Radhanath Swami explains
Decorated by the dress of Lord Damodara’s increasing ecstasy, you are the lady of the house of Lord Hari and the groves of Vrindavan. From the ocean of Vrishabhanu has arisen a new moon which is overwhelming the qualities of Lalita and Vishakha. O Goddess, Your qualities are described by Sanaka and Sanatana Rishis and by Sanatana Goswami. Please bestow your mercy upon me. Glories, glories to Sri Radharani, the beloved of Madhava and most worshipable of the cowherd girls of Gokula Mandala!
Änanda-cin-maya-rasa-pratibhävitäbhis
Täbhir ya eva nija-rüpatayä kaläbhiù
|Goloka eva nivasaty akhilätma-bhüto
Govindam ädi-puruñaà tam ahaà bhajämy
[Bramha Samhita 5.37]
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord. He resides in His own realm, Goloka, with Rädhä, resembling His own spiritual figure, embodiment the ecstatic potency (hlädiné) possessed of the sixty four artistic activities. In companions of Her confidantial Sakis embodiments extensions of Her bodily form permeated and vitalized His ever-blissful spiritual rasa.”
This beautiful sloka was spoken by Lord Brahma in his most mature state of realization of the absolute truth. He was given by the infinite mercy of Shri, Shri Radha Shyamsunder the wonderful vision of the supreme most of all the Vaikuntha planets Shri Goloka Vrindavan Dham. Here he is explaining that in this realm of Goloka everything that exists is Cintamani. It is spiritual, wish fulfilling subject matter. The primary function, in fact the exclusive function of everything in the spiritual world is for the pleasure of Krishna. Krishna says in Gita,
Bhoktäraà yajïa-tapasäà
Sarva-loka-maheçvaram
Everything is His property and everything is meant for His enjoyment both in the material world as well in the spiritual world, because Krishna is Rasaraj, He is the enjoyer of everything that exists.
- Soul and it’s nature and potencies:
Anand-mayo-bhyasat:
But in order for there to be supreme enjoyment, there must be a supreme enjoyed. Just like Srila Prabhupada was explaining in the class this morning that when he gives a lecture if no one comes and he is sitting in the middle of the night in a dark room alone, there is not pleasure in giving such a lecture. But when there are hundreds of attentive people sincerely drinking the nectar of the divine words emanating from his lotus mouth then that reciprocation brings both parties great pleasure. We also find in this world where all living entities who are mere infinitesimal parts and parcel of Krishna, how everyone is seeking pleasure in loving relationships and of course the topmost of loving relationships is the loving relationships between male and a female, where there is an enjoyer and enjoyed.
He is Vibhu, we are Anu:
Where does this nature begin? It is describes in the Shastras and explained by the great Acarya’s that this nature in its purest divine form is within Krishna the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We as infinitesimal Jivaatma’s have a limited power to enjoy and therefore we are seeking limited objects of enjoyment but Krishna is unlimited, He is the supreme reservoir of all pleasure, He is infinite in His every aspect, He is Vibhu inconceivable, unlimited. Therefore He has an unlimited power to enjoy, everything. Just as when the Brijwasi’s during the Govardhan Puja they prepared lakes of Kheer and condense milk and Gulab Jamuns, literally lakes of them and huge mountains thousands upon thousands of mountains of Rotis and Laddus and Sabjis and Pakora’s and Samosas like that. For us three or four three or four and we are satiated, five or six and we are sick, seven or eight we go to sleep because we are limited. But Krishna with His arms He appeared within the Govardhan Hill, His arms stretch out and within a matter of seconds, He ate everything and then He was calling out Aniyor! Aniyor! Give me more, more, more and the Brijwasi’s there was nothing else, the entire stock of all of their food and milk and everything was offered, but He was calling out for more and more and more and ultimately they offered Him a Tulsi leaf with great devotion and He said now I am satisfied. So Krishna has the power not only to eat mountains and mountains of Bhoga but He has the power to eat entire universe. In His Viratarupa Arjuna saw Krishna eating armies, He was eating everything worlds and universes in the form of time.
