By the mercy of Hari, Guru and Vaiṣṇavas, we are present in the abode of Jagannātha-deva, Śrī Śaṅka-kṣetra, Nīlācala-dhāma, Śrī Cakra-tīrtha. Two days ago, we began our endeavor to celebrate Śrīmatī Rādhārānī’s divine birth under the guidance of the bhaktas.
The heart should be made a place for the appearance of Bhagavān and Bhagavatī. It must not be made a place for the witches, demons, ghosts, and brahma-rākṣasas of māyā. Therefore we are endeavoring to properly follow these occasions like Janmāṣṭamī and Rādhāṣṭamī. If these festivals come, but we do not bring Their Lordships into our hearts or make Their appearance there, then our hearts will remain the abodes of lust, anger and demonic tendencies. The heart will be like a crematorium and the residence of wicked personalities. The heart must be kept clean and auspicious so that Bhagavān will surely appear there.
We have heard about the great austerity that Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja engaged in and the unmatched arādhana, or loving worship that he performed which caused Bhagavān to send Bhagavatī to Him. Therefore we learn the importance of making our hearts clean and pure. How can we do this? How is this possible? Can this happen by our own endeavor? If we are saraṇāgata, surrendered, and we pray with this aspiration to Bhagavān who is parama-dayālu, supremely merciful, and the fulfiller of all livings beings’ desires, then this is certainly possible.
Our festival of Janmāṣṭamī ran for eight days. Now we will also celebrate Rādhāṣṭamī for eight days. This is the rule. There will be the singing of Her glories and the giving of gifts. All the demigods came to give Śrīmatī Rādhārānī gifts on Her birthday as well as all ṛṣis, munis and tapasvīs. When you give something you will definitely receive something. The wise know this.
As stated in Śrī Upadeśāmṛta 4—
dadāti pratigṛhṇāti guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati bhuṅkte bhojayate caiva ṣaḍ-vidhaṁ prīti-lakṣaṇam
Śrī Upadeśāmṛta 4
[Offering gifts and accepting gifts, revealing one’s mind, realizations, or treasured secrets and hearing the same from others, giving prasāda, and accepting prasāda—these are the six principles that symptomize love and affection.] Offering gifts to Bhagavān or Bhagavāti is a symptom of love. Having offered the Divine Couple a gift, They will not let one go empty handed. When the Vrajavāsīs held the annakūṭa festival and under Kṛṣṇa’s guidance offered many nice things to Girirāja, he reciprocated by filling the storerooms of their homes with hills of grain. That is not all. When the Vrajavāsīs offered everything to Girirāja, then Girirāja opened his heart and gave them his shelter and love. He said, “What can the demigods do to harm you? I am here. Do not worry.” Bhagavān is the controller of the universe and He possesses all wealth, but we must try to give Him something. If you give a small child a candy or a coin he will keep it gladly. But there are some children who will take that candy and put it in the mouth of their mother or father. Bhagavān has given us everything. We must offer this all to Him. We worship the Gaṅgā with Gaṅgā water. We must not misuse the things that Bhagavān gives us. We should learn how to use all our time and energy to please Him. However, because of hypocrisy, we engage these things in pursuit of darkness. Those who learn to give, themselves receive so much. They are freed from duplicity and endowed with qualities like humility and simplicity. Becoming supremely powerful and effulgent, darkness cannot remain in their hearts. Now we will hear further about the appearance of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. One day, in the eternal Goloka Vṛndāvana-dhāma, Kṛṣṇa said to Śrīmatījī, “Let us go to Mṛtyu-loka (the abode of death).” “Why?” Śrīmatī replied, “I will not go there. Why should I go to Mṛtyu-loka? It is an impure place. It is full of the filth of māyā and gives off a terrible odor.” We see these days the obnoxious nature of worldly people. They come to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s dhāma, Vṛndāvana, and make their homes there. Then they make many sewer lines, with open reeking gutters going through the alleyways, entering directly into the Yamunā. Rādhārānī said, “I will not go there.” Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said, “Don’t worry about this. I will make arrangements. Let us go.” “But My Yamunājī is not there,” Śrīmatī said. “Yamunājī will come with us.” “Govardhana is not there.” “Govardhana will also come.” “My vanas and upavanas—will they also come?” “We will take everyone with us. Do not worry. Let’s go.” Śrīmatī was still hesitant. “Why do You insist that We go?” She asked. “I have a son,” Kṛṣṇa said. “He was born from Me. Although he has four heads, his intelligence has failed him. He recites the Vedas and thinks himself very wise, but there is no one to show him affection and give him good intelligence. He has no mother. I tried to give him advice—jñānaṁ parama-guhyaṁ me yad vijñāna-samanvitam sarahasyaṁ tad-aṅgaṁ ca gṛhāṇa gaditaṁ mayā
