Today is a very super excellent auspicious day, Vasanta-panchami. Vasanta means spring and panchami means five days from the new moon. Like Akshaya-tritiya, Rama-navami and Vijaya-dashami, any action performed on this blessed day will be successful.
If you wish to manifest vigraha; vigraha-pratishtha, temple pratishtha, start a new business, even perform a karma-kanda, marriage ceremony today, there is no need to ask an astrologer or look at any time of muhurta. You can perform any kind of punya-kanda, pious activities yourself. It is even a super excellent auspicious day to receive diksha or harinama.
During Vasanta-panchami, when we were in Mathura with Gurudeva, on this day we were all very busy from morning to midnight. We would perform many kinds of services. All the Vrajavasis’ in Mathura and Vrindavanа would call Gurudeva, and Gurudeva would go to their houses.
The Vrajavasis homes were always very nicely decorated with all kinds of yellow flowers. Upon arriving, Gurudeva's heart would become completely overjoyed and he sometimes began shedding tears while remembering pastimes of the Divine Couple Sri Sri Radha Krishna in Goloka Vrindavana. All of the Vrajavasis also very nicely sing all the Vraja kirtanas and they adorn themselves with yellow cloth or garments as this is the tradition in Vraja. In Goloka Vrindavana, Vrajavasis also decorate their homes with flowers and other ornaments. They even decorate their cows and calves with yellow flower garlands causing so much stimulation in their heart, uddipana. For this regard, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura sang this song (Radha-kunda-tata):
rādhā-kunḍa-taṭa-kuñja-kuṭīra
govardhana-parvata, jāmuna-tīra
[A vine-covered bower on the banks of Radha-kunda; Govardhana Hill; the shores of the Yamuna]
kusuma-sarovara, mānasa-gańgā
kalinda-nandinī vipula-tarańga
[…Kusuma-sarovara; Manasa-ganga; the daughter of the Kalinda Mountain (Yamuna) with her expansive waves…]
vaḿśīvaṭa, gokula, dhīra-samīra
vṛnvāvana-taru-latikā-vānīra
[…Vamshivata; Gokula; Dhira-samira; the trees, creepers, and shrubs of Vrindavana…]
khaga-mṛga-kula, malaya-vātāsa
mayūra, bhramara, muralī-vilāsa
[…the birds and deer; a cooling breeze from the Malaya Hills; peacocks and bumblebees; pastimes with the murali flute… ]
venu, śṛńga, pada-cihna, megha-mālā
vasanta, śaśańka, śańkha, karatāla
[…the venu flute; the horn bugle; footprints in the dust of that land; banks of clouds; springtime; the crescent of the moon; the conch and the karatalas…]
yugala-vilāse anukūla jāni
līlā-vilāsa-uddīpaka māni
[I know that all these elements are most favourable to the Divine Couple’s loving exchanges, and thus I consider them uddipana, stimuli that invoke remembrance of Their playful, amorous pastimes.]
e saba choḍata kahi nāhi jāu
e saba choḍato parāna hārāu
[I will not go anywhere giving up such stimuli, for to abandon them is to give up my very life!]
bhakativinoda kahe, śuno kāna!
tuwā uddīpaka hāmārā parāna
[Bhaktivinoda says, “Please listen, O Kana, Your uddipana is my very life and soul.”]
I remember we would visit Taruni Gopi's house in Brazil. It was a very nice home resembling one like that of a Vrajavasi. It was decorated very nicely with yellow flowers and looked just like Vraja. When I first entered Taruni Gopi’s house, I saw these decorations, the deities of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Gurudeva. Then I forgot, “Am I in Brazil or in Vrindavana?”
Actually, all of you should be like pure householders, grihasthas. Our shastras never criticise any pure householder. Do you understand? Our shastra explains there are two kinds of householders— one is called grihastha and the other is called grihamedhi. Grihamedhi means what? They are completely absorbed in their own sense gratification and they are like those in this shloka that I mentioned yesterday.
śva-viḍ-varāhoṣṭra-kharaiḥsaṁstutaḥ puruṣaḥ paśuḥna yat-karṇa-pathopetojātu nāma gadāgrajaḥ
Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.3.19)
[Men who are like dogs, hogs, camels and asses praise those men who never listen to the transcendental pastimes of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the deliverer from evils.]
