SANATANA GOSVAMI AND THE GIRLS' BRAIDS

ahe srinivasa ei vrksera talaya; hoilo ye ranga taha kohiye tomaya
eka dina sanatana govardhana hoite; etha aila rupa raghunathera dekhite

"O Srinivasa!", Raghava Pandita told Srinivasacarya, "I will tell you what pastime took place at the base of this tree! One day Sanatana Gosvami came here (to Radhakunda) from Govardhana to see Sri Rupa and Sri Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami!"

sri rupa gosvami padya koroye racana; venira upama dilo vyalangana phana
sanatana gosvami dekhiya kichu koy; dila e upama - iha hoy va na hoy

"Sri Rupa Gosvami had written a verse in which he compared Srimati Radharani's braid with the hoods of a female snake. Seeing this verse, Sanatana Gosvami said: "I don't know if this is a good comparison or not!" (756-7)

eto kohi' asiya namila kundajale; dekhaye - balikagana khele vrksatale
balika mastake veni pithete lotaya; sanatana dekhe - sarpa-bhrama hoilo tay
balikagana prati kohe ati vyaghra hoiya; mathaya cadhaye sarpa prsthadesa diya
abodha balikagana hao savadhana!; eto kohi nivarite korila payana

"Saying this, he went down to the lake and saw (reflected) in the water that some girls were playing under a tree. When Sanatana Gosvami saw the braids of these girls, that hung down their backs, he mistook them for snakes. Very anxiously he told the girls: "O stupid girls! Be careful! Snakes are crawling up your backs!", and ran up to them to stop these snakes. Seeing that Sanatana Gosvami was very upset, the girls giggled and disappeared!"

sanatana atisaya vyakula dekhiya; antardhana hoila sobe isat hasiya
sanatana vihvala hoila ekhane; sthira hoiya gela rupa gosvamira sthane
rupe kohe - ye likhila sei satya hoy; sri rupa janile sanatanera hrdoy

"Here (on the eastern bank of Radhakunda) Sanatana Gosvami became overwhelmed. After calming down he went to Sri Rupa Gosvami and said: "What you wrote (about the snake) was true!" Sri Rupa understood what was on Sanatana's mind (and that he had understood the purport of the verses)."