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.9.31
[“Knowledge of Myself as described in the scriptures is very confidential. It has to be realized in conjunction with devotional service. The necessary paraphernalia for that process is being explained by Me. You should take it up carefully.”] “But Brahmā said, ‘Oh, I am so lonely here. What will I do here on the top of this lotus? All I see around me is water, water, water. There is no proper place to stay and nothing to eat. Why did you give birth to me? Who has a father like this? What kind of father gives the son life but no place to live, no house, no business, no wife and no children?’ “‘I have everything ready for you,’ I said. ‘Everything that is Mine is yours.’ But he did not want to come with Me. He wanted only material things.” Without śakti, without mercy, and without affection, no one can change. By receiving only punishment a person’s heart becomes hard. That child who is always beaten by the parents becomes rebellious, harsh and hard-hearted. He will not listen to anyone and it will seem like he is devoid of feelings. But if a child is raised with love and affection, he can grow to conquer the whole world also through love. If one receives śakti and affection from Bhagavāti, he can help the whole world. Kṛṣṇa said, “No one shows this son of mine any affection. He is proud and heeds the advice of no one. He created yakṣas and rākṣasas, ghosts and witches, men and women—he made so many life forms but as a result, only became exhausted. No benefit came to him. Now he is fifty years old. Half of his life has passed. He did many yajñas and married twice. He manifested so many ṛṣis and other living beings—still, he is not happy. Come with Me and We will help him.” Rādhārānī said, “I do not wish to go. Who will take care of this son of Yours? He is very proud. He has come from Your body, recites the Vedas, knows all śāstra.” By drinking alcohol, one becomes intoxicated, but the liquor of pride is even more intoxicating than that. Everyone drinks something. The demigods call it soma-rasa and the demons call it surā. Everyone drinks some form of rasa. The ṛṣis and maharṣis drink a different rasa than the demons and demigods. It is very rare to find someone who drinks ānanda-cinmaya-rasa. Kṛṣṇa said to Rādhārānī, “You must give this ānanda-cinmaya-rasa. This is why We must go. Let there be a rasa-utsava. We will have such a joyous festival and will call everyone to join. We will make them all intoxicated with the transcendental nectar of pure love. Then they will lose taste for mundane rasa. What will they say?parivadatu jano yathā tathā vā nanu mukharo na vayaṁ vicārayāmaḥ hari-rasa-madirā-madāti-mattā bhuvi viluṭhāmo naṭāmo nirviśāmaḥ
Padyāvalī 73
[“Let the garrulous populace say whatever they like; we shall pay them no regard. Thoroughly maddened by the ecstasy of the intoxicating beverage of hari-rasa, and free from all worry, we shall run about rolling on the ground and dancing in ecstasy.”] Drinking this rasa, people become maddened with love and submerged in the ocean of bliss, forgetting all pain of the world of death, Mṛtyu-loka.ekāntino yasya na kañcanārthaṁ vāñchanti ye vai bhagavat-prapannāḥ aty-adbhutaṁ tac-caritaṁ sumaṅgalaṁ gāyanta ānanda-samudra-magnāḥ
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (8.3.20)
[The devotees who are exclusively surrendered unto Bhagavān, and who have no other desire than to attain Him, become immersed in an ocean of bliss by performing saṅkīrtana of His wonderful and supremely auspicious pastimes.] Kṛṣṇa said, “Please come and give this prema-rasa, this bhakti-rasa, this vraja-rasa.” This rasa is no ordinary thing. People of this world chew on dry straw, and feel no satisfaction or taste.śreya-sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.14.4
