Suguṇā Dāsī and Rādhā

In Chapter 21 of the Rājya Khaṇḍa of the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, a dāsī (a woman attendant) named Suguṇā serves Bhagavān Rāma in a small but loving way. She holds out her hands for the tāmbūla (betel) that He must spit out. Pleased with her devotion, Rāma offers her a vara (a boon). She asks to be with Him in His next birth. Rāma promises that she will be born as Rādhā in Gokula, when He comes as Kṛshṇa in the Dvāpara Yuga.

The episode

One day Rāma was lying on His bed, chewing tāmbūla. He was about to spit out the first rasa (juice), which is held to be impure. He looked around for the spittoon, but there was none at hand. A dāsī named Suguṇā was sitting near and saw what He needed at once. She quickly held her cupped hands before Him in place of a vessel. Rāma spat the first tāmbūla rasa into her hands.

Suguṇā took this rasa, the ucchishṭa (leavings) of Rāma’s mouth, as if it were mahāprasāda come down from the divine. She received it as a gift of the highest worth. She understood it to be the grace of Bhagavān Rāma in its closest and most direct form.

Rāma was deeply pleased by this act, which came from her heart without any thought of gain. He turned to her and said, “O dāsī, ask for whatever vara is in your heart.”

Suguṇā’s request

Suguṇā answered, “O Rāghava, in this birth you are the ekapatnī-vratin, one who keeps a vow of one wife. Your love belongs wholly to Sītā. I cannot ask to be with you in this birth. So I ask this: in your next birth, in whatever form you take, give me your company.”

Rāma’s vara

Rāma smiled and gave her what she asked:

“In the Dvāpara Yuga to come, I will come down in Gokula as Kṛshṇa. You will be born there as Rādhā, a gopī. You will play with me for a long time. Of this there is no doubt. Among all the gopīs of Gokula, you will be the dearest to me.”

Sources

• Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Rājya Khaṇḍa, Chapter 21