RED DUST

- The song of the Pulindi girl of Vraja

SBB Vol.III 7.119 Purport."Seeing the kunkuma on the ground reminded them first of Krishna and then of His intimate affairs with the gopis. Thinking about these things agitated their minds [...] And how were the aborigine women relieved of this agitation?  By picking up the red powder and smearing it on their faces and breasts, which were burning with lust.  Having done this, the Pulindis felt completely satisfied."

SBB III 7.146 Purport " [...]...the aborigine women lacked the assets of knowledge, good birth, good behavior and devotion to God. They were ignorant of their own eternal identities as spirit souls, and because they had never come close enough to Nanda Maharaja's village to see Krsna with their own eyes, they were also ignorant of Krsna's all-attractive beauty.  None the less, in the forest, the aborigine women of Vraja accidentally came in contact with grass and leaves smeared with kunkuma from the bodies of the gopis   [...] even though indirect, it infused them with sublime devotion for Krishna ...[...].  Having had some contact with the gopis, the aborigine women of Vraja all attained a perfection similar to theirs, if not in this life then in the next."

SGS 1.4.56 "When they saw Him, some aborigine girls became tortured with lust."

Venu Gita pg392  "When the Pulindis first saw the kunkuma they understood it to be the decoration from Sri Radha's breast."

SD 21.17 Comm. "Upon seeing Krsna from a distance, the Pulindis developed a great desire to smell the fragrance of Krsna's body, so they smeared the kunkuma from the grass on their faces."

SB 10.21.17 "The aborigine women [Pulindi] of the Vrndavana area become disturbed by lust when they see the grass marked with reddish kunkuma powder."

The forest,

disrobed of the veil of night

wears the marks of love,

and the incorporeal Cupid

assails me

with throbbing thoughts

of forbidden love;

Retracing red stained footprints

as if bringing back the taste

of a lost dream,

I touch the red dust

and in a flap of wings

I lose my bird-like heart.

A night of playful love

has just now passed ~

taste, scent, words, smiles,

captured by the amorous moonlight,

fell to the ground

in a rain of red sand, of sensual love

that covers my hand

and now agitates my mind,

as if possessed 
by this passionate Cupid,

the elf of the groves of love.

The nocturnal zephyr,

after stealing the shivers

from desirous limbs

and perspiring bosoms,

dropped this red pollen of love

on the leaves, stones and twigs.

I rub it on my face,

my body afire,

and become a little satisfied

just imagining His touch.

The forest Cupid's brush

paints the silence of my heart

with red amorous passion;

I gather more and more

of the ruby-red dust

from the ground and the grass,

daub it on my eyes,

frantically ~

as a blend of glances, touches,

trembling hips, greedy lips

and joyful fatigue

come to me

like a vivid dream.

Hypnotised ~

I powder my limbs

with those scarlet sparkles

scattered from the body of Radha,

where Her love leaves no corner empty

nor finds a place to hide 

nor shadows 
where its splendor might abate.