I translated Rādhā Rasa Sudhānidhi verse 59 as
follows, following the Bengali translation of Pandit Anantadās ji Mahārāj –
“When will I joyfully serve the best ladylove, Śrī
Rādhikā, and the best of lovers, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Whose cheeks became moistened with
sweat drops of fatigue from Their incomparible dancing during the wonderful
enchanting Rāsa-festival, which is full of laughter, by massaging Their feet
and nicely fanning Them?”
Pandit Anantadās ji Mahārāj says in the end of his
purport – ‘lālana’ śabdera artha sneha-pūrbok pālanā - “The word lālana means affectionately rearing
or maintaining. The kinkarī loses herself while massaging these lotus-feet
after spending so much time hankering for the sweetness of the rasa of
massaging.” Pandit Anantadās ji Mahārāj seems to translate lālana as lālasā,
hankering, but lālana means only ‘fondling’ according to the dictionaries. Haridās
Śāstri’s translation follows that of Puri Dās Mahārāj, who says the
word-before-last, vījanam or fanning should be jīvanam or life. Then the
meaning is very clear and very sweet too. Originally I translated pada as
‘position’ and lālana as ‘desiring’ in my word-for-word translation. That is,
according to Puridās Mahārāja, Haridās Śāstrījī, and common logic, wrong. Of
course we speak of poetry here so anything is possible. So according to Puridās
Mahārāja and Haridās Śāstrī, now followed by me too, the last line of this
verse should be – “I make my life lovely by worshiping them by fondling their
feet”. In this verse there is no ‘fanning’ because vījanam or fanning, reads
jīvanam, my life, instead.
Puri Dās Mahārāja was a very meticulous scholar with a
great reputation who did thorough research in all genuine libraries. His
conclusion is considered highly reliable. He published almost all of the
Goswāmīs granthas with Sanskrit-to-Bengali word-for-word translations.
So my new translation of the verse runs as follows –
“When will I joyfully worship the best ladylove and
the king of connoisseurs, whose cheeks are moist with sweat drops of fatigue
from Their excellent dancing in the Rāsa-festival of enjoyment, which is
captivating, astonishing and full of laughter, making my life lovely by
fondling Their feet?”
There is a dispute too on Rādhā Rasa Sudhānidhi’s
verse 9. The word mahatām is sometimes translated as ‘great things’, like the
four human goals of life, or as ‘great persons’, which is the reading followed
by Sādhu Bābā, who personally wrote this śloka to me on a postcard, and by
Haridās Śāstrījī. Puridās Mahārāj here gives the same reading as Ananta dāsjī.
I wrote this paragraph in my translation of Ananta Dās
jī’s edition –
Another reading of this verse can be: "O Mind,
beware of random association with the residents of Vraja! It is as difficult to
associate with devotees in a purely Kṛṣṇa conscious way, without falling into
frivolous and mundane talks, as it is to control the mind!" Many great saints have therefore preferred a
life of solitude in Vraja over a life full of social engagements there. In this
way they could easily catch that divine jewel named Rādhā, Who redeems Her
surrendered devotees with the nectar stream of Her good feelings.”
Speaking of avoiding association even of the saints,
or nirjon bhajan, the verse in Rūpa Goswāmī’s Upadeśāmṛta, sanga tyāgo, can
meaning different things on different levels. On the first level it means
‘giving up bad company, material attachments, women etc.’ but on a higher level
it also means ‘giving up all company and just contemplate in solitude’, the
uttam bhajan.
Finally, I mistranslated the word rañjita in Vraja
Vilāsa Stava’s verse 68 as rakṣita. Rañjita means ‘pleased’ and rakṣita means
‘protected’. The flowing translation of that verse remains unaffected by this.