[O Almighty Lord, bhakti to You is the best path for self-realization. If one gives up this path and engages in the cultivation of speculative knowledge, he will simply undergo a troublesome process and will not achieve his desired result. As a person who beats empty husks cannot get grain and instead finds only that trouble itself, one who simply speculates cannot achieve self-realization. His only gain is trouble.]We will say, “I worked so hard to build this home. Now I am not welcome?” We will see the nature of this world. We will see that there is no love in Mṛtyu-loka. Kṛṣṇa said, “Please come. We will shower Mṛtyu-loka with aprākṛta-rasa. We must first change the Guru. If the father changes, then the sons will change. So if We first change this son of mine, then everyone in the world can be changed.” Rādhārānī thought, “Shall I go, or shall I not go?” What is found in Mṛtyu-loka, the world of death? It is filled only with excrement. Whatever is eaten comes out as stool. This is a world filled with foul toxins and excrement. When one breathes out, his breath is foul. When one eats it comes out even fouler. Whatever clothes one wears one day will stink the next. This world has only filth. It is aṇḍa-tama—the realm of darkness and ignorance. Not one person is clean and pure. Rādhārānī thought, “I do not wish to go such an impure place.” Śukadeva Gosvāmī says that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is pramāṇam-amalam and it is premā pum-artho mahān. It bestows prema-rasa. Everything else is mala, contaminated and contaminating. When Śukadeva Gosvāmī spoke this Bhāgavatam to Parikṣit Mahārāja, he made him completely pure. Śrīmatī was reluctant to come. She said to Kṛṣṇa, “I will ask My sakhīs and mañjarīs if they want to go or not.” Kṛṣṇa said, “Fine. Don’t come. I will go alone and do austerities in order to bring You here. My austerity will be so strong that You will be unable to resist coming.” Rādhārānī said, “If You go without us, then You will only suffer and cry in separation from us. But because You want to take us by force, You will have to go in the middle of the ocean for a hundred years and cry for us. You will lament there in Your great city, surrounded by millions of sons, grandsons and wives, and none of them will be able to give You a drop of happiness. This is the nature of the Mṛtyu-loka. No one knows the value or meaning of love. The conditioned souls only act to satisfy themselves, and they think everyone is lusty like themselves.” Bhagavān is so merciful. He endeavors to give the conditioned souls mercy even if He has to do so with great difficulty. He prayed to Rādhārānī again and again to come, yet She remained reluctant. Kṛṣṇa went to Brahmā and said, “You chanted so many mantras, performed many fire sacrifices and so much worship. You manifested all other tīrthas but did not manifest My Vraja-dhāma. Now manifest My abode and I will appear there with My beloveds.” The father gives everything to his sons, but if they do not give even one room for their father and instead throw him out of the house, then how will the sons be happy? Gurudeva gives everything for his disciples, but if they do not even keep one bed or chair for Gurudeva, and when Guru comes, he has to stay in a rented room outside, even though he has given his disciples all his wealth and temples, how can such an ungrateful disciple ever be happy? Taking the name of their Guru they go and beg money from everyone to make some temple, but there is no place for their Guru there. It is like drinking the milk of a cow and then selling her body to butchers and eating that money that is gained from her flesh and bones. Bhagavān said to Brahmā, “I gave you such a large universe. There are fourteen planetary systems. O Brahmā, I gave you everything. Still after that, did you make anything for Me? You did not keep any place for Me.” “Prabhu, what can I do?” Brahmā thought what to do, and discussed with Nārada Ṛṣi; they decided to make a nice Vṛndavāna. Kṛṣṇa blessed them, saying, “You may endeavor, but it cannot be successful unless I bring My dhāsma with Me. You have some good desire; therefore I will give you darśana of My dhāma on Earth, in Mṛtyu-loka.” Bhagavān wanted to give mercy to Brahmā and all living entities. He appeared with His dhāma and associates to lift the burden of the Earth and attract the devotees to the eternal abode.Beating dry husks will not get you any grain. Day and night we work so hard for society and our families. At the end of the day we lie down, exhausted. The next morning, we wake and again must go to work. We do this to receive pleasure but ultimately, we find nothing of meaning. We give up our lives in lamentation. Our children burn or bury our dead bodies and give up even the memory of us. They do not let us back in our own houses. In our forms of ghosts we may try to re-enter the home that was ours when we lived, but our family will not allow us to come. They will chant many mantras and ślokas from Gītā to ward us away.
