DANCE OF DIVINE LOVE ሓሑሑሑሑሑᇸᇸᇸᇸᇸሑሑሑሑሑሑሑሒ DANCE OF DIVINE LOVE The Rasa Lila of Krishna from the Bhagavata Purana, India’s Classic Sacred Love Story Introduced, Translated, and Illuminated Graham M. Schweig princeton university press princeton and oxford Copyright © 2005 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 3 Market Place, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1 SY All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Puranas. Bhagavatapurana. Selections. Dance of divine love : the Rasa Lila of Krishna from the Bhagavata Purana, India’s classic sacred love story / introduced, translated and illuminated [by] Graham M. Schweig. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-691-11446-3 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Puranas. Bhagavatapurana—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Radha (Hindu deity) 3. Krishna (Hindu deity) 4. Rasa Lila (Dance) I. Schweig, Graham M., 1953– BL1140.4.B436P87 2005 294.5'925—dc22 2004045788 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Minion and Hindi Sanskrit Printed on acid-free paper. Frontispiece. “The Wondrous Circle of the Rasa Dance: Rasa Mandala” (illustrates the Bhagavata Purana, book ten, chapter 33, verses 2 and 3, or Rasa Lila 5.2 and 5.3). Painting by Krishna Priya in Jaipur, State of Rajasthan, India (2001). Opaque water- 1 color, silver, and gold on handmade jute and cotton board (31 ⁄2 1 inches by 23 ⁄2 inches). Commissioned by and located in the private collection of the author. pup.princeton.edu Printed in the United States of America 13579108642 To the cowherd maidens of Vraja, and to all lovers of the divine. Contents List of Figures and Tables ix Foreword by Norvin Hein xi Acknowledgments xvii Pronunciation xxi Abbreviations xxv Introduction The Sacred Love Story 1 A Drama of Love 1 Sacred Love Stories 6 India’s Song of Songs 8 Bhagavata as the Ultimate Scripture 11 Sacred Context of the Rasa Lila 16 Part I Poems from the Bhagavata Purana Dance of Divine Love: Rasa Lila 23 Act One. Krishna Attracts the Gopis and Disappears 25 Act Two. The Gopis Search for Krishna 39 Act Three. The Song of the Gopis: Gopi Gita 51 Act Four. Krishna Reappears and Speaks of Love 58 Act Five. The Rasa Dance 65 i Song of the Flute: Ven• u G ta 78 Song of the Black Bee: Bhramara Gita 86 Part II Textual Illuminations Chapter 1 Background of the Text 97 Devotional Love as “Rasa” 97 Ancient Sources of Devotional Love 101 Devotional Love as the Path to God 105 Forms of the Deity Vishnu 108 Chapter 2 Aspects of the Story 111 Framing Passages of the Rasa Lila 111 Poetic and Dramatic Dimensions 114 Krishna: Lord of Love and Beauty 117 Vraja: Pastoral Paradise 125 Yogamaya:Potency for Intimacy 130 The Gopis: Beloveds of Krishna 137 The Special Gopi:Radha 147 Chapter 3 Messages of the Text 152 Devotional Yoga Transcends Death 152 Ethical Boundaries and Boundless Love 158 The Vision of Devotional Love 166 Symbolism in the Rasa Lila 172 Part III Notes and Comments Introduction 187 Act One 189 Act Two 222 Act Three 237 Act Four 250 Act Five 263 Part IV The Sanskrit Text Introduction 291 Act One 293 Act Two 304 Act Three 313 Act Four 318 Act Five 322 Appendix 1 Note on Translation 331 Appendix 2 Poetic Meters in Sanskrit Text 336 Accent and Syllable Length: Emphasis and Rhythm in Sanskrit Verse 336 Sanskrit Meters Used in Rasa Lila Text 336 Storyline and Poetic Meter Analysis 338 Verse Numbering Variations and Actual Verse Count 342 Appendix 3 Synoptic Analysis of the Rasa Lila 344 Glossary 347 Bibliography 355 Index 367 List of Figures and Tables FIGURES Frontispiece. “The Wondrous Circle of the Rasa Dance: Rasa Mandala” Figure 1. Location of the Vraja region in India xxviii Figure 2. The village of Barsana surrounded by beautiful 5 Vraja landscape Figure 3. Ivory miniature painting of Radha and Krishna 10 Figure 4. Wall painting of Suka narrating the Bhagavata’s 18 Rasa Lila to the King and Gathered Sages Figure 5. Decorative stencil of Krishna with flute 20 Figure 6. Marble sacred image of Krishna elaborately 94 worshiped Figure 7. Intimate, cosmic, and compassionate 109 manifestations of Krishna Figure 8. Pilgrimage path and the Vraja countryside on 126 the edge of Vrindavana Figure 9. Nineteenth-century buildings along the Yamuna 127 River in the area of Keshi Ghat, Vrindavana Figure 10. Man and monkey at site of the Rasa dance in 132 Sevakunj, Vrindavana Figure 11. Sacred images of Radha and Krishna with 140 eight principal Gopis Figure 12. Rasa story at the heart of all exoteric literature 177 (lower mandala), and Rasa story as the window into esoteric visions (upper mandala) Figure 13. Young boys play the parts of the cowherd 178 maidens dancing in the