Why? Because these four animals are completely absorbed in their own sense gratification. Thus, those who are grihamedhi are like these four animals. Our shastras further glorify grihastha life:
na gṛhaṁ gṛham ity āhurgṛhiṇī gṛham ucyate
tayā hi sahitaḥ sarvānpuruṣārthān samaśnute
Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita (Adi-lila, 15.27)
[Merely a house is not a home, for it is a wife who gives a home its meaning. If one lives at home with his wife, together they can fulfil all the interests of human life.]
That is called grihastha. Meaning, simply residing in a house is not called griha. When a wife and husband, both one-minded, serve to Guru and Krishna, that is called the grihastha. Hence, in all of our shastras, Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads, pure grihasthas are glorified. A wife and husband must be one-pointed with Guru and Krishna and do bhajana and sadhana. For this regard, what song did Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura sing?
je-dina gṛhe, bhajana dekhi,gṛhete goloka bhāyacaraṇa-sīdhu, dekhiyā gańgā,sukha sā sīmā pāya
[My home is transformed into Goloka Vrindavana when I see bhajana of Srī Radha-Krishna being performed there. When I look upon the Ganga, which is the nectar [emanating] from the Lord’s
feet, my happiness knows no bounds.]
śuddha-bhakata-caraṇa-reṇu,bhajana-anukūlabhakata-sevā, parama-siddhi,prema-latikāra mūla
[Dust from the lotus feet of the pure devotees is most favourable for bhajana. Service to the pure devotees is the highest perfection and the very root of the creeper of prema]
‘Je-dina gṛhe, bhajana dekhi, gṛhete goloka bhāya’, one who performs bhajana and sadhana with his wife and husband, that house is called Goloka Vrindavana. In Goloka Vrindavana, Vrajavasis are not in the renounced order, they are not sadhus, sannyasis, rather they are called grihastha. However, they always remain completely absorbed with Krishna, their minds are absorbed twenty-four hours a day with Krishna. That means all of their endeavours are aimed at how to exclusively give pleasure to Krishna and always serve Him, govinda-seva.
govinda dāmodara mādhaveti
he kṛṣṇa he yādava he sakheti
[Govinda! Damodara! Madhava! Hey Krishna! Hey Yadava! O my friend!]
koī navelī pat ko jagāve, prāṇeśa jāgo aba nīnda tyāgo
belā yahi hai hari gīta gāvo, govinda dāmodara mādhaveti
[A newly-married wife awakens her husband by saying, “Awaken, master of my life! Give up your sleep and sing the song of Hari! Govinda! Damodara! Madhava!”]
This is Vraja song, it is a long song, just I also uttered only two lines:
koī navelī pat ko jagāve, prāṇeśa jāgo aba nīnda tyāgo
belā yahi hai hari gīta gāvo, govinda dāmodara mādhaveti
Navelī refers to when a bride and bridegroom finish their marriage ceremony and return back home. Then very early in the morning, during brahma-muhurta, the bride wakes up and the bridegroom is a little lazy. Normally ladies are very fast and gents are somewhat lazy— perhaps even because some spent the whole night celebrating their marriage ceremony. But not all gents are lazy. Indian marriage ceremonies also mean hard austerities. You may not know, but in India, marriage actually just means hard austerities.
I will briefly mention just how many kinds of activities there are. After the marriage ceremony, around midnight there are many relatives who have come to offer many kinds of presentations. And around three or four o’clock, family members begin to give blessings to the couple. Maybe some remember during Bhagavat-saptaha in Gujarat— there was a bride and bridegroom who were standing from six to twelve o'clock! For six hours they stood, while all of their relatives, one by one waited in a long queue to give many different kinds of presentations or blessings. Some gatherings are arranged in a huge pandal, where about ten thousand people can fit.
Why am I saying these things? Because after the bride and bridegroom finish their marriage ceremony and return to their house, perhaps they only have one hour or so to sleep. However, when the bride wakes up, she also wakes up her husband, “Oh husband. Why are you sleeping? Look now, brahma-muhurta has come.”
koī navelī pat ko jagāve, prāṇeśa jāgo aba nīnda tyāgo
belā yahi hai hari gīta gāvo
govinda dāmodara mādhaveti
Dari Mathani Dadhi Me Kisine
“Oh my husband. Why are you sleeping? Wake up! The Eastern side is almost completely illuminated, give up your laziness. You wake up! Then we both can start kirtana for Govinda.”
