VMA 2.40 : Taking shelter of the handmaids of Radha

Painting by Gadadhar Pran Das.

preṣṭha-dvandva-prasādābharaṇa-vara-paṭa-srag-navābhīra-bālā
mālālaṅkāra-kastūry-aguru-ghusṛṇa-sad-gandha-tāmbūla-vastraiḥ |
vādyaiḥ saṅgīta-nṛtyair anupama-kalayā lālayantīḥ sa-tṛṣṇā
rādhā-kṛṣṇāv akhaṇḍa-sva-rasa-vilasitau kuñja-vīthyām upaimi ||

I bow down before the young cowherd girls,
adorned with the dearmost divine couple's
remnants of ornaments, garlands, and garments,
who by singing, dancing and playing musical instruments,
and by offering garlands, musk, aguru,
kunkum, fragrant scents, betel nut and garments,
earnestly serve Sri Sri Radha Krishna
while they enjoy unbroken pastimes in their own rasa
in the groves of Vrindavan.

The next few verses continue as Prabodhananda Saraswatipada meditates on the service performed by the sakhis and manjaris (2.41-43), as well as describing their beautiful forms (2.44-46). Verses 2.38-40 are an homage to these girlfriends who are also servants of Radha and her pastimes with the Divine Couple. In the previous verse (2.39) we saw that sakhis right to witness the intimate affairs of Radha and Krishna sent them into paroxysms of ecstasy.

The manjaris are Radha's maidservants who belong to that category of her friends who a greater love for her than for Krishna. In the Gaudiya sampradaya, these manjaris are headed by Rūpa Manjari and it is for this reason that we are called "Rupanugas." Perhaps the best known glorification of these girlfriends who prioritize service to Radha over even friendship to her as an equal, whom the Gaudiyas generally call manjaris, is the following verse by Raghunath Das Goswami in his Vraja-vilāsa-stava.

tāmbūlārpaṇa-pāda-mardana-payo-dānābhisārādibhir

vṛndāraṇya-maheśvarīṁ priyatayā yās toṣayanti priyāḥ

prāṇa-preṣṭha-sakhī-kulād api kilāsaṅkocitā bhūmikāḥ

keli-bhūmiṣu rūpa-mañjarī-mukhās tā dāsikāḥ saṁśraye

I take shelter of Sri Radhika's maidservants, headed by Rupa Manjari, who always engage in serving betel-leaves, massaging their feet, serving water, and arranging for the Divine Couple's secret trysts. These maidservants are even more dear to the great Queen of Vrindavan, Sri Radhika, than the prāṇa preṣṭha sakhīs (i.e., those girlfriends who are dearer to her than life itself), and she is therefore not at all shy before them! (VVS 38, See also VMA 1.10)

There are five categories of sakhīs according to Rupa Goswami's Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi. Though all of them are Radha's girlfriends, the balance of their affections may differ according to whether they have somewhat deeper feelings for Krishna than for Radha. They are thus either

(1) sama-snehā, meaning their affections are equal to both Radha and Krishna, These are simply called sakhis and they include those named Kusumikā, Vindhyā and Dhaniṣṭhā.

(2) hari-snehādhikā, who are more affectionate to Krishna. Though they have taken shelter of their yūtheśvarī (namely Radha), they secretly think of themselves as being Krishna's and often take his side in arguments between the two lovers and also carry messages on his behalf, etc..This makes them feel a commonality of mood with the yūtheśvarī, which gives their relation a special character. This group includes the priya-sakhīs Kuraṅgākṣī, Sumadhyā, Madanālasā, Kamalā, Mādhurī, Mañjukeśī, Kandarpasundarī, Mādhavī, Mālatī, Kāmalatā and Śaśikalā, and the parama-preṣṭha-sakhīs Lalitā, Viśākhā, Citrā, Campakalatā, Tuṅgavidya, Indulekhā, Raṅgadevī, and Sudevī. These are the ones referred to in Raghunath Das's verse as prāṇa-preṣṭha-sakhī, "friends who are dearer to Radha than her life itself."

(3) sakhī-snehādhikās, who are more favorable to Radha. These are known as prāṇa-sakhīs and nitya-sakhīs. The former include Śaśimukhī, Vāsantī and Lāsikā, while the nitya-sakhīs include Kastūrī Mañjarī, Maṇi Mañjarī and the other Mañjarīs. Generally it is said that both these groups are known as manjaris.

tadīyatābhimāninyo yāḥ snehaṁ sarvadāśritāḥ
sakhyām alpādhikaṁ kṛṣṇāt sakhī snehādhikām tu tāḥ

Any sakhī who thinks "I am yours," who thus always shows affection for Sri Radha, and who has a little more affection for Sri Krishna's beloved Sri Radha than for Sri Krishna himself, is called a sakhī-snehādhikā." (UN 8.131)

Although the manjaris belong to the five classes of sakhīs, they are maidservants who are constantly engaged in the service of Sri Sri Radha-Mādhava as Prabodhananda outlines in the above verse. Similarly, Raghunath Das says: tāmbūlārpaṇa pāda-mardana payodānābhisārādibhir vṛndāraṇya maheśvarīṁ priyatayā yās toṣayanti priyāḥ: "By offering her betel-leaves, massaging her feet, giving her water and escorting her on her love-journeys, they always satisfy the great queen of Vrindavan!"

