Prema-Samputa

 

 

Once, in the morning, Hari came to Shrimati Radharani’s courtyard in the beautiful dress of a woman and sat down, shyly covering His eyes with a crimson apron. When Vrishabhanu’s daughter saw Him from a distance, She said: “O Lalita! How amazing! Look! Who is that beautiful lotus-faced girl whose dress and ornaments are enchanting and who illuminates My courtyard with Her emerald lustre?”

 

Hearing this, Lalita and Vishakha came before the disguised Krishna and said: “O slender girl, who are You? Where are You from? Why have You come here?” But Lord Krishna did not reply.

 

Shrimati Radharani then came to Krishna in a thoughtful mood and curiously asked Him: “Who are You? Your lustre enchants My mind. Are You a goddess? Your form is so beautiful!”

 

Krishna remained silent, so Radha said: “O beautiful, noble girl. Quickly satisfy our curiosity by introducing Yourself to us. Know Yourself to be our intimate friend. O girl with Your head held low, why should You be shy or afraid before us?”

 

Hearing that, the disguised Krishna breathed deeply. Seeing that He partly uncovered His face and remained silent, Shrimati Radharani said: “O beautiful girl. I understand that You must have some heartache, otherwise You wouldn’t be in such a condition. O lotus-faced girl, tell us of your problems. Trust Me completely, and I will try to remove Your distress. The burning blisters of Your heartache can only be extinguished by revealing Your mind to a friend.

 

“Are You now separated from Your love? Are You sorry to see some faults in him? Maybe You are afraid because You offended him in some way? Or maybe some of Your enemies have gossiped about You with Your lover? Or maybe Your husband is not so great, and for that You feel some disgust in Your mind, after which You have become attached to some other, rare man, for which You, like Me, are chastised by Your superiors with harsh words. That must be why You are so sad.

 

“O slender girl. Has Your co-wife, blinded with pride over her fortune, pierced Your heart with the arrows of her harsh words? No, that is not possible, for who could be more beautiful than You? O moon-faced girl, from Mother Paurnamasi I have heard the story of Mohini. Who could enchant Lord Shiva other than Her? But even when he was enchanted, You were not! But now, when Lord Hari will cast His glance at You, even You will be enchanted. It will be very amusing to see You enchant each other!”

 

Hearing these words, the disguised Krishna covered His whole body with His veil to cover the goose pimples of ecstasy that appeared on His skin. Seeing this, Shrimati Radharani said: “O sakhi! Are You suffering from something? Do You have pain in Your chest, back or head? O Vishakha, quickly get the valuable oil My father lovingly gave Me and that can cure all diseases. That oil is the very form of My father’s love, so I will softly rub the body and head of this beautiful girl with it with My own hand. Then all the pain will go from Her limbs. I will remove Her pain by bathing Her in very fragrant lukewarm water which will cure Her and make Her happy. Then She will be able to speak clearly with us.”

 

After some time of massaging the girl, Shrimati Radharani noticed that Her condition had not changed. She told Her friends: “I was dedicated to speaking sweet words and curing Her by massaging Her carefully and lovingly with oil, but still this girl just sits there, saying nothing. Then I understood She might be a pretender. Maybe She isn’t in any pain. Anyway, I will try again by applying the elixir obtained from Dhanvantari. That will nourish Her.

 

“If I can make the lotus-like palms of the king of the kunjas touch the breasts of this girl, She will laugh, shriek and call out. What more can I say? She will make Me smile watching the increase of Her lust!”

 

Hearing these words, beautiful Krishna covered the smile that appeared on His lotus-like face with His veil, which He pulled over His curly locks with His delicate fingers. Shrimati Radharani and Her friends were astonished. They became like cakora birds, drinking the nectar of Lord Krishna’s words as He began to speak with a perfectly imitated woman’s voice.

 

He said: “I am a goddess, and I live in the heavenly planets. I came to you because I am very sad. Listen, O fair-faced girl, I want to know something. Who else but You can help Me?”

 

Shrimati Radharani said: “O beautiful girl. Your identity as a goddess cannot be false. I can clearly see that You are one. Who is there like You among the human beings? There is no comparison to Your enchanting lustre! You can only be compared to Yourself. O girl with a face like an autumn lotus. Are You separated from Your husband? Don’t feel offended, I’m not trying to make fun of You, I’m just wondering what’s wrong with You. If You love Me, then consider Me Yours and reveal Your mind to Me.”

