SRIMATI RADHARANI is the eternal consort of Lord Krishna. Five thousand yrs ago, when Lord Krishna came to this planet to perform His pastimes, Srimati Radharani also appeared. This yr we celebrate her appearance on September 02. This special day is known as Radhashtami. Radha Ashtami is observed after 15 days of Janmashtami. “On a half-moon night in the month of Bhadra, King Vrishabhanu came to the Jamuna to bathe & found himself engulfed in a golden aura, the golden aura of pure love. It was emanating from a lotus, which had a baby girl standing on its whorl. When the king returned to the palace with the baby, Queen Kirtida was delighted. She was also shocked that the girl was blind. “Lord Krishna’s mother, Yashoda, heard that her best friend Kirtida had a baby, so she came to visit along with her husband & her son. Krishna crawled up to the cradle & pulled Himself up & looked in. At that moment, Srimati Radharani’s eyes fluttered & opened wide & blossomed like lotuses. It seems that She did not want to see anything of this world, only the form of Sri Krishna. Everyone was delighted. For the Gaudiya Vaishanava’s this is one of the most auspicious & greatly celebrated days in our calendar. Srimati Radharani is the possessor & bestower of devotion to Lord Hari, so we all strive to serve Her lotus feet so that she may become pleased, this is the only way to satisfy Krishna. The relationship of Sri Krishna & Radha surpasses human concepts & is spiritual in nature. It is redundant to affirm that one may attain Krishna only through the Grace of Radha. It is confirmed in the Caitanya Caritamrita that Radharani is the hladini-sakti, the pleasure potency of Lord Krishna. When Krishna wants to enjoy He has no interest in trying to enjoy the material energy. Rather He expands from Himself His pleasure potency, Srimati Radharani, in whose company He derives unlimited enjoyment. On the day of Radhaashtami, devotees are allowed special sanctions which are not allowed generally. Like, Radharanis name is usually not chanted due to the possibility of committing faults towards her. Neither people are allowed to enter into Radha Kunda, or Radharanis Pond, which is considered holy. On the day of Radhastami, people wait until midnight in order to bathe there. People chant her names on the appearance day of Sri Radha. Radharani is believed to appear, being an eternal companion of Krishna, she does not take birth or die. “Srimati Radharani is the mother of the universe, the spiritual mother of all souls. And the concept of mother is the most sacred symbol—that of purity, selflessness, caring, sharing, nurturing, & love. That is why our sacred mantra is the holy names. It is the holy names in the vocative. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. “‘Hare’ means ‘Radhe.’ It is a plaintive, desperate cry for the mother. ‘Radhe! Please wake us up from this nightmare of mortal life! Remind us of the father we have forgotten & take us home!’” Srimati Radharani is the Supreme Goddess. She is most always seen with Lord Krishna. It is described that She is the chief associate & devotee of Lord Krishna, & topmost of all goddesses. Her name means that She is the most excellent worshiper of Lord Krishna. However, She is also an expansion of the Lord’s energy. Since She is also an extension of Krishna, She is the feminine aspect of God. Thus, in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, God is both male & female. They are one, but Krishna expands into two, Himself & Radharani, for the sake of divine loving pastimes. If They remained as one, then there is no relationship, there would be no pastimes, & there can be no dynamic exchange of love. (Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila, 4.55-56) The spiritual exchange of divine love between Radha & Krishna is the display of the internal energy of the Lord, & is very confidential & difficult to understand. No materialist can begin to understand this topic of the relationship between Radharani & Lord Krishna. But the more we awaken our dormant love for God, which is natural state of being for a fully awakened soul, then the more we can comprehend & actually enter into such spiritual loving exchanges. The Supreme person Krishna, expands into Vishnu, Rama & other masculine forms, while Srimati Radharani exapands into Laxmi, Seeta & other feminine forms. God & His energy can be compared to the sun & sunshine. The moment there is sun, there will be sunshine – Similarly, the sun is incomplete without the sunshine. Both exist together. Thus, Krishna & Radha exist together, eternally & are worshiped together. The relationship between Radha & Krishna is that of inconceivable identity in difference. They are, in essence, a single entity—God—who manifests as two distinct individuals for the sake of interpersonal exchange. In the Krishna consciousness movement, devotees carefully worship Srimati Radharani as the bestower of devotional service to Krishna, by attentively chanting her name in the maha-mantra, by worshiping her deity form, & by following the instructions of the most merciful Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is the combined form of Radha & Krishna. “(Therefore) Radha is parama-devata, the supreme goddess, & She is worshipable for everyone. She is the protectress of all, & She is the mother of the entire universe.” —Caitanya Caritamrita, Adi 4.89...Hare Krishna
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 09:46:26 +0000