Srimati Radharani – pleasure potency:
So we should understand that Krishna has unlimited power to enjoy so how will He enjoy? So therefore He expands Himself by His own infinite inconceivable spiritual potency He divides Himself and that the power of what gives Him pleasure from within Himself expands into the supreme enjoyed. That one form, that one personality who can provide Krishna infinite unlimited enjoyment and that is Srimati Radharani. Sri Radhikarani is the pleasure potency, hlädiné–çaktiù of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, she is absolutely non-different than Krishna they are one but they become two for enjoyment, for pleasure, for exchanging unlimited Rasa or mellows of love. But the most wonderful thing is the power of Krishna’s pleasure potency overwhelms Krishna Himself, although Krishna can enjoy unlimitedly Radharani gives so much enjoyment to Krishna that He cannot assimilate and accept all of the love that she gives. Therefore He is eternally expanding Himself greater and greater and greater just to try to keep up with the power and the supply of love that Srimati Radharani is all times offering to Him.
Krishna is called Madan Mohan because cupid, Kama Deva who keeps everyone captivated by the bondage and shackles of material existences. Kama Deva, himself is bewildered by the beauty of Krishna but Srimati Radharani is known as Madan Mohan Mohini which means she captures and bewilders the even He who bewilders cupid. She is vrindavaneshvari she is goddess, the queen of Vrindavan because all of Vrindavan is emanation of Her potency which is for Krishna’s enjoyment.
Three potencies:
It is describe that there are three potencies, primary potencies of the spiritual world, Paräsya çaktir vividaiva çrüyate one is called saàvit, sandhiné and hlädiné.
Sandhiné – that potency which maintains and preserves the variegatedness of the spiritual world.
Saàvit – that potency which gives cognizant which facilitates all the living beings within the spiritual world to recognize their relationship with Krishna.
Hlädiné-çaktiù – that potency which mixes with all the other potencies so that to give ultimate pleasure and enjoyment to Krishna.
Srimati Radharani – Pleasure potency:
This hlädiné-çaktiù Swaroop Damodar Goswami explains is Srimati Radharani in personification; she is the source of all pleasure. When the living entities within this material world want to enjoy this potency of Krishna for their own personal interest then that hlädiné–çaktiù transform into the personality of Durga. Durga has a trident and trident has spheres which represent ädhyätmika, adhidaivika, adhibhautika the miseries cause by one’s own body and mind, the miseries cause by other living beings and miseries caused by natural disturbances or higher powers.
Within this material world as long we want to lord it over what is the property of God, what is meant for His pleasure we inevitably and potentially being stabbed by the miseries of material existence by Durga Devi. When we decided to live in harmony with the sweet will of Srimati Radharani by assisting Her in offering everything in creation to Krishna then She appears before us into our life in Her own personal divine form. We see the beautiful form of Sri, Sri Radha Gopinathji, Radharani is offering a garland in Her hands to Lord Gopinath and what is our service just to be the servant of the servant of the servant to make nice preparation so that Srimati Radharani can offer it to Krishna.
- Mood of Vrindavan:
In Vrindavan no one wants to enjoy Krishna because they know that they cannot satisfy Krishna only Sri Radharani can satisfy Krishna. So Vrindavan is that place where everyone is simply the servant of the servant of the servant assisting in Shri Radharani’s loving exchanges with Lord Shri Krishna. The power of Her love is the supreme power of all powers, greater than that of the goddess of fortune.
Caitanya Caritamrita explains that Shri Radhikarani in her vaibhava–viläsa she by Her partial expansion she appears as Laxmi Devi the goddess of fortune and the queens of Dwarka are called vaibhava–prakäça they are like reflections of Sri Radharani but the Sakhis and the confidential Gopis of Braj are directly expansion of Her original form. That’s why Brahmä samhita explains Lakñmé-sahasra-çata-sambhrama-sevyamänam that in Goloka Vrindavan Krishna is surrounded by hundreds and millions of Laksmi’s but every Gopi of Vrindavan who are of that category of the expansions of Sri Radhika are millions of time superior in their power to give pleasure than Laxmi of Vaikuntha. Why Srimati Radharani expands herself as Lalita, Vishaka, Citra, Tungavidhya and so many of the Sakhis and Manjari’s simply to give a greater variety of pleasure to Krishna.
Srimati Radharani’s Mahabhava:
There is a beautiful story of how one time a breeze of wind came and it touched a corner of the cloth which was part of the dress of Sri Radhikarani and then that breeze touched the body of Shyamsunder and upon feeling that breeze, Krishna became intoxicated with divine joy, He was experiencing ultimate pleasure and happiness and He began to extol that He had attained the supreme most fortune because that same breeze that touched Radharani’s outer cloth had come and bestowed the ultimate opulence of fortune upon Him. The nature of that love, Mahabhava cannot be understood ever by anyone even in the most perfected state of consciousness but we can assist and be the humble servant of the servant of that exchange of love and that is the one and only perfection that the followers of Lord Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu strived for in their lives.
