Chapter Four
Śrī Śrī Rūpānuga-bhajana-darpaṇa – Song Twelve
(A Mirror Reflecting the Worship Which Follows Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī)

(1-2)
śrī-nandānandana dhana tadīya ballabhā-gaṇa
madhura-rasera ālambana
gopī-gata rati jāhān gopī-cittāśroya tāhān
kṛṣṇa-mātra biṣoya takhan

jāhān rati kṛṣṇa-gata raty-āśroya kṛṣṇa-cita
gopī tāhān ratira biṣoya
biṣoya āśroya dhore’ sthāyī-bhāba rati core
naile rati udgata nā hoya

1-2) The delightful Son of Nanda Mahārāja considers all His loving consorts, the gopīs, to be His most valued treasure. Both He and they are the foundations of the mellow of conjugal love. This mellow flows back and forth between them all in these two ways: 1) when the rati (affection) flows toward the gopīs and takes shelter in their hearts as the object, then Kṛṣṇa becomes the one and only subject of their love, and 2) when the rati flows toward Kṛṣṇa and takes shelter in His heart as the object, then the gopīs become the one and only subject of His love. In this manner affection flows mutually within the sthāyī-bhāva (the permanent ecstasy) because of the combination of both the subject and object, without which there is no possibility of genuine love existing.

(3)
bibhābete ālambana rase nitya prayojana
braje tāi kṛṣṇa gopīnātha
madana-mohana dhana brajāṅganā gopī-jana
ballabha rasika rādhā-nātha

3) Thus there is the necessary functioning of this combination of foundation which contain this love for Kṛṣṇa, and these mellows are the eternal and topmost goal of all existences. Thus within Vraja, Kṛṣṇa is known as Gopīnātha, the Lord of the gopīs. And the most highly valued treasure of this Madana-Mohana is all the cowherd maidens of Vraja, the gopīs. Kṛṣṇa is their dearmost lover, their sweet relisher, and the Lord and Master of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

(4)
swīya-parakīya-bhede rasa rasāntarāswāde
nityānanda biraje mādhaba
boro bhāgyabāna jei nije ālambana hoi’
āswādaye se rasa-āsaba

4) Lord Mādhava thoroughly enjoys Himself in full eternal bliss as He tastes the internal mellows contained within the principles known as svakīya (love within marriage) and parakīya (unwedded love). And one who also becomes one of these basic foundations for sharing these loving exchanges is most fortunate, for she also tastes the maddening wine of these supremely transcendental mellows along with Kṛṣṇa Himself.