 

Lord Krishna replied: “Why do you doubt that I am Your friend? Although I am a goddess, I am Yours! Believe Me when I tell You that I want to become Your maidservant, having tasted a drop of the ocean of Your love, Your form and Your qualities. Please listen to Me now. You must remove the heartache I feel, which is very intense.

 

“O sakhi! There is a flute sound which resounds in Vrindavana, and which enters our heavens so forcefully that the heavenly girls not only lose taste for embracing their husbands, but they feel disgust after remembering such embraces. When that flute sound, which is like a mixture of nectar and poison, enters the ears of the demigoddesses it overwhelms them so much that their bodies look like they are on fire. Seeing this, their husbands cry out: ‘Alas! What has happened?’ and immediately let go of them.

 

“O sakhi, listen! No-one in heaven is old. Everyone is young, so who will chastise who? After hearing this flute sound everyone ends up in the same condition. No-one can mock anyone else! That sound destroys the goddesses’ vows of chastity. When I heard this sound every day I thought to Myself: ‘O! What makes this sound? Where does it come from?’ Following the sound I came down from heaven to earth and blissfully stayed at Vamsivata for some days, seeing Your incomparable pastimes with Shri Hari and becoming acquainted with His boyfriends and girlfriends there.”

 

Hearing this, Shrimati Radharani said in a sweet and joking voice: “O fortunate girl. You are the most intelligent girl in heaven. No-one is more clever than You, because You still bear the name Sumana (flower or good state of mind) although Your mind is cut by the sword of eagerness.”

 

After hearing Shrimati Radharani’s sweet jokes, Krishna coloured His lips with His sweet smile and said with slightly knitted eyebrows: “O Radhe! I don’t know anyone who is Your equal in protecting Me from any other man seeing Me.”

 

Shrimati Radharani replied: “Is there any need of any other man after You have enjoyed with Krishna, for Whom You have come here? Tell Me what You want to ask Me. I only joked with You because I consider You to be My girlfriend.”

 

Lord Krishna said: “Sakhi. Who can defeat You in joking? O Radhe, You are My friend. Although You are only a human being, all the goddesses want to purify themselves by singing Your glories and bowing down to You. I am not flattering You, so don’t be shy. I’m not indifferent to You, I can never lie to You. Even Lakshmi and Parvati are not equal to You in auspicious attributes! There is no girl in the three worlds or beyond them with so much love as You, and even in their minds these girls don’t dare to challenge You. I have heard this in Parvati’s assembly on the peak of Mount Kailash. Hearing of Your glories I wanted to see You, but then I became upset. Unfortunately My heart does not break of sorrow, because it is so hard.”

 

Hearing this, Shrimati Radharani said: “ Sakhi! Why are You upset? Tell Me quickly.” But Krishna could not reply, for His voice was choked with tears, so He remained silent as tears streamed over His face. Radha personally wiped these tears from His eyes with Her sari.

 

Lord Krishna remained silent for a moment and then told Shrimati Radharani: “How did you develop this strong, causeless, incomparable love for this lusty boy, Krishna? How can You give Yourself so much misery by trusting such an untrustworthy boy as Him? Although He is adorned with qualities like beauty, heroism, incomparable fortune and fame, Krishna also has one fault, by which all these qualities are spoiled. That is that He does not consider someone else’s love, and that He is very lusty. Therefore He is not fit to take shelter of.

 

“One day Krishna plays many games with You, showing You much false love, taking You like a naive girl to a secluded place at night. But then He leaves You to go off to some other girl. Hearing Your lamentations over this, all Your girlfriends and even the vines and birds begin to cry. I have been watching all this, hiding at Vamsivata, feeling much pain over it.

 

“During the rasa dance, Krishna left all the gopis to show special feelings to You. But after becoming tired of playing with You in the forest after a while He suddenly left You alone again!

 

“I cannot forget Your loud lamentations at that time, as You fainted from misery. Through all eight stages of life until death these lamentations of Yours will remain burned into My heart.

 

“I am a goddess, O famous girl. I never feel any pain. But alas! Even My heart was suddenly pierced by a spear of pity after seeing You like that. There seems to be no way to take that spear out. My heart is so attached to You that it has no desire to know anything about heaven, and it is not able to remain here for even a second. My mind is spinning and is unable to stay at ease. Now, after a long time, I am revealing My feelings to You.