Udhava desiring to become the blade of grass:
After Krishna left Vrindavan for Mathurä and Dwarka for many years it is explained how the Gopis headed by Sri Radharani how they were severely inflicted by separation from Krishna. In fact the dear most friend of Lord Krishna Udhava was sent by Krishna to give a message to the Brijwasi’s and especially to Shri Radharani and Her Gopi associates. Udhava was actually considered by everyone in Mathura and later in Dwarka to be the most fortunate because he was continuously at the side of Krishna, practically day and night they would eat together, they would joke together, they would lay down and rest together, they would play together, whatever they did they shared each other’s lives. But Udhava went to that Holy place of Udhava Kyari which is just between Barsana and Nandagaon. There he found the Braj Gopis simply lying in the ground unable to function, their eyes just blinded with tears in feelings of separation from Lord Krishna.
Absorption of Radharani in rememberance of Krishna:
Srimati Radharani after hearing Udhava message she happened to see one black bumble bee and she began to speak to that Bumble bee chastising the Bumble bee that ‘you have come as a servant of that beautiful black color Shyamsunder.’ The color of the black made her connection with Krishna and she began to speak the intimate expression of her hearts separation from Krishna and when Udhava heard this he felt himself to have absolutely no bhakti at all that people think that I am advance but even in the absence of Krishna how they are so totally absorbed in Krishna and only Krishna with such love. Upon seeing this Udhava performed severe Tapasya in the mood of praying of becoming a blade of grass because he was a prince and Radharani and Her friends were simple cow maids Gopis. It would be very embarrassing for him to the dust from their feet. So he prayed that he could become a blade to give up his princely stature, his royal opulence in Mathurä, Dwarka to even give up intimate friendship with Krishna, because there was a higher realm of consciousness to somehow other even one time be stepped upon by the beautiful lotus feet of Shri Radharani and Her friends and get that dust upon his head.
- Exalted position of Srimati Radharani
So this is the supreme most exalted position of Shri Radharani. Many years went by and Krishna later meet Shri Radhikarani and the Gopis in Kurukshetra at a lake Samanta Panchaka and there Lord Shri Krishna upon seeing Srimati Radharani He actually felled at Her feet and begged forgiveness that “For so many long years I have left you.” The Gopis after Krishna left they cried for rest of their lives. Krishna understood this, He was always within their heart in His Bhava expansion and He was praying to Srimati Radharani please forgive me what I have done to you, although you have given your heart and your life instead of reciprocating personally with your love I have made as a priority all these other duties killing demons, I have made a great mistake please forgive me.”
Shri Radharani replied, that “Actually you have done nothing wrong. It is I who am the criminal. It is I who am wrong. It is I who have made the greatest of all mistake. Why? Because you left and in your absence I did not die. I lived just the fact that I lived in your absence means I have no real love for you. Just the fact that I lived all these years means I am not worthy of you. If I was a proper consort I should have died the moment you left” and she said, “My Lord you have made no mistakes. Because you do have so many duties in this world. It was your duty to kill all those demons and to protect your devotees in so many ways. So that is not a fault in you the fault is in me because I have no other duty then to serve you and to offer my love to you, there is no other duty in my life. So my Lord please forgives me.” This is the nature of spiritual love of Vrindavan and when Krishna sees the nature and the quality of this love of Shri Radharani He realizes that ‘Although I am the knower of everything, I am the source of all knowledge, I cannot understand Her love, its beyond my comprehension.’
- To understand Radha’s love Krishna appeared as Lord Caitanya:
So therefore Lord Shri Krishna in order to understand the nature of Sri Radharani’s Mahabhava, in order to see what it was about Himself that so much attracted her and in order to taste a drop from the unlimited ocean of the sweetness of happiness she experienced in that love Krishna came to the conclusion that ‘I can only understand this, If I personally assumed the bhava of Sri Radharani within my own heart.’ So Lord Shri Krishna explained that to Shri Radharani that “It is time for the Yuga Avataar the age of Kali Yuga in the earth and at that time I come to propagate the Yuga Dharma, the congregational chanting of the holy name
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama Hare Hare
And I am generally the Yuga Avataar is a partial of an expansion and expansion of an incarnation of Kshirodakashayi Vishnu.” But in this occasion that Lord decided He would personally in His original form appear in the world as a secondary purpose to come as Yuga Avataar but the primary purpose was “I am going to come with your intensity of love within my heart, with your Bhava so that I can understand your love.”
