आमुक्तमाल्यदा (विजयनगर सम्राट् श्रीकृष्णदेवराय - गोदा देवी आण्डाल भक्ति एवं साम्राज्य-नीति)

Goda Devi 43
is as dry as a garland of flowers thrown in the hot sun, and Goda
Devi has become as light as a doll made of cork.
But Goda Devi silences them. From whence so much anxiety
on their part? There really is nothing wrong with her! But, of
course, she is like a piece of metal being heated in the fire (puta
paaka prakarambagu viyoga dhava durbharamu) as she undergoes the
pangs of separation. When alone, she gives expression to her sorrow,
for the flute-player of Brindavan has entered her very being:
"The left shoulder that appeared soft and gleaming like
a blue lotus fresh blown, held up the makara ear-rings; the
eye brow shaped as a neem leaf seemed to be a guardian to
keep away the evil eye from the unequalled loveliness of the
face; slightly bent lips that were a hibiscus-red; eyes long and
bright that look on sweetly; music that flowed like seven
floods pleasing the ladies in the seven worlds; all this, O
Govinda, from you as your fingers danced upon the flute
created soulful music. How have you managed to charm the
Yadava maids!"
Goda Devi's identification with the gopikas of Brindavan
is so complete that she finds herself back in space and time and
suffers like one of the hundreds in the woods The cause of this
discomfiture is Radha!
"O Radha! like droves of deer the gopikas came braving
the wrath of their in-laws, drawn by the irresistible call of
Krishna's flute. Is it right for you to draw him away from the
rest and enjoy his company in selfish isolation?"
In that bhoga bhoomi of divine love, one sight after another
assaults Goda Devi. Here are the footmarks of Krishna that have
pressed deep into the mud. He must have been carrying a weight,
surely the weight of a gopika whom he was leading to a trysting
place! These are Yadava maidens lying on the banks of Yamuna,
suffering the flaming darts of love. What else can one expect on
the banks of a river who also happens to be the daughter of fiery
Surya and a sister of death-dealing Yama!
Goda Devi's efforts to contain the rising tides of passion by a
bewitching smile do not deceive her friends. They tell her that her
suffering is logical and is of a piece with her past lives. "How so?"