Hare Kṛṣṇa,
My heartfelt gratitude to our dear teachers for introducing us to this gem of a book – Śrī Prema-sampuṭa.
I am reading it for the first time, and I am truly delighted by its beautiful and profound subject matter. Curious to understand more about what this book contains—especially the meaning of the word “sampuṭa”—I did some browsing online and came across an edition by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedanta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja. In that book, he defines Samputa as “’that place where precious jewels and other valuable stones are carefully hidden from the vision of people.’Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura has revealed the unnata-ujjvala prema in Sri Radha’s heart, which is likened to a treasure chest, and protected it in the box in the form of this book. Therefore, the name of this book is Śrī Prema-sampuṭa.”
I am by no means an expert on the rasa aspects of this book, but here is my humble realization from the conversation in the portion we have studied so far.
In texts 4-18 where Śrī Rādhā speaks to Śrī Krsna disguised as a demigoddess, I think it is actually Sri Krsna inspiring Her to reveal Her state of mind and heart in separation from Krsna. In other words, Śrī Rādhā is actually revealing Her own predicament.
Śrī Rādhā asks the demigoddess, “O girl with the bowed face, what do You fear, or of what are You ashamed? You must truly suffer. Otherwise You would not act like this. O girl with the lotus face, please tell Me about it. Trust Me. I will try to help. By telling Your secrets to a friend, You will extinguish the painful flames in Your heart. Are You now separated from Your beloved? Are You unhappy to see his vices? Do You fear he will not forgive Your sins? Did wicked slanderers lie to him about You? Or does Your heart now hate Your foolish husband? Have You fallen in love with another man, a wonderful man, a man You cannot attain? For this reason are You tormented, as I am, by the harsh words of Your superiors? O slender girl, perhaps Your heart was wounded by many arrows of harsh words from a co-wife blind by drinking the madirā nectar of seeing a small part Your good fortune. But that is not possible. Who is more glorious than You, more gloriously anointed with the fragrance of good fortune?… O My friend, are You tortured by the body’s pains? Is the pain in Your chest? Along Your back? Is it a headache?” (Śrī Prema-sampuṭa, Texts 5-12)
In texts 20-30, Krsna (as a demigoddess) speaks to Śrī Rādhā and glorifies Her. He says that even though He/She is a goddess, He/She is Her maidservant also. Krsna first sets the context by glorifying the sweet music of His flute. He says, “Friend, when it enters the cities of demigods, Krsna’s Vrndāvana flute-music becomes very powerful. Because of it the saintly demigoddesses now feel disgust in their hearts when they even remember their husbands’ neck-to-neck embraces. After a moment’s embrace, the surprised demigods backed away from their wives’ bodies, bodies now feverish like smoldering embers. Having tasted the nectar-poison of Krsna’s flute music, and now burning with fever, the goddesses fell unconscious. In Our cities no one grows old. Who criticizes others there? There everyone is equally pious. Who mocks others there? Still, flooding those cities, this flute-music defeated the saintly goddesses’ chastity. Every day this flute music comes to defeat the demigoddesses. One day I thought in My heart, `What is this music? From where does it come? Who makes it?” (Śrī Prema-sampuṭa, Texts 26-29)
To find the source of the flute-music, the demigoddess sings words of praise glorifying Śrī Rādhā. She says, “I’m not flattering You. Please don’t feel embarrassed. I’m not neutral. Still, what I say is not a lie. Neither Lakṣmī nor Pārvatī desire to stand on the balance opposite You, on the balance that weighs beauty, virtue, and good fortune. Even in the spiritual worlds above the three material realms no girl even dares think to be Your equal in matters of love. This I heard in Pārvatī’s assembly on the peak on Mount Kaliāsa. When I heard this, a great desire to see You was born in My heart. That desire filled Me. Even though that desire burned wildly within it, My hard heart still did not break into pieces.” (Śrī Prema-sampuṭa, Texts 35-37)
