krishna-kāntā-gaṇa dekhi tri-vidha prakāra
eka lakṣmī-gaṇa, pure mahiṣī-gaṇa āra
vrajāṅganā-rūpa, āra kāntā-gaṇa-sāra
śrī-rādhikā haite kāntā-gaṇera vistāra
The beloved consorts of Lord Krishna are of three kinds: the goddesses of fortune, the queens, and the milkmaids of Vraja, who are the foremost of all. These consorts all proceed from Rādhikā.
avatārī krishna yaiche kare avatāra
aṁśinī rādhā haite tina gaṇera vistāra
Just as the fountainhead, Lord Krishna, is the cause of all incarnations, so Śrī Rādhā is the cause of all these consorts.
vaibhava-gaṇa yena tāṅra aṅga-vibhūti
bimba-pratibimba-rūpa mahiṣīra tati
The goddesses of fortune are partial manifestations of Śrīmatī Rādhikā, and the queens are reflections of Her image.
lakṣmī-gaṇa tāṅra vaibhava-vilāsāṁśa-rūpa
mahiṣī-gaṇa vaibhava-prakāśa-svarūpa
The goddesses of fortune are Her plenary portions, and they display the forms of vaibhava-vilāsa. The queens are of the nature of Her vaibhava-prakāśa.
ākāra svabhāva-bhede vraja-devī-gaṇa
kāya-vyūha-rūpa tāṅra rasera kāraṇa
The Vraja-devīs have diverse bodily features. They are Her expansions and are the instruments for expanding rasa.
bahu kāntā vinā nahe rasera ullāsa
līlāra sahāya lāgi’ bahuta prakāśa
Without many consorts, there is not such exultation in rasa. Therefore there are many manifestations of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī to assist in the Lord’s pastimes.
tāra madhye vraje nānā bhāva-rasa-bhede
krishnake karāya rāsādika-līlāsvāde
Among them are various groups of consorts in Vraja who have varieties of sentiments and mellows. They help Lord Krishna taste all the sweetness of the rāsa dance and other pastimes.
Purport by Srila Prabhupada
As already explained, Krishna and Radha are one in two. They are identical. Krishna expands Himself in multi-incarnations and plenary portions like the puruṣas. Similarly, Śrīmatī Radharani expands herself in multiforms as the goddesses of fortune, the queens and the damsels of Vraja. Such expansions from Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī are all Her plenary portions. All these womanly forms of Krishna are expansions corresponding to His plenary expansions of Viṣṇu forms. These expansions have been compared to reflected forms of the original form. There is no difference between the original form and the reflected forms. The female reflections of Krishna’s pleasure potency are as good as Krishna Himself.
The plenary expansions of Krishna’s personality are called vaibhava-vilāsa and vaibhava-prakāśa, and Rādhā’s expansions are similarly described. The goddesses of fortune are Her vaibhava-vilāsa forms, and the queens are Her vaibhava-prakāśa forms. The personal associates of Rādhārāṇī, the damsels of Vraja, are direct expansions of Her body. As expansions of Her personal form and transcendental disposition, they are agents of different reciprocations of love in the pastimes of Lord Krishna, under the supreme direction of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. In the transcendental realm, enjoyment is fully relished in variety. The exuberance of transcendental mellows is increased by the association of a large number of personalities similar to Rādhārāṇī, who are also known as gopīs or sakhīs. The variety of innumerable mistresses is a source of relish for Śrī Krishna, and therefore these expansions from Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī are necessary for enhancing the pleasure potency of Śrī Krishna. Their transcendental exchanges of love are the super excellent affairs of the pastimes in Vṛndāvana. By these expansions of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s personal body, She helps Lord Krishna taste the rāsa dance and other, similar other activities. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, being the central petal of the rāsa-līlā flower, is also known by the names found in the following verses.
govindānandinī rādhā, govinda-mohinī
govinda-sarvasva, sarva-kāntā–śiromaṇi
Rādhā is the one who gives pleasure to Govinda, and She is also the enchantress of Govinda. She is the be-all and end-all of Govinda, and the crest jewel of all His consorts.
devī krishna-mayī proktā
rādhikā para-devatā
sarva-lakṣmī-mayī sarva-
kāntiḥ sammohinī parā
“The transcendental goddess Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the direct counterpart of Lord Śrī Krishna. She is the central figure for all the goddesses of fortune. She possesses all the attractiveness to attract the all-attractive Personality of Godhead. She is the primeval internal potency of the Lord.”
This text is from the Bṛhad-gautamīya-tantra.
