Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.75.15
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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taila
—
with oil
Sesame oil — the auspicious base. Even worldly festival uses sacred substances; Gauḍīyas read the festival's externals as recyclable for sevā when the heart redirects.
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go-rasa
—
yogurt
Compound: go (cow) + rasa (juice/essence). Cow-products are Kṛṣṇa's category — Vraja runs on milk and yogurt. The festival uses them playfully; the Vaiṣṇava uses them for the deity.
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gandha-uda
—
perfumed water
Compound: gandha (fragrance) + uda (water). The same compound that names the perfumed water Yaśodā bathed her Son in. The substance carries Vraja-resonance even in Hastināpura's neighborhood.
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kuṅkumaiḥ
—
with vermilion powder
Instrumental plural. Kuṅkuma is the sign of auspiciousness, of the goddess, and of the worshiped deity's feet. Its festival use is a faint echo of its worship-use.
Śrīla Prabhupāda describes this scene as follows: “The men and women of Indraprastha, their bodies smeared with scents and floral oils, were nicely dressed in colorful garments and decorated with garlands, jewels and ornaments. They were all enjoying the ceremony, and they threw on each other liquid substances like water, oil, milk, butter and yogurt. Some even smeared these on each other’s bodies. In this way, they were enjoying the occasion. The professional prostitutes were also engaged by jubilantly smearing these liquid substances on the bodies of the men, and the men reciprocated in the same way. All the liquid substances had been mixed with turmeric and saffron, and their color was a lustrous yellow.”
The women got smeared more than the men (pra—limpantyaḥ).
- What does my body know about celebration that my mind would dismiss?
- Where could I trust the body's joy more?
The same kuṅkuma that women throw in play is the same kuṅkuma that marks Kṛṣṇa's feet in worship. The substance is identical; the intention divides ordinary play from sacred play. Gauḍīyas teach the difference is not in materials but in offerer.
My note
Source: vedabase.io