Tam prati kasyashcid uktih
One Gopi’s Words to Her
Verse 311
“The moving forest-flower
garland must have wiped
the sandalwood paste from
Your breasts, and the movements
of the shark-shaped earrings
must have destroyed the pictures
of sharks drawn on Your cheeks.”
“O rascal gopi, this slender body
was washed of these things by
the water’s playful waves.”
“You speak the truth. Even now
You are jubilantly submerged in
the nectar waters of the Yamuna.”
— Sri Rupa Gosvami
Note: In this verse a gopi-friend accuses Srimati Radharani of enjoying pastimes with Krishna. The gopi says that the sandalwood paste on Radharani’s breasts must have been wiped away by Lord Krishna’s flower garland when He embraced Her, and the picture of the sharks drawn on Radharani’s cheeks must have become destroyed by Krishna’s shark-shaped earrings when He kissed Her. Radharani then defends Herself, saying that the sandalwood paste and shark-pictures were washed away when She bathed in the Yamuna. The gopi is reluctant to believe it.