‘devī‘ kahi dyotamānā, paramā sundarī
kimvā, krishna-pūjā-krīḍāra vasati nagarī
“Devī” means “resplendent and most beautiful.” Or else it means “the lovely abode of the worship and love sports of Lord Krishna.”
krishna-mayī — krishna yāra bhitare bāhire
yāṅhā yāṅhā netra paḍe tāṅhā krishna sphure
“Krishna-mayī” means “one whose within and without are Lord Krishna.” She sees Lord Krishna wherever She casts Her glance.
kimvā, prema-rasa-maya kṛṣṇera svarūpa
tāṅra śakti tāṅra saha haya eka-rūpa
Or “krishna-mayī” means that She is identical with Lord Krishna, for She embodies the mellows of love. The energy of Lord Krishna is identical with Him.
Purport by Srila Prabhupada
Krishna-mayī has two different imports. First, a person who always thinks of Krishna both within and without and who always remembers only Krishna, wherever he goes or whatever he sees, is called krishna-mayī. Also, since Krishna’s personality is full of love, His loving potency, Rādhārāṇī, being non different from Him, is called krishna-mayī.
krishna-vāñchā-pūrti-rūpa kare ārādhane
ataeva ‘rādhikā’ nāma purāṇe vākhāne
Her worship [ārādhana] consists of fulfilling the desires of Lord Krishna. Therefore the Purāṇas call Her Rādhikā.
Purport by Srila Prabhupada
The name “Rādhā” is derived from the root word ārādhana, which means “worship.” The personality who excels all in worshiping Krishna may therefore be called Rādhikā, the greatest servitor.
anayārādhito nūnaṁ
bhagavān harir īśvaraḥ
yan no vihāya govindaḥ
prīto yām anayad rahaḥ
“Truly the Personality of Godhead has been worshiped by Her. Therefore Lord Govinda, being pleased, has brought Her to a lonely spot, leaving us all behind.”
ataeva sarva-pūjyā, parama-devatā
sarva-pālikā, sarva jagatera mātā
Therefore Rādhā is parama-devatā, the supreme goddess, and She is worshipable for everyone. She is the protectress of all, and She is the mother of the entire universe.
‘sarva-lakṣmī‘-śabda pūrve kariyāchi vyākhyāna
sarva-lakṣmī-gaṇera tiṅho hana adhiṣṭhāna
I have already explained the meaning of “sarva-lakṣmī.” Rādhā is the original source of all the goddesses of fortune.
kimvā, ‘sarva-lakṣmī‘ — kṛṣṇera ṣaḍ-vidha aiśvarya
tāṅra adhiṣṭhātrī śakti — sarva-śakti-varya
Or “sarva-lakṣmī” indicates that She fully represents the six opulences of Krishna. Therefore She is the supreme energy of Lord Krishna.
sarva-saundarya-kānti vaisaye yāṅhāte
sarva-lakṣmī-gaṇera śobhā haya yāṅhā haite
The word “sarva-kānti” indicates that all beauty and luster rest in Her body. All the lakṣmīs derive their beauty from Her.
kimvā ‘kānti’-śabde kṛṣṇera saba icchā kahe
kṛṣṇera sakala vāñchā rādhātei rahe
“Kānti” may also mean “all the desires of Lord Krishna.” All the desires of Lord Krishna rest in Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
rādhikā karena kṛṣṇera vāñchita pūraṇa
‘sarva-kānti’-śabdera ei artha vivaraṇa
Śrīmatī Rādhikā fulfills all the desires of Lord Krishna. This is the meaning of “sarva-kānti.”
jagat-mohana krishna, tāṅhāra mohinī
ataeva samastera parā ṭhākurāṇī
Lord Krishna enchants the world, but Śrī Rādhā enchants even Him. Therefore She is the supreme goddess of all.
rādhā — pūrṇa-śakti, krishna — pūrṇa-śaktimān
dui vastu bheda nāi, śāstra-paramāṇa
Śrī Rādhā is the full power, and Lord Krishna is the possessor of full power. The two are not different, as evidenced by the revealed scriptures.
mṛgamada, tāra gandha — yaiche aviccheda
agni, jvālāte — yaiche kabhu nāhi bheda
They are indeed the same, just as musk and its scent are inseparable, or as fire and its heat are nondifferent.
rādhā-krishna aiche sadā eka-i svarūpa
līlā-rasa āsvādite dhare dui-rūpa
Thus Rādhā and Lord Krishna are one, yet They have taken two forms to enjoy the mellows of pastimes.
prema-bhakti śikhāite āpane avatari
rādhā-bhāva-kānti dui aṅgīkāra kari’
śrī-krishna-caitanya-rūpe kaila avatāra
ei ta’ pañcama ślokera artha paracāra
To promulgate prema-bhakti [devotional service in love of Godhead], Krishna appeared as Śrī Krishna Caitanya with the mood and complexion of Śrī Rādhā. Thus I have explained the meaning of the fifth verse.
