Vicitri -- so many colors!

Vrinda Devi

Oil on board, 3"x4", 2007

Vrinda Devi is the presiding goddess of Vrindavana forest. She knows the languages of all living entities, and her order is never disobeyed by any of the moving or non-moving creatures in her forest. She is in charge of decorating the Radha-Krsna’s private love bowers; all the different plants blossom with fruits and flowers and assume the appropriate color upon her command.  We pray to her for entrance into these kunjas where we will blissfully serve the Divine Couple.

taväraëye devi dhruvam iha murärir viharate 
    sadä preyasyeti çrutir api virauté småtir api
iti jïätvä vånde caraëam abhivande tava kåpäà
     kuruñva kñipraà me phalatu nitaräà tarña-viöapé

                                                                Sri Rupa Gosvami, Utkalika-vallari  (3)

O Vrinda-devi, all the Srutis and Smrtis proclaim that Murari eternally roams about your forest of Vrindavana enjoying with His beloved. Knowing this, I pray at your lotus feet. Kindly bless me that the tree of my desires will quickly bear the supreme fruit.

Paurnamasi Devi

Oil on board, 6"x8", 2008

Paurnamasi Devi is the Guru of all the residents of Vrindavan. Everyone accepts her authority and she is always arranging for Radha and Krsna's meetings. She is Krsna's agent who arranges all the pastimes and by her grace we will be brought to Vrindavan.

I worship Bhagavati Paurnamasi, who provides for the perpetual auspiciousness of Vraja. With the help of the most expert sakhis, she secretly makes wonderful arrangements for the clever Radha-Madhava’s meetings. Nourishing the Divine Couple’s love-filled quarrels (maana) and nocturnal rendezvous (abhisara) she again and again relishes the ocean of nectar produced from these blissful festivals of love.

Ratna Vedi

Radha-Krishna Sitting on the Jeweled Throne

Oil on board, 12"x12", 2007

jivane marane gati aro nahi mora

The youthful Divine Couple are my life and soul. In life or death I have no other goal but Them.

Radha-Krishna Dancing in the Kunja

Oil on board, 12"x12", 2007

parama-rasa-rahasyananda-nihsyandi-vrnda-
   vana-vipina-nikunje divya-divyair vilasaih
niravadhi rasamanau radhika-krsnacandrau
    bhaja sakalam upeksya tavakas sastra-yuktih

                                                Sri Rupa Gosvami, Nikunja Rahasya Stava (31)

 Please ignore the logic of any sastras and worship Sri Sri Radhika-Krsnacandra, who enjoy limitless transcendental pastimes in the forest nikunjas which are overflowing with the nectar of the supreme bliss of Their sweet and secret pastimes.

 Pots of Prema

Krishna Helping Radha Carry Water from the Yamuna

Radhika has gone to the Yamuna to bring water. She has refused to meet with Krsna for several days, so trying to win Her favor, He is helping Her carry Her water. But He's so charmed by Her beauty that He cannot even carry the pot correctly and the water is spilling out. Actually, this water is really the prema in Her heart for Him.

Nikunja Seva

Oil on board, 11.5"x14", 2009

sri rupa mañjari kararcita padapadma
gostendra-nandana bhujarpita mastakayah
ha modatah kanaka-gauri padaravinda
samvahanani shanakais tava kim karishye

(Vilapa-Kusumanjali 72, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami)

“When will that day come when Rupa Mañjari will call me and order me to do this seva, when Radha and Krsna are both tired from walking here and there in Vrndavana?” Radhika is more soft, so She is more tired. She has put Her head in Krsna’s lap, and Her feet in the lap of Rupa Mañjari. Krsna is gently massaging Her head. And sometimes with His pitambara He is wiping Srimati Radhika’s face very affectionately. And Rupa Mañjari is massaging Her feet very gently, softly and sweetly.

Nearby Rati Mañjari is standing and fanning with a camara. Rupa Mañjari calls her with her eyes, “Come on, come on. I will give you a remnant of maha maha maha prasadam. You should take these feet and gently massage them. I am going to bring water, very beautiful water because They are thirsty.” Saying this, Rupa Mañjari placed those feet in the hands of Rati Mañjari. “When will I have a chance to serve like this? When will Rupa Mañjari and Rati Mañjari give me this remnant of this maha maha maha prasadam?” This is siddha-rupena, serving Them in one's perfected spiritual body.

