Kamaī, Birthplace of Viśākhā: Earning Prema and the Special Branch
• Ullāsa, Not a Worm-eaten Eggplant: Speaking in Hindi at Kamaī after a night in Barsana Dhāma, Gurudeva tells the devotees that bhakti without joy is like a ripe eggplant with a worm in it, of no use. The greatest symptom of bhakti is ullāsa, and everything should be done with it.
• Earn Prema-bhakti at Kamaī: Punning on the name Kamaī, “earnings”, he urges the devotees to earn prema-bhakti. Before prema, guru-bhakti, guru-niṣṭhā and a mood of service to the Vaiṣṇavas must come; to gain this much in one life is the greatest thing.
• Viśākhā, Born with Rādhā: Kamaī is the birthplace of Viśākhā, Rādhā’s most intimate sakhī, whom he calls Anurādhā, “the one who follows Rādhā”. She was born at the same moment as Rādhā, so Rādhā’s heart is joined with hers.
• Viśākhā as Rāya Rāmānanda: Viśākhā knows Rādhā’s bhāva and appeared as Rāya Rāmānanda. After sannyāsa Mahāprabhu went south from Jagannātha Purī with one purpose, to meet him, for Rādhā’s bhāva cannot be understood without Viśākhā’s mercy.
• The Three Reasons for Gaura’s Appearance: Following Svarūpa Dāmodara’s kaḍacā (śrī-rādhāyāḥ praṇaya-mahimā), Kṛṣṇa wished to know the glory of Rādhā’s love, the sweetness She tastes in Him, and Her happiness in tasting it, and so appeared as Śacīnandana Gaurasundara with Her bhāva and kānti. Even this tasting is impossible without Viśākhā’s shelter.
• Madhumaṅgala Reads Kṛṣṇa’s Mind: Madhumaṅgala, back from learning mind-reading from Bhāguri Ṛṣi, closes his eyes and describes a white rāja-haṁsinī with her companions, chased across a lake by a dark rāja-haṁsa as she dives and resurfaces. Kṛṣṇa, the haṁsa longing for Rādhā, the haṁsinī, is moved to tears.
• The Special Branch: Asked how to catch the haṁsinī, Madhumaṅgala points to a tree by the lake with many śākhās, branches: only by taking shelter of the special branch, vi-śākhā, can she be caught. Without Viśākhā’s ānugatya no one, not even Kṛṣṇa, attains Rādhā’s bhāva.
• Glorify the Resident of Each Place: At each place one should glorify whoever lives there; reciting the Hanumān Cālīsā will not do in Vraja, and at Kamaī one glorifies Viśākhā. He recalls Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda’s description of the aṣṭa-sakhīs’ services, Lalitā with tāmbūla, Viśākhā with camphor, Campakalatā with the cāmara,
Gurudeva closes by saying the devotees have come to the feet of Viśākhā Devī, before the group moves on to the next place
