Tag: Radha

Radhastami Celebration at Iskcon Newtown, Kolkata

Radhastami, appearance day of Srimati Radharani, was celebrated at Iskcon Newtown, Kolkata on 23^rd September 2023. On this auspicious occasion, Abhishek of Srimati Radharani was also performed. This was the first time that Abhishek of Srimati Radharani was performed on Radhastami day at Iskcon Newtown, Kolkata.

Sri Sri Radha Raman, Sri Sri Nitai Gauranga and Srila Prabhupada were beautifully dressed and decorated on this auspicious occasion.  

Large number of devotees had assembled in the temple hall since morning to celebrate the divine appearance of Srimati Radharani.  

Radhastami class by HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu

Devotees were fortunate to get the association of HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu who gave a special Radhastami class. He spoke on Radhikastakam which is part of Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami’s book Govinda Lilamrta. The song name is Kunkumakta Kancanabja.

During the class, devotees sang a stanza of Radhikastakam and then HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu elaborately described its meaning. For about two hours, devotees were completely absorbed in hearing the different transcendental qualities of Srimati Radharani who is an eternal consort of Lord Krishna.

Radhastami abhishek

Meanwhile devotees were also making preparation for the grand abhishek of Sri Sri Radha Raman.  Abhishek i.e. the bathing ceremony of the divine couple was performed in the temple hall.

Following items were used during the abhishek:

• Til paste
• Pancagavya – milk, curd, ghee, gomoy (cow dung), gomutra (cow urine)
• Pancamrita – milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar candy water
• Kusa udaka
• Rose water
• Kesar water
• Fruit juices like mango juice, watermelon juice and pomegranate juice
• Sugarcane juice
• Dhuli snana (It comprises of rice powder, banana powder, urad dal powder and Kumkum (vermilion))
• Warm water
• Sarvausadhi
• Mahausadhi
• Ratnodaka
• Coconut water
• Phalodhak,
• Puspodhak
• Sahastradhara bath
• Colourful Flowers

Temple hall was filled with devotees and there were many devotees who were standing outside because of want of space to see the abhishek. Melodious kirtan accompanied the abhishek and everyone joyful participated in singing the holy names of Radha and Krishna.

Bhoga and Arati of Radha and Krishna

After abhishek, Sri Sri Radha Raman was beautifully dressed and placed on the altar. Once the Lord came on the altar, bhoga was offered to them. Devotees since morning were preparing various delicious items which were offered to the divine couple.  After offering food, arati was performed.

On the Radhastami day, devotees fast till noon. Many devotees were fasting and they broke the fast by taking carnamrita. Delicious prasadam were there for all and everyone reverentially honoured it and felt satisfied.  

Evening Radhastami class by HH Subhag Swami Maharaj

Celebration continued throughout the day. In the evening devotees were blessed to get the association of HH Subhag Swami Maharaj. Maharaj is well recognized for his wonderful Krishna Conscious classes. He speaks so convincingly quoting different scriptures that it captivates the audience.

Devotees after hearing his classes feels motivated to practice devotion to Krishna with more sincerity. And those who have still not begun practicing Krishna Consciousness feels inspired to start practicing it.

In the class, Maharaj explained that Radharani’s body is spiritual and not material like us. Her body is sat-cit-ananda i.e. eternal, blissful and full of knowledge. He asked if anyone had seen a picture of Radharani where she is old or a picture of Krishna in which he is seen as an old person? The answer is no because their body is spiritual and not material like us.

Maharaj further explained that in this world, men are attracted to women and women are attracted to men. This is the cause of bondage and suffering. And this attraction for opposite sex does not end with age. Even old people are attracted to opposite sex. He explained it with this example.

Attraction for opposite sex does not go by age

Once Akbar said to Birbal that as a person grows old, he gives up his attraction for opposite sex. Birbal disagreed. He asked the king to accompany him to an old man’s house who was on the verge of death. But he said to the king to take his young daughter also with him. So, the king went with Birbal and his daughter to the old man’s house. Akbar, Birbal and other’s who were present in the room stood at one side of the bed and the daughter of the king stood on the other side of the bed. To his surprise, the king found that the old man was again and again looking towards the young girl.

So, Maharaj said that we have to give up this attraction which binds us in this material world. One who is able to give up this mundane attraction becomes qualified to return back to the spiritual world.

