A Tribute to Radha’s sweet Love for beloved Krishna.

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A Tribute to Radha’s sweet Love for beloved Krishna

How can one achieve love communion with God? This yearning — often compared to that of a pining lover — has poured forth in poetry and song, myth and fable. Among them is the story of Radha’s yearning for Krishna.

With madhura Bhakti or sweet devotion, Radharani achieved atmasamyogam or union with the Divine. When we call Him Radhakrishna, we acknowledge this love-union. Indian tradition enumerates three paths for a soul to experience this union: jnana marga or way of knowledge; karma marga or way of action and Bhakti marga or way of devotion. Of these three, the path of devotion is filled with a rare sweetness and ecstasy experienced by the devotee, Bhakti.

Five types of mellow states are induced by Bhakti: Santa or veneration, dasya or servitude, sakhya or friendship, vatsalya or parenthood, and madhurya or conjugal love. Radharani exemplifies a devotee who is on the path of madhurya bhakti. She is steeped in the sweetness of her love for the Lord. His name is ever on her lips. His image is enshrined in her heart. Her eyes long to see the bewitching form of Krishna. Her ears strain to hear the captivating melody of His flute. Her soul is immersed in Him. Such is the intensity of her love that effortlessly she achieves the state of ekagrata.

Rishis and munis achieve such one-pointed devotion after years of arduous penance and severe self-denial. But Radharani achieves this by treading the bhakti marga with love. So enraptured is she by the beauteous form of Krishna that she loses all consciousness in His sweet remembrance. Herself is effortlessly effaced, and her identity subsumed in that of His. Out of such forgetting of the self and identification with the Divine arises the state of union with God.

As the repository of divine joy, Radharani is referred to as the pleasure-potency of the Lord. One evening Krishna was reeling under the spell of his own atmic joy. Bliss emanated from His entire being, and it so happened that ‘atmaanandabhuti’ or the blissful experience of the divine soul emerged from Him in a ball of brilliant light. Radharani was seated on the banks of the Yamuna, lost in deep contemplation of Krishna. Attracted by the intensity of her devotion, the ball of light surrounded her and finally merged in her. Ever since Radharani is called a bundle of bliss and folklore maintains that to this day, Krishna trails after Radha, imploring her to shower once more upon Him, His own inherent bliss.

Radharani’s love for Krishna was untainted by selfish desire. She existed only to please Him; all her senses were engaged in the worship of Krishna. The Narada-pancaratna states: ‘‘Bhakti is engaging all our senses in the service of the supreme personality of godhead, master of our senses. When the spirit soul renders such service unto the supreme, there are two side effects. First, the devotee is freed from all material designations; and second, his senses are purified by being employed in the service of the Lord’’. Pure love transformed Radharani from a simple cowherd girl into an eternal goddess, presiding alongside her Lord, reigning in the hearts of all His devotees as the beloved Radharani.

(By Tunisha Mehrotra)