From the day of Vasanta-panchami, the temperature begins to automatically rise slightly and everywhere you can see yellow flowers begin to blossom, like mustard seed flowers or wheat flowers, which are both very beautiful and attractive. You can see everywhere how the climate and nature both become very beautiful and attractive.
Prakriti-devi very, very nicely decorates to welcome Radha-Krishna and the gopis. Honeybees and bumblebees begin collecting honey from these yellow flowers, causing everyone's heart to become completely overjoyed. For this regard, Vrajavasis, especially gopis, also decorate themselves in yellow garments or cloth and Krishna performs His rasa dance with the gopis. In our shastras, Krishna performs many kinds of rasa dances— but two kinds of rasa dance are especially prominent. One is called the sharadiya-rasa dance and the other is called the vasantika-rasa dance.
In Srimad-Bhagavatam, Shukadeva Gosvamipada describes Krishna's sharadiya-rasa dance, otherwise known as the autumn season rasa dance. Srimad-Bhagavatam, Tenth Canto, 29th chapter to 33rd chapter is called Rasa-panchadhyayi katha. And the rasa-lila described is called sharadiya-rasa dance or autumn season rasa dance. During the autumn season rasa dance, many kinds of gopis are assembling— svapaksha, vipaksha, tatastha paksha, suhrida paksha, yauthiki, ayauthiki, shruti-chari, muni-chari, rishi-chаri. When Lord Ramachandra entered in Janaka Puri for the marriage ceremony with Sita-devi, all the girls of Janaka Puri were very much attracted by the beauty of Ramachandra and requested to marry Him. However, Lord Ramachandra told them, “In My rama-lila I will only accept Sita, but I will fulfil all of your desires in My krishna-lila.” For this reason, Yogamaya arranged for all those young girls to take birth in Vraja. Even when Ramachandra was exiled in the forest in Dandakaranya, He met with rishis and munis, who for thousands and thousands of years chanted the gopala-mantra or krishna-mantra. As the rishis and munis were chanting their gopala-mantra, they saw Ramachandra's beauty. They became very attracted and even began chasing behind Lord Ramachandra.
But Lord Ramachandra told them, “In this rama-lila, I cannot accept you as My consorts. However, by Yogamaya’s arrangement, all of you will take birth in Vrindavana in the womb of gopis.” Thus, by the mercy of Lord Ramachandra, the Dandakaranya rishis also attained the form of gopis in Vrindavana. And for this regard, they are called rishi-chari, muni-chari gopis. In this way, Krishna's sharadiya-rasa dance or autumn season rasa-dance, contains many kinds of assembled gopis. Because of this, Srimad-Bhagavatam mentions that this rasa dance is called the panchayati rasa dance. Panchayati means what? That many kinds of gopis are assembled and during this rasa dance, Krishna fulfils all of their desires. If you want to know more details, you can read the book called Gopi-gita. Time is very short so I cannot thoroughly explain everything.
The other rasa dance is called vasantika-rasa dance— it is called the spring season rasa dance. Krishna performs His spring season rasa dance, vasantika-rasa-lila in Vrindavana on the lap of Giriraja Govardhana. When you go to Vraja-mandala parikrama, there is a place called Chandra-sarovara, where Krishna performed His rasa dance with this gopis on the lap of Giriraja Govardhana. And in that rasa dance, only nitya-siddha gopis are allowed to assemble.