circular Rasa dance around Krishna in a Vraja drama troupe performance Figure 14. A young boy in elaborate costume playing the 184 part of Krishna for a Vraja drama troupe Figure 15. Devout pilgrim reading the Bhagavata before 288 the sacred tulasi plant in Radha Kund, Vraja x List of Figures and Tables TABLES Table 1. Act and Scene Subdivisions within the Rasa 116 Lila Drama Table 2. Eight Phases of Supreme Love within the 173 Rasa Lila Table 3. Meter Types in Scene One of Act Five 264 Table 4. Synoptic Analysis of the Rasa Lila Story from 345 Bhagavata Purana, Visnu Purana, and Harivamsa Texts Foreword This book will give you access to a poem that has been loved in India for over a thousand years. It is the long lyric poem called the Rasa- Pañcadhyayi,“The Five Chapters on the Rasa,”the word Rasa referring to Krishna’s dance with his female devotees. A long and distinctive poem preserved in the tenth book of the beautifully written Bhaga- vata Purana, its present form was completed, at the latest, by the ninth century. Very early the entire Purana, with its precious insert, received all-India fame, as attested by the great number of manuscript copies that are found even today in the old libraries of every region. It was a best-seller. It is known that these copies were much read and well re- membered. The proof lies in the unanimity and correctness of the surviving texts, compared with the spoiled texts of most Puranas, which have suffered from careless copying and have been bloated with graceless interpolations. Not so for the Bhagavata. It was defended from corruptions by its ardent, vigilant, and well-versed audiences. As early as 1030 a.d. the name of the Bhagavata was given to al-Biruni in a list of the eighteen authentic and orthodox Puranas. Today that is still its status among Hindus—a sacred scripture. In contrast with India’s resonant appreciation of the Bhagavata Purana, the outside world has ventured little appraisal of it until re- cently. There were reasons for this taciturnity. Some Western writers were stunned and repelled by the erotic factor in its contents. Others were silenced by the difficulty of its language, which made confident judgments risky. Well-considered literary discussions were also dis- couraged by a lack of any but perfunctory translations into English. About other Puranas—cruder in their language and their thought— scholars’ comments were frank and full and seldom complimentary. But the Bhagavata Purana was perceived to be different and not easy to judge. Generations of scholars dealt with this Purana in a few pos- itive words, and passed on quietly to discuss other Indian writings that were easier to assess. Today, Sanskrit studies are no longer in their infancy in the extra- Indian world. Students of Sanskrit now know and pay the price for competence in that language, and have become skilled workers in many new fields, including the Bhagavata Purana. The metric science of the Purana’s poetry is understood. The poet’s language is perceived now to be a cultivated diction, often using courtly figures of speech xii Norvin Hein such as the bards of Indian kings were wont to use. Touches of the revered language of the Vedas are noticed in it, and the mellifluous flow of the poet’s sound effects are appreciated. The personal genius of its legendary author, known as Vyasa, is now recognized and ac- claimed. Connoisseurs increasingly acknowledge that we have here a poem that is entitled to world esteem. A notable evaluation is that of Professor Daniel H. H. Ingalls of Harvard: “For all its traditional lore and traditional piety, and despite its frequent archaisms, the Bhaga- vata remains, especially in its tenth book, the most enchanting poem ever written.”1 This rating is high, but it comes from an authority with long experience as teacher of the Bhagavata Purana to university students—including our translator, Dr. Schweig. Even students of modern competence face the ancient and ever- present difficulty in producing from a great poem a great literary translation. Help is not available, as in the case of some classic texts, from a long succession of respectable English translators of good if not great talent. The only older translation that is praiseworthy for its literary quality is M. Hauvette-Besnault’s translation into French done in 1865 and published in the fifth volume of Eugene Burnouf’s Le Bhagavata Purana (Paris, 1898, 1981ff.). Dr. Schweig’s sensitive lit- eral translation into English now takes the lead. It is up-to-date, ex- pert, and exceptionally lucid. With the appearance of this major translation, a milestone will be passed in the world’s acquaintance with the Sanskrit poetry of Krishna- centered Vaishnavism.