The Appearance Day of Srimati Radharani

Today marks the Appearance of Srimati Radharani.  We honor it with a half day fast, puspanjali, discussion on the glories of Srimati Radharani, followed by a feast.
The following are just a few of the many quotes from Srila Prabhupada which encourage us to approach Krishna through the mercy of Srimati Radharani, Krishna’s eternal consort. For those of us who feel that there is no hope of making spiritual progress in this lifetime, Srimati Radharani, Who is compassion personified, kindly comes to our rescue if we can humbly invoke Her divine blessings.
 
tapta-kancana-gaurangi radhe vrndavanesvari
vrsabhanu-sute devi pranamami hari-priye
 
“I offer my respects to Radharani whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queen of Vrndavana. You are the daughter of King Vrsabhanu, and You are very dear to Lord Krishna.”
 
(Sri Radha Pranama)
“So this is our philosophy, to please Krishna through Radharani, and just today is the auspicious day of Radharani appearance. So we should offer puspanjali and pray to Radharani that ‘Radharani, kindly be merciful and tell about me to Your Krishna. To Your Krishna. Krishna is Yours.’ Krishna, Radha-Krishna. Krishna is not independent. Krishna is Radharani’s property. So you have to approach Krishna through Radharani. That is, today is the auspicious day. Worship Radharani very nicely and be happy.”
 
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, September 5, 1973)
“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 into a painful situation. Thus the wonderful, unprecedented beauty of Srimati Radharani is awakening in Vrindavana.”
 
(Caitanya-caritamrita Antya 1.169)
“I emphatically say to you, O brothers, you will obtain your good fortune from the Supreme Lord Krishna only when Srimati Radharani becomes pleased with you.”
 
(Prayer to the Lotus Feet of Krishna, September 13, 1965)

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The 108 Names of Srimati Radharani

Radha Krishna

Sri Radhika Stotra 108 Names of Srimati Radharani
by Srila Raghunatha Dasa Goswami

aviksatmesvari kascid vrndavana-mahesvarim
tat padamboja-matraika gati dasyati katara
patita tat-saras tire ruda tyartha-ravakulam
tac chri-vaktreksanavaptyai namanyetani sanjagau

Some maidservant, unable to find her Mistress, has fallen on the bank of Radhakunda, crying in great anxiety, being very eager to take exclusive shelter of Her Lotus Feet, glorifying Her by singing the following names of Her Mistress:

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Radhe Jaya Jaya Madhava-dayite

radha-krishna-in-swing

Sri Radhika Stavah
by Srila Rupa Goswami

radhe jaya jaya madhava-dayite
gokula-taruni-mandala-mahite

damodara-rati-vardhana-vese
hari-niskuta-vrnda-vipinese

vrsabhanudadhi-nava-sasi-lekhe
lalita-sakhi guna-ramita-visakhe

karunam kuru mayi karuna-bharite
sanaka-sanatana-varnita-carite

radhe jaya jaya madhava-dayite

Glories, Glories to Srimati Radharani, the beloved of Madhava and most worshipable of the cowheard girls of Gokula Mandala!

Decorated by the dress of Lord Damodara’s increasing ecstacy, You are the lady of the house of Lord Hari and the groves of Vrndavana

From the ocean of Vrsabhanu has arisen a new moon which is overwhelming the qualties of Lalita and Viskha.

O Goddess Your Qualities are described by Sanaka Rsis and by Sanatana Goswami.  Please bestow Your Mercy upon me.  (from the Songs of the Vaisnava Acaryas)

Purport from Lecture:  Montreal, Aug 30, 68, Srimati Radharani’s Appearance Day.   More

Krsna’s Sweet Flute Playing Within The Forest of Vṛndāvana

radha-learning-flute-from-krishna

[This is a verse spoken by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.] “My dear friend, now I have met My very old and dear friend Kṛṣṇa on this field of Kurukṣetra. I am the same Rādhārāṇī, and now We are meeting together. It is very pleasant, but still I would like to go to the bank of the Yamunā beneath the trees of the forest there. I wish to hear the vibration of His sweet flute playing the fifth note within that forest of Vṛndāvana.”

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The Center of Attention: Radha-Madhava

The Center of Attention: Radha-Madhava
by Jananivasa Dasa
Excerpted from Back to Godhead Magizine, 1999, Vol. 33, No. 6
Jananivasa Dasa
At the heart of any Krsna conscious community are the Deities. On the main altar of the Mayapur Chandro-daya Mandir (ISKCON’s temple in Mayapur) stand Sri Sri Radha-Madhava (Radha-Krsna) along with Radha’s eight intimate gopi (cowherd girl) friends. Overseeing the worship is Jananivasa Dasa, who has been serving the Deities in Mayapur for forty-one years. The following history of Radha-Madhava was adapted from an interview with Jananivasa conducted by Mahamaya Devi Dasi.

…Once I was standing in the Deity room near Srila Prabhupada while he was viewing the Deities, and he said, “They’re dancing.”

Another time he said, “You see how Radharani is standing like this—” (imitating Her outstretched hand) “holding something out to Krsna? Sometimes Radharani is holding her hand up like this [in blessing pose]. When She’s like that, Krsna can leave Her. But when She’s offering something to Him, He can never leave.”

Once a devotee asked, “Srila Prabhupada, we’re sitting in these rice fields, and you’ve asked us to build a city. Where is all the money going to come from?”

Srila Prabhupada laughed. “You are always worried about where the money will come from. Here we have Radha-Madhava. ‘Madhava’ means the husband of the goddess of fortune. You just worship Radha-Madhava nicely, and everything will come by Their mercy. You don’t have to worry about money.”

