Vraja Vilāsa Stava verse 91 addition

 Vraja Vilāsa Stava verse 91 addition

In my 1994 translation of verse 91 of Śrīla Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī's Vraja Vilāsa Stava I forgot to translate a single word, which actually strengthens the description of Śrī Rādhikā's dedication to Kṛṣṇa. The 1994 translation runs as follows -

yasya śrīmac-caraṇa-kamale komale komalāpi

śrī-rādhoccair nija-sukha-kṛte sannayantī kucāgre 

bhītāpy ārād atha nahi dadhāty asya kārkaśya-doṣāt

sa śrī-goṣṭhe prathayatu sadā śeṣa-śāyī sthitiṁ naḥ

yasya - whose; śrīmat - beautiful; caraṇa kamale - lotus feet; komale - tender; komalāpi - more tender; śrī rādhā - Śrī Rādhā; uccaiḥ - highly; nija - own; sukha-kṛte - for delighting; sannayantī - brings; kucāgre - on the nipples; bhītā - fear; api - even; ārāt - close by; atha - then; nahi - not; dadhāti - places; asya - whose; kārkaśya - harshness; doṣāt - from the fault; sa - he; śrī goṣṭhe - in the beautiful meadows; prathayatu - may extend; sadā - always; śeṣa - on Ananta; śāyī - reclining; sthitiṁ - position; naḥ - unto us.

May Śeṣa-śāyī Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Whose tender and enchanting lotus feet tender Śrī Rādhā wanted to place on Her breasts for Her own happiness, but then changed Her mind because She was afraid that Her breasts were too hard for His feet, arrange for my staying in the enchanting meadows of Vraja.

I forgot to stress the word ārād in the 3rd line of the verse -

आरात् ind. ArAt far from

आरात् ind. ArAt to a distant place

आरात् ind. ArAt distant

आरात् ind. ArAt from a distant place

ārād here means She did not even want to bring His feet CLOSE to her breasts!

Rāma Nārāyaṇa Vidyāratna, in his Bengali Stavāvalī-edition with the tīkā of Bangeśvara Vidyālankāra, had it right. He writes -

কোমলাঙ্গী শ্রীরাধিকাও যাহার সুকোমল চরণকমল দ্বয নিজ সুখার্থে স্বীয উন্নত কুচোপরি আনযন করত "আমার স্তন অতি কর্কশ" এই বিবেচনায ভীত হইযা স্তন সমীপেও ধারণ করেন না...

BV Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja uses even stronger terms. He writes -

Although for Her own happiness Srīmati Rādhikā desires to place Śrī Kṛṣṇa's soft lotus feet on Her raised breasts, She does not, because even though Her body is very soft, She fears that Her breasts are very hard and may therefore somehow harm His delicate feet; She even desires to keep His feet away from Her. May Śeṣa-śāyī Śrī Kṛṣṇa kindly bestow upon us eternal residence in His Vṛndāvana kingdom.

So it should be -

May Śeṣa-śāyī Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Whose tender and enchanting lotus feet tender Śrī Rādhā wanted to place on Her breasts for Her own happiness, but then changed Her mind because She was afraid that Her breasts were too hard for His feet COMING EVEN CLOSE TO THEM, arrange for my staying in the enchanting meadows of Vraja.