 

“I have become afraid of Krishna, because He is simply devoid of piety and shame, and He never traverses the path of compassion. As a baby He killed a woman (Putana), in his childhood a calf (Vatsasura) and in His youth a bull (Aristasura)!”

 

Shrimati Radharani replied: “O beautiful girl. You have the same indescribable potency as Krishna. Although You are criticizing Him so much, My mind is still very attached to You. You are My friend. Don’t go back to heaven, but always stay with Me in Vraja. I will open the box of my love and show all the excellent jewels in it.”

 

Lord Krishna said: “Alas! Still You don’t trust Me. Don’t just ask Me to be Your friend. I want to Your maidservant. Be pleased with Me and order Me. I swear to You on the name of Lord Vishnu, be pleased with Me. I have no other shelter than You.”

 

Hearing this, Shrimati Radharani said: “Sakhi. If you want to understand My love for Krishna then listen. Prema is so great that even the knowers of the Vedas cannot know it, nor others who claim to know it. Sakhi! One who teaches prema to an inquisitive person cannot know it, nor can their hearer know it. It’s all just imitation! Prema disappears before both the discriminate and indiscriminate person, but that pure-hearted soul who is free from discrimination and who is full of sacred greed, is able to approach the throne of natural love. That is shown through the lover’s activities, which are only dedicated to the happiness of the beloved.

 

“Just as a lion feeds himself on elephants, prema feeds itself, defeating all miseries that are as heavy as mountains and are caused by things of this world, the next world, one’s own family, one’s enemies or one’s most beloved one. That lion of prema is proud of its bodily lustre and is fearless. He can go to sleep without worrying. What worries will the lion have when the dogs of unfavourable attachments bark? Prema shines like a lamp in the darkness.

 

“Because of this deceitfulness, prema appears to be fresh and intoxicating at every moment, giving joy to the three worlds like the cool moon (during union) and heat like the burning sun at the time of universal destruction during separation.

 

“O dear sakhi! In whom else in all the three worlds or beyond them but in Krishna, the prince of the cowherds, is this prema to be found? Only the doe-eyed gopis of Vrindavana can relish this, according to their qualifications

 

“Sometimes this prema, which gives Krishna unlimited bliss, appears to be lust, but sometimes lust also looks like prema to some people. Krishna, the crown jewel of clever artists, knows this, but that lust does not make Him happy. And when one gopi says: ‘O my friend, I’m very much afflicted by feeling of separation. Quickly bring me to Krishna’ then You should not think that is lust, because she is only interested in Krishna’s happiness then.

 

“Krishna is an ocean of love, a mine of jewel-like qualities, and He is most attractive to the girls. For this He shows symptoms of lust like deceitfulness, naughtiness and crookedness, but this is actually prema. Can a hundred thousand girls, even with great endeavor, satisfy Krishna’s desires? None of them can. So it must be their causeless love for Him that makes Him interested in them.

 

“Of all these gopis, Lord Krishna is most attracted to Me. That is well known in the world. That can never be false. He considers My love to be as great as Mount Meru, and the love of the other gopis to be like three or four mustard seeds. Krishna reciprocates with the love of the other gopis, and He enjoys with them accordingly. That is not wrong of Him, but if one gopi gets out of line and makes Him unhappy, then I become very sad.

 

“If Krishna sometimes doesn’t show up at the meeting place, then I know He must have met some obstacle. Even though His mind is fixed on Me He may feel obliged sometimes to enjoy with some other gopi, being stopped on His way by her. He will not feel happy with her, but be burning in a fire of misery the whole night. For this sorrow of His I am again very sad. I will cry, thinking: ‘My dress, ornaments and form are all useless!’ You have all experienced that.

 

“Then when Krishna humbly comes to Me in the morning I will angrily tell Him: ‘Go back and enjoy with that other girl.’ But that is also all for His pleasure. That is the way of love in Vraja.

 

“I show My own feelings by saying: ‘O cheater! Why did You leave Me to go to another girl?’ and Krishna shows His feelings by standing before Me with the love-signs of another girl on His body, admitting His own offense.

 

“Therefore I am saying, O sakhi, as long as the light of prema does not shine through the face, it will shine steadily in the abodes of both the lover’s hearts. But if it is brought outside it will vanish or dim. The candle of prema can show its own abundant lustre to a realized soul as it comes out through the windows of the eyes and it illuminates the cheeks, lips, forehead and chest in a sublime way. But although this prema shines from the face of Krishna, it is never satisfied, because He cleverly covers it with a curtain of lies, so that it will look like lust.