As like Srimati Radhika and Chandravali's party— they are called nitya-siddha gopis and only they can assemble on the lap of Giriraja Govardhana for the vasantika-rasa dance. There is even another rasa dance called the maha-rasa dance and it takes place on the bank of Radha-kunda. There, only Srimati Radhika and Her sakhis can assemble. Even Chandravali and her party are not allowed to attend this confidential rasa dance held on the banks of Radha-kunda. For this regard, Rupa Gosvamipada explains step-by-step:
vaikuṇṭhāj janito varā madhu-purī tatrāpi rāsotsavād-vṛndāraṇyam udāra-pāṇi-ramaṇāt tatrāpi govardhanaḥrādhā-kuṇḍam ihāpi gokula-pateḥ premāmṛtāplāvanātkuryād asya virājato giri-taṭe sevāṁ vivekī na kaḥ
Upadeshamrita (9)
[The holy place known as Mathura is spiritually superior to Vaikuntha, the transcendental world, because the Lord appeared there. Superior to Mathura-purī is the transcendental forest of Vrindavana because of Krishna’s rasa-lila pastimes. And superior to the forest of Vrindavana is Govardhana Hill, for it was raised by the divine hand of Sri Krishna and was the site of His various loving pastimes. And, above all, the super excellent Sri Radha-kunda stands supreme, for it is overflooded with the ambrosial nectarean prema of the Lord of Gokula, Sri Krishna. Where, then, is that intelligent person who is unwilling to serve this divine Radha-kunda, which is situated at the foot of Govardhana Hill?]
‘Vaikuṇṭhāj janito varā madhu-purī’. Madhu-purī means that Mathura is higher than Vaikuntha-dhama—why? Because in Vaikuntha-dhama, Lord Narayana resides with His consort Lakshmi-devi, and Lord Narayana is very strict. Do you understand? Also, Lord Narayana is not only staying in Vaikuntha-dhama. What is He saying?
nāhaṁ vasāmi vaikuṇṭheyogināṁ hṛdayena camad-bhaktā yatra gāyanti tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada
Padma Purana
[“O Narada, I do not dwell in Vaikuntha nor am I in the hearts of the yogis. I reside where My devotees glorify My name, form, qualities and transcendental pastimes.”]
Lord Vishnu Himself said, “O Narada Rishi, I am not always staying in Vaikuntha-dhama.” ‘Vaikuṇṭhāj janito varā madhu-purī’ - Krishna performs His sweet lilas in Mathura. So, ‘vaikuṇṭhāj janito varā madhu-purī’. Madhu-purī means Mathura, and Mathura is higher than Vaikuntha. ‘Vṛndāraṇyam udāra-pāṇi’, Vrindavana is higher than Mathura. Why? Because Krishna performs His sweet lilas in Vrindavana-dhama. Especially because Krishna performs His sweet lila known as sharadiya-rasa dance in Vrindavana.
However, Giriraja Govardhana is higher than Vrindavana. Do you want to stay in Vrindavana or do you want to stay in Giriraja Govardhana? Say, “No, Giriraja Govardhana is higher than Vrindavana.” Why does Krishna perform His sweet vasantika-lila on the lap of Giriraja Govardhana? And why did Krishna lift Giriraja Govardhana with His left hand and small finger for seven days and seven nights? Because Krishna protects the Vrajavasis. Yet, Srila Rupa Gosvami says, “Rādhā-kuṇḍam ihāpi - Radha-kunda is higher than Giriraja Govardhana.” Why? Because Radha-kunda is non-different from Srimati Radhika.
When Srimati Radhika's love, prema towards Krishna completely melts, it manifests in the form of Radha-kunda. For this regard, our shastra states that Radha-kunda is non-different from Srimati Radhika, and when Krishna performed His maha-rasa on the bank of Radha-kunda, only Srimati Radhika's party could assemble. During that time, Radha-kunda is completely protected by Yogamaya. Even Jatila and Kutila cannot enter Radha-kunda. Jatila and Kutila can attend Surya-kunda, but they cannot enter Radha-kunda, as Radha-kunda is completely special. For this reason, Rupa Gosvamipada glorified Radha-kunda. This is our highest destination, we must become absorbed in how to attain Radha-kunda. This is why Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura very nicely glorified Radha-kunda and Radha-kunda’s beauty.
cintāmaṇi-maya, rādhā-kuṇḍa-taṭa
tāhe kuñja śata śata
prabāla-vidruma-maya taru-latā
muktā-phale abanata
[The banks of Sri Radha-kunda are made of transcendental desire fulfilling gems. Nearby, there are hundreds and hundreds of beautiful kunjas. The trees and creepers, which are made of coral,
are weighty with an abundance of pearl-fruits.]
