Vidagdha-mādhava

Author: Rūpa Gosvāmī

"The Clever Mādhava" — Rūpa Gosvāmī's play in seven acts (1532) on the love of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā in Vraja. Paurṇamāsī secretly brings the young Rādhā, given in marriage to Abhimanyu, together with Kṛṣṇa; her friends Lalitā and Viśākhā lead her through shyness and pique, the jester Madhumaṅgala amuses and muddles, the rival Candrāvalī and stern Jaṭilā stand in the way — and spring games, a stolen flute and autumn nights bring the lovers together again and again. The heroines speak Prakrit, as the stage requires; many of the play's verses Rūpa quotes in his own treatises on rasa.