 

“When one lover is angry with Him, Krishna will say: ‘O dearest one, I love you the most! I cannot even dream of letting another girl in My heart!’ But when that girl stays angry with Him, seeing the love-signs of another girl on Him, He will come and tell Me all this.

 

“Then He will describe the beauty and sweetness of My face and eyes, just to enjoy with Me, as if He is overwhelmed by lust. But He does not show His prema by saying ‘You are My life’ and so on.

 

“But when a gopi is burning in the fire of separation and the ocean of her patience is reduced to a spoonful by her eagerness to meet Him, she reveals her prema by singing verses like:

 

yat te sujata-caranamburuham staneshu

bhitah shanaih priya dadhimahi karkasheshu

tenatavim atasi tad vyathate na kim svit

kurpadibhir bhramati dhir bhavad-ayusham nah

 

“O dearly beloved! Your lotus feet are so soft that we place them gently on our breasts, fearing that Your feet will be hurt. Our life rests only in You. Our minds, therefore, are filled with anxiety that Your tender feet might be wounded by pebbles as You roam about on the forest path.” (SB 10.31.19)

 

“In this way she clearly expresses her unmotivated love for Krishna. Although the life-airs are unable to penetrate the deep darkness of this great separation, the lamp of prema shines brightly in it, because it is nourished by the oil of great affection.

 

“After abandoning the gopis in the rasa dance He also left Me. Listen to why He did this. The prince of Vraja is an ocean of divine love, and He considers Me to be the greatest of His lovers. I can never take offense at His behaviour.

 

“He seated Me on a divine throne of matchless good fortune and adorned Me with many kinds of jewel-like pastimes, wandering from one forest to another with Me, and enjoying loving pastimes with Me without remembering any other gopi. Then I thought to Myself: ‘My girlfriends cannot see this great nectar-ocean of bliss. Where are they now, afflicted by separation? What shall I do?

 

“If We wait here for a moment, the sakhis who are wandering here and there looking for Us will soon find Us.’ Thinking like this, I told Krishna: ‘Dearest one, I cannot go any further.’ And we sat down for a moment.

 

“Shri Krishna, the crown jewel of clever pranksters, and the foremost relisher of transcendental mellow, knew what was on My mind and thought to Himself: ‘If I wander through the forest with Shrimati Radharani there will be no happiness. All the gopis will become sad, and if We both wait for them here they will find us and chastise Us for leaving them. Then all our lilas will stop for the night and the gopis will go home without dancing the rasa dance with Me.’

 

“Therefore He left Me, so that the gopis would put the blame on Him instead of Me, and they would love Me in all respects. He thought: ‘They will be immersed in an ocean of astonishment after seeing Her matchless fever of separation from Me. Their pride of their love for Me will be diminished and they will see how Radha is billions of times better than all of them, in the mood of union and in separation.

 

“He thought: ‘They may think that I am lusty, and that is why I left them to play with Shrimati Radharani, although their love for Me is much greater than Hers. Thus they may accuse Us. But when they are burned by the flames of separation from Me that burn Shrimati Radharani, as they come closer to Her, they will realize that these flames are much higher than the insignificant fires of their love.

 

“He thought: ‘I want them all to unite, and in this way My desire will be fulfilled. At the same time they will not be jealous when I later dance in the middle of the circle of the rasa dance, with Shrimati Radharani as the central gopi. Just as one is ultimately helped by an eye-ointment that initially burns, similarly a well-meaning friend sometimes has to give pain to his friend to help him.’

 

“O goddess. Thinking like this, Krishna lovingly carried Me on His chest for a while and then said: ‘Dearest One, just wait here for a moment.’ Then He left Me behind in a soft place.

 

“When Krishna saw how upset I was about this He felt very sorry, but just as He was about to return to console Me, My girlfriends came and found Me there and comforted Me in My mood of intense separation.

 

“Actually, Krishna didn’t do anything wrong by killing the demons Aristasura, Bakasura, Aghasura, Vatsasura and the deceitful Putana, because they were killed by the power of Lord Vishnu, who appeared in Him (Krishna) to protect the devotees. Krishna’s transcendental feats, like killing these demons and lifting Govardhana Hill prove Garga Muni’s words to Nanda Maharaja that Krishna is equal to Lord Narayana in qualities. But, O devi, Lord Narayana cannot equal Krishna in form, attributes and sweetness. That’s what I understood from the words of Garga, the best of the Munis.”