anugrahāya bhaktānāṁ mānuṣaṁ deham āsthitaḥ bhajate tādṛśīḥ krīḍā yāḥ śrutvā tat-paro bhavet
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.33.36)
[In order to bestow mercy upon the devotees as well as the conditioned souls, Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa manifests His humanlike form and performs such extraordinary pastimes (rāsa-līlā) that anyone who hears them becomes exclusively devoted unto Him.] We also know that once Brahmā prayed to Bhagavān to appear on the Earth to relieve her burden, and Bhagavān said, “I will come, but I have no place. Where will I appear?” “I will make a place for You,” Brahmā said. “I will bring My dhāma,” Bhagavān said. Bhagavān then manifested His eternal Vṛndavāna on this Earth. He lifted the weight of the Earth, and bestowed pure love to some sādhakas. Once, Brahmā was performing a year-long yajña in Puṣkara. As the sacrifice was ending, the priests told Brahmā that his wife must be present for the sacrifice to be successfully completed. Brahmā told Nārada, “Go and call Your mother Savītrī. Dusk is coming, and we must complete the fire sacrifice before nightfall, or else our year-long worship will be fruitless.” Nārada went to Sāvitrī and said, “O mummy, please come. Father is calling you to come conclude the yajña.” “I am coming soon,” she said. “I am almost ready.” She was putting on tilaka and bindi, dressing up her hair, looking in the mirror, decorating herself, again looking in the mirror, and so forth. This is the nature of ladies. Nārada Ṛṣi returned and said, “It seems she will be late.” “Find another wife,” the priests said to Brahmā. “We must finish this sacrifice soon, or else everything will be spoiled.” Then Brahmā, a fifty year old man, went out into the nearby village and approached the first girl he saw—a young cowherd girl busy making cow dung patties. “Hey, come here,” he said. She was just a young cowherd girl, wearing simple village cloth, soiled with mud and cow dung. Brahmā said, “Will you marry me? It’s vital! You must.” What could she do? The creator, four-headed Brahmā himself, was asking her to marry him. He led her to the sacrificial arena and married her in the gandharva fashion, by an exchange of garlands. The priests sat her on his left side next to the yajña-kuṇḍa and the sacrifice was completed. Her name is Gāyatrī. Sāvitrī came just as the sacrifice was ending and saw that Brahmā had a new wife. Furious, she stormed off, climbed to the top of a mountain and sulked. She refused to speak with Brahmā. Then there were two sides. The smārta-brāhmaṇas took the side of Sāvitrī and to this day perform sāvitrī-upāsanā. The Vaiṣṇavas do the upāsanā of Gāyatrī, the gvālina, cowherd girl, a simple-hearted gopī. The Vaiṣṇavas perform upāsanā under the shelter of the gopīs, and are thus also simple-hearted— saralatā hi vaiṣṇavatā. When Brahmā was married with the gopī Gāyatrī, a simple-hearted mood came to him. Kṛṣṇa loves the cows, gopas, gopīs, and Gokula. Therefore He is known as Gopāla. Now, this Gopāla was preparing to come to Gokula. Therefore Brahmājī married a cowherd girl, although he was a brāhmaṇa. He was then very pleased. He was always sad around Sāvitrī, the brāhmaṇi. She was very rigid and always placing strictures on Brahmā. She would say to him, “Wash your hands! You just touched your nose.” When coming from outside, she told him at the door, “Change your clothes. You are not clean. You have come from outside. What were you doing anyway?” She always pestered Brahmā like this. But the cowherd girls do not worry about a little dust on their clothes. They have no problem wandering in the forest and playing in the dust. They make roṭīs on cow dung coals with their bare hands and happily eat that. They do not follow the strictures of high-class posh society. When Brahmā married Gāyatrī, his heart changed a little. He began to think, “Oh, my father is the Supreme Lord, Parameśvara—I did not make anything for Him. After associating with Gāyatrī, He said, “To please You, O Parama-pītā, I will make Gokula.” He chanted the gopāla-mantra and did upāsanā of Gopāla. He realized all of Gopāla’s transcendental pastimes, divya-līlā and saw all the līlā-sthalī, pastime places. His intelligence was thus rectified. Divya-jñāna awoke within him as well as divya darśana of Gokula. He arranged the foundation of Vraja for Kṛṣṇa to appear, and then thought, “Now I have made this place. But I must do one thing more. If I want to go for darśana, there is no place for me. If