O Radhe queen of Vrindavan you are like a flowing river filled with the nectar of mercy. Please be kind upon me and bestow upon me some small service at your lotus feet.
Krsnadas Kaviraj Goswami was especially empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to reveal the secret mission both internally and externally of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who was the yug avatar and beyond that the most extraordinary aspect of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is explained herein how Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to teach what no other incarnation has taught with such liberality. The pure unavoid love of the residents of Vrindavan to everyone even in the lowest age to the most degraded and fallen souls to the sublime message of chanting the Holy Names .
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna,Krishna, Hare Hare,
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare Hare!
Today we are celebrating Radha Ashtami the most blessed and auspicious celebration of the supreme pleasure potency, Srimati Radha Rani appearing within this material existence.To understand the nature of Srimati Radha Rani is a great philosophical journey into the depths of the essence of all knowledge.
Radhanath Swami on Krsna’s energies
It is explained by Kaviraj Goswami and the previous acharyas that Krsna has three primary energies. His internal energy, which is his spiritual energy. His external energy or material energy and the marginal energy which is the part and parcels spirit souls that are eternally sub-ordinate to one of these two energies as tatatha shakti. The living entity must be a servant under the subjugation of either the internal energy or the external energy.
The internal energy is where the constitutional nature of a jiva can be fully expressed. The internal energy is that which is eternal, full of knowledge, full of bliss. Where the bliss of loving ecstatic pastimes is all that takes place forever. It is the land of unlimited happiness. The external energy is the land of exploitation. The land of envy and greed.
And the Lord has explained through his representatives that this internal energy has three principles: Sandini, Samvit and Hladini. The Sandini potency of the internal energy of the Lord is that energy in which the Supreme Personality of Godhead maintains all of existence. And the Samvit potency is that in which the supreme Lord knows Himself and makes Himself known to others. And Hladini potency is that potency which gives the Lord unlimited eternal pleasure and also gives all of His devotees unlimited eternal pleasure. And it is for the purpose of this Hladini shakti that Sandini and Samvit are manifested; are existing. Because ultimately ananda mayo abhyasat Krsna is anada mayi. That means he is the reservoir of all pleasure. And it is only for pleasure that the Lord transcendentally performs his various functions and pastimes in the spiritual world.
Krsna is the supreme enjoyer. His enjoyment is the all and all of his existence. And because Krsna is the supreme enjoyer, the jivatma, which is part and parcel of Krsna, our life and soul is also to enjoy. We find the conditioned soul under the illusions of this external energy. Every part of that soul’s existence is simply to try to find enjoyment in one way or the other. Even when we make sacrifices and perform great austerity it is ultimately for the purpose of enjoyment. Even when a man goes to the battlefield to die for his country, it is so that he can enjoy the fact that his country would be free and he has given his life for that purpose. Factually everything we do is for the purpose of enjoyment. We have children for the purpose of enjoyment, we raise children for the purpose of enjoyment. We go to work and suffer so many austerities for the purpose of enjoyment. We even remain in this body and suffer birth, old age, disease and death just for the purpose of little enjoyment. The whole existence of our life is to seek pleasure. Why? Because we are part of Krsna. Because Krsna existence is simply to taste pleasure, to enjoy pleasure.
But the illusion is we think we can enjoy apart from Krsna . But the natural function of the pleasure seeking nature of the soul is to experience unlimited pleasure in giving Krsna pleasure. When you water the root of the tree every part of the tree is satisfied. Similarly when we satisfy Krsna automatically our soul is satisfied, all the Demi-Gods are satisfied, everyone is satisfied. That if we surrender to Mukunda we have no other responsibilities or duties to anyone because all obligations are fulfilled when we please Krsna. Because He is the reservoir of all pleasure. He is the reservoir of all pleasure means that we can all derive unlimited pleasure from Krsna just by pleasing Him.
But where does Krsna get his pleasure from? This is the great question that Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami is herein explaining in such wonderful, wonderful shlokas. That the supreme absolute truth is one. There is one God, there is not a second God.
Krsna says I am the source of all material and spiritual existence. Everything emanates from me.