 

Hearing these beautiful words of Shrimati Radharani, Lord Hari eagerly said: “I know that You are the only vessel of the prema You have just described. O dear friend! The essence of your ambrosial talks about prema is that it makes the lover’s faults look like qualities, it makes the misery the lover gives seem like the beloved taste of nectar, it makes one unable to tolerate even the slightest misery that the lover may feel, it makes one unable to give up one’s body and it makes the lover seem glorious even though he may not be glorious at all. That is prema, O Radha, and You are the only shelter of that prema, just as I have heard in Parvati’s assembly.

 

“But, O sakhi! Hari does not have that same love for You. That I can see from his activities! Therefore My heart burns when I see Your heart burning in a forest fire of misery.

 

“How can we believe Your explanation of why He left You in the rasa dance? We have never heard this from Him, nor from His friends. And when did they ever speak the truth?

 

Shrimati Radharani said: “Sakhi! I know exactly and immediately what is on My lover’s mind.”

 

Lord Krishna replied: “Radha! How could You know? Have You studied the Acyuta yoga scriptures, so that You know how to enter other people’s bodies?”

 

Shrimati Radharani said: “You are a demigoddess, so You are always eager to learn this Acyuta yoga. I am but a human being, so how can I be like You? If you think You can believe Me, I will tell You how I can know what is in My lover’s mind. Otherwise, why should I waste My words?”

 

Lord Krishna replied: “O, My dear Radha. If You can logically convince Me, then why shouldn’t I believe You? Your lover may be an ocean of qualities, but I don’t believe He actually loves You.

 

Shrimati Radharani said: “You are an expert joker. You must be joking when You call someone who does not know the mind of Her beloved a seer who is able to enter someone else’s body or mind.”

 

Krishna said: “Radha, I am sorry that You cannot see Krishna, although You claim to know His mind. Why are You crying loudly?” Shrimati Radharani said: “ You speak the truth, but listen. At that time I did not have this intuitive feeling. I was just crying out of separation from Krishna.”

 

Krishna then said: “Gandarvike. I don’t argue whether You know His mind or not, but the question is if He knows Yours.” Radha replied: “He knows My mind. Why do You ask? Listen to the secret surrounding this. I will tell You, only because You control Me with Your love.”

 

Krishna said: “Radhe! I ask You this boldly because I am overwhelmed with love for You. You should tell Me it exactly as I want to hear it, and don’t hide anything.”

 

Shrimati Radharani said: “We know what is in each other’s minds, and We always dwell there. This is not imagination. We are actually one soul. We can never be split in two.

 

“We are one soul, full of deep rasa, with a golden and bluish form, like two lotus flowers, one golden and the other blue, in one lake. As a two-wicked cup full of oil destroys the darkness on both sides, We destroy the darkness of Our nearby girlfriends with Our two bodies, although We are one soul.

 

“O sakhi! When the wind of separation seems to blow out the lamp of our love, Our expert girlfriends carefully protect it and give it new life by arranging for Us to meet each other. O auspicious girl. Remove the darkness of Your doubts by opening the box of My heart and looking at the secret jewels of love in it. Hold them in Your heart and never show them to anyone!”

 

Krishna said: “I carefully considered what You told Me just now, and now My mind becomes very eager to directly test Your words. Now You are here, but where is Your lover? Is He at home or is He tending His cows in the forest? How can you make Me believe that You are one soul without allowing Me to test it? O fair-faced girl, I will firmly believe You when You can show Me that You are thinking of the same thing as Him at the same time. Is Your lover close by or far away? Quickly think of this and I will gladly believe that You are one soul with two bodies.

 

“I will not be faithless if by chance You cannot meet because You are withheld by Your superiors, because of some demon, or because of any other reason, though You may be thinking of each other. Although You are locked in Your house and You cannot call Your lover, go out to meet Him or bring Him to You, still, O restless eyed girl, You must remember Him just once on My request. O Krishna-priya, we will be very happy if He would come. Now is a good opportunity, because Your superiors are not here. So fearlessly remove the misery coming from My doubts.”

 

Being requested like this, Maharaja Vrishabhanu’s daughter said: “O sakhi, don’t make fun of Me. If I cannot do what You want, My prema will be put to shame by My great pain.”

