338 tracy pintchman
Oh, my heart, worship Krishna.^15
Laughing, sweet Radha asked, “Krishna, how did that red tilak(auspicious mark)
get on your forehead?”
Krishna said, “Listen, dear Radha, I got the tilakwhen I went to bathe in the
Ganges river.”^16
Laughing, sweet Radha asked, “Krishna, how did that ka ̄jal(eyeliner) get on your
eyes?”
Krishna said, “Listen, dear Radha, when I picked up a pen, the ink (from the pen)
got on my eyes.”
Laughing, sweet Radha asked,”Krishna, how did that red color get on your
mouth?”
Krishna said, “Listen dear Radha, my friends fed me pa ̄n, and because of that my
mouth has gotten red.”^17
Laughing, sweet Radha asked, “Krishna, how did that red color get on your feet?”
Krishna said, “Listen, dear Radha, my heel has become red from walking on a
henna-leaf.”
Laughing, sweet Radha asked, “Krishna, how did your dhoti^18 get yellow?”
Krishna said, “The washerman (dhobi) must have changed the dhoti.”
When sweet Radha heard these things, she called the washerman immediately.
“Listen to what I have to say, Washerman: How is it that Krishna’s dhotigot
exchanged for this one?”
The washerman said, “Listen, sweet Radha, Krishna and Tulsi have gotten
married.”
When sweet Radha heard these words, she bolted the door from inside
Krishna said, “Dear Radha, open the door! Tulsi will be your servant (da ̄sı ̄).”The following song is even more explicit about the tensions between Radha and
Tulsi:
In back of me, there is a Clove tree; cloves fall down from it all night long.
My father cut down that clove tree and made a bed frame, and father wove a bed
out of silk.
The groom Shri Krishna and Queen Rukmini sleep on that bed
Radha and Rukmini sleep there, one on each side, and Shri Krishna sleeps
between them.
Radha asks, “I am asking you, Sister Rukmini, what is it that I smell?”
Krishna is talking and laughing; Tulsi stands just at his head
(Rukmini says,) “That is Tulsi’s fragrance wafting in.”
(Radha says,) “If I get a hold of Tulsi now, I will pull her out by the roots, and I
will throw her into the Ganges River! Then all of my troubles will go away!”
(Tulsi says,) “Go ahead, Radha, go to the Ganges River (and throw me in);
Krishna will bathe in the river. I will touch Krishna’s feet, and my life will be
fulfilled (suphal).”
(Radha says,) “If I get a hold of Tulsi now, I will pull her out by the roots, and I
will throw her in the cooking fire. Then all my troubles will go away!”
(Tulsi says,) “Okay, go ahead and throw me in the cooking fire. Then I will
become fire in the month of Ma ̄ gh. In Ma ̄ gh and Pu ̄ s, everyone is cold.^19
Krishna will warm himself by that fire, and my life will be fulfilled.”