That Krsna is the supreme truth. There is no truth superior to Krsna . He is the supreme enjoyer. But where does that one supreme truth and enjoyer get his enjoyment from? Obviously he gets it from himself. Because everything is contained within him, nothing exists separate from Him.
Krsna has multifarious energies. We have described the principal three. And they have innumerable sub-divisions, but they are all Krsna, they are all within Krsna , they are all of Krsna. So when Krsna wants to enjoy supreme bliss he is the supreme enjoyer, so in order for Him to enjoy supreme enjoyment He needs someone who is supremely enjoyable. Therefore Krsna expands Himself as His own Hladini shakti or pleasure potency. And the function of this pleasure potency is to give Krsna unlimited pleasure. And in giving Krsna pleasure, the pleasure potency enjoys even greater pleasure than Krsna.. And in this relationship of supreme pure spiritual pleasure, Krsna becomes the reservoir of all pleasure and then all living entities, all the jivatmas can derive unlimited bliss from Krsna and he gets that bliss from his eternal consort Srimati Radha Rani . She is the source of all pleasure. She is the source of all happiness. And just as Krsna expands Himself in various avatars to enjoy various rasas or pleasures at different times and at different places and in different moods for all of eternity, similarly Srimati Radha Rani, his pleasure potency, expands alongwith Him.
When Krsna expands in Vaikunta into Lord Narayan, Sri Radhika expands Herself as Laxmi Devi. For what purpose? Simply to give Narayan unlimited pleasure.
Radhanath Swami on Significance of Kolhapur
Some of our devotees visit Kolhapur. There is a very great meaning to that Holy city in Maharashtra . The story of when Sri Laxmi Devi saw that Brighu Muni had placed his foot in a very aggressive way on the chest of Narayan, she could not tolerate that . She felt she had to perform tapasya just to atone for what had happened. So she went to Kolhapur to perform her tapasya out of her intensified love. But Narayan, he could not find any happiness in Vaikunta without Lakshmi Devi. There was no pleasure in Vaikunta without Lakshmi devi. All of the beautiful, beautiful bejeweled palaces of Vaikunta, all of the eternal associates who are in liberated pure devotion, who reside in Vaikunta, they have only one function – simply to create an atmosphere in which Lakshmi and Narayan can enjoy. That’s all. And without Lakshmi, all of the beauty, all of the glory, all of the devotees of Vaikunta have no meaning for Narayan. So he came down to this earth to perform tapasya to get Lakshmi back and the place where he performed tapasya is now where the temple of Tirupati, the most famous temple in all of India, where so many millions and millions of people come every year, sometimes hundreds and thousands a day just to see him for a second and they are all, so many people are asking benedictions from him and his benedictions are all to give pleasure because they know he is the reservoir of all pleasure. But where does he get his pleasure from, from Lakshmi Devi, she is the pleasure potency of the Lord.
And when the supreme Lord Krsna manifests himself both in this world and as well as in the Vaikunta worlds as Lord Ram, Srimati Radha Rani she’ll always be by his side to give him supreme pleasure, expands herself to Sita Devi. And when the supreme Lord Sri Krsna manifests himself in Dwarka as Dwarkadish, Srimati Radha Rani in order to be by his side to give him unlimited happiness, she expands herself to become Rukmini and the 16107 other queens of Krsna.
When Lord Varaha Dev appeared, Krsna expanded Himself as Varahadev and Srimati Radha Rani expanded herself as Bhudevi be his consort and give him pleasure. In this way all of the Goddesses of fortune, all of the consorts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are expansions or reflections of the original fountainhead of all the Lord’s energies and all the Lord’s associates, Srimati Radha Rani.
Radhanath Swami on The principal divisions of Goloka
In the spiritual world of Goloka, there are 3 principal divisions: Dwarka, Mathura and Vraja. And it is in Vraja that Srimati Radha Rani in her original transcendental personality, is internally existing and the whole land of Vraja is simply going on in its transcendental existence under the direction, guidance and the leadership of Srimati Radha Rani. Because all of the land of Vraja is simply existing and all the eternal associates of the lord, for the purpose of assisting Srimati Radha Rani, in giving happiness to Krsna. That is all. No one in Vrindavan wants to enjoy Krsna , not in Vraja. In Dwarka, in Vaikunta some sense of that may be there, but in Vrajbhoomi no one wants to enjoy Krsna. Everyone is simply existing eternally with the unlimited eagerness to somehow assist Srimati Radha Rani in giving pleasure to Krsna.
