Vrajavāsīs and Vṛṣṇis' distinction confirmed

 

In the famous Śrīmad-Bhāgavat-verse mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṁ nara-varaḥ strīṇāṁ smaro mūrtimān (10.43.17), which describes how all the spectators to Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma’s entry into King Kaṁsa’s arena had different feelings towards Kṛṣṇa, the Vṛṣṇis have a clearly different vision of Kṛṣṇa than the Vrajavāsīs - that shows that the distinction between their attitudes is not newly made up by the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava ācāryas. About the Vrajavāsīs the verse says gopānāṁ sva-jano - “The cowherds saw Him as their own”, meaning gopānāṁ śrīdāmādīnāṁ svajano vayasyaḥ (Vaiṣṇava Toṣaṇī ṭīkā), “The cowherd boys like Śrīdāma saw Him as a friend”, while vṛṣṇīnāṁ para-devateti vidito, "The Vṛṣṇis saw Him as the Supreme Lord." vṛṣṇīnāṁ paramārādhya iti, „The Vṛṣṇis saw Him as their most worshipable Lord” (Vaiṣṇava Toṣaṇī ṭīkā). In other words, the Vrajavāsīs clearly show a sweet, intimate human-like attitude towards Kṛṣṇa, while the Vṛṣṇis show a reverent attitude of awe towards Him. Everything the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas teach about the difference between aiśvarya (reverential worship of Kṛṣṇa) and mādhurya (a sweet, intimate attitude towards Him) is anchored in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavata! Hence Śrīnātha Cakravartīpāda, the disciple of Śrī Advaita Ācārya, says: śāstraṁ bhāgavataṁ pramāṇam amalam – “The scripture Śrīmad-bhāgavata is the spotless authority.”

 

Vilapa 65 and Radhika 108 names corrections

I found minor mistakes in my translation or word-for-word of two texts of Śrīla Raghunātha Dās Goswāmī -

In my translation of Śrīla Raghunātha dās Gosvāmī’s 'Śrī Rādhikā’s 108 names-stotram', śloka 22, name 57, I found a mistake I made in the word-for-word translation.

Suvṛtta mauktika mukta nāsikā tila puṣpikā. "mukta" should have been mauktika+amukta.

The Bengali editions make it one word, mauktikāmukta. a-mukta = not free, so the pearl is not free from the sesame nose, so it is attached. mauktika already means pearl. The ṭīkā says tenāmuktam yuktam. So it is a-mukta (not free) which means yuktam (equipped with).

The Gaudiya Grantha Mandir-version is wrong - su-vṛtta-mauktika-muktā-nāsikā-ṭila-puṣpikā. having the word mukta twice is punar-ukti, a repetition, which is a fault.

Therefore it is amukta. The verse translation stays the same - Whose nose, that resembles a sesame flower, is adorned with a round pearl

 

 

Then there is my original translation of Vilāpa Kusumānjali  65, or it may have been done for me by Jagadānanda Dās back in 1983:

 

AYI VIPINAM AṬANTAṀ SAURABHEYĪ KULĀNĀṀ

VRAJA NṚPATI KUMĀRAṀ RAKṢAṆE DĪKṢITAṀ TAM

VIKALA MATI JANANYĀ LĀLYAMĀNAṀ KADĀ TVAṀ

SMITA MADHURA KAPOLAṀ VĪKṢYASE VĪKṢYAMĀṆĀ

 

ayi - O!; vipinam - forest; aṭantaṁ - wandering; saurabheyī - of the Surabhī-cows; kulānāṁ - of the herds; vraja - of Vraja; nṛ-pati - king; kumāraṁ - son; rakṣaṇe - for keeping; dīkṣitaṁ - initiated; tam - him; vikala - agitated; mati - heart; jananyā - by mother; lālyamānaṁ - being cuddled; kadā - when; tvaṁ - You; smita - smile; madhura - sweet; kapolaṁ - cheek; vīkṣyase - seen; vīkṣyamāṇā - being seen.

 

When will the prince of Vraja (Kṛṣṇa) glance at You with His smiling face as He goes out to wander in the forest with the Surabhī-cows, in whose care He was initiated, being cuddled by His worried mother?

 

The words ‘smita madhura kapola’ do not come out well in the English translation, and the whole last line of the śloka seemed not properly done.

 

Kuśakratha's version is better -

"When will You be seen as You gaze at the prince of Vraja, His cheeks sweet with a smile, as He wanders in the forest fulfilling His vow to protect the surabhi cows, or as He is embraced by His mother, her heart overwhelmed?"

When asked, Satya-nārāyaṇa Bābājī commented: Whose smiling sweet cheeks are they? Kṛṣṇa's or Rādhā's?  Of Kṛṣṇa. vīkṣyase is in second person singular - so it means "you see or you will see". vīkṣamāṇā = being seen (feminine). So the meaning is: "When will You (Rādhā) see Kṛṣṇa (everything else qualifies Him, including smita madhura kapolam) while being seen or glanced by Him.

Then I asked Satya-nārāyaṇa Bābājī: I have another question, about the first half of the verse. Kusakratha says “..or as He is embraced by His mother, her heart overwhelmed?”, as if the cuddling by His mother is an alternative event, while Anantadas Babaji says ‘vrajendra-nandana go-samuhera rakṣaṇa viṣaye gṛhīta-vrata, se janya vana-gamaṇa–parayana ebong vyākula-cittā mātā yaśodā kartṛk lālyamāna’ - “Kṛṣṇa is cuddled by His worried mother BECAUSE he goes out herding cows.”

Satya-nārāyaṇa Bābājī replied : The "or" part in K's translation is wrong. There is no option described in the verse. ADB translation is correct.

Hence the translation becomes:

“O! When will You see the son of the king of Vraja, Kṛṣṇa, with His sweet smiling cheeks while also being seen by Him as He is cuddled by His worried mother because He goes out wandering in the forest to tend His herd of Surabhī-cows, in whose care He was initiated?”