Sri Sri Radha Madhava

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The Perfection of Self-realization

Krishna and the gopis

…Kṛṣṇa’s only business is satisfying the devotees, and their only business is satisfying Kṛṣṇa. This is the reciprocation of love… The Supreme Personality of Godhead, wanders on the banks of the Yamunā to please the gopīs, the cowherd boys, the birds, the bees, and the cows and calves. These are not ordinary birds, bees, cows, calves, or men; they have all reached the summit of self-realization and thus, after many, many lives, have attained a position whereby they can play with Kṛṣṇa. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement can enable everyone to go to Kṛṣṇaloka and become Kṛṣṇa’s associate as a friend, servant, father, or mother. Kṛṣṇa is agreeable to take any of these positions in relation to His devotee.

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Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava; Further Explained

Radha

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Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava
by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

jaya rādhā-mādhava kuñja-bihārī
gopī-jana-vallabha giri-vara-dhārī

jaya–all glories to: rādhā-mādhava–Rādhā and the Lord of sweetness; kuñja-bihārī–He who enjoys loving pastimes in the groves of Vṛndāvana; gopī-jana-vallabha–the lover of the cowherd maidens of Vraja; giri-vara-dhārī–the holder of the great hill named Govardhana;

Krsna is the lover of Radha. He displays many amorous pastimes in the groves of Vrndavana, He is the lover of the cowherd maidens of Vraja, and the holder of the great hill named Govardhana.

yaśodā-nandana braja-jana-rañjana
yāmuna-tīra-vana-cārī

yaśodā-nandana–the beloved son of mother Yaśodā; vraja-jana-rañjana–the delighter of the inhabitants of Vraja; yāmuna-tīra-vana-cārī–who wanders in the forests along the banks of the river Yamunā

He is the beloved son of mother Yasoda, the delighter of the inhabitants of Vraja, and He wanders in the forests along the banks of the River Yamuna!

Purport to Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava
New York, July 20, 1971

Prabhupāda: So you know this song Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava?

Devotees: Jaya!

Prabhupāda: So you can follow me?

Devotees: Jaya! Haribol! (Śrīla Prabhupāda leads singing of Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava)

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Krsna’s Exquisite Beauty

Madhava

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…Regarding the attractiveness of Kṛṣṇa’s bodily beauty and the sound vibration of His flute, in the Tenth Canto, 29th Chapter, 37th verse, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the gopīs address Kṛṣṇa as follows: “Although our attitude towards You resembles loving affairs with a paramour, we cannot but wonder at how no woman can maintain her chastity upon hearing the vibration from Your flute. And not only women, but even stronghearted men are subject to falling down from their position at the sound of Your flute. In fact, we have seen that in Vṛndāvana even the cows, the deer, the birds, the trees-everyone-has been enchanted by the sweet vibration of Your flute and the fascinating beauty of Your person.”

In Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Lalita-mādhava, it is said: “One day Kṛṣṇa happened to see the shadow of His beautiful form reflected on the jeweled foreground. Upon seeing this bodily reflection, He expressed His feelings: ‘How wonderful it is that I have never seen such a beautiful form! Although it is My own form, still, like Rādhārāṇī, I am trying to embrace this form and enjoy celestial bliss.'” This statement shows how Kṛṣṇa and His shadow reflection are one and the same. There is no difference between Kṛṣṇa and His shadow reflection, nor between Kṛṣṇa and His picture. That is the transcendental position of Kṛṣṇa.

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Radha Madhava

Jaya Radha Madhava

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…Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you very much for your coming here to participate in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We are calling everyone to go back to home, back to Godhead. This is our movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Just now we described the place where we intend to go. That is Goloka Vṛndāvana. There the Supreme Personality of Godhead is residing with His consort Rādhārāṇī. Rādhā-Mādhava. (from lecture by Srila Prabhupada, Laguna Beach 9-30-1972)

So this is the original nature of Krsna. He is Radha-Madhava. He is the lover of Srimati Radharani.

Full Lecture plus song More

Jaya Radha Madhava

Jaya Radha Madhava

Jaya Radha Madhava
by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
with Purport by Srila Prabhupada

jaya rādhā-mādhava kuñja-bihārī
gopī-jana-vallabha giri-vara-dhārī
yaśodā-nandana braja-jana-rañjana
yāmuna-tīra-vana-cārī

Translation
from the 1974 Edition of “Songs of the Vaisnava Acaryas”

Sri Rādhā-Mādhava have their loving pastimes in the groves (kuñja) of Vrndavana. Gopī-jana-vallabha means “one who attracts and reciprocates loving pastimes with the gopis. Giri-vara-dhārī is Krishna’s name in the pastime of lifting Goverdhana Hill. Yaśodā-nandana is the son of Yasoda (“nanda” means son and is also the name of Krishna’s father, so Krishna is also Nanda-nandana). Braja-jana-rañjana means the attractive darling of the inhabitants of Vrndavana. He is always playing in the groves (vana) on the bank (tira) of the Yamuna River, therefore Krishna is also known as Yāmuna-tīra-vana-cārī.

Srila Prabhupada was very fond of this song and sang it just before his lectures. In Allahabad and Gorakhpur Srila Prabhupada fell into a trance after singing the first two lines, and after some time he came back into external consciousness and said, “Now just chant Hare Krsna.” Srila Prabhupada said that this song is “a picture of Vrndavana. Everything is there–Srimati Radharani, Vrndavana, Govardhana, Yasoda, and all the cowherd boys.”

Purport by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada More

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