"Surrender to the lotus feet of Radha. Her grace will remove all the obstacles of the material existence. Even the Supreme Lord desires her grace. All glories to Radha Rani!"

 ~ Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj  


Many people know very well about Shri Krishna, whereas hardly any know about Shri Radha. Rather in lack of knowledge of Shri Radha’s personality, people doubt and criticize Her pastimes. So on the auspicious occasion of Radha Ashtami, let us reflect on the Supreme personality of Shri Radha.

Sri Radha, who descended in the land of Barsana (U.P. India) was born to Sri Vrishbhanuji and Mata Kirti The divine Goddess blessed this Earth by Her birth on the nuptial day of Ashtami (8th day) of Bhadrapad Shukla Paksh (waxing moon of the month of Bhadrapad), which usually comes in August. Sri Radha Rani marks the existence of Sri Krishna, for she is His soul. The Trinity bow down to the lotus feet of Sri Krishna, and He bows to the lotus feet of Sri Radha.

Radha Tattva   
by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj  

Radha Rani: The highest ideal of selfless devotion to Shree Krishna

Scriptures have declared in unison that the ultimate goal of every human being is to attain the selfless divine love for Shree Krishna and his eternal service. Every soul is an eternal part of God, and since God is the ocean of bliss every soul is drawn towards bliss. A soul's incessant search for bliss will end when it will stop searching for transitory happiness in the material world and will surrender to God. There is no doubt that our search for momentary pleasures since endless lifetimes has led us nowhere. It is time we realize that our true happiness lies in the selfless service to Shree Krishna alone.

When we speak of selfless service to the Lord, who other than Shrimati Radha Rani can be glorified as the highest ideal for selfless devotion to Shree Krishna? Radha Rani, being the divine power of Shree Krishna, has only one goal - selfless devotion towards her Beloved. In fact, divine love or Prema Shakti is a subsidiary power of Radha Rani, and so the highest level of bhakti resides in her. This is characterized by intense longing for Shree Krishna, to the extent that is inconceivable to the human mind. It is said, "When Radha does not have darshan (sight) of Shree Krishna, the fire of the pain of separation in her heart is so intense, that if the hazy lines above the smoke of that fire were to come out from her body, the entire universe would burn to ashes." Such is the extent of Radha Rani's longing for Shree Krishna.

Radha Rani's devotion is also characterized by the highest level of selflessness, and complete absence of self-seeking. There is only one thought in her mind - how to give happiness to her Beloved. Such selfless devotion manifests in the gopis to a lesser extent, and in other Saints to an even lesser extent. Thus, the topmost form of pure divine love resides in the heart of Radha. This is also called Madanakhya Mahabhav Bhakti. All the other God-realized Saints, eternally liberated souls, and aspirants, derive inspiration from the nature of Radha's devotion. This devotion of Radha for Krishna has been termed as "Radha Bhav" by poets and Saints.

An elevated devotee always wants to serve Radha Rani instead of serving Shree Krishna directly. In fact there is a beautiful logic behind rating service to Shree Radha Rani as higher than Shree Krishna's seva. Radha Rani is the foremost servitor of Shree Krishna and nobody possesses the qualities of Radha Rani, hence nobody can serve Shree Krishna the way she does. Now since the goal of every human is to serve Shree Krishna, an elevated soul says, "I will serve Radha Rani through Shree Krishna because by myself I am incapable of serving Shree Krishna".

In the divine realm the lower the level of servant we consider ourselves, higher the level of Bhakti we attain. Therefore those who consider themselves as servants of Shree Radha Rani and then serve the Lord attain an even higher seat of Bhakti. So Radha Rani is the ideal of selfless love and devotion to Shree Krishna and if we aspire to serve Shree Krishna selflessly we must serve him through the beloved queen of Vrindavan, Radha Rani.  

Narad Pancharatra states:  

harerardha tanu rādhā tādhikārdhatanu hariḥ 

Shree Krishna's half part is Radha, and Radha's half part is Krishna. Shree Krishna says, "I have assumed the form of Radha." Radha says, "I have assumed the form of Krishna."

mamaiva pauruṣhaṁroopam gopikājana mohanaṁ (BrahmaVaivarta Puran)

Radha says, "The form of Krishna is none other than myself. When I assumed the male form, people started calling me Shree Krishna."

yasyā reṇuṁ pādayorviśhvabhartā dharate moordhnī (Atharva Vediya Rādhikopaniṣhad)


"Radha is that Entity, the dust of whose lotus feet the Master of the Universe places on his head."
Radha and Krishna are two aspects of the Supreme Personality. One is the energetic and the other is the divine energy. The Upanishads state:

anādirayaṁ puruṣhaṁ ekamevāsti tadeva roopaṁ dwidhāvidhāya samārodhana tatparobhoot tasmāttāṁ rādhāṁ rasikānandāṁ vadavido vadanti (Sāma Rahasyopaniṣhad)


"Since eternity, the one Supreme Lord has divided himself in two forms, the energetic and the energy. That Supreme energy (the Yogmāyā power) is Radha, who is worshipped by the knowers of the Vedas." 

Since Radha and Krishna are two aspects of the one Supreme Lord, they are inseparable from each other, just as milk and its whiteness are inseparable from each other, and fire and its light are one with each other. Thus, there is no question of separating Krishna and Radha. However, in their divine pastimes, to relish the bliss of divine love, they separate and again unite in many inconceivably sweet ways. These divine pastimes of God are called leelas. The Vedas say that Radha and Krishna are one, but have assumed two forms for the purpose of performing loving pastimes. They who are known as Sita and Ram in the age of Treta, and as Radha and Krishna in the age of Dwapar.

Again, Narad Pancharatra says that Mahalakshmi, the consort of Mahavishnu, the creator of countless universes, was manifested from Radha's left side. Durga, Jayanti, Kali, Bhadrakali, Kapalini, Durga, Shivadhatri, Svaha, Tvadha, and Vaishnavi are all born from fractions of Radha Rani. Countless Vishnus are born from the toenails of Radha Rani, not just one.

Ved Vyas ji explained the meaning of the name 'Radha':

rādhnoti sakalān kāmāntasmāt rādheti kīrtitaḥ

"The one who fulfills the pure and genuine desires of any individual who cries out to her is known as Radha." This is stated in the Brahma Vaivarta Puran.

Some people ask: "If Radha and Krishna are one and the same, then why is Radha always mentioned before Krishna?" Why do we always hear Radha-Krishna, never Krishna-Radha? The Devi Bhagavat Puran says:

ādau rādhām samuchārya paśhchāta kṛiṣhṇam parātparaṁsevā panḍito yogī
golokam yāti līlayā

First utter the name of Radha, then Krishna. One, who does keertan in this manner, attains Golok. Radha's name is uttered first. No one says, "Krishna Radhey." Everyone says, "Radhey Krishna" or "Shyama Shyam".

The Vedas explain that Radha is the soul of Krishna. All are servants of the soul. Radha is the soul of Krishna, so say the Vedas. Shree Krishna is the soul of all souls, and he also has a soul, which is Radha. Our body is constantly trying to serve the soul. The soul is ever occupied in serving the Supreme Soul, and the Supreme Soul is always busy trying to please his soul, Radha.  
 

But, does this mean that Shree Radha is superior to Shree Krishna? It would seem so, for the soul is greater than the body. However, this is not so. Although for ordinary material people it is true that the soul is superior to the body, yet in God there is no difference between body and soul. Since God's body and soul are one and the same, there is no difference between Radha and Krishna.

Now Please listen Divine Lecture of Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on Radhashtami.