Radhika Fainted in Separation

Oil on board, 13"x17", 2009

This story has been related by Sri Rupa Gosvami in his beautiful poem Hansaduta, "The Swan Messenger." Krsna has gone to Mathura and all the Vrajavasis are suffering without Him. One day at noon Radhika was burning up in separation so She went to the Yamuna with Her sakhis to cool down. On the way She saw a kunja where She had shared amour with Krsna many times. Remembering the pastimes They had enjoyed there gave Her so much pain that She fainted on the spot. Her sakhis were so worried, afraid that She had left Her body. When they saw that She was still breathing, they collected wet lotus leaves from the Yamuna and fanned Her to cool Her down. Lalita went to the river to bring water to revive Radhika, and there she saw a swan approaching her. She spoke to the swan, asking him to act as their messenger and go to Mathura right away to tell Krsna of their plight and to inspire Him to return to Vrindavan without delay. In Krsna's absence, the forest is burning up and the peacock has been crying so much that he has lost his color and turned white. Such is the plight of Vraja after Krsna departed.

Peacock Dance 

Oil on board, 12"x12", 2009

Radhika was in maan for many days. She was angry with Krsna and would not speak to Him. So in His desire to attract Her, He transformed into a peacock and started dancing for Her. She was so delighted that She also turned into a peacock, and as the female peacocks are wont to do, She pretended that She was not interested and started walking away. But at the same time She is looking back at Him because She wants to drink His beauty and wants to make sure that He is following Her, and with Her right hand she is pointing to the kunja where They can meet. 

Radhika Embracing a Tamala Tree 

Oil on board, 6"x9", 2010

Radhika has not met with Krsna for awhile–perhaps He has gone off with another gopi, or perhaps He has gone to Mathura. In the madness of Her love for Him, She sees a dark Tamala tree and genuinely thinks it is Him. She embraces the tree and feels great satisfaction, and Krsna appears within the tree to receive Her embrace. 

Madhava, Save Me! 

Oil on board, 11"x12", 2011

Radhika was angry with Krsna for many days. No matter what He did, He could not appease Her. Finally He got a good idea. He sent a big black snake on Her path to scare Her. As soon as She saw that snake hissing at Her, she got terrified and Her pot of milk went flying. Krsna is standing close by, enjoying the scene. And in the next moment Radhika will jump into His arms and cry out, "Madhava, save Me!" And right next to Krsna is the kunja ready and waiting to host Them with a bed of lotus petals that Krsna Himself arranged in advance. Gurudeva says that actually Krsna Himself comes as this snake.

I praise the glories of the blissful grass, bushes, creepers, insects, snakes, animals, birds and other creatures of Vraja. All these transcendental beings are very dear to Mukunda because they help in enriching His pastimes and thus increase His pleasure. Their good fortune is coveted by Brahma, Uddhava and others, as is repeatedly and clearly established in Srimad-Bhagavatam. Why does a devotee develop the greed to become a tree in Vraja? Because he hopes that “Krsna will sit on my lap, taste my fruits, dance and play hide and seek on my branches.”    

 Girirani

Watercolor pencils on paper, 5"x7", 2011

Some people say that Giriraja is Krsna Himself. This is true, but Gurudeva tells that Giriraja is also a female friend of Radhika, because Govardhana provides the settings and witnesses Radha-Krsna's amorous pastimes, and only a female can be present then. So here Govardhana revealed his female form to me one morning. I grabbed my pencils and tried to capture her.

O Govardhana! Please grant me a dwelling near your side so that I can easily witness and serve the youthful lovers Shri Radha-Krishna as They perform newer and newer secret, amorous lilas within your many caves where They become completely maddened from drinking prema. You are present and making everything possible.

Vamsi Chori Lila

Radha Stealing the Flute

Oil on Canvas, 24"x30", 2012

                                                                                                              Sri Daityari Pandita

And in Vidagdha-madhava Sri Rupa Gosvami describes how Krsna becomes so bewildered by Radha's glance that He unknowingly gives Her His flute when giving Her a package of naga-kesara flowers. Radha says to Herself (4.35): "This is the same flute that causes the gopis' hands to become numbed when they perform their household duties. At nighttime this flute attracts the golden-complexioned gopis, even from their husbands' embraces. This flute loosens the gopis' tight belts, even in the presence of their elders. This rascal flute - the property of the auspiciousness of Gokula (Krsna) - is now under My control!"

Vipralabdha Gopi

(The disappointed heroine who has been stood up)

Crayon on cardboard, 7 1/2"x 10", 2012

That libertine Krsna had made an appointment with this beautiful Gopi, and He didn't come, so she's crying.

In Ujjvala Nilamani, Rupa Gosvami says: Vipralabdha nayika – a girl whose dear lover fails, because of the hand of destiny, to keep his appointment with her, and who is thus very unhappy at heart. The vipralabdha heroine manifests despair, anxiety, anguish, weeping, fainting and sighing. These are some of the ways she responds to her situation.

Radharani to Visakha: "The moon has now left the sky and returned to the heavenly planets. O friend, this Krsna, the lover of the Goddess of Fortune, has cheated us. What shall we do now? Please instruct us." After speaking these words, doe-eyed Radharani fainted.

Under the Love Tree

Oil on canvas, 8"x12", 2012

rati-sukha-samaya-rasalasaya dara-mukulita-nayana-sarojam
nihsaha-nipatita-tanu-lataya madhusudanam udita-manojam
                                                                          Gita-govinda (Song 6, verse 7)

[Radhika is telling Her sakhi:] As I lay like a creeper overcome by exhaustion from the fullness of amorous play, Madhusudana languished in ananga-rasa, His lotus eyes barely open as extravagant amorous desires played rampantly within His mind.

isan-milita-drsti mugdha-vilasat-sitkara-dhara-vasad
avyaktakula-keli-kaku-vikasad-dantamsu-dhautadharam
santa-stabdha-payodharam bhrsa-parisvangat kurangi-drso
harsotkarsa-vimukta-nihsaha-tanor dhanyo dhayati ananam
                                                                         Gita-govinda (Song 24, verse 15)

Blessed indeed are they who drink the sweetness of the doe-eyed Radha's face rapturous in the aftermath of lovemaking -  eyes only slightly open, lips bathed by the rays of her teeth as She emitted indistinct sweet murmurings combined with continuous sighs, Her body lost in lassitude, Her breasts slightly trembling in Krsna's deep embrace.

atha sahasa supritam suratante sa nitanta-khinnangi
radha jagada sadaram idam anandena govindam
                                                                    Gita-govinda (Song 24, verse 16)

As He idled after passionate love, Radha, secure in Her power over Him, spoke to Govinda, wanting Him to decorate Her.

The Gopis Longing for Krsna

pati-sutanvaya-bhratr-bandhavan
ativilanghya te 'nty acyutagatah
gati-vidas tavodgita-mohitah
kitava yositah kas tyajen nisi  (Gopi Gita 16, SB 10.31)

O Acyuta, You cheater! You know why we have come here. You played Your flute, well knowing the path Your song would take. That piercing sound bewildered us and we have come to You in the middle of the night, disregarding our husbands, children, brothers, friends and entire family. Who else but You, You rogue, would abandon innocent maidens like us after bringing us to Your shelter in the dead of night?

Krsna Taking Radha by Surprise
Oil on board, 7 1/2"x9", 12.2013

From Srila Rupa Gosvami's Vidagdha Madhava:
    Radha says (with anger) to Paurnamasi devi : My dear mother, what can I say to you? Krsna is so cruel that He often attacks Me on the road, and if I want to cry out loudly, this boy with the peacock feather on His head immediately covers My mouth so that I cannot cry. And if I want to escape because I am afraid of Him, He will immediately spread His arms to block My path. If I piteously fall down at His feet, then this enemy of the Madhu demon, in an angry mood, bites My lips! Mother, just try to understand My situation, and don't be unnecessarily angry with Me. Instead, please tell Me how I can save Myself from these terrible attacks of Krsna! (Act 2, Text 21)

     Vrinda devi to Lalita: Radhika's footprints in the dust announce to Krsna the direction She had taken. Approaching from behind, Krsna covered Radha's eyes with His trembling hands. (Act 7, Text 37)

From Srila Prabhodananda Sarasvati's Vrndavana Mahimamrta (Sataka 6, verse 68):

  Inspired by the nectar of love, Krsna approached Radha from behind and playfully covered Her eyes.  Radha said, "Let go! I know who You are.  You are Lalita."  Krsna laughed.  One gopi friend said, "The hairs on Your body are standing up with excitement.  You know who it is."  Then Radha laughed.  Moving a blossoming-twig fan, another gopi then made a cooling breeze fall upon Sri Sri Radha-Krsna.

