Tag: Radharani

The mysterious appearance of Srimati Radharani

Appearance of Srimati Radharani, the eternal consort of Krishna, is celebrated as Radhastami. As Krishna is the father of all, similarly Radharani is the mother of all living beings of the universes.

When Lord Krishna was to appear in this world, he requested Radharani to accompany him.

Radharani agreed but she had a condition. She wanted river Yamuna and Govardhan hill to also appear on earth. This was not a problem for Krishna. Yamuna and Govardhan were more than happy to appear on earth to assist Krishna and Radha in their pastimes.

Radharani also wanted to appear on earth because she always wants to be with Krishna. She cannot live without Krishna. And Krishna cannot live without her. So, she happily agreed.

Radharani appears in the house of Vrishbhanu Maharaj and Kiritida Devi in Barsana

She decided to appear in Barsana in the house of Vrishbhanu Maharaj and Kiritida Devi. Both these great souls had been performing austerities since many lifetimes to have the eternal consort of Krishna as their daughter.

Story behind appearance of Srimati Radharani on earth

Once Vrishbhanu Maharaj went to the river Yamuna and there he saw an extraordinary spectacle. In the river Yamuna a beautiful lotus flower of golden colour was floating.

And in the whorl of the flower was a little girl of golden complexion. 

She was extremely attractive. Just by seeing her Vrishbhanu Maharaj’s heart got overflooded with love.  He immediately picked the little girl in his arms. He felt deep bliss. His heart danced in joy. Just by looking at her, he forgot all his miseries and misfortunes. He considered himself to be the most fortunate person in the world. 

Vrishbhanu Maharaj looked around; he did not see anyone around.

He thought, “Who is she? Why she is all alone here?”

He waited and waited but no one turned up.

“How can I leave her alone here? It won’t be safe for her. What if no one comes for her? What if no one is there to look after her in this world?” These thoughts kept on troubling him.

After waiting for a long period of time, he decided to take the girl to his house.

He felt that it is the will of the providence that she becomes his daughter. It is a gift of God to him.

Kiritida Devi and Vrishbhanu Maharaj, the proud mother and father of Srimati Radharani

Kiritida Devi, his wife, was so happy to see the baby girl.  Both Vrishbhanu Maharaj and Kiritida Devi desperately wanted a child and for this they had been praying to the Lord continuously.

And today by divine arrangement a goddess had appeared in their life as their daughter. Kiritida Devi and Vrishbhanu Maharaj became the proud mother and father of the little girl who was Srimati Radharani.  

Vrishbhanu Maharaj and Kiritida Devi were the king and queen of Barsana. Little Radha became the princess of Barsana.

Little Radha’s eyes are closed, she does not even cry  

But they observed a unique thing in the baby. Her eyes always remained closed. She did not cry, and it seemed she could not even hear.

Both the parents became sad. But their sadness would disappear as soon as they would see the face of little Radha.  Tiny little Radha had stolen their hearts. They would do their best to take care of the baby. And would pray to the Lord to give her vision and speech.

Celestial sage Narada meets Radha

Meanwhile Lord Krishna had already appeared in the house of Nanda Maharaj. Sage Narada had played an important role in ensuring that Lord Krishna appears as soon as possible. The revered sage knew that if Krishna has appeared then Radharani will also appear somewhere near Vrindavan.

To take darshan of Srimati Radharani, sage Narada would go to different houses to find if any new baby girl has taken birth. He would see the child to find out if she is Radharani.

One day he came to the house of Vrishbhanu Maharaj and asked the same question. Since the child was not in a normal condition so Vrishbhanu Maharaj used to be reluctant to show the child to others. But they could not refuse sage Narada.

He took him to a room where Srimati Radharani as a baby girl was playing in her cradle. 

As soon as Narada saw the baby girl he recognized her. She was Radharani. He was overwhelmed with joy.

Somehow, he controlled his emotions. He wanted to offer prayers to Radharani. But he could not do it in front of her father. He knew that Radharani would not like to reveal her identity to her father and mother.

So, he requested Vrishbhanu Maharaj to leave him alone with the child so that he could say some prayers for the benefit of the child.

Vrishbhanu Maharaj left and Narada Muni began offering his prayers to her.

Radharani blesses saga Narada

Srimati Radharani was extremely pleased to see sage Narada. She appeared in her youth (kishori) form which is very rare to see.  Narada Muni saw the most beautiful form of Srimati Radharani, the mother of entire creation. He was so ecstatic. He could not control his emotions. Overwhelmed with spiritual delight he fainted.