 

Then Shrimati Radharani prayed: “O You who are praised by the demigods. O effulgent one. O My chosen Deity, the sungod. O You who gladdens the three worlds with His audience. O fulfiller of all desires. O merciful one. O Lord of the lotus flowers. O witness of all truths and falsehoods. If Gandarvika and Giridhari are one soul, then let Giridhari now appear before Me to please My girlfriends.”

 

Saying this, Shrimati Radharani meditated on Her beloved Lord, Shri Krishna, with closed eyes, controlling Her senses like a yogini. Then Lord Krishna gave up His female disguise, winked at His loyal girlfriends and began to kiss and embrace Shrimati Radharani. Shrimati Radharani’s skin was studded with goose pimples of ecstasy when She saw Her lover coming in Her meditation as well externally, and She washed the mascara from Her eyes with Her ecstatic tears.

 

When fair-eyed Radha came back to Her senses She shyly covered Her face with Her veil, while Lalita told Krishna: “O playful one. It’s most amazing that You came here in such an unseen way. This inner chamber is only accessible to housewives, and even the wind cannot enter it. Any man who can enter this chamber is the crest jewel of all bold men. Not only is this chamber hard to enter, but Shrimati Radharani is also protected by Her friends like me. All the chaste women purify themselves by bathing in the pure Ganges water of Shrimati Radharani’s fame. You are so shameless! My friend sat down on Her asana to meditate before worshipping the Sungod after Her ritual bath, and now You have forcibly touched and contaminated Her. Aren’t You afraid of the Sungod? Have You given up all social and religious etiquette? Don’t You have any shame? Anyway, Madhava, You’re lucky today. Jatila and Abhimanyu are not at home and we are all weak girls. O best of the womanizers, You are very lucky!”

 

Lord Krishna replied: “It’s not my fault. I was playing in the courtyard of My barn when I suddenly remembered Shrimati Radharani, and then this goddess brought Me here.”

 

Radha said: “Lalita! Where is this goddess now? I have to see her to believe her.” Lalita said: “The goddess became free from distress when she saw You meeting with Krishna. Now she shines in this room, and we have all become most happy.”

 

Lord Krishna said: “Show Me that goddess.” But Lalita remained silent. Krishna then said: “In such a short time I have understood Your shamelessness. Has any perfected lady or goddess come here, from whom you have taken a perfect mantra with which you want to control Me and force Me into slavery? O Shrimati Radharani, I also want a mantra from this goddess. Help Me to get the same mantra that You received. I very eagerly take shelter of You. Take Me to a lonely place and make Me Your disciple.”

 

Shrimati Radharani said: “Your flute already knows that enchanting art with which You take the chaste housewives on Your lap.” Krishna replied: “But if You steal the flute, then what will be My destination? Even through My flute I cannot have My desires fulfilled.”

 

Lalita said: “Seeing You, this goddess shyly hides inside the house without coming out. So how can she give You this mantra? If You are eager to get it, then go inside Yourself. If she is kind upon You, You will have Your desires fulfilled.”

 

After hearing this, Lord Krishna entered the house and Shrimati Radharani said: “Lalita, what’s happening? I’m afraid.” Lalita replied: “What are You afraid of? Come, we’ll all go with You and Hari to see this sakhi.”

 

The seeds of Krishna’s words were thus planted in Radha’s field-like heart and sprinkled with the nectar stream of jokes of the cloudlike sakhis, causing a stream of arguments to sprout, that bore the juicy fruit of true conclusions.

 

Then Lalita said: “Sakhi! That goddess has disappeared. Where has she gone? We’re quickly going out to look for her. You can make Your beloved happy by giving Him this mantra Yourself.” Then she quickly left with her girlfriends.

 

At that time Shri Shri Radha-Krishna decorated each other with so many play jewels from Their love box, thus defeating the lustre of millions of Cupids. Even the great saints defeat Cupid by always hearing, glorifying and remembering such loving transcendental pastimes. Anyone who faithfully hears or describes this pastime of the Supreme Lord with the gopis of Vraja attains supreme devotion to Krishna, and quickly becomes free from the heart’s disease of lust, becoming fixed in Krishna consciousness.

 

This book "Prema Samputa” was compiled by someone on the bank of Radhakunda and Shyamakunda  in the month of Phalguna (February-March) 1606 Saka era (1685 AD).