And this is the siddhanta of the Gaudiya Vaishnav Acharyas. That this is our ultimate aspiration in life, eternal, is to become Gopipartor pada kamla yor das das anu das to become the servant of the servant, of the servant, of the servant of Gopinath. And in other words it means to become the servant of the servant or the maid servant of the maid servant ,of the maid servant of Srimati Radha Rani. Because we cannot approach Krsna except through the mercy and the kindness of Srimati Radha Rani. And Srila Prabhupada on so many occasions explained in this way that Srimati Radha Rani is the very personification of all devotion. She is the full expression of complete love. All love is part and parcel of Srimati Radha Rani’s love. She is love itself. Love of God itself and love for all living beings. So Srimati Radha Rani, she has all the qualities of supreme love and as we know love is very much dependant on the quality of humility. Caitanya Mahaprabhu explained to Sanathan Goswami, it is humility alone that can conquer Krsna. Because without pure humility there cannot be real love Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught us this verse.
Trinad api sunicena
taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena
kirtaniyah sada hari
That if you want to please Krsna who has descended within His name, we have to approach the name in a way that will satisfy the Lord and that means to be humble like a blade of grass, to be tolerant like the tree, to offer all respects to others, and to expect none in return. And of course we know that Caitanya Mahaprabhu was the supreme embodiment of such humility. And Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s devotion was Srimati Radha Rani’s devotion.
Srimati Radha Rani is the ultimate embodiment of the purest and highest sense of love and humility. And therefore Srila Prabhupada explains that although she is Vrindavaneshwari, she is the queen of Vrindavan, although all of the unlimited servants are simply trying to assist her in her service to Krsna and although her love is so great that even Krsna becomes subordinate to that love, in other words she is the greatest of the great. Krsna is worshipped by the shruti, by the smriti, by all of the Vedas, by all of the great personalities, all of the rishis. They are all eternally offering prayers in service to Krsna. And yet Krsna is madan mohan mohini, Radha Rani is madan mohan mohini, that even Krsna is subordinate to her love. When Srimati Radha Rani wants to enjoy Vatsalya raas she expands herself as Yashoda, when she binds Krsna with the rope, with that love. In this way in Vrindavan there are so many stories of how Krsna even places his crown on the lotus feet of Srimati Radha Rani.
And although she has the most supremely exalted position, even the greatest most learned acharyas Rupa Goswami, Sanathan Goswami, Raghunathdas Goswami, Gopal bhata Goswami, Jiva Goswami, Raghunath bhata Goswami, Swarup Damodar Goswami, Ramananda Rai , what is their purpose and function? Simply to offer praise and service to Srimati Radha Rani. And yet she is naturally feeling in her heart, Srila Prabhupada explains that all the devotees are better than me. She is thinking that I have no love for Krsna .
Radhanath Swami on Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s leela when he jumped into the Ganges
Caitanya Mahaprabhu reveals Srimati Radha Rani’s heart. When he jumped into the Ganges with the aspiration to end his life, Thakur Haridas and Nityananda prabhu, they somehow understood what was the Lord doing and they dove into the Ganges and somehow grabbed the beautiful golden body of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and somehow lifted him back unto the shore of the Ganga. He said why have you brought me here? Why have you done this to me? The purpose of life is to love Krsna . If there’s no love for Krsna there’s no purpose to life. Without a purpose to life why should we go on living? If I had one drop of love of Krsna in my heart, I would never be able to continue breathing, I could not live for a moment in separation from Krsna. The fact that I am living in separation from Krsna is the evidence I have not even a drop of love for him. Why did you not allow me to take this life? What is the use of this life? What is the use of my existence?
Radhanath Swami on Srimati Radharani’s mood
This is the mood of Srimati Radha Rani. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu said Gopipartur pada kamla yor das das anu das. I aspire only one position to be the servant of the servant, of the servant, of the servant of servant, who is it speaking? Caitanya Mahaprabhu when he speaks it is Srimati Radha Rani speaking. Who is Caitanya Mahaprabhu ? Krsna with the heart of the love of Sri Radha Rani and with her complexion.
Krsna desired to understand the nature of Srimati Radha Rani’s love. He wanted to understand what it was about himself that so much attracted her transcendental ecstasies and he wanted to experience himself what is that ecstasy of happiness? It is greater than mine. I am the source of all bliss but when she sees me she derives bliss that even I cannot understand. I want to taste that. And for these 3 internal reasons Lord Krsna appeared as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu; Krsna with the devotion and the complexion of Srimati Radha Rani . And lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was the very, very embodiment of humility, supreme humility. How he would serve his devotees. How he would care for his devotees. How he made his devotees his very life and soul. So Srila Prabhupada explains that Srimati Radha Rani is thinking all devotees are better than herself. This is Srimati Radha Rani’s mood.