Wonderful day to remember Srimati Radharani

It was a wonderful day for all. Throughout the day devotees remained completely absorbed in meditating on the wonderful qualities of Radharani and her wonderful pastimes with Lord Krishna. Radharani is Krishna’s eternal consort. She is the topmost devotee of Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada explains, “Even though many devotees always think of Kṛṣṇa, none can surpass the gopīs, among whom Rādhārāṇī is the leader in thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Rādhārāṇī’s Kṛṣṇa consciousness surpasses that of all other devotees. Lord Caitanya accepted the position of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī to understand Kṛṣṇa; therefore He was always thinking of Kṛṣṇa in the same way as Rādhārāṇī.” Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 3.81

Prayer to Radharani on Radhastami

On the auspicious day of Radhastami, devotees prayed at the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani so that they always remain attached to her lotus feet and the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. Srimati Radharani is our eternal mother, she is full of compassion. It is our desire for sense gratification that is binding us to this material world and material body.

As long as our consciousness is material and as long as we do sense gratification, we will remain miserable. But many times, in spite of knowing that sense gratification makes us miserable, we are not able to give it up because of past bad habits. Our condition is akin to drug addicts who continue to take drugs in spite of knowing that it causes immense suffering.

So, we should pray to Srimati Radharani to purify our heart, our mind and our consciousness that we give up all the desires for sense gratification. And we should simultaneously pray to her to fill our heart and mind with the desire to always serve her and Krishna eternally.

Why do we worship Radha? To get love of Krishna.

Why do we worship Radha if Rukmini is the legally wedded wife of Krishna? Is it not better or moral to worship Rukmini and Krishna than Radha and Krishna?

Worshipping Rukmini is great, its wonderful, and we should do it. In fact, devotees do worship Rukmini Krishna and there are many temples which have the deity of Rukmini and Krishna.

But still the great saintly personalities revere the relationship between Radha and Krishna. The transcendental loving relationship between Radha and Krishna cannot be equalled in this world and not even in the spiritual world.

Is Radha and Krishna married?

Yes. Radha and Krishna are eternally married.  They are eternally one. Just like our parents are married before our birth, similarly Radha and Krishna are married since the dawn of creation. As our parents do not again marry to prove to us that they are married.

Similarly, our eternal parents – Radha and Krishna – do not have to marry again in this world to prove their marital status.  

But there is also a pastime which is quite famous in braj, Vrindavan, that Lord Brahma got Radha and Krishna married when they were performing their childhood pastimes in Vrindavan and Barsana.

Radha is the source of incarnation of goddesses of fortune

Krishna is the source of incarnations of Vishnu and Narayan who reside in various Vaikuntha planets. Similarly, Radha is the source of expansion of Krishna’s pleasure potency.

She is the source of all the gopis and also the source of goddess of fortune, Laksmidevi.

Wherever Krishna is, there is Radha. So, when Krishna is in Dwarka, Radha expands as Rukmini, the goddess of fortune, to serve Krishna and to give pleasure to Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada writes, “According to expert opinion, Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune, is a subordinate expansion of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. As Kṛṣṇa has numerous expansions of viṣṇu-mūrtis, so His pleasure potency, Rādhārāṇī, also has innumerable expansions of goddesses of fortune.”

Radha is very dear to Krishna

Krishna without Radharani is like sun without sunshine.  Krishna is the supreme enjoyer and Radharani is the source of that enjoyment.

There are millions of gopis in Goloka Vrindavan, the spiritual world. And all the gopis always serve Krishna and give joy to Krishna.  All the gopis are great devotees and they desperately desire to be with Krishna but Krishna longs to be with Radha.

And although the gopis want to be with Krishna but they get great pleasure when they see Radha and Krishna together.  

And Radharani, the best among all the gopis, wants to give Krishna to others. So, she happily allows the gopis to enjoy pastimes with Krishna.

In fact, if Srimati Radharani is pleased with our devotion then she will allow us also to participate in the eternal blissful pastimes of Goloka Vrindavan.

She wants us to be always with her in the spiritual world. She does not want anyone of us to suffer. In fact, if we cry for her help then she will quickly free us from all sufferings.

Radha saves a suffering soul in Vrindavan

Once in Vrindavan, some kids were harassing a jackal, they were chasing him with sticks and throwing rocks at him. And the Jackal running for his life entered into a hole in the ground. When the boys saw Jackal inside the hole they set fire around the hole. The heat was intolerable and the Jackal started screaming and crying.

Radharani was within the vicinity. When she heard the cry she asked Lalita Sakhi, her friend, to find out what was happening.  She said, “This is Vrajbhumi, my land, no one should be suffering here.”