I go to serve there, where will I stay? If I wish to receive the darśana of Mahālakṣmīmayī, Sarvalakṣmīmayī—She who Bhagavān Himself worships—then what will I do?” He then made a place for himself in Varsāna, sitting and making his four heads into four hills. He thought, “I will reside here, remembering and worshiping Bhagavān and Bhagavātī. I will receive Their mercy and witness Their pastimes.” In order to fulfill his desire, he came to Varsānā, where blessings are always showering down, varśa ana. Previously, four dhāmas were arranged on the Earth planet. Now Brahmā made four dhāmas in Varsānā, on his four heads. Their names are Bhāna-gaḍa, Māna-gaḍa, Dāna-gaḍa, and Vilās-gaḍa. Between these four places he made many other places of great wonder and beauty. There is Sāṅkarī Khor, Gahvaravana, Mor-kūṭī, and many forest groves filled with peacocks, cuckoos, monkeys, and so many different kinds of animals. Brahmā sent demigods and goddesses to reside there in different plant and animal species, where they could witness Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes and engage in service. Kṛṣṇa now said to Rādhārānī, “Look what My son has arranged for You.” Seeing this, Rādhārānī was pleased, “Oh, he made it so nice. It seems identical to our Vṛndāvana. Everything is there. Except…My Śuka is not there. I will have to ask Śuka. He knows everything. He has divya-darśana.” When She asked Śuka, he told Her, “This Vṛndāvana is not the real one. It is a verisimilitude, but after some time it will become unmanifest. This dhāma is only there to bribe You to go to Mṛtyu-loka.” Kṛṣṇa said, “O Rādhe, just once, come and make Mṛtyu-loka purified and fortunate and then we can return.” Kṛṣṇa requested Rādhārānī like we call Śrī Guru, “O Gurudeva, please come to my home, at least once.” Time and again, I requested Śrīla Gurudeva to come here to this temple in Purī. He kept saying, “Yes, I will go, I will go.” When he finally came he was so happy. Now he is always happily residing here with his associates. Kṛṣṇa arranged so much and begged again and again so that Śrīmatī would agree to come. To further encourage Her, He instructed Śiva Ṭhākura to worship Her with many prayers. Śivajī sat atop Kailāśa, engaged in arādhana, with Pārvatī-devī at his side. Pārvatī-devī asked him, “You have been in meditation for so long and do not even speak with me. Whose arādhana are you doing?” Shivajī said, “I am reciting the Rādhā-kṛpā-kaṭākṣa-stotra, prayers to receive Śrī Rādhā’s glance of mercy upon this world. I meditate on this. If Rādhārānī graces me with Her mercy-saturated side-long glance, then Krsna’s kṛpā-kaṭākṣa will also come to me. When I perform my duty of destruction, I feel so sad. I am duty bound to destroy all temporary things in this world, but it is only an extremely rare soul who wants to escape this Mṛtyu-loka and take my real help.” Śiva said to Pārvatī, “You should also worship Śrīmatī. By doing so, you will feel infinite, unending bliss.” Brahmā, Śiva, and all the demigods sat and did arādhana of Rādhārānī, begging for Her to come to Mṛtyu-loka. On one side Bholanātha was worshiping Śrīmatī and on the other side Brahmājī was worshiping Her. Kṛṣṇa instructed all the demigods to pray to Her. All the gardens and groves of Vraja as well as the many attractive animals and other entities became manifest. Vṛndāvana was glorious, beautiful and green. Kṛṣṇa sent Bhagavatī Paurṇamāsī and Vṛndā-devī and they manifested many beautiful gardens, kuṇḍas and lakes, like Māna-sarovara, Kuśuma-sarovara, Prema-sarovara, and everything was made ānukūla, favorable. Kṛṣṇa said, “O Rādhe, now please come.” Rādhārānī was still thinking, “Should I go or not?” Why? The material world is the realm of selfishness. There is no true beauty or love in the realm of death. There is only contamination. The inhabitants of Mṛtyu-loka are always sad. They do not laugh and if they do laugh they are seen as either mad or intoxicated. Although Bhagavān gives all beings youth, opulence and everything, still they are not happy. Why is this? They make room for everybody, but not for Paramātmā, the Supreme Soul, who is closest to them. They will make friendship with anyone, but not with Paramātmā. He is the closest to them but they have no love for Him. So how can they be happy? The Kṛpā-kaṭākṣa-stotra reads—munīndra-vṛnda-vandite tri-loka-śoka-hāriṇī prasanna-vaktra-paṇkaje nikuñja-bhū-vilāsini vrajendra-bhānu-nandini vrajendra-sūnu-saṅgate kadā kariṣyasīha māṁ kṛpā-kaṭākṣa-bhājanam?
