O Devī, while You are on Your way to the home of the king of Vraja, to cook for Mādhava, every hair on Your body stands erect in joy and Your gait falters. Will my eyes ever attain this vision? (Vilapa-kusumanjali)Śrīmatī Rādhārānī, the most excellent and famous cook in all existence, because of the earnest entreaty of Yaśodā Mātā, daily goes to cook for Kṛṣṇa at Nanda-bhavana.Once, Durvāsā Ṛṣi came to the palace in Varsānā and said, “Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja, I am very hungry.”“I will quickly arrange whatever you like,” Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja said.“I don’t desire your cooking or the cooking of your wife. You are not pure. You share your life with everyone.”“Then what should I do?” “Do you have a daughter?” “Yes.”“Your daughter will cook.”“She is only a baby, how can She cook?”“You are trying to cheat me. Call Her at once!”Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja brought Rādhārānī in his arms to Durvāsā Ṛṣi.“O Lāḍlī,” Durvāsā Ṛṣi asked, “I know You are an expert cook. All the demigods including Brahmā know of Your special abilities and glorify Your super-excellent qualities. Won’t You cook something for me?”Rādhārānī smiled and said, “Yes.”“Please cook something quickly. I have not eaten for what seems like ages.”“What would you like?”“I especially like ksīra,” Durvāsā Ṛṣi replied, “and I also like mālpuā so much.”Śrīmatī Rādhārānī cooked sweet rice and mālpuā. She didn’t make only one or two pieces of mālpuā. Durvāsā Ṛṣi doesn’t eat one or two grams, a hundred grams, or even a hundred kilos. His appetite is immeasurable. Śrīmatī knew this. She cooked so much sweet rice, it was like the kusuma-sarovara lake, and She made so many mālpuās, they became a mountain like Girirāja Govardhana. How did She cook? All the sakhīs and mañjarīs are like Her expansions; they all know Her desire. They helped arrange everything. If Rādhārānī looks and touches anything, this is enough. So many things are arranged.Durvāsā Ṛṣi sat down at eleven or twelve o’clock in the night and began eating. From midnight until early morning he ate, saying inbetween platefuls, “Bring more, bring more.” He had more and more desire for this mahā-prasāda. He ate a plate, yawned, and then ate more, without taking any rest. By morning everything was finished. Then he said, “Now I am happy. Now I am satisfied.”His name is Durvāsā Ṛṣi. He checks if one has good or bad desires, vāsāna. If your desire is good, he will give you a passing certificate, otherwise if you have bad desires and moods, he will destroy you.After eating, Durvāsā Ṛṣi gave a boon to Rādhikā: “This daughter of Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja is siddha, perfect. Anything She touches becomes supremely auspicious and full of nectar. If anyone tastes Her cooking, or hears Her glories, remembers Her, offers anything to Her, and then takes that, he will achieve love for God and bhakti-rasa. By once tasting that rasa, he will have no desire for other rasas. And if anyone is inimical to her, he will be destroyed.”In this verse, Dāsa Gosvāmī prays to accompany Śrīmatījī on Her way to Nanda-bhavana. All the sakhīs and mañjarīs walk with Śrīmatī Rādhārānī from Varsānā to Nandagrāma. Many sakhīs and mañjarīs come from different places in Vraja to meet with Śrīmatī Rādhārānī at Prema-sarovara, before proceeding to Nandagrāma. None of the gopīs come empty-handed. They bring many items, arranged at their homes for service in Rādhārānī’s cooking.pārśva-dvaye lalitayātha viśākhayāca tvāṁ sarvataḥ parijanaiś ca paraiḥ parītāmpaścān mayā vibhṛta-bhaṅgura-madhya-bhāgaṁ kiṁ rūpa-mañjarir iyaṁ pathi neṣyatīha Vilāpa-kusumāñjali 59When will Rūpa Mañjarī lead You on the path with Lalitā and Viśākhā at Your two sides, Your friends all around, and me holding Your delicate waist from behind?On the way to Nandagrāma, Lalitā and Viśākhā walk alongside Rādhārānī. Here, Dāsa Gosvāmī prays to walk behind holding Śrīmatījī’s waist. Rūpa Mañjarī walks in front with Rādhikā, while carrying many things. Absorbed in his internal form as Rati Mañjarī, Dāsa Gosvāmī sees Rūpa with a heavy load and thinks, “I will go forward and request Rūpa Mañjarī, ‘Please give me something to carry.’ ” Rati Mañjarī doesn’t want Rūpa Mañjarī to feel the slightest disturbance.Kṛṣṇa understands everything. He is still resting in Nanda-bhavana, but by His desire, many bulls, camels, and elephants come to help bring paraphernalia from Varsānā to Nanda-bhavana. They offer praṇāma to Śrīmatī Rādhārānī, bending down on their knees. The elephants clean the pathway with their tusks and sprinkle the road with flowers. Then the animals carry the items for cooking. The animals of Vraja also have service tendency and don’t merely eat, sleep, and wander about, enjoying the love and affection of Kṛṣṇa. They have pure knowledge and service tendency.hamvārair iha gavām api ballavānāṁ kolāhalair vividha-vandi-kalāvatāṁ taiḥsamrājate priyatayā vraja-rāja-sūnor govardhanād api gurur vraja-vanditād yaḥprāptāṁ nija-praṇayinī-prakaraiḥ parītāṁ nandīśvaraṁ vraja-mahendra-mahālayaṁ taṁdūre nirīkṣya muditā tvaritaṁ dhaniṣṭhā tvām ānayiṣyati kadā praṇayair mamāgre Vilāpa-kusumāñjali 60–61Surrounded by Your affectionate gopī friends, You arrive at Nandiśvara, which is filled with the mowing of the cows, the shouts of the cowherders and the different songs of minstrels, and which is dearer to the prince of Vraja than even Govardhana. When will I then see Dhaniṣṭhā, who has seen you coming from afar, quickly and lovingly take You inside, as I follow behind You?Nandiśvara Hill is extremely dear to Nanda-nandana. The Vrajavāsīs pray and offer respect to Girirāja Govardhana, but an even sweeter and important place is Nandiśvara Hill. Kṛṣṇa dearly loves Nandiśvara and always resides there. Kṛṣṇa sometimes go to Govardhana and performs pastimes there, accepting the service of Girirāja, but Nandiśvara is always able to serve Kṛṣṇa and His associates.Dāsa Gosvāmī prays, “When will I go to Nandiśvara and pray to him for service. But only service is not enough. If I have no position there, my mind will be disturbed by asat-sāṅga.”Sat-saṅga doesn’t only mean to stay with sādhus for some time and then go some place else. One must continuously stay with sādhus, with love for them, not by hook or crook. If I have a loving relation with the sādhus, they will give me a place to stay.Dāsa Gosvāmī prays, “I will not stay for selfish purposes, nor will I try to acquire and possess any place. Any place I am present, I will keep it only for Śrīmatījī and the sakhīs and will endeavor to serve them there.”Dhanisṭhā is very dear to Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. She is her beloved sakhī. Mother Yaśodā gives her great respect. Dhaniṣṭhā serves in Nanda-bhavana, dividing all responsibilities so that everything can be accomplished properly.Dāsa Gosvāmī prays, “When will Dhaniṣṭhā take me to Vrajeśvarī Yaśodā, and say, ‘This Lālī has so much love for service.’ ”On one side Lalitā is present, and Viśākhā is on the other side, but this Rati is waiting behind. Whenever Dhaniṣṭhā calls her forth, she does everything on her instruction.At the time of smaraṇa-daśā, internally meditating on one’s perfected state and form, and going near one’s worshipable Kṛṣṇa, all Kṛṣṇa’s associates are present there. They will instruct you, “This is your service. This is your place.” There will be no need for any subtle hint or indication. One will understand which direction to go and how to serve. The path will be clear, without any obstacles. Don’t think this is speculation or if you go there you won’t know what to do, or h ow to engage your time. It is not like this. The flow of inspiration and mercy is very powerful. It will sweep you up.Many people are in Russia, America, Africa, Australia, Europe, or India. When they meet Gurudeva and join his mission, at first they don’t know what to do or what their service will be. But automatically, by Gurudeva’s inspiration, they take their own places and responsibilities and perform their specific service very seriously. Gradually their taste for service will increase more and more and there will be no need for any permit, permission, advice, instruction, or company officer to give one duty and sign one in, checking if one is performing one’s service properly and doing the proper amount of hours. This is only as an example. In the eternal world, there is a powerful force, inspiring one to serve. (click on the Title to see more)