Srimati Radharani brought him back to his external consciousness. She asked the sage if he wanted any benediction. Narada was still stunned at his great fortune. He kept on offering his prayers to Radharani again and again. Today all his desires were fulfilled. What else could he have asked from her? He sought blessings from Radha. Singing and dancing in joy, he left the house of Vrishbhanu Maharaj.

Meanwhile Radharani again took the form of the little girl.

Vrishbhanu Maharaj and Kirtida Devi did not know what transpired between the sage and their little princess. Both were praying that their child opens her eyes and start playing like other children of Barsana.

Krishna and Radharani meets for the first time

After the appearance, Srimati Radharani was desperate to meet Krishna. Krishna too longed to meet Radha. But they were not getting an opportunity to see each other.

Once Vrishbhanu Maharaj invited Nanda Maharaj who was his friend to his house with all the family members. Krishna also came. At that time Krishna had not even started walking, he used to just crawl. Krishna was waiting for the opportunity to see Radha. He knew his Radha would be waiting for her.

When the elders of the family got busy, he secretly crawled to the room of Radharani.

He caught hold of the cradle in which his most beloved princess was lying. Holding the cradle with his hand, little Krishna stood up.

Radharani opens her eyes for the first time to see Krishna

Radha felt the presence of Krishna. She slowly opened her little beautiful eyes. She was waiting for this moment from the day she appeared on earth. As soon as she appeared she had closed her eyes because she had a desire that when she opens her eyes for the first time, Krishna should be in front of her. And now Krishna was before her.

They both looked into each other’s eyes. Their hearts were flooded with deep emotions. Words were not sufficient to express their love for each other. Radharani, the princess of Barsana, could not control her tears. She was not able to control herself anymore. Little Radha cried. She cried for Krishna. She was asking Krishna why he came so late. Krishna did not say anything. He did not want to say anything. Krishna just stood stunned looking at Radha. He just wanted to live in that moment forever.

Kirtida and Vrishbhanu’s eyes are filled with tears of joy when they see that Radha’s eyes can see

Cry of little Radha reverberated in the palace of Vrishbhanu Maharaj. Everyone quickly rushed inside the room of Radha.

Little Radharani was restless in her cradle. Her eyes were open. Little Krishna was standing in front of Radha.

Kirtida, the most fortunate mother of Srimati Radharani, and Vrishbhanu Maharaj, the blessed father of Srimati Radharani, also could not control their tears.

Their eyes are filled with tears of joy when they see that Radha’s eyes can see. Mother Kirtida immediately picked Radha in her arms and embraced her.

Mother and father just looked into the little beautiful eyes of their beautiful daughter and experienced immense joy.

It was time for celebration in Barsana and Vrindavan.

Radharani had started seeing, speaking and hearing. She was so happy because she saw Krishna. And little Krishna after seeing Radha was so blissful.

Story about the appearance of Srimati Radharani in Barsana has been described in Puranas.

Barsana, the blessed land – the birthplace of Srimati Radharani

The land of Barsana became blessed because of the appearance of Srimati Radharani. Radharani played, sang and danced in the holy city of Barsana with her cowherd friends.

The residents of Barsana became fortunate because every moment they got an opportunity to see Radharani and to be with Radharani. They were greater than the mystic yogis because they got association of Radharani.

And it is impossible to describe the fortune of Kirtida Devi and Vrishbhanu Maharaj, the mother and father of Srimati Radharani.  We can just bow our head at their lotus feet and beg for their mercy.

Let us aspire to bathe in the sacred dust of Barsana which had the fortune to embrace the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani, the eternal consort of Krishna.

Colourful Celebration of Krishna Utsav

Lord Krishna appeared almost a week back, but the celebration is still going on.  In Vrindavan after the appearance of Krishna every day, in fact every moment, there was festivity.  Following the footsteps of brajvasis devotees of Jalvayu Towers, New Town, Kolkata decided to celebrate Krishnautsav on 1^st September. D N Roychoudhary Prabhuji and Madhurima Mataji took the initiative to organize the entire program.  And since Radhastami, the appearance day of Srimati Radharani, is going to be celebrated on 6^th Sept. so the celebration was not just only for Krishna but was also for Srimati Radharani, the eternal consort of Krishna.

Most of the monks of the temple had gone to Mumbai for a week-long brahmachari camp and they came back to Kolkata on 1^st Sept only. It is almost 36 hours train journey from Mumbai to Kolkata and we know how tiring generally the train journeys are.  But still HG Anant Bhagavan Prabhu and HG Vrindavan Chari Prabhu made themselves available for the program which began at 5:30 pm. Devotees also travelled from Iskcon Habibpur which is around 100 kms from Kolkata just to do ecstatic kirtan for the pleasure of the Lord.

Abhishek of Lord Krishna & Srimati Radharani

The program began with abhishek i.e. the bathing ceremony of the Lord which was led by HG Vrindavan Chari Prabhu.  HG Vrindavan Chari Prabhu is one of the senior priests at Iskcon Kolkata temple. He brought the beautiful deities of Lord Krishna and Srimati Radharani from the temple.

Prabhuji is humble at heart and extremely soft spoken and has great love for the deities. He came and made all the arrangements for the abhishek.  Scented oil, til paste and sandalwood oil were applied on the deities and then different sacred items like milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar candy water, coconut water and lots of Ganges water was poured over the Lord.  

While the abhishek was going on devotees reverentially sang the Hare Krishna Mahamantra and were joined by all the assembled guests.  After the abhishek the deities were taken to a separate room for dressing.

Meanwhile HG Anant Bhagavan Prabhu spoke why Lord Krishna appears on the earth and he also described the attributes which are exclusively present in Lord Krishna only. We the living entities may have these traits present in small quantities. For e.g Lord Krishna is the proprietor of the entire universe and we may also be the proprietor of our small house for a short period of time.

Lord is extremely beautiful and his beauty never diminishes. We may also have some beauty but it is not forever. With the age the beauty goes away. Class was interactive and all enjoyed it.

By the end of the class the dressing of the Lord was also complete.  Lord Krishna and Srimati Radharani had donned attractive garments. Wearing ornaments and colourful flower garlands they looked extremely beautiful.  After the deities were brought in the hall and they took the centre stage the much-awaited kids program began.

It started with fancy dress show.  Kids who were even less than one year old too participated in it.  Dressed as Krishna and Radha and cowherd friends of Krishna they put up their best performance. In fact, one of the kids showed his talent in the pram itself and all had to come near to him to see his charming face. All confidently performed amidst the large gathering.

Fancy dress was followed by dance drama. The theme of the drama was ‘Advent of Lord Krishna.’ Children had been practicing for last few weeks meticulously under the guidance of my wife Kanchan Madhavi. And their hard work paid dividends.  

They had dressed themselves as Lord Krishna, Gopis, brajvasis, Kamsa, Kamsa’s soldier, Arjuna. And on the stage through their performance they lived those characters. The drama accompanied with dance performance won everyone’s heart.  Kids program brought lots of colour to the program.

Lord Krishna & Srimati Radharani majestically sitting on the altar were enjoying each and every moment.  

D N Roychoudhary Prabhuji and Madhurima Mataji who had been working hard tirelessly for last few days to make the event successful were presented a gift by HG Anant Bhagavan Prabhu. All the kids who participated too got gifts.

It was now the time for arati of the Lord which was followed by another celebration which everyone enjoys a lot – Pushpa Abhishek. 

The multi coloured flower petals were showered on the Lord in abundance.  All those who happily and patiently enjoyed the program had the opportunity to bathe Lord Krishna & Srimati Radharani not with water but with flowers.

As the puspa abhishek was going on devotees were doing kirtan. No one could resist themselves and all danced for the pleasure of the Lord. And along with it the offered flowers were sprinkled on the devotees and everyone enjoyed playing holy with flowers. 

After flower abhishek it was time for all to relish delicious Krishna prasadam.

Festivals can only be successfully celebrated if each and every one comes together and cooperates with each other. It makes the celebration more colourful. We are very fortunate that all the devotees of Jalvayu Towers, Greenfield and Alka Abasan who are part of our weekly Bhagavad Gita program came together to organize the program and enthusiastically participated in it. 

In Vrindavan every moment there is celebration because all the devotees putting aside their personal motives and self-interest just work hard and come together to serve Krishna.  Seeing the selflessness of his devotees and unity among them pleases Krishna the most. And when Krishna is pleased the life of each devotee becomes successful.

So, following the footsteps of brajvasis we should too try to serve Krishna and Radharani selflessly. It will make Krishna happy and Krishna will then inundate our heart with unlimited happiness.