Srimati Radharani is the Supreme Goddess. She is most always
seen with
Lord Krishna. It is described that She is the
chief
associate and devotee of Lord Krishna, and 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 and female. They are one,
but Krishna expands into two, Himself and Radharani, for the
sake of divine loving pastimes. If They remained as one, then
there is no relationship, there are no pastimes, and there can
be no dynamic exchange of love. (Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila,
4.55-56)
In the Brihad-Gautamiya Tantra, Radharani is described as
follows:
"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."
Radharani has many names according to Her qualities and
characteristics. Some of the names that Radharani is known by
include:
Govinda-anandini--She who gives pleasure to Govinda
[Krishna];
Govinda-mohini--She who mystifies Govinda;
Govinda-sarvasa--the all-in-all of Lord Govinda;
Shiromani
Sarva-kanta--the crown jewel of all the Lord's consorts; and...
Krishnamayi--the one who sees Krishna both within and without.
She is also known
as Sarva-kanti, which indicates that all beauty and luster rest in
Her body, and all the Lakshmis derive their beauty from Her. Sarva-kanti also means that all the desires of
Lord Krishna rest in Srimati Radharani. As Lord Krishna
enchants the world with His beauty and charm, Sri Radha
enchants Him. Therefore She is the Supreme Goddess. Sri
Radha is the full power, and Lord Krishna is the possessor
of full power. (Cc.Adi-lila, 4.82, 84, 87-96) Thus, the two
are non-different, as the sunshine is nondifferent from the
sun, or as the energy is non-different from the energetic or
source of energy.
Srimati Radharani is the source of the
other goddesses. Just as Lord Krishna
is the source of all other manifestations and incarnations of God, Radharani is the source of all expansions of the energies
of God - the shaktis, or other goddesses. Thus, Vishnu, Rama,
even Shiva are all expansions of the one Supreme Being, Krishna, and
similarly Lakshmi, Sita, and even Durga are all expansions of
this Supreme Feminine form of God, Radharani.
It is explained that the beloved consorts of Lord Krishna are
of three kinds, namely the goddesses of fortune or Lakshmis, His
queens, and
the
milkmaids of Vraja called the gopis. All of them proceed
from Radharani. The Lakshmis are partial manifestations, or
plenary portions, of Srimati Radharani, while the queens in
Vaikuntha and in Dvaraka are reflections of Her image. The
Vraja-devis or gopis are Her expansions and assist in the
increase of rasa, or the divine loving pastimes. Among them
there are many groups that have various sentiments and moods,
which help Lord Krishna taste the sweetness of the rasa dance
and other pastimes. (Cc.Adi-lila. 4. 75-81)
In this way, without Radha there is no meaning to Krishna and
without Krishna there is no meaning to Radha. Because of this,
in the Vaishnava tradition we always pay respects first to the
Lord's internal energy in the form of Radha, and then to the
Lord. Thus They are referred to as Radha-Krishna, or in other
names as Sita-Rama, Lakshmi-Narayana, and so on. In this way,
Radha and Krishna are one, but when Lord Krishna wants to enjoy,
He manifests Himself as Radharani. Otherwise, there is no energy
in which Krishna can attain pleasure outside Himself.
The descriptions of the beauty of Radharani are wonderfully
poetic and descriptive. Actually, the residents of Vrindavana
care more for Radharani than they do for Lord Krishna. They know
that Krishna can be influenced through Radharani. They know that
Radha can bring one to Krishna. She is also the compassionate
nature of the Lord, and thus more easily approached than trying
to reach Lord Krishna directly. And when we read these
descriptions of Radha, it is no wonder why they are devoted to
Her. For example, it is explained that Srimati Radharani has
unlimited transcendental qualities, of which twenty-five
are principal.
The
Hare Krishna mantra directs one's attention and
devotion to Radha as well as Krishna. Radha is also known as
Mother Hara, which is the name Hare in the vocative form within
the mantra. So in chanting Hare Krishna, we are first
approaching the Lord's internal potency and asking Radha to
please engage us in the service of Lord Krishna. Concentrating
on Krishna through His names is one form of that service. In
other words, it is through Radha that one more easily attains
Krishna and service to Krishna. This is the advantage of
approaching Lord Krishna through Radharani.
To understand Himself through the agency of Radha, the Lord manifests Himself as
Lord Chaitanya,
who is Lord Krishna but with the super-excellent emotions of
Radharani's love toward Lord Krishna. To
fully taste His own sweetness, the Lord accepts the position and
emotions of a devotee. Appearing 500 years ago in Bengal,
India, Lord Chaitanya propagated the chanting of the Hare
Krishna Mantra as the only means to experience Radha's love
for Krishna.
These include:
1) She is very sweet.
2) She is always
freshly youthful.
3) Her eyes are restless.
4) She smiles
brightly.
5) She has beautiful, auspicious lines.
6) She makes
Krishna happy with Her bodily aroma.
7) She is very expert in
singing.
8) Her speech is charming.
9) She is very expert in
joking and speaking pleasantly.
10) She is very humble and meek.
11) She is always full of mercy.
12) She is cunning.
13) She is
expert in executing Her duties.
14) She is shy.
15) She is
always respectful.
16) She is always calm.
17) She is always
grave.
18) She is expert in enjoying life.
19) She is situated
in the topmost level of ecstatic love.
20) She is the reservoir
of loving affairs in Gokula.
21) She is the most famous of
submissive devotees.
22) She is very affectionate to elderly
people.
23) She is very submissive to the love of Her friends.
24) She is the chief gopi.
25) She always keeps Krishna under
Her control.
In short, She possesses unlimited transcendental
qualities, just as Lord Krishna does. (Ujjvala-nilamani, Sri-radha-prakarana
11-15)
In describing Srimati Radharani, it is also said in the
Vidagdha-madhava (1.32) by Rupa Gosvami, "The beauty of Srimati
Radharani's eyes forcibly devours the beauty of newly grown blue
lotus flowers, and the beauty of Her face surpasses that of an
entire forest of fully blossomed lotuses. Her bodily luster
seems to place even gold in a painful situation. Thus the
wonderful, unprecedented beauty of Srimati Radharani is
awakening Vrindavana."
"Although the effulgence of the moon is brilliant initially at
night, in the daytime it fades away. Similarly, although the
lotus is beautiful during the daytime, at night it closes. But,
O My friend, the face of My most dear Srimati Radharani is
always bright and beautiful, both day and night. Therefore, to
what can Her face be compared?" (Vidagdha-madhava 5.20)
"When Srimati Radharani smiles, waves of joy overtake Her
cheeks, and Her arched eyebrows dance like the bow of Cupid. Her
glance is so enchanting that it is like a dancing bumblebee,
moving unsteadily due to intoxication. That bee has bitten the
whorl of My heart." (Vidagdha-madhava 2.51)
The spiritual exchange of divine
love between Radha and Krishna is the display of the internal
energy of the Lord, and is very confidential and difficult to
understand. No materialist can begin to understand this topic of
the relationship between Radharani and 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 and actually enter into such spiritual loving
exchanges.
Adapted from an
article
by Stephen Knapp
The front page and top images of Srimati
Radharani are from the
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, ©1988
The Lord Caitanya picture above and the Krishna/gopis image
below are also copyrighted BBT pictures.
