The full moon day of the month of Kartika is observed as raasayaatraa (रासयात्रा) or raasapoorniman (रासपूर्णिमन्) in parts of Eastern India. This festival commemorates one of the most well-known "pastimes" of Krishna who is regarded as the Supreme Being in many Indic belief systems such as Gaudiya Vaishnavism, and as an incarnation of divinity in others: In order to appease the milkmaids of the Braj area who all wanted him as their lover, he produced several clones of himself, and thus danced with each of them in the moonlight at the same time. The particular rustic dance form that they performed on this occasion is called raasa (रास) which, along with hallishaka (हल्लीशक), appears to have been popular in the cowherd community of Northern India at some point in history; a precursor to dandiya raas, it can be regarded as one of the oldest surviving "mainstream" social dances of the Subcontinent.
Whatever the spiritual significance of Krishna's amorous dalliances with numerous (mostly married and much older) women might be, they have earned him notoriety in popular culture as everyone's favorite playboy. Literary works abound that humanize this deity, and do not shy away from making him commit a faux pas in one or two of his numerous escapades. The following is a classic example: a benediction styled as a short conversation between Krishna and Chandravali (चन्द्रावली), one of his most favored sweethearts. The paternal first cousin of Radha (राधा) who is Krishna's primary (and eternal) consort, Chandravali is portrayed as her arch-rival for the fickle cowherd's affections in some tellings of the timeless romance, and is conspicuous by her absence in others!
Whatever the spiritual significance of Krishna's amorous dalliances with numerous (mostly married and much older) women might be, they have earned him notoriety in popular culture as everyone's favorite playboy. Literary works abound that humanize this deity, and do not shy away from making him commit a faux pas in one or two of his numerous escapades. The following is a classic example: a benediction styled as a short conversation between Krishna and Chandravali (चन्द्रावली), one of his most favored sweethearts. The paternal first cousin of Radha (राधा) who is Krishna's primary (and eternal) consort, Chandravali is portrayed as her arch-rival for the fickle cowherd's affections in some tellings of the timeless romance, and is conspicuous by her absence in others!
राधामोहनमन्दिरं जिगमिषोश्चन्द्रावलीमन्दिराद्
राधे क्षेममिति प्रियस्य वचनं श्रुत्वाह चन्द्रावली|
कंस क्षेममये विमुग्धहृदये कंसः क्व दृष्टस्त्वया
राधा क्वेति विलज्जितो नतमुखः स्मेरो हरिः पातु वः||
राधे क्षेममिति प्रियस्य वचनं श्रुत्वाह चन्द्रावली|
कंस क्षेममये विमुग्धहृदये कंसः क्व दृष्टस्त्वया
राधा क्वेति विलज्जितो नतमुखः स्मेरो हरिः पातु वः||
– लीलाशुकबिल्वमङ्गलठक्कुर
rAdhAmohanamandiraM jigamiSozcandrAvalImadirAd
rAdhe kSemamiti priyasya vacanaM zrutvAha candrAvalI|
rAdhe kSemamiti priyasya vacanaM zrutvAha candrAvalI|
kaMsa kSemamaye vimugdhahRdaye kaMsaH kva dRSTastvayA
rAdhA kveti vilajjito natamukhaH smero hariH pAtu vaH||
rAdhA kveti vilajjito natamukhaH smero hariH pAtu vaH||
– Lilashuka Bilvamangala Thakura
Loose translation: As he was about to leave Chandravali's pleasure-house for that of Radha, (Krishna) blurted out "Farewell, Radha!"
On hearing her lover say these words, Chandravali retorted, "Farewell, Kamsa!"
"O lady with a deluded mind!", said Krishna, "Where do you see Kamsa?"
"Where's Radha?", quipped Chandravali.
At this, Krishna lowered his head and smiled in embarrassment – May that Hari protect you.
Notes: In case you did not know, Kamsa, the infamous usurper and tyrant of Mathura, was Krishna's maternal uncle and nemesis whom he was born to kill. And the wily Chandravali, eager to get back at Krishna for bringing up Radha in her presence, knew that nothing would anger him more than someone addressing him as Kamsa and wishing welfare upon the latter. Presumably, Krishna's exhaustion (from you-know-what) was responsible for his Freudian slip as well as for his slowness in picking up on Chandravali's passive-aggressive response.
The piece is attributed to the enigmatic Lilashuka (लीलाशुक), "pleasure-parrot", known mainly for his devotional masterpiece Shri Krishna Karnamrita (श्रीकृष्णकर्णामृत) and generally regarded as one of the greatest Vaishnava poets of all time. And the last time I checked, several states in Southern and Eastern India were still butting heads over where he was from.
Source: Udbhatasagara (1993 edition) Part III Verse 62.
Baladeva Vidyabhushana's 18th century treatise on literary theory entitled Sahitya Kaumudi (साहित्यकौमुदी), "the moonlight of literature", gives a slight variant of the above verse (Chapter 4 Verse 6) as a specimen of ईर्ष्यामान, "indignation caused by jealousy"; here, the first half is recorded as
Subhashita Ratna Bhandagara records the second half as follows (with no change in meaning):
On hearing her lover say these words, Chandravali retorted, "Farewell, Kamsa!"
"O lady with a deluded mind!", said Krishna, "Where do you see Kamsa?"
"Where's Radha?", quipped Chandravali.
At this, Krishna lowered his head and smiled in embarrassment – May that Hari protect you.
Notes: In case you did not know, Kamsa, the infamous usurper and tyrant of Mathura, was Krishna's maternal uncle and nemesis whom he was born to kill. And the wily Chandravali, eager to get back at Krishna for bringing up Radha in her presence, knew that nothing would anger him more than someone addressing him as Kamsa and wishing welfare upon the latter. Presumably, Krishna's exhaustion (from you-know-what) was responsible for his Freudian slip as well as for his slowness in picking up on Chandravali's passive-aggressive response.
The piece is attributed to the enigmatic Lilashuka (लीलाशुक), "pleasure-parrot", known mainly for his devotional masterpiece Shri Krishna Karnamrita (श्रीकृष्णकर्णामृत) and generally regarded as one of the greatest Vaishnava poets of all time. And the last time I checked, several states in Southern and Eastern India were still butting heads over where he was from.
Source: Udbhatasagara (1993 edition) Part III Verse 62.
Baladeva Vidyabhushana's 18th century treatise on literary theory entitled Sahitya Kaumudi (साहित्यकौमुदी), "the moonlight of literature", gives a slight variant of the above verse (Chapter 4 Verse 6) as a specimen of ईर्ष्यामान, "indignation caused by jealousy"; here, the first half is recorded as
राधामोहनमन्दिरादुपगतश्चन्द्रावलीमूचिवान् राधे क्षेममिहेति तस्य वचनं श्रुत्वाह चन्द्रावली|
(Thus the only difference between this version and the above quote is that the conversation took place when Krishna was entering Chandravali's love shack after spending time with Radha.)Subhashita Ratna Bhandagara records the second half as follows (with no change in meaning):
क्षेमं कंस ततः प्रियः प्रकुपितः कंस क्व दृष्टस्त्वया राधा क्वेति तयोः प्रसन्नमनसोर्हास्योद्गमः पातु वः||
– Verse 186 of the chapter on Krishna.
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