Surrending to Krishna through Radha

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

 

In the Bhagavad Gita Sri Krishna points out that we should make Him the center of everything, do everything as an offering to Him and always think of Him. In this case how does one receive mercy of Radharani, when one is instructed to think only of Sri Krishna.

 

 

The entire process of surrendering to Lord Krishna involves surrendering to Srimati Radharani. Radharani is the internal energy of Lord Krishna. There is no difference between Radha and Krishna - it is the Absolute Truth as enjoyer and enjoyed. Lord Krishna is the shaktiman (controller of energy), and Radha is the shakti (controlled energy). It is not possible to have one without the other. How can there be a shaktiman with out an energy for him to control?

 

In the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna speaks in terms of general principles. He says surrender to Me, worship Me, always think of Me. But He does not go into the details of how to accomplish these activities. How do we think of the Lord? In what manner? How do we worship the Lord? Lord Krishna is never alone. He is always surrounded by His devotees, the topmost of whom is Radharani. When we think of Krishna, we will automatically think of the devotees whom He is interacting with. When we think of His pastimes in Vrindavana, we think of the gopis. When we think of His pastime of speaking the Bhagavad Gita, we think of Arjuna. We are always remembering the Lord and His devotees.

 

The Lord must always be approached through His devotees. When we worship the Lord in the temple, in the form of archa-murti, we will always find the Lord with His eternal consort - either Lakshmi, Sita, Radha or Rukmini.

 

When we chant the name of the Lord, we first invoke the Lord's shakti: sita-rama, lakshmi-narayana, radha-krishna.

 

When we chant the Hare Krishna maha mantra, the word "Hare" is calling out to Sri Radha. The word "Hara" is Radharani. According to sanskrit grammar it becomes "Hare" in the vocative. Thus the words Hare Krishna and Hare Rama are calling out to Radha and Krishna, as they are never seperate.

 

This is the process of approaching the Lord as described in the shastras. Those who properly worship Krishna according to the scriptures will be automatically worshipping Sri Radha Devi, the original shakti, as well.

 

Yours in service,

 

Jahnava Nitai Das,

Bhaktivedanta Ashram &

Bhaktivedanta International Charities

http://www.foodrelief.org

[Guest guest]

Sir,

as you told in the previous message, if hara means radha and when we speak hare krishna if it means radha-krishna. then what does it mean when we say "hare rama"-

can we use name of seetha with rama there as the shakti of rama?

 

please clear my doubt.

thanks,

Chakrapani.

[Guest guest]

I do agree that the concept of Radha or Shakthi is the driving force, as how Shiva represents Unvierse and Shakthi represents the Force governing the Universe. But should anyone think of any other sorrounding stories and characters of Krishna Katha or mahabharatha when we pray to the Divine to get His blessings. Then in that case one cannot reach the Divine unless our mind Mingles to become one with the Divine. I would like to cite this with the well known example of Mahabaratha. When Draupathi lost all hopes with all the human help, she did not think of anything including her own self. At one stage forgetting the fact that her clothes are going to be removed she raised her hands crying for the Divine's help and Krihna comes to her rescue which comes like the never ending waves of the ocean. The philosophy behind the incident which Bhagwan Vyasa tries to explain is One should mix with the Divine to reach Him and actually see Him. As long as we keep thinking about anything else one can never reach the divine and it does not need prayers for hours and days to gether to reach the Divine. A devoted prayer for one minute or even a fraction of second with dedication is sufficient. But I dont find anybody to have understood this philosophy explained by Vyasa. The supreme power that governs this universe and several galaxies is the same whether we call the Power as Shiva or Krishna or Allah according to our cultural upbringing. Its the dedication with purity of mind without conflicts, that is essential to reach the supreme power. A person who has understood this will never bother to think of any mean way to fight for religion in the name of Shiva, Krishna, Rama or Allah.

Regards

Shyam