Vidagdha Madhava

The Expert Lover
Oil on canvas, 24"x30", 11.2014

Sri Krsna is the central pivot of the whole of existence and all beauty dances around Him for His pleasure.

In Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.29.43 Sri Sukadeva Gosvami describes Sri Krsna surrounded by the Vraja gopis:

tabhih sametabhir udara-cestitah
priyeksanotphulla-mukhibhir acyutah
udara-hasa-dvija-kunda-didhatir
vyarocatainanka ivodubhir vrtah

Among the assembled gopis, the infallible Sri Krsna appeared just like the moon surrounded by stars. He whose activities are so magnanimous made their faces blossom with His affectionate glances, and His broad smiles revealed the effulgence of His jasmine-bud-like teeth.

Sri Narayana Bhatta writes:

rasa-vilasavilolam smarata murarer manoramam rupam
prakrtisu yat pratyayavat pratyekam gopikasu sammilitam

"Meditate on the charming form of Murari enjoying the rasa-lila. He is like the suffix accompanying every verbal root which is like a gopi."

Stealing a Kiss
Oil on board, 12"x17", 2015

On the Way to the Rasa-mandala
Oil on canvas, 22"x20", 2016

Radha Rasa Sudha Nidhi, by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati:

     smara-garala-khaeoanaa mama cirasi maeoanaa
         dehi pada-pallavam udaram
     jvalati mayi darueo madana-kadananalo
         haratu tad-upahita-vikaram

“He priye, O My beloved! The delirium of love has mounted on My head. Place the fresh petals of Your enchanting feet there to counteract its poison, and let those feet pacify the harsh fire of amorous desires burning within.”  (Gita-govinda 10.8)

While writing his great classic, Gita-govinda, Sri Jayadeva Gosvami envisioned this verse in his meditation but could not bring himself to write it. In great anxiety the poet pondered, “How can I record such words coming from the mouth of the ultimate Controller of unlimited millions of universes, Sri Vrajendra-nandana Shyamasundara?” Many times he asked himself, “Should I write such a thing?” And many times he decided, “Yes, I should.” Even though he wanted to do it, he could not bring himself to write this line. Sri Jayadeva knew Sri Krsna to be the Supreme Bhagavan; thus his aisvarya-bhava, the mood of veneration, checked his pen. To settle Sri Jayadeva’s dilemma, one day bhakta-vatsala Bhagavan, who is always affectionate to His devotees, assumed the guise of Sri Jayadeva and came to his house. The Lord took the manuscript and, with His own hand, completed the fourth line of the verse, dehi pada-pallavam udaram, in golden letters. By doing so, Sri Krsna made a resounding announcement, as if beating kettledrums everywhere, to loudly proclaim His love for His devotees.

                                                        Say No More 

(Mahaprabhu with Raya Ramananda at Godavari) 

prabhu kahe, “eho haya, age kaha ara”
raya kahe, “eha va-i buddhi-gati nahi ara”
yeba ‘prema-vilasa-vivarta’ eka haya
taha cuni’ tomara sukha haya, ki na haya
eta bali’ apana-kata geta eka gahila
preme prabhu sva-haste taìra mukha acchadila

(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, Madhya 8.190-192)

“Sriman Mahaprabhu said, ‘Whatever you have said regarding the meetings between Sri Radha and Krsna is all right, but please say something more.’ Sri Raya Ramananda replied, ‘O Lord, my intelligence cannot penetrate further, but there is another stage called prema-vilasa-vivarta. However I do not know such a description will be to Your satisfaction or not.’ Saying this, Sri Ramananda Raya began to sing his own composition, but Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu immediately covered Ramananda's mouth with His lotus hand.”