Text 25
evaṁ śaśāṅkāṁśu-virājitā niśāḥ
sa satya-kāmo ’nuratābalā-gaṇaḥ
siṣeva ātmany avaruddha-saurataḥ
sarvāḥ śarat-kāvya-kathā-rasāśrayāḥ
evam — in this manner; śaśāṅka — of the moon; aṁśu — by the rays; virājitāḥ — made brilliant; niśāḥ — the nights; saḥ — He; satya-kāmaḥ — whose desires are always fulfilled; anurata — constantly attached to Him; abalā-gaṇaḥ — His many girlfriends; siṣeve — He utilized; ātmani — within Himself; avaruddha — reserved; saurataḥ — conjugal feelings; sarvāḥ — all (the nights); śarat — of the autumn; kāvya — poetic; kathā — of narrations; rasa — of the transcendental moods; āśrayāḥ — the repositories.
Although the gopīs were firmly attached to Lord Kṛṣṇa, whose desires are always fulfilled, the Lord was not internally affected by any mundane sex desire. Still, to perform His pastimes the Lord took advantage of all those moonlit autumn nights, which inspire poetic descriptions of transcendental affairs.
It is difficult to translate into English the word rasa, which indicates the spiritual bliss derived from one’s loving relationship with Lord Kṛṣṇa. That bliss is experienced in the midst of spiritual pastimes with the Lord and His devotees. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains that great Vaiṣṇava poets like Vyāsa, Parāśara, Jayadeva, Līlāśuka (Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura), Govardhanācārya and Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī have tried in their poetry to describe the conjugal affairs of the Lord. These descriptions are never complete, however, since the Lord’s pastimes are unlimited; thus the attempt to glorify such pastimes is still going on and will go on forever. Lord Kṛṣṇa arranged an extraordinary season of beautiful autumn nights to enhance His loving affairs, and those autumn nights have inspired transcendental poets since time immemorial.