And what is our mood? We are always wanting to compete and compare ourselves. To try to enjoy the idea that I am a better devotee than you. Or to show others that I am a better devotee than him or them.
So when one devotee becomes the servant of a beloved servant of Srimati Radha Rani and she sees such sincerity then she will approach Krsna and she will tell Krsna he is better than me or she is better than me. Give this devotee your mercy. And Krsna can never say no to Srimati Radha Rani . Now that is the full sure path of getting the mercy of Lord Krsna. If you have Srimati Radha Rani’s mercy you have Krsna’s mercy in full. Because we can not refused the loving missing (47.20)
Radhanath Swami on The meaning of Radhanath Das
Srila Prabhupada gave me the name Radhanath Das. Whenever we think Radhanath means Krsna was the Lord of Radha, but when I go to Vrindavan they have a different idea. They think Radhanath means Radha who is Nath, who is the Lord of Krsna. So is the mood of the brijwasis. That’s why they are always chanting jai Radhe, jai shri Radhe. They are always appealing for the mercy of Sri Radha Rani because they have the understanding that without the mercy of Sri Radha Rani you cannot approach the mercy of Krsna. She is all merciful, she is supremely humble. She is the mother of all living entities. And she wants to bring all of her children back into the loving service of Krsna .
Radhanath Swami on Knowing Krsna through bhakti
But as far as Gaudiya Vaishnavas are concerned, we understand what it means to pray to Krsna. It means to become the servant of the servant, of the servant, of the servant of Srimati Radha Rani. And the six Goswamis are part of this principal. So beautiful. Radha Rani is the source of bhakti. And therefore we can understand through this principal itself that the only way to approach Krsna is through bhakti. And that is why in Bhagavad Gita Krsna says:
That it is only through bhakti that you can know me as I am. As I am standing before you in my personal form, you can only know me through bhakti. In this way in Bhagavad Gita Krsna is actually glorifying Srimati Radha Rani. Because bhakti means Srimati Radha Rani. Unless you get the favour and grace of Srimati Radha Rani or one of her expansions you cannot know me as I am. You cannot know Krsna through discourses of gyan – Gyana kanda. Through your intellect, through your mastery of the scriptures or logic or philosophy. You cannot know Krsna as he is. Krsna will not reveal Himself as he is through that source. We can understand so many things about the world, we can understand so much philosophy of the absolute truth but we cannot know Krsna as he is. Nor through karma kanda, performance of so much ritual, performance of so many sacrifices. Through giving of so much charity, through acquisition of so much wealth, we cannot know Krsna as he is. Nor even through the yoga kanda. We can achieve powerful, powerful siddhis, we can become great mystics, we can be tremendously self controlled, we can even be elevated to the higher planets where the great yogis reside and associate with them and we may even have some understanding of the brahmjyoti and the paramatma but to understand Krsna as he is it is not possible.
bhakti ya mama vicharate
Essentially what this means is that unless we get the mercy of Srimati Radha Rani you cannot know me as I am because she is the reservoir of all bhakti. There is no, she is bhakti. And that bhakti is the singular exclusive means by which Krsna enjoys unlimited ecstasies. She is the source of that.
And if somehow she becomes gracious upon us then somehow Krsna will reveal himself to us in this way. And Lord Brahma the original spiritual master of this entire universe, said, let us pray that you can understand Shyam sunder only when your eyes are smeared with the salve of love, but that love, that love is the love of Srimati Radha Rani. She is all love. So today in her mercy is the ultimate perfection and aspiration in our life.
And how to gain her mercy ? Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srimati Radha Rani herself spoke as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Gopipartor pada kamla yor das, das, das anu das by becoming the servant of the servant, of the servant, of those great devotees and disciplic succession we become most dear to Sri Sri Radha Gopinath. That is the real essence of all transcendental knowledge.
Srimad Bhagvatam is declared to be Amalam Puranam, the Paramhans Samhita. It is the fulfillment of the great mission of Srila Ved Vyas in his compilation of the Vedic literatures. And it was spoken by Srila Sukhdev Goswami and the great acharyas in our line describe how the internal purpose of Srimad Bhagvatam is to glorify the supremacy of Srimati Radha Rani. But then it may be asked if this is so then how is it that her name is not even mentioned, even one time directly? And the acharyas describe how the situation with Maharaj Parikshat had seven days to live and Sukhdev Goswami who was actually a personal associate of Srimati Radha Rani and a dear devotee of Srimati Radha Rani was fearing that if he spoke her name that he would enter into an ecstatic trance of love and this may cause the delay in his speaking and then he may not complete Srimad Bhagvatam in 7 days. In fact how long he would be in such ecstatic trance is a great mystery. So therefore he very purposely avoided directly speaking her Holy Name.
