“She has adorned herself, and every time a leaf rustles,
imagining you’ve come, she spreads out the bedding,
and thinks only of you;
Despite hundreds of such games of make-believe,
putting on jewels and preparing your bed,
this lovely girl won’t survive the night without you.”

“Why are you resting beneath that banyan tree, my brother?”
Radha asked a traveler.
“It’s full of blacksnakes. Why not go to Nanda’s
comfortable home?
You can see it from here.”
Radha’s speech, repeated by that traveler in Nanda’s
presence that evening,
contained a secret message for Krishna:*
(“The banyan tree is an abode for Krishna the lover.
Why not go to that place of delightful delight?”)
Glory to the words concealed in the greetings of a guest!