When Srimati Radharani heard Lord Shri Krishna speak like this she said “My Lord if you appear with my Bhava then every time you think of me, every time if you think of yourself or chant your holy name you will fall to the ground and role in the dust in transcendental ecstasy and I cannot tolerate seeing this. Therefore with my own beautiful golden complexion I will cover your body to protect you.”
So it is explain Shri Krishna Caitanya Radha Krishna nahi anya that the one supreme personality of Godhead expanded into two for the purpose of being simultaneously the supreme enjoyer and enjoyed in enjoying divine Rasa. But in order to understand nature of that Rasa they have become one again, Krishna appears with the sentiment and the complexion of Srimati Radharani in the form of Lord Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Shri Gauranga Mahaprabhu ki jai!
Although the Yuga Avataar comes in every Yuga cycles this particular very rare and sublime incarnation of Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as the original form of Krishna appears only once in every day of Brahma. But not only does Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu comes to experience the love of Sri Radharani but He comes to canvas all living beings to distribute the love of Shri Radharani, to give every living being whatever regardless of qualifications or disqualifications the opportunity to come into Srimati Radharani’s camp of devotees in the spiritual world and He does this by distributing the sweet sound of Mahamantra – Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama Hare, Hare.
Purpose of Gadadhara Pandit’s Appearance:
Lord Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who is Radha and Krishna appeared in this world and Srimati Radharani also appeared directly and personally along with Lord Caitanya as Shri Gadhadar Pandit because She knew that with Her sentiment of love in Krishna He would become like a mad man. There is a story in Caitanya Bhagavat – how one time Caitanya Mahaprabhu weeping and crying “where is Krishna, where is my beloved Lord, where is Vrindavan Chandra.” And Gadhadar wanting to try to pacify Him, He said there is no reason for you to cry like this because is in your heart and Caitanya Mahaprabhu feeling so much separation He took His nails and began to rip open His cheat, hopping to rip open His heart to have the Darshan of Krishna. At time Gadhadar pandit become very fearful and he was holding with great efforts the hands of Mahaprabhu and he began to say please be patient Krishna will bestow His mercy upon you very soon and up on hearing those sweet loving words Caitanya Mahaprabhu became pacified. When Saci Mata saw this she understood that there only one person in the entire world who can protect my son from His ecstatic symptoms and that is Gadhadar Pandit. So she requested Sri Gadhadar please it is my humble request that at all times you be at the side of my child.
- Caitanya Mahaprabhu has given us topmost treasure Krishna prema
In this most beautiful incarnation of Caitanya Mahaprabhu not only did He displayed to the world the supper excellent loving pastimes of Radha and Krishna, but through His associates Swaroop Damodar and later the six Goswami headed by Rupa Goswami, they explained systematically the most wonderful process by which we could all learn to take shelter of the beautiful pastimes of Vrindavan. They taught us that Lord Caitanya came to distribute love of God, the love of Vrindavan in all directions but through Lord Nityananda prabhu, He was so magnanimous and so free in distribution that even the lowest and most sinful of all sinners can achieve the highest realm of consciousness.
Narottam Das Thakur prayed that when we take shelter of the lotus feet of Nityananda prabhu he brings us to the feet of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and by attaining the feet of Mahaprabhu we have attained the Lila of Radha and Krishna in Vrindavan and the six Goswami’s have taught us this wonderful process.
Know what has been given to us:
So we speak these things although they are very high subject matters because we should know what has been given to us, because unless we have deep philosophical understanding of the nature of the mercy of Radha and Krishna coming through Lord Caitanya in this Parampara then we can take it cheaply, we could think it’s just another religion it is not at all another religion. Sometimes in interfaith various people of various religions come and sit together and try to make peace and stop fighting and arguing because there is one God who is the source of everything and everyone, there is one God who is the source of all religions in His various expansions and manifestations. But what Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has given is not just a religion,
He has given entrance into the supreme most principle of spiritual love, it is not the religion of Aishwarya of worshiping as the obedient servant. It is not the worshiping of the creator that is all included but the principle of Radha and Krishna of Vrindavan is that realm of spiritual consciousness by which there is spontaneous infinite loving relationships, where we can be the servant of the servant directly of the very pleasure potency Srimati Radharani, Herself in Her loving affairs with Krishna.