How beautiful is Radha-kunda? Maybe later we will discuss. Now I will return back to the story as today is a super excellent auspicious day called Vasanta-panchami. And today, the Vrajavasis perform many kinds of lila in Vraja. Here, it is very difficult to find those enacting these lilas, but if you go to Vrindavana, you can easily see just how the Vrajavasis are completely absorbed in their Vraja mood. Yesterday, someone here told me that one person would come and perform a Bollywood dance. Hey! If it is a devotional dance, like the Bharatanatyam or any other Odissi dance, then it is important to perform. But a Bollywood dance is only meant to increase your sense gratification as uddipana will come and little by little your bhajana and sadhana will be Bolly! It will be finished!
I remember how Gurudeva would call on the Vrajavasis to perform very nice and beautiful devotional dances. Until midnight, many Vrajavasis would dance in our Keshavaji Gaudiya Matha. I recall how they would sing all the Vraja kirtanas and everyone's heart was completely overjoyed. Especially when Jayadeva Gosvami's Gita-govinda was sung. When Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked Raya Ramananda about radha-tattva, specifically the topmost radha-tattva katha, Raya Ramananda quoted one verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam, panchayatika rasa shloka. However, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, ”This is not the perfect glorification of Srimati Radhika”. Do you understand? If you do not understand it is because you have not read. You have not read, so if I tell you now, you will not fully understand. For this reason, I will only briefly mention it. When Krishna performed His rasa dance with the gopis in Vrindavana, millions upon millions of gopis arrived on the bank of Yamuna in Vamshivata:
bhagavān api tā rātṛīḥśāradotphulla-mallikāḥvīkṣya rantuṁ manaś cakreyoga-māyām upāśritaḥ
Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.29.1)
[Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, full in all opulences, yet upon seeing those autumn nights scented with blossoming jasmine flowers, He turned His mind toward loving affairs. To fulfil His purposes He employed His internal potency.]
Shukadeva Gosvamipada mentions the first shloka of the rasa-lila. In the Tenth Canto, 29th Chapter, this is the first shloka - ‘bhagavān api tā rātṛīḥ’ - Svayam Bhagavan Krishna, He saw how that night was so beautiful and attractive and the moon was a very beautiful and attractive reddish colour. When the moon first rises, the colour is reddish. What does this red colour represent? Stimulation, coming in the heart of Krishna, and the face of the gopis is round like the moon. The moon's beautiful shape and reddish colour causes this stimulation in Krishna. Simultaneously, Yogamaya begins arranging all kinds of flowers to blossom and sweet fragrances begin to emanate from madhavi, malati, jasmine and other kinds of seasonal flowers. And the eastern side becomes completely illuminated by the first reddish colour rays of the moon. When this uddipana is felt by Krishna, He comes out of His house and He plays the flute on the bank of the Yamuna. Then, all of the gopis give up all of their household duties and they assemble with Krishna under the banyan tree on the bank of Yamuna. There, all of the gopis start to dance. For this reason, we are singing:
yamunā-puline, kadamba-kānane, ki herinu sakhī! āja
śyāma vaḿsīdhārī, maṇi-mañcopari, kare līlā rasarāja
[“O sakhi! What have I seen today? In a kadamba grove on the banks of the Yamuna, a beautiful blackish flute player, seated upon a jewelled platform, is performing His pastimes as the king of all rasa.]
kṛṣṇa-keli sudhā-prasravana
aṣṭa-dalopari, śrī rādhā śrī hari, aṣṭa-sakhī parijana
[The amorous pastimes of Sri Krishna are just like a waterfall of nectar. Situated upon the eight petals [of the jewelled throne] are Sri Radha and Sri Hari, surrounded by Their attendants, the eight principal sakhis.]
sugīta-nartane, saba sakhī-gane, tuṣiche ĵugala-dhane
kṛṣṇa-līlā lakhi, prakṛti-sundarī, bistāriche śobhā vane
[By singing sweet songs and dancing gracefully, all the sakhis satisfy their treasured Divine Couple. Beholding Krishna’s pastimes, the beautiful spiritual energy expands the splendour of the Vrindavana forest.]
ghare nā ĵāibô, vane praveśibô, o līlā-rasera tare
tyaji’ kula-lāja, bhajô vraja-rāja, vinoda minati kare
[To relish the nectar of such pastimes, I will not go home but will enter the forest instead. Renouncing all shyness due to fear of family and society, just worship the king of Vraja. This is the humble entreaty of Bhaktivinoda.”]