Rupa Goswami gives these names and categories of sakhī in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 4.49-55. For the most part it does not seem that Prabodhananda himself makes the same subtle distinctions in VMA as Rupa Goswami. But then, Rupa Goswami's writings also primarily focus on the eight principal, He is primarily concerned with the manjari mood of rādhā-snehādhikā, in this and his other works like Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi,though the sama-sneha mood also comes through, as in this verse.

These different tendencies are revealed in Radha's māna. For example, the sama-snehā sakhīcannot tolerate even the briefest separation of the two lovers for any length of time.

vinā kṛṣṇaṁ rādhā vyathayati samantān mama mano
vinā rādhāṁ kṛṣṇo‘py ahaha sakhi māṁ viklavayati
janiḥ sā me mā bhūt kṣaṇam api na yatra kṣaṇa-duhau
yugenākṣṇor lihyāṁ yugapad anayor vaktra-śaśinau

One day, when Srimati Radharani and Krishna were separated as a result of some misdeed of his, Shyama’s friend Bakulamali came and revealed her mind to Champakalata, 'Dear friend, when Radha is separated from Krishna, then to see her gives me a pain in the heart. And when I see Krishna without Radha, I truly feel great suffering. What misery! O beautiful one, I pray therefore that I shall never take any birth in which I shall not be able to drink with my eyes the beauty of Radha and Krishna’s moon-like faces, creating a joyful festival, together.'” (8.136)

[The above is the translation from Mañjarī-svarūpa-nirūpaṇa, enriched with input from Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur's commentary. For more verses like this, see Radha and Krishna Yugala Upasana.]

Srila Rupa Goswami gives the following example for the Kṛṣṇa-snehādhikā, in which the sakhi chastises Radha for her continuous refusal to give up her anger towards Krishna in a lover's quarrel.

na me cetasy anyad vacasi punar anyaṁ katham api
sthavīyān mānas te sakhi mayi sukhaṁ na prathayati |
raves tāpeneva kṣaṇam udayatā yena janito
bakārer vaktrendu-cchavi-śavalimā māṁ glapayati ||

Look, I don't think one thing and say something else,
but, sakhi, your unbreakable bad temper
does not make me happy in the least.
Like the heat of the sun, the instant it arises,
makes the moon take on a disturbed appearance,
so does your māna make the moonlike face of the enemy of Baka
lose color. This makes me despondent. (UN 11.128)

And finally, here is his example for the Rādhā-snehādhikā, in which one of Sri Radha's prāṇa-sakhīs forbids Vrinda Devi, herself a sakhi who takes Krishna's side, from taking Radha to meet Krishna:

viramatu tava vṛnde dūtya-cāturya-caryā
sahacari vinivṛtya bruhi goṣṭhendra-sūnum
viṣama-viṣadhareyaṁ śarvarī prāvṛṣeṇyā
katham iha giri-kuñje bhīrur eṣā praheyā

"O Vrinda! Stop your clever message-carrying right now!
Dear friend, just give it up, and go tell the prince of cowherds
that this is a monsoon-night full of poisonous snakes!
How can we send our timid friend Sri Radha
to the far-off mountain-cave? (Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 8.132)

The underlying implication is that since Krishna is able to defeat snakes like Kaliya, he should take the trouble to come himself rather than make Radha go to all the trouble. In this way, the sakhi takes Radha's side.

The manjarīs know nothing but the mood of loving service. Because of this commitment steadiness and fixation in this mood, they are even more trusted by the Divine Couple and so are permitted to come and go freely in their most private activities of kuñja-vilāsa. The sama-snehā and parama-preṣṭha-sakhīs like Sri Lalitā. The purport of this is that all the five kinds of sakhīs are happy to arrange for Sri Radharani's meeting with Sri Krishna and none of them either desire or endeavor to have independent meetings with him. Still, because the others may have some hidden desire to be with Krishna themselves, they feel some discomfort at being present at such moments.

For more on wearing Radharani's prasadi clothes, etc., see VMA 2.22.

VMA 2.39 May Radha's sakhis be ever venerated
VMA 2.38 A fair and dark couple now fills our eyes
VMA 2.37 : My Swamini and her peerless lover, Shyam
VMA 2.36 : Churning the Shyamsundar ocean to extract his essence
VMA 2.35 : The play at the center
VMA 2.34 : The fortunate, the more fortunate, and the most fortunate of all
VMA 2.33 : Vrindavan, on the divine island
VMA 2.30-32 : The ever youthful Divine Couple sport in the kunjas of Vrindavan