Lalita Sakhi immediately went and saw boys giving trouble to the Jackal, she chased the boys away. She took the Jackal out from that hole, he was trembling in fear. The Jackal was brought to Radharani. He fell at her feet and she blessed the Jackal. She gave the Jackal the body of a gopi.

And this gopi became an associate of Radharani in the spiritual world. The Jackal’s sincere cry for mercy attracted the mercy of Srimati Radharani.

It is explained that the hole in which Jackal got confined represents the material existence.  The Jackal represents us, the living entities. The fire around the hole is the misery of material existence. The loud cry of Jackal represents our utter helplessness in this material world.

But like the Jackal if we cry for Radha’s mercy then she will surely free us from all miseries. She will give us her shelter and an opportunity to be with her and serve her in the land of Vraja where Krishna is the King and she is the queen.

Why worship of Radha is important?

To get freedom from material sufferings and to become dear to Krishna and attain love of Krishna, we should worship Radha.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura one of the most prominent Vaisnav acharyas underlines the importance of worshipping Radha in his book Gitavali. He writes, “radha-bhajane jadi mati nahi bhela/krsna-bhajana tava akarana gela – If your desire for the worship of Radha does not come about, then your so-called worship of Krsna is completely useless.”

Once when a person was worshiping Krishna at Radha Kunda and begging for Krishna’s mercy then Bhaktisiddhnata Saraswati Thakura immediately remarked, “We are worshippers of the servant of the servant of Srimati Radharani. This is the mood of all the followers of Rupa Goswami.”

We cannot attain Krishna without becoming a devotee of Radha. She is not like a demigod or demigoddess. She is greater than all the demigods of any material universe.

As Krishna is the supreme father of all living entities of all the universes, Radha, Krishna’s eternal consort, is the supreme mother of all the living entities of all the universes.

Pleasing mother is easier than pleasing father. Why? Because mothers are soft-hearted. Similarly, our eternal mother, Radharani’s heart is soft like butter. She can be easily pleased.  And we know that Krishna loves butter! 

So, if by our sincere devotion we attract Radharani’s attention, we will eventually get Krishna’s affection.

Bhaktivinod Thakura further writes in Gitavali, “If one considers oneself to be a humble maidservant of Radhika, then such a person very quickly meets the Lord of Gokula.”

Why relationship between Radha and Krishna is supremely pure

Just like the sun and the sunshine are non-different from each other similarly Lord Krishna and Srimati Radharani are inseparable from each other. Just as sun is the source of the sunshine similarly Lord Krishna, the Supreme Lord, is the source of everything in the entire creation.

He is even the source of Radharani. Krishna is complete in himself and when he wants to enjoy loving exchanges then he expands himself as Srimati Radharani. So Srimati Radharani is the internal potency of Krishna.

Krishna is supremely energetic and Radharani is the supreme energy of Krishna. Krishna is the masculine aspect of absolute truth and Srimati Radharani is the feminine aspect of the absolute truth.

Srimati Radharani and Lord Krishna are one and the same but they have eternally separated themselves to enjoy transcendental loving exchanges with each other. “Her mind, senses and body are steeped in love for Kṛṣṇa. She is Kṛṣṇa’s own energy, and She helps Him in His pastimes.”  Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi lila 4.71. Just like sun without sunshine is incomplete similarly Lord Sri Krishna without Srimati Radharani is incomplete.

Srimati Radharani to give maximum pleasure to Krishna and to make the lilas (pastimes) more colorful expands herself as different consorts of Krishna. Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi lila 4.80 explains, “Without many consorts, there is not such exultation in rasa. Therefore there are many manifestations of Srimati Radharani to assist in the Lord’s pastimes.”

The millions of goddess of fortune in the Vaikuntha planets, the queens of Dwarka and the gopis who are eternally serving Krishna in Vrindavan are all expansions of Srimati Radharani.  “The beloved consorts of Lord Kṛṣṇa 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 Radhika.” CC Adi 4.74-75.

So when Krishna is relishing loving exchanges with the gopis then he is actually enjoying with his own internal potency.

Krishna having different pastimes with the gopis is like a child playing with his own shadow. 

Most of us misunderstand the relationship between Krishna and Radharani because we consider them as ordinary boy and girl. But if we delve deep into the scriptures and try to understand the teachings of great realized souls then we would start understanding the transcendental relationship between Radha and Krishna which is completely pure.

“The transcendental goddess Srimati Radharani is the direct counterpart of Lord Sri 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.”  Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 4.83

Vasant Panchami – day to offer our love to Radha and Krishna