We Have no Qualifaction so accept mercy and be gratefull:
What is our qualification, we have no qualification but Srila Prabhupada and the great Acaryas who are coming with the divine grace of Caitanya Mahaprabhu their mercy is our only qualification and all we have to do is accept it and become humble and be grateful. No matter what crisis or tragedy or problems you have in this life why should you complain you have been given entrance in the highest realm of spiritual consciousness, you have been given the ticket of Goloka Vrindavan. All you have to do is with grateful heart tolerate the pleasures and pains of this world and keep your mind fixed always on that goal.
We were explaining yesterday the Cataka bird; this is one of Rupa Goswami wonderful teaching. How he will accept any water that has touched the earth, there may be lakes, lakes thousands of miles wide of fresh water and wells and ponds everywhere but because it is touched this material earth he will never accept it, always keep his mind fixed on the cloud waiting for one drop to fall. Sometimes while waiting for that drop thunder, fearful thunder and sometime lightning bolts that cause great fear and pain, may even cause death. But the Cataka bird accepts whatever comes from the cloud as mercy and will never look in any other direction anywhere else for that drop.
Vyavasäyätmikä buddhir
Ekeha kuru-nandana
Bahu-çäkhä hy anantäç ca
Buddhayo ‘vyavasäyinäm
[BG 2.41]
This is what Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His followers have given us, the ways and the means by which we can have fixed one pointed attention not to be satisfied by anything of these world, however great the pleasures may be, not to be satisfied with any amount of mystic powers, not even to show the slightest concern for Mukti or liberation what to speak the pleasures of the heavenly planet, not even to show the slightest concern for the opulences and the eternal affairs of Vaikuntha. But the Gaudiya Vaishnav’s keep their mind always fixed on the loving service of Radha and Krishna in Vrindavan and how do we keep our minds fixed by chanting the holy name
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama Hare, Hare.
Meaning of Hare Krishna:
Krishna means the all attractive personality of Godhead, Rama means the reservoir of all pleasure, Radha Raman who is supremely enjoyed by; who is given supreme enjoyment by Srimati Radharani and Hare is the name of Srimati Radharani. It is the calling out to Sri Radharani who steals the heart of Krishna by Her infinite love and devotion.
So on this Holy of Radhastami let us have deeply grateful heart, let us reconfirm our vows to keep our consciousness always fixed on our goal Krishna consciousness and let us celebrate the glories appearance of Srimati Radharani as She has come to this world as Lord Caitanya taught us to by chanting Her holy names
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama Hare, Hare.
- Appearance of Srimati Radharani:
It is explained that in holy village of Brajbhumi called ‘Raval’ king Vrishabhanu and his consort Kirtida were living. In a previous birth they performed great austerities and by satisfying Lord Brahma they were given the benediction that the supreme most goddess of fortune would become their daughter. So one day Maharaj Vrishabhanu went to the river Yamuna, in fact it was on this day and there he saw a most effulgent thousand petal lotus flower. The effulgence emanating from the lotus flower was like hundreds and millions of sun but yet it was so soothing and pleasurable to see. When he approached it he saw that the source of that effulgence was a beautiful baby girl who had a complexion like molten gold. At that time Lord Brahma appeared and explained how this is the supreme goddess of fortune Srimati Radharani, the supreme most bestower of the greatest fortune of pure bhakti. Vrishabhanu Maharaj took the baby girl home and his wife Kalavati Kirti raise little Sri Radharani.
It is sometime said that although She was so beautiful She would not open Her eyes and She would not acknowledge any sound until one day Nanda Maharaj came with Yashoda Mai and Gopal Krishna and when little Krishna approached Sri Radharani She opened Her eyes, She did not want to see anything of this world before seeing Krishna. A devotee we should also not want to see anything in this world except Krishna, we should see everything in this world as an opportunity to serve Krishna. Just after the birth of Srimati Radharani Narada Muni came to ‘Raval’ and knowing that She was his supreme most worshipable object, he offered his obeisance’s, he circumambulated and he offered the most affectionate prayers and being inspired by the beautiful Darshan, he later went Narada kunj near Govardhan and wrote the Narada bhakti Sutras. Because Narada Muni and all the great Acarya’s know that all bhakti is emanating from Srimati Radharani.
