Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
This is Śrī Viśākhā Sakhī’s place of residence. She is famous among the eight prominent sakhīs. Her father is Śrī Pāvana Gopa and her mother is Devadānī Gopī102. This place, situated five miles south-east of Nandagaon, is where playful Kṛṣṇa applied kajala (añjana) to the eyes of His prāṇa-vallabhā Śrīmatī Rādhikā. This pastime place is therefore known as Āñjanauka.
Once, Śrīmatī Rādhikā was sitting in a secluded kuñja with Her sakhīs, who were dressing and decorating Her with various ornaments and jewels. All that was left to be done was to apply añjana to Her eyes, when suddenly Kṛṣṇa played upon His sweet flute. As soon as Śrīmatī Rādhikā heard that sound, She became overwhelmed, and with great anticipation She left to meet Her prāṇa-vallabha without having applied añjana. Kṛṣṇa was also anxiously waiting to meet Her, and when She arrived, He sat Her on a flower-seat. He then put His arms around Her neck and His eyes eagerly drank Her beauty. When He noticed that there was no añjana on Her eyes, He asked the sakhīs why. They answered, “We had fully decorated Her except for the añjana but, as soon as She heard the sweet sound of Your flute, She became so eager to meet with You that She immediately ran off. Although we repeatedly requested Her to wait so that we could apply añjana, we were unable to stop Her.” This filled Kṛṣṇa with joy, and He applied añjana to Her eyes with His own hands. He then held up a mirror to let Rādhikā taste the beauty of Her form, which He also relished by looking in that mirror.
Bhakti-ratnākara says:
dilena rādhikā netre mahā harṣa haīyā
Also situated here is a rāsa-maṇḍala, where rāsa-līlā took place. Kiśorī-kuṇḍa lies in the south of the village, and on the west bank of this pond is the añjanī-śīlā on which Śrī Kṛṣṇa seated Śrī Rādhā and decorated Her eyes with añjana.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
The name of this village is derived from the word ‘anjana’, which means ‘eye mascara’ or black collyrium and generally known in India as kajal, which enhances the beauty of the eyes and is used by women the world over and commonly known as eye-liner. One day, Radharani, with the help from Her girlfriends, was getting Herself nicely dressed and decorated with jewels and various ornaments ready to meet Krishna in a nearby kunja. She was almost finished and the sakhis were just about to apply anjana to Radharani’s eyes when She suddenly heard the sound of Krishna’s flute in the far distance. Radha immediately lost Her composure and concentration on what She was doing and being completely overcome with transcendental ecstasy, in anticipation of meeting Her beloved Krishna, She suddenly jumped up and hurriedly ran off to where Her lover was waiting, followed closely behind by Her girlfriends.
On reaching the kunja, Krishna was waiting there ready to greet Her and after bringing Her inside the forest bower, sat Her down on a seat covered with flower petals prepared by Vrinda. Krishna then began admiring the exquisite beauty of Radha’s divine form and appreciating the way She had dressed and decorated Herself with various jewels and ornaments. Gazing deeply into Her moon-like face, Krishna understood that in Her excitement to meet Him, She had forgotten to apply anjana on Her beautiful lotus eyes. Krishna asked the sakhis for some anjana and began to ecstatically apply the anjana on Radha’s eyes. The ecstasy of the transcendental lovers knew no bounds as They drank deeply the beauty of each other’s form. The Bhakti-ratnakara says, “Looking at the beauty of Radha, Krishna noticed that Her eyes were not decorated with anjana. When He inquired about the reason for this, the sakhis explained everything. Enjoying the opportunity, Krishna brought anjana and applied it to Radha’s eyes in great happiness. For this reason this place is called Anjanaka.”
In the village located on the banks of Kishori-kunda one can see the Anjana-bihari Mandira. Inside this temple on a pedestal one can see the anjana-sila, or smooth black rock on which Radha sat while Krishna applied anjana on Her eyes. There is also a rasa-mandala platform nearby which commemorates the rasa-lila dance that took place at Anjanaka. According to the Kurma Purana, this is the village of Visakha-shakhi, one of Radharani’s most intimate girlfriends and an important member of the famous ashta-sakhis, or group of eight most confidential friends of Radharani. However, the Bhakti-ratnakara mentions that Vishakha was born in nearby Kamai village. According to the local Vrajavasis, Ajanaukha is the birthplace of Indulekha-sakhi, another of the famous ashta-shakhi girlfriends of Radharani. Anjanaka is also mentioned in the Vraja-bhakti-vilasa to be one of the prativanas (sub-forests) of Vrindavana Dhama.
