Dana Keli Kaumudi – Festival of the toll tax Pastime

DĀNA-KELI-KAUMUDĪ Festival of the toll tax Pastime

antaḥ-smeratayojjvalā jala-kaṇa-vyākīrṇa-pakṣmāṁkurā 

kiñcit patalitāñcalā rasikatotsiktā puraḥ kuñcat’\

ruddhāyāḥ pathi madhavana madhura-vyabhugna-tārottarā

rādhāyāḥ kilakiñcita-stavakini dṛṣṭiḥ śriyam vaḥ kriyāt ||1||

May the sight of Śrīmati Rādhārānī’s kila-kincita ecstasy, which is like a bouquet, bring good fortune to all. When Sri Krsna blocked Śrīmati Rādhārānī ’s way to the dana-ghati, there was laughter within Her heart. Her eyes grew bright, and fresh tears flowed from her eyes, reddening them. Due to Her sweet relationship with Krsna, Her eyes were enthusiastic, and when Her crying subsided, She appeared even more beautiful.(Dāna-Keli-Kaumudī Text-1)                      

Srila Rupa Gosvami compiled 100,000 verses, beginning with the book Dāna-Keli-Kaumudī. In all these scriptures, he elaborately explained the transcendental mellows of the activities of Vrndavana.This Dāna-Keli-Kaumudī describes the famous and celebrated pastime of Krsna’s efforts to extract a toll from Sri-Radha and Her companions as they carried butter for the performance of a sacrifice being performed in the Govinda-Kunda. The subject matter of Dāna-Keli-Kaumudī is Radha’s love, Her anuraga,and the dana-lila is simply the occasion for that love to be manifested.This Dāna-Keli-Kaumudī is a bhanika or one-act play, in which the action takes place in a single time frame locale and represents a drama’s manuscript form that is in form of conversation between the gopis,gopas, Śrīmati Rādhārānī and Lord Krsna.This book will definitely relish the readers.