And also it is explained that when Sukhdev Goswami was speaking to the sages, there were various different kinds of sages that were there. Some were pure bhaktas and some were not pure bhaktas. So he was feeling that to directly explain who this gopi was and to discuss her name may not be understood, because the confidential pastimes of Radha and Krsna are generally only explained directly amongst very, very highly self realized souls who have pure hearts and who are able to deeply appreciate the spiritual nature of this top most subject matter. But Vishwanath Chakravorty Thakur explains how when Sukhdev Goswami was explaining the ras leela of Lord Krsna, how he was in the assembly of all the most devotional loving damsels of Vraja on the banks of Jamuna in Vrindavan. He left all of them just to enjoy the pleasure of one and at that time when Krsna left, the gopis were searching and searching and they saw the footprints of one gopi who Krsna left them all for. And all these top most transcendentalists the gopis, they all declared that there is one gopi whose worship is so supremely superior to even ours that Krsna has left all of us only to accept her worship. And in the process Vishwanath Chakravorty Thakur says Sukhdev Goswami could not contain himself and he indirectly spoke Srimati Radha Rani’s name. And from this passage he actually glorified the supreme position of Srimati Radha Rani and in the beautiful story of Uddhava being sent from Mathura to Vrindavan to give Krsna’s message. At that time Srimati Radha Rani, although her name was not directly disclosed, the particular gopi that was speaking is declared by all of the Acharyas to be that of Srimati Radha Rani and the expression of her love for Krsna is an expression of prema an unconditional transcendental ecstasy that has not been revealed in any other of the Puranas or any other of the Vedas. So in this way Sukhdev Goswami has given the supreme glorification of Srimati Radha Rani in Srimad Bhagvatam.
And Lord Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the personification of Srimad Bhagvatam. Bhagvatam is the book Bhagvat and Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the person Bhagvat in the sense Srimad Bhagvatam is non-different than Krsna. It is said that when Krsna left this planet he descended in this age of Kali as Srimad Bhagvatam. It is Krsna Himself in sound vibration and that same Srimad Bhagvatam manifested in full glory in the personal form of Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Because the essence of Srimad Bhagvatam is the ecstatic loving relation between Radha and Krsna and Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu being non-different from Bhagvatam was simply the incarnation, eternal in this world, eternally existing in the spiritual world, but the combined form of the loving relationships of Radha and Krsna .
And Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave us these most sublime and the safest and most authorized process of approaching the wonderful pastimes of Radha and Krsna . Because the purpose of hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord is to purify our hearts so that we can please the Lord. We should not be listening to the katha, or having kirtans simply for our own enjoyment. Enjoyment will be there but our purpose should be that by purifying our self through this process we can give real enjoyment to Radha and Krsna.
yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado
yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto ‘pi
By giving pleasure and satisfaction to our spiritual master, by serving his instructions and his mission. It is the only way by which Srimati Radha Rani will accept our service. It is the only way by which Krsna will ultimately be satisfied with our service.
In this way the chanting of the Holy Name’s of the Lord which is the yuga dharma was revealed by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna,Krishna, Hare Hare,
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare Hare.
Radhanath Swami answers Why Srimati Radha Rani is called Hare
Hare is the name of Srimati Radha Rani. Prabhodananda Saraswati offered beautiful, beautiful prayers to Srimati Radha Rani . In one such prayer he describes the supreme position of Radhas love over Krsna. How when Krsna sees her beauty the flute slips and falls from his hand and sometimes, he doesn’t even know it and when he is captivated by her beauty, even his beautiful crown falls sideways on his head and he is not aware of that. And if a breeze touches the sari of Srimati Radha Rani and then touches Krsna, just from the touch of that breeze, he comes practically blinded in ecstatic love and practically loses his consciousness. And because Srimati Radha Rani’s supreme devotion always steals the heart of Krsna her name is Hare. Hare means one who steals the heart of Krsna. So Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu chose this mantra, chanting the beautiful names of Radha and Krsna . and by chanting sincerely and living a pure life following the regulative principals very carefully without hypocrisy and by serving the mission of the spiritual master one can actually achieve the perfection by which we gain eternal entrance into the leela of the Lord.