[O Śrīmatī Rādhikā—Śukadeva, Nārada, Uddhava, and all the topmost munis are always offering vandanā to Your lotus feet. Remembering You and praying for Your sevā miraculously removes all the miseries, sins, and offenses of the three spheres. Your joyful face blooms like a lotus and You delight in pastimes in the kuñjas of Vraja. You are the daughter of Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja and are the dearly beloved of Vrajendra-nandana, with whom You always perform vilāsa—when, oh when will You bestow upon me Your merciful sidelong glance?] Prasanna-vaktra-paṇkaje—Śrīmatī Rādhārānī is always pleased Herself and She gives the transcendental pleasure of serving Kṛṣṇa to anyone who takes Her shelter. Those who do not surrender to this Vṛṣabhānu-dulāli and do not receive Her mercy, can never be pleased themselves or be the givers of pleasure to others. Kṛṣṇa again and again requested Śrīmatī to come with Him. That Parabrahma, Paramātmā Śrī Kṛṣṇa was very worried about His sons and daughters, the conditioned souls in this world. Therefore, O brothers, when you make a house, you should have Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s appearance place there, and you should eagerly invite the mahā-bhāgavata premī-bhaktas. If there is no place for the premī-bhaktas in your home, if there is no place for Śrīmatī Rādhārānī, no worship of Her and no kīrtana of Her glories, then your home is merely a place of darkness and death. It is a dwelling for the dead. That person whose heart is filled with thoughts of, ‘Rādhe Rādhe;’ who wakes up to chant, ‘Rādhe Rādhe,’ and in the morning, afternoon and evening chants, ‘Rādhe Rādhe’—oh, his life is successful. His heart will be the appearance place of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. Kṛṣṇa desired that Rādhārānī would come to the material world and that everyone would worship Her. Kṛṣṇa appeared as Caitanya Mahāprabhu, took sannyāsa, and taught us only one thing—harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā
Do not just chant, ‘Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa,’ chant ‘Hare Hare.’ Hare is the call for mercy to Rādhārānī, She who attracts the mind of Hari, the attractor of all beings in the three worlds. First Mahāprabhu tried to chant, ‘gopī gopī’, but everyone became upset and criticized Him. Therefore, He made it hidden. Engaging the injunction of śāstra, He told everyone to chant Harernāma, or, Rādhā nāma. He taught, “Rādhārānī’s name is the only way, the only way, the only way. Give your heart to Rādhārānī. Make a place for Her lotus feet in your heart. Then how can She remain back? How will She not come? When Brahmājī and Śivajī were instructed by Kṛṣṇa, they began to meditate and perform this kīrtana of Rādhārānī—makheśvari! kriyeśvari svadheśvari sureśvari triveda-bhāratīśvari pramāṇa-śāsaneśvari rameśvari! kṣameśvari pramoda-kānaneśvari vrajeśvari vrajādhipe śrī rādhike namo ’stu te
[You are the mistress of all kinds of sacrifices (especially of the topmost yugala-milana-yajña); of all actions (since You are the root of all potencies—mūla-śakti-tattva); of the mantras uttered at yajñas and of the sacrificial offerings presented to the demigods; of all the demigods; of the words of the three Vedas; of the enforcement of all scriptural principles; of Śrī Ramā-devī (the goddess of fortune); of Śrī Kṣamā-devī (the goddess of forgiveness); and especially of the delightful kuñjas in Vṛndāvana. When will You mercifully make me Your dāsī and grant me the qualification to render service in Your amorous pastimes with the prince of Vraja? Hey Śrīmatī Rādhike, owner (adhikārinī—vrajeśvarī) and maintainer (vrajadhipe) of Vraja! I offer praṇāmas unto You time and again.] Wherever this stotra is being recited, Rādhārānī will not be able to stay away. She will appear. In this world, Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja is the Sun-god. He did so much sādhana and received the bīja-mantra from Brahmājī. Brahmā told him, “You also should do kīrtana of svarūpa śakti.” Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja had strong friendship with Nanda Mahārāja. He said to him, “Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa is coming to your home. And I am worshiping Bhagavatī. She will also come. She will stay with me. I will make Her my own dearmost lālī.” Having come to Vraja, if we do not learn to chant Rādhārānī’s names and do not take shelter of Her lotus feet, what is the gain in uselessly passing our lives? Only eating puris, pakwān, halavā, bāluśāi and laḍḍu on Rādhāṣṭamī day will not suffice. We must remember whose property we are. To whom do we belong? There are so many practices one may perform and so many kinds of worship, but only rādhā nāma is parama-dhana, the supreme wealth. Rādhā-nāma parama-sukha-dayī—only Rādhārānī’s name is the giver of transcendental bliss. All energies and goddesses manifest from Her, but She is topmost. That person who has not taken shelter of Her lotus feet is bereft of all good fortune.umā, ramā, satyā, śacī, candrā, rukmiṇī rādhā avatāra sabe—āmnāya-vāṇī
[Our āmnāya, revealed scriptures, declare that Umā, Ramā, Satyā, Śacī, Candrāvalī and Rukmiṇī are all Rādhā’s expansions.]ratiṁ gaurī-līle api tapati saundarya-kiraṇaiḥ śacī-lakṣmī-satyāḥ paribhavati saubhāgya-valanaiḥ vaśī-kāraiś candrāvali-mukha-navīna-vraja-satīḥ kṣipaty ārād yā tāṁ hari-dayita-rādhāṁ bhaja manaḥ
Manaḥ-śikṣā 9
[Without taking shelter of the Lord’s internal potency (svarūpa-śakti), one can never obtain the fullest aspect of the absolute truth, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is the possessor of that potency. Therefore the following statement is expressed.] O mind, give up attachment for all others and just worship the most beloved of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Śrīmatī Rādhikā, who inflames Rati, Gaurī and Līlā by the effulgent rays of Her beauty; who vanquishes Śrī Śacī, Śrī Lakṣmī and Śrī Satyabhāmā by the profusion of Her good fortune; and who dissipates the pride of the chaste young girls of Vraja headed by Śrī Candrāvalī by Her ability to bring Śrī Kṛṣṇa under Her control. This Śrīmatī Rādhikā is the most beloved of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.] The upāsanā of Kṛṣṇa, Brahmā, Śiva, and all the demigods was such that Śrīmatī Rādhārānī could not stay back. She had to come. Where did She go? Vṛṣabhanu Mahārāja daily bathed and prayed within the waters of Yamunā. One morning, he found Her lying atop an enchanting lotus flower in the Yamunā. Her eyes were closed, for She wanted to first see Kṛṣṇa. Her body shone with effulgence greater than thousands of suns and moons, and defeating the splendor of molten gold. Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja prayed to Her and picked Her up in his arms, accepting Her into his heart. May our hearts also be the appearance place of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. The day that we take shelter of She who is sarva-śakti-mayī, the source of all potency; She who is mahābhāva-svarūpiṇī, the embodiment of the highest form of love, and Kṛṣṇa’s atyanta-vallabhā, the dearest beloved of Kṛṣṇa; She who is all that fills the heart of Kṛṣṇa who is known as omnipresent, or Viṣṇu, and is thus more omnipresent than He, that day we receive our supreme good fortune. Hari-katha spoken by Sripada Premananda Prabhu in 15 Sep 2013; rendition by Rasik Mohan Das This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.