Ecstatic Couplets: the Yugal Gita, by Shyamdas

In this beautifully evocative tale, the Gopis seek their Beloved Krishna in the forests of Vraja, singing 12 couplets that are jewels of devotional teaching. As told in the 32nd chapter of the Srimad Bhagavatam, the Gopis of Vrindavan dance with God, and afterward the Lord establishes His own joy within those blessed dairymaids, the gurus of the devotional path.

He fills them with His own joy
And also becomes full of bliss.

Then the Gopis bring the Beloved out from their hearts through their mouths and sing a song that fills their ears, making them firmly established in Him alone. The yoginis of love praise the Beloved in couplets—hence the title Ecstatic Couplets (Yugal Gita). In these couplets, they describe, with words full of inner meaning, what blessed Hari does. They reveal Sri Krishna’s various lilas—His divine plays—during the year. For each month, the Gopis sing twelve unique couplets, one after another. Each couplet also represents one hour of the day and displays a devotional reward.

The Ecstatic Couplets are jewels of teaching, direct insight into the heart of the Gopis’ devotion, where bliss is found within yet the principal attainment is the outward dalliance. They taste with their spiritual beings their Beloved’s world, full of exuberant movements and union. He stands before them with blissful body and senses and establishes in them His own ecstatic essence.

2011. Softcover, 62 pp