Then the demigoddess/Krsna speaks her heart out in questioning why Śrī Rādhā still loves Krsna despite the way He treated Her and the gopis. She says, “Why do You have such strong, limitless, peerless love for that rake Krsna? Anyone who knowingly places his faith in a great sinner will suffer. Even though He is filled with handsomeness, heroism, good fortune, fame, and wealth, and even though He is decorated with the jewels of every virtue, He has no understanding of true love. He is a rake. Therefore no girl should take shelter of Him. During the day He enjoyed many pastimes with You. Again and again He earnestly declared that He loved You. At night He met You in the forest. Then that cheater left You and delighted some other girl. Then You lamented. You filled Your friends with anguish. You made the birds and the vines weep. Hiding at Vaṁsīvata, I angrily saw everything. While enjoying the rāsa dance He suddenly left all the others and showed His great love for You. Staying with You for only a moment, He left You alone in the forest, alone and exhausted from enjoying many amorous pastimes. Then You were plunged into grief. You fell deeply unconscious. Whatever You did was bewildered and disoriented. As I live many lifetimes, and as My body passes through its eight transformations, the grief You felt will stay in My heart… I always fear Krsna. He is not ashamed to misbehave before saintly people. He never walks on the path of mercy. In His childhood He killed a woman, and in His youth He quickly killed a bull and a calf.” (Śrī Prema-sampuṭa, Texts 39-47)
In other words, the heavenly damsel said, “It is true that Sri Krsna has all good qualities, but He has one bad quality that destroys all the good ones. You, Śrī Rādhā, and the gopis have left everything – Your father, mother, brother, friends, husband, society, modesty and the orders of Your elders – all so that You can love Krsna. Yet He treats You so cruelly that He abandons You and disappears. I cannot fathom this. In My opinion, You should not love Him, for if You do Your future will be full of suffering.”
These words prompted Śrī Rādhā to explain to the damsel the very nature of prema (true love). Śrī Rādhā then goes on to explain true love. She explains, “If You wish to know about love, then please listen. A person may be a great scholar learned in the Vedas and still not know what is true love and what it is not. O My friend, to an eager student someone may give an abstract explanation of true love, but true love is understood only by direct experience. When one tries to analyze it, true love disappears, and when one does not try to analyze it, true love disappears again. When the heart is free of these two, then pure love gloriously sits on the throne of one’s nature. Then one acts to please the beloved, and the beloved’s pleasure shows the true nature of love. As a lion is nourished by defeating many elephants, so powerful love is nourished by defeating many troubles, troubles like Mount Sumeru, troubles that come from the two worlds, from one’s kinsmen, from outsiders, from oneself, and even from the beloved who is more dear than life itself. True love is like a proud, fearless, self-assured, glistening-limbed lion that, even while he sleeps, with a single roar defeats a host of dogs. True love is like a lamp gloriously shining in the darkness. Because it is very intense and wanton, true love brings great pleasure and wild passion. It make the beloved new and delightful at every moment. As the nectar moon delights the three worlds, it delights the lover. Its shines like the sun at the time of cosmic devastation, a sun that makes the three worlds burst into flames. O My friend, does anyone in the three worlds, above or below, bear this kind of love for any beloved other than Krsna? Only the doe-eyed girls of Vraja love, some more and some less, in this way. When that pure love sometimes pretends to be lust, the beloved Krsna finds limitless pleasure in it. But when lust sometimes pretends to be pure love, intelligent Krsna knows at once.” (Śrī Prema-sampuṭa, Texts 51-58)
Finally at the closing of her explanation, Sri Radha defends Krsna. She says, “Krsna is an ocean of love. He is a jewel-mine of transcendental qualities. His cheating, deceptions, and crookedness are all delightful. Pretending it is lust, He uses these to show His love for the gopīs. He uses them to attract the gopīs. Who are the hundreds and thousands of passionate girls that, banned all together, have the power to satisfy the desires of Krsna? Krsna loves the beautiful gopīs with no motive for His own pleasure. He loves them because He is conquered by their love for Him. This I have personally seen.” (Śrī Prema-sampuṭa, Texts 60-61)
This illustrates why the gopīs, headed by Śrī Rādhā, are the supreme crest jewels among Kṛṣṇa’s devotees. Their love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa is utterly selfless, completely free from any trace of personal desire or self-gratification.
I am eagerly looking forward to the teachers sharing the next—and final—portion of this beautiful book.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 