When Krishna played the flute, all the gopis assembled on the bank of Yamuna under a banyаn tree. Since Krishna is Svayam Bhagavan, He simultaneously manifests many forms and He begins playing and dancing with the gopis. Srila Vishvanatha Chakravartipada explains that when the rasa dance is going on, Krishna actually very quickly goes from one gopi to another gopi. In this way, all of the gopis are completely absorbed with their fortune, saubhagya— to dance with Krishna, this is great fortune. Who can dance with Krishna?
Thus, the gopis are very fortunate and they are also very proud of their fortune. And in the middle, Srimati Radhika is there and She realises Krishna is now dancing with the other gopis. Causing Srimati Radhika’s mana to manifest, Srimati Radhika then stopped dancing. Then Krishna noticed, “Oh Srimati Radhika She is not dancing and She is not happy. But if I pacify Srimati Radhika's mana, the other gopis will also become angry.” For this regard, Krishna is thinking, “By force, I have to take Srimati Radhika to another place and pacify Her mana.”
Another thing Krishna noticed was the gopis’ pride in their great fortune, saubhagya-mada. And how would He destroy their saubhagya-mada, the pride of their fortune? So for these two reasons, Krishna is thinking, “I have to disappear from this rasa dance.”
tāsāṁ tat-saubhaga-madaṁ
vīkṣya mānaṁ ca keśavaḥ
praśamāya prasādāya
tatraivāntaradhīyata
Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.29.48)
[Lord Keshava, seeing the gopis too proud of their good fortune, wanted to relieve them of this pride and show them further mercy. Thus He immediately disappeared.]
For this regard Keshava Svayam Bhagavan Krishna disappeared from the rasa dance. Then, the rasa stopped when all the gopis noticed Krishna was not there. However, the svapaksha-gopis had realised, “Oh Krishna took our sakhi Srimati Radhika.” Yet, vipaksha-gopis like Chandravali's party were unable to see this. For this reason, the rasa dance now stopped. When Sri Raya Ramananda said, “O, this is the glorification of Srimati Radhika, because Krishna left the other gopis for Srimati Radhika,” Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself said, “This is not the perfect glorification of Srimati Radhika.” Why did the Lord say this? The actual reason Krishna stole Srimati Radhika from the rasa dance was actually due to fear of the other gopis.
curi kari’ rādhāke nila gopī-gaṇera ḍare
Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita (Madhya-lila 8.102)
[During the rasa dance Sri Krishna did not exchange loving affairs with Srimati Radharani due to the presence of the other gopis.]
Since Krishna was afraid of the other gopis, He took Srimati Radhika and He performed the other lila of pacifying Srimati Radhika— however, this is not the perfect prema towards Srimati Radhika. Transcendental love means what? Transcendental love does not depend on any excuse. Hence, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu stated, “I am not happy with these examples of sharadiya rasa-lila.” At that time, Sri Raya Ramananda quoted another shloka from Gita-govinda and in this way, Raya Ramananda proved that radha-prema is the highest.
Thus, this rasa-lila is called vasantika-rasa-lila as it proves the supremacy of Srimati Radhika's prema as being the highest. Why am I saying these things? Because today is Vasanta-panchami, and from today Krishna starts His rasa, vasantika-rasa. And rasa first depends on the uddipana, stimulation. I have explained that today all around Vrindavana, you can see all kinds of yellow flowers blooming and their sweet fragrance emanates everywhere.
This is why today is considered such a super excellent auspicious day, called Vasanta-panchami. Not only this, today people also worship Shuddha Sarasvati. Most people forget to worship Shuddha Sarasvati who is actually an expansion of Srimati Radhika, and for this regard, people now also worship the Goddess of knowledge, Sarasvati.
If you read my grantha Madhu Smita Sri Radha, in one chapter I explain these details about Shuddha Sarasvati, and also the details of who is Yogamaya and who is Mahamaya— all this tattva is contained in this very nice book. If you ever desire to speak radha-tattva, very simply, just read this book and then you can properly glorify radha-tattva. Srimati Radhika enacts many different sorts of childhood pastimes. Many do not know of them. But, if you read this grantha, you can learn many of Srimati Radhika's childhood pastimes which I have collected from many different granthas and Puranas like the Brahmanda Purana and Brahma-vaivarta Purana.