One of my God brothers was in Vrindavan in 1972 or 1971, 1972 actually it was and guru Maharaj Srila Prabhupada was just building Krsna Balaram temple and so he put this devotee in charge of construction. He was a sanyasi and he was an American man and for Americans to get things done in India is very difficult. For me it’s not difficult here, because we have Sanatkumar and Shyamananda, Raghupati Krsnachandra, I don’t have to do anything, I’m just, I’m a lazy man. But he had no one. Directly fight with the construction workers, and fight about what the price of cement was and anyone who sees fair complexion sees rupees. There everyone was trying to cheat him. It was very difficult. He didn’t like it. He said to Srila Prabhupada I’m in Vrindavan, I didn’t come to Vrindavan to be just arguing with materialistic people day and night and worrying about being cheated. Everyone else is chanting Jai Radhe, Jai Radhe. He was becoming very envious in the sense, seeing people walking down the streets with their bead bags saying Jai Radhe, Jai Radhe, Hare Krsna and he’s just worrying about rupees and somehow building a temple. So he actually approached Srila Prabhupada and said I just want to do bhajan and Srila Prabhupada said building this temple is your bhajan. Arguing with these people is your mantra but we must build this temple. He explained, Prabhupada was giving him the highest service of Srimati Radha Rani by assisting her pure devotee in his mission. It’s the greatest way we can please Srimati Radha Rani and it is a mission of compassion.
Purpose to created the TemplesCaitanya Mahaprabhu descended into this world to give Krsna prem to everyone and that is the purpose of these temples to give Krsna prem to everyone. To assist someone who is giving Krsna prem to the masses, to the fortunate souls that is such a service to Srimati Radha Rani. Many babajis they cannot understand this. Why leave Vrindavan? What is this preaching? You should just absorb yourself in the hastakala leela of Radha and Krsna and just be day and night engrossed in his thoughts. What is this nonsense? Going to these materialistic places and meeting with materialistic people and risking so much contamination of your hearts. They will not leave Vrindavan . But Caitanya Mahaprabhu he traveled all over India and he sent his devotees everywhere to preach. And who is Caitanya Mahaprabhu – Vrindavaneshwari, Srimati Radha Rani herself. Through Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Radha and Krsna in the one form of Gauranga manifested his deepest desire to liberate the world through propagating the Holy Name of the Lord. So Srila Prabhupada explained this, that you can chant Radhe Radhe and you can chant Krsna Krsna , you can chant so much and you can do so much meditation and you can do so much tapasya here in Vrindavan but if you are not pleasing Radha and Krsna what is the use of it all. You will get nothing. And what will please Radha and Krsna?
yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado
yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto ‘pi…….
By pleasing your guru. My mission to my guru Maharaj Srila Prabhupada said, is to spread the compassion of the Lord to the world. And we must build this temple in Vrindavan so that devotees from all over the planet can come to Vrindavan and get a real understanding of what Vrajbhakti is from the authorized source. So they can have a place to stay when they are in Vrindavan.
When I met Srila Prabhupada in Vrindavan in 1971 he was in somebody’s house- a very nice gentleman from delhi, Mr.Sharaf. He had a house in Vrindavan – Sharaf Bhavan. So when Srila Prabhupada wanted to bring his disciples to Vrindavan he had to go borrow some house from someone. It was an international movement. He wanted devotees to come, to have their own Guru’s house to live in where they can do puja and worship and have complete freedom and in that way to serve the spiritual master. So this was his vision and he was giving this devotee the most precious opportunity to assist him in this most glorious mission, but this unfortunate devotee was thinking that I just want to do bhajan. This is material. So ultimately Srila Prabhupada gave him the chance, but he did not accept it. Then ultimately for the time being he lost his very taste for Krsna consciousness because diverted from the path altogether in the process of his bhajan because it was not pleasing to Krsna. Of course he would be back in a matter of time. So we should understand what it is that pleases, what it means to the servant of the servant of the servant of Srimati Radha Rani in her ultimate pleasure giving service to Krsna . It means to follow in the footsteps of the great Acharyas to assist them in their service to Srimati Radha Rani and in this way please them.
And at the same time it is our most important factor whatever service we may have, to always remember Krsna by always hearing his glories, by keeping nice association of his devotees and chanting his Holy Names.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare Hare.
On this very auspicious day of Shri Radha Ashtmi we have the wonderful opportunity by the mercy and blessings of Guru Maharaj Srila Prabhupada, the great Vaishnavas, to pray at the lotus feet of Srimati Radha Rani to always be merciful and kind upon our fallen souls and kindly always keep us as the servant of the servant of the servant. Let us make our vows to pursue this life always at her lotus feet.
Thank you very much
Srila Prabhupada ki jai.
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