I received a letter asking about the specifics of the design Visakha-sakhi draws on Radha's forehead after her morning bath, otherwise described as kama-yantra in Govinda-lilamrita. This is the reply.

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The expression kama-yantra used in Govinda-lilamrita (2.77) is a metaphor employed to express the alluring power and attraction the bindu-decoration on Radha's forehead invokes in Krishna. In practice, there are different designs that may be drawn. As for how exactly they are painted, you may want to get in touch with someone who is doing smarana enough to be doing them directly in meditation himself or herself to learn the details.

The fact that it cannot be a literal kama-yantra is evident after the slightest thoughtful reflection. The affair between Radha and Krishna is a highly clandestine matter. She plays the role of a chaste housewife, living in the house of her in-laws. Now, imagine if she were to actually walk around with an actual kama-yantra painted on her forehead... I imagine it would raise a few eyebrows around the village!

To snap you for a moment into a world where the acceptable realities are more evident to us, imagine a situation where your chaste wife began walking around with a pair of playboy bunny earrings adorning her earlobes. It would certainly come across as a bit suspicious, especially if she behaved in a markedly asexual and dispassionate manner with you.

To grasp the ornate language of the scriptures, to avoid mistaking the literal for a metaphor and the metaphor for a literality, one should always keep in mind the context in which words and sentences appear; in this case, the context is acceptable social standards of behavior in the community of Vraja.

Otherwise, you can find at least one version of the kama-yantra, also known as vasibhuta-yantra or mohini-yantra, online; have a look and consider if that's something you'd want to have painted on Srimati's forehead after her morning bath!

I hope this gives you a new angle to the question.

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P.S. I have attached below a retouched version of the kama-yantra I found online (courtesy of CrescentMirror.Com).


A description of the elements of the yantra reads as follows, from top to down, left to right:

Top: śrī kāma yantra

Mantra: śrīṁ oṁ śrīṁ
oṁ śrīṁ aiṁ hrīṁ klīṁ mohanī vāsīkaraṇa kuru kuru svāhā

Three astrological symbols with the words śubha (nine-divided square), vijaya (star) and lābha (eight-divided square) written under them, numbers representing different planets in different houses written in their different divisions. Interpreting the charts is beyond my expertise.