Issue 530

rādhā-janma-līlā-kathā
The Pastime of Radha's Appearance
 Sri Krishna Kathamrita
तवकथामृतं तप्तजीवनम्
tava kathāmṛtaṁ tapta-jīvanam
Bindu
Fortnightly email mini-magazine from Gopal Jiu Publications

Issue No. 530 Śrī Annadā Ekādaśī 23 August 2022

• Pray to Radharani
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Highlights

• Please Radha by Chanting Krishna

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada

• Krishna’s Debt to the Gopis

Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja

• Radharani’s Appearance
Srila Ramananda Raya

This repetition of addressing Radha and Krishna,

or “Hare Krishna”, is to pray, “My dear Lord, and
spiritual energy of the Lord, kindly engage me in
your service. I am now embarrassed to be engaged
with this material service. Please engage me in your
service.” This is good sense. We are servants here. We
are engaged in so many services. But it is not giving
us comfort. Krishna is paraṁ brahman. He cannot
enjoy anything material. He has to create the source
of enjoyment by his own spiritual potency. That is
Radharani. Radharani is described in the śāstra: rādhā-
kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī-śaktir asmād (Cc. ādi 1.5).
She is Krishna’s hlādinī-śakti, she gives pleasure to
Krishna. Today is Rādhāṣṭamī. If we pray to Srimati
Radharani, she will be kind. Therefore, in Vrindavan
everywhere you will hear, “Jaya Radhe!” If Radharani
is pleased with you then you will be able to approach
Krishna very easily. That is the goal of our life. vīta-
rāga-bhaya-krodhā man-mayā mām upāśritāḥ — You
pray to radharani
cannot take shelter of Krishna directly. You have to
take shelter of his potency (Bg. 4.10).
His Divine Grace
— Lecture in Calcutta, September 1974.
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Today is Srimati Radharani’s birthday, Rādhāṣṭamī. please radha by chanting krishna
So we called you for a meeting. Radharani is the source
of spiritual inspiration. Our request to everyone Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada
present here today is that you should pray to Those who have no material expectation regarding
Radharani. This word hare or harā indicates Radharani. sādhana or the goal of sādhana, who simply desire to
Cover: Baby Radha crawls on the ground. Unknown artist.
Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu Issue Five Hundred Thirty Page — 3
become the servant of Radha, the dearest of Madan in ātmā-sukha, their own happiness and enjoyment. So
Gopal, under the control of the highest inconceivable there is nothing that Krishna can give them.
spontaneous love, chant loudly and without offense The second reason is that they only have one desire,
the names of Krishna, