HAPPY RADHASTAMI: RADHA/KRISHNA STORIES

Radhastami is the Appearance Day of Radha, the consort of Krishna. Although some say he did not marry her, she was his beloved one in childhood. She is the one of the most important avatars of the goddess Lakshmi. Some people think only males are avatars. Think again! Goddesses are incarnations, too. She appeared on an half-moon night in Barsana, or Rawal, a village about eight kilometers from Vrindavan. Her father, King Vrishnabanu, was bathing and saw her appear on a lily pad on the Yamuna River. Queen Kalavati, her mother, saw Radha after the king brought her to their home. She is considered Krishna's eternal consort. Some say she married him in heaven after her earthly sojourn and some believe she secretly married him in Vrindavan. She was often in separation from Krishna. We do know she was the one who enchanted Krishna more than any other gopi. Before he left Vrindavan for Mathura, he gave her his magical flute. Many do not realize that she was an outstanding singer.

On her Appearance Day I would love to share a couple stories which show the depth of her devotion to Krishna. She loved him unconditionally despite whatever happened between them in their many associations in India.

One day Krishna decided to play a prank on Radha. He decided not to visit her for awhile to see what would happen. She would meet him in a secret place on the river often. She went there a number of days and Krishna did not come see her there. She slept over night on the river and her tears made beautiful flowers grow where she waited for Krishna. She could not understand why Krishna was playing this kind of leela with her.

She went back to her house and told the gopis that they should stop Krishna from entering her house when he showed up. He came to her house soon afterwards and they would not let him enter her house, so he left. The gopis told him that Radha was angry with him. So he left and started walking on the road very sad that Radha did not want to see him. Finally she realized her mistake and she started crying for Krishna. An older lady saw her crying and wanted to know what had happened to her. The gopis explained how she was crying for her love, Krishna. The older lady listened to her and had empathy for her pain. Radha thought Krishna hated her because she would not see him. The older lady said: "He cannot hate you. You are the source of life. You are the source of joy. You are his soul and the energy that energizes his soul. It's your blooming face and smile that's keeping him happy."

The older lady held her hand in such a way that Radha recognized that the older lady was actually Krishna in disguise and she realized Krishna had been with her all along the time she had spent with the older lady. Krishna often played tricks to find out just how much she was devoted to him. Some say he played his flute every night for her except during the time he was away from her during this leela. A leela is a story or past time of Krishna in which there is play with devotees.

Krishna finally went to Mathura to defeat the evil Kamsa, who was a demoniac king who had jailed his parents and grandfather, King Urgasena, the rightful king of Mathura. After he defeated Kamsa he let out all the prisoners in the jail house in Mathura. His grandfather was immediately installed as king again to replace the evil Kamsa.

Many believe he never came back to Vrindavan again. In the "Sri Garga Samita" a different story was told about their relationship after Kamsa's defeat. Who was Garga? He was Shri Krishna's Kul Guru (family teacher). Garga was indeed a sage. His ancester was the Rishika Gargi Vacaknavi who challenged the great Sage Yagnavalkya at the the Philosophic Congress of King Janaka, who was the father of Mother Sita. So Garga was in the ancestral line of great sages in India. He was such a lucky man to be the family teacher of Lord Krishna.

In the "Sri Garga Samita" Krishna did meet Radha a couple times after he had left Vrindavan for Mathura. Lord Krishna sent Uddhav to Vrindavan with some letters to various individuals. Krishna had written letters to the following people: Nanda, Jashoda and Radha. Nanda was his foster father and Jashoda was his foster mother when he lived in Vrindavan. Radha, of course, was his beloved. He also wrote a group letter written to the childhood friends he had played with in Vrindavan called the gopis. Uddhav delivered each letter to each one of them personally. Radha was on the river when he brought the letter to her. She described her pain of being separated from Krishna to Uddhav before he returned to Mathura. Krishna did return to Vrindavan soon after the letters were written and delivered to Radha and the rest of the inhabitants of this village. Krishna hugged everyone when he returned for this visit. Nanda, Jashoda and Radha all came to see him when he returned to Vrindavan.

I want to wish you a very happy Radhastami on this very auspicious day. I love Radha's devotion and love for Krishna. She had an interesting personality and was truly mysterious and enchanting. This is why I take her name when I write these blogs. She is a great goddess and very much like many great women I have known in my life. These women are resilent and devoted to life and love. May Radha be your inspiration when you feel uninspired about life. May you love as deeply as Radha did when Krishna was in Vrindavan. May you be as devoted to life as Radha was centuries ago.

JAI SHRI RADHA! JAI SHRI KRISHNA! JAI SHRI MA!

Radhapriestess