 11.28.15)

In Uddhava Gita, Sri Krsna says: The only perceptions that are true are those that include the relationship of the object being perceived with the Absolute Truth. Seeing or naming an object as good or bad without connecting it with the Absolute Truth is the definition of illusion.

Anything not conceived in relationship to Krishna should be understood to be illusion. None of the illusions uttered by words or conceived in the mind are factual. Because illusion is not factual, there is no distinction between what we think is good and what we think is bad.

Good and bad are not fixed universally, but are determined according to particular circumstances. Good and bad are considerations of material duality. We think that something is good or bad based upon our conditioning and four inherent defects: imperfect senses (karana apatava), tendency to be deluded (bhrama), commit mistakes (pramada), and the tendency to cheat (vipralipsa). (Cc. 1.2.86). For materialists good and bad are based on selfish personal enjoyment.

Thus, in our temporary material existence nothing is good and nothing is bad. But on the absolute spiritual platform Krishna is all-good, and whatever is done for the service of Krishna according to shastras is also absolutely all-good.

Jai Jai Sri Radhe!