Jagat

We have had some occasion to discuss the Barai Buri in an earlier post ( The Play in Chandrasekhara's House ). She makes her appearance, on cue, in chapter 30 of GPVJ, after Radha and her friends have been getting dressed. It is also worthy of note here that Radha is surrounded by friends in a way that she is not in Gita Govinda (where there are competitors and only one faceless friend acts as go-between) or SKK (where the sakhis are insignificant). A sakhi named Chandramukhi plays a role in the next chapter also. In chapter 30, after Radha and her sakhis have dressed themselves and look like "the dancing girls of heaven" ( svargera  nācanī ), they are joined by Barai Buri. She is described in the classical way that the procuress or bawd is in much earlier works like Kuṭṭan ī -mata . Some of the items I liked: Her teeth are like a row of garlic buds ( rasunera gajā jena daśana-śikhare )! Her eyes are like those of an owl in a hollow tree. She is, of course, bent over ...