Love Doesn’t Know When to Strike and When Not to Strike

The gopis rebuked the providence for their separation from Krishna with these words which we find in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.39.19):

aho vidhatas tava kvacid daya

samyojya maitrya pranayena dehinah

tams cakrtarthan viyunanksy aparthakam

vikriditam te ‘rbhaka-cestitam yatha

The gopis said: Oh Providence, you have no mercy! You unite embodied creatures in relationships of friendship and love, and then with callousness you separate them before they are able to grant their wishes. This whimsical game of yours is like that of a child.

Separation from Krishna is unbearable even for a single moment, as stated by the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.39.29):

yasyanuraga-lalita-smita-vaclgu-mantra-

lilavaloka-parirambhana-rasa-gostam

nitah sma nah ksanam iva ksanada vina tam

gopyah katham nv atitarema tamo durantam

When He let us participate in the rasa dance, where we enjoyed His warm and charming smiles, His delightful secret talks, His playful looks and His hugs, we spent many nights as if they were a single moment. O gopi, how can we go through the insurmountable darkness of His absence?

The overwhelming emotions experienced by Radharani in separation from Krishna are described in the Hamsaduta as follows:

yada yato gopi hrdaya madano nanda-sadanan-

mukundo gandhinyasta-nayam anurundhan madhu-purim

tadamanksiccintasariti ghanaghurnaparicayai-

ragadhayam radhamayapayasi radhavirahini

When the cupid of the heart of the gopis, Krishna, left the house of Nanda Maharaja and accompanied Akrura to Mathura, Srimati Radharani’s mind was torn apart. She nearly went mad from separation from Krishna and drowned in the deep eddies and waves of an immense river of anxiety.

The ten symptoms of separation are found in the Ujjvala-nilamani expressed as follows:

cintatra jatarodvegau

tanavam malinangata

pralapo vyadhir unmado

mohomrtyudasa dasa

There are ten manifestations of pain due to separation: anxiety, insomnia, mental agitation, thinness, filth, talking like the mad, sickness, delusion and death.

Radharani is overwhelmed by these symptoms and is in extreme pain.

Experiencing stinging pangs from separation, Radharani rebukes Krishna in the following verse of Jagannatha-vallabha-bornka:

prema-ccheda-rujo ‘vagacchati harir nayam na ca prema va

sthanasthanam avaiti napi madano janati no durbalah

anyo veda na canya-duhkham akhilam no jivanam vasravam

dvi-trany eva dinani yauvanam idam ha-ha vidhe ka gatih

Our Krishna does not realize how I suffered from the wounds inflicted in the course of love exchanges. I have been abused by love because it does not know where to strike and where not to strike. Not even Cupid knows how weak I am. How could I explain this to anyone? No one is able to understand the difficulties of the other. Our life is really not under our control, youth will last for two or three days and will soon end. In this condition, O creator, what will happen to us?

A sakhi tells Radha, “Be patient. Why are You so anxious? What benefit does this anxiety bring You? Your beloved, the greatest of heroes, will soon return.”

Radha replied, “O sakhi, I don’t see how He can return. As He returns to Mathura to save Me, this sickness caused by our love encounters can only get worse. Love doesn’t know when to strike and when not to strike. Krishna has a hard heart in His love relationships, so I am totally confused. In addition to this, Cupid has pierced Me with his arrows. They do not understand My suffering and My life trembles, only a few days of youth are left. My dear friend, please tell me, will that jewel among heroes return to Vraja? Oh destiny, where will I find comfort?”

A description of Radharani’s anxiety due to separation from Krishna is found in Krishna-karnamrta (42):

kim iha krnumah kasya brumah krtam krtamasaya

kathayata kathamanyam dhanyam aho hrdayesayah

madhura-madhura-smerakare mano-nayanotsave

krpana-krpana krsne trsna ciram va lambate

Alas! What will I do? Who can I talk to? Let everything I have done in the hope of meeting Krishna be canceled now. Please say something auspicious, but don’t talk about Krishna. Alas! Krishna is lying in My heart like a Cupid, so how is it possible that I cannot talk about Him? I cannot forget Krishna, who has a smile sweeter than sweetness itself and who pleases My mind and eyes. Alas! My thirst for Krishna increases every moment!

The hope of coming to Krishna has taken up residence in My heart. However, this pitiful hope seems impossible to bear fruit.

We find a delusional discourse by Radharani about separation from Krishna in Krishna-karnamrta (41):

amuny adhanyani dinantarani

hare tvad-alokanam antarena

anatha-bandho karunaika-sindho

ha hanta ha hanta katham nayami

Oh My Lord, Oh Supreme Personality of God, Oh friend of the helpless! You are the only ocean of mercy! Not having met You, my inauspicious days and nights have become unbearable. I don’t know how to pass the time. So, tell Your servant how to meet You.

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