Many of you have read Krishna's many pastimes from Srimad-Bhagavatam. However, in Srimad-Bhagavatam, Shukadeva Gosvamipada did not explain any of Srimati Radhika’s childhood pastimes. But if you read this book, then you can learn about Srimati Radhika's many sweet childhood pastimes. Because, who is our ishtadeva actually? Krishna or Srimati Radhika? Originally, Srimati Radhika, She is our ishtadeva, not Krishna. According to tattva-vichara, Sri Krishna is our ishtadeva, but when in accordance to rasa-vichara, Srimati Radhika is our ishtadeva.
For this regard, we are called Gaudiya. And Gaudiya means what? Those who are pure devotees of Srimati Radhika, they are called Gaudiya. Those who worship Vishnu, they are called Vaishnavas. Those who worship Ganesha, they are called Ganapattas and those who worship Shiva, they're called Shaivas. Ones who worship the Sun-god, they're called Sauras, and those who worship Shakti, they are called Shaktas. Now, those who worship Krishna, they are called Krishnaites, and those who worship Srimati Radhika, they are called Gaudiya.
This is because one of Srimati Radhika’s original names is Gauri. Again, who is actually our ishtadeva? Srimati Radhika. So, why do we worship Krishna? Perhaps this question will arise. Since Srimati Radhika loves Krishna, we worship Krishna for the exclusive pleasure of Srimati Radhika. Otherwise, we would not. Try to understand the reason why we worship Krishna despite us being Gaudiya, one-pointed with Srimati Radhika. In our temples, there is not only Krishna or only Srimati Radhika. Rather, our worshipable deities are called a Divine Couple, known as yugala-seva.
rādhā-kṛṣṇa prāṇa mora j̑ugala-kiśorajīvane maraṇe gati āro nāhi mora
Radha-Krishna Prana Mora
by Narottama dasa Thakura
[The youthful Divine Couple, Sri Sri Radha-Krishna, are my life and soul. In life and in death, I have no shelter other than Them.]
Narottama dasa Thakura states, “Since Srimati Radhika loves Krishna, we worship Him. Otherwise, we do not like Krishna.” This is called rasa-vichara. As we know, Krishna is a big cheater. He is a thief and is a complete stupid, nonsense rascal. Knowing this, who will worship Krishna? Is this a right or wrong conception? For this very reason, no one worships Krishna, although we do still worship Krishna— why? For the exclusive pleasure of Srimati Radhika. Our Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, in Sri Manah-shiksha, verse 9 very clearly explains: madiśā-nāthatve vraja-vipina-candraṁ - O mind, remember Vraja-vipina-chandra as the Lord of my Mistress.
Мadisha: my ishtadevi is Srimati Radhika, not Krishna. And Srimati Radhika will be very pleased if we worship Krishna as Srimati Radhika has so much love and affection towards Krishna. For this regard, we are singing this Vraja song:
jaya rādhe jaya kṛṣṇa jaya vṛndāvana
rasika mukuṭa maṇī jaya gopī-gaṇa
rādhe rādhe rādhe śyāma rādhe rādhe śyāma śyāma
rādhe śyāma yugala nāma mero hai jīvana
mero eka prāṇa-dhana eka hī hai jīvana
nanda-nandana madana mohana rādhikā-ramaṇa
Jaya Radhe Jaya Krishna Jaya Vrindavana
[All glories to Sri Radha! All glories to Sri Krishna! All glories to their abode of Vrindavana! All glories to the gopis who are the jewel of the crown of the rasika mood.
In this ecstatic mood, Krishna sings, “Radhe Radhe” and Radha sings, “Shyama Shyama!” The holy name and the Divine Couple Sri Radhe-Shyama are my life and soul.]
Jaya Srimati Radharani ki jaya!
Date: 29 January 2020 Location: Brazil
Transcriber: Sanatana dasa (USA) Editors: Damodara dasa (UK), Sanatana dasa (USA) Integrity check: Divya-premamayi dasi (Slovakia) Proofreader: Chandrika dasi (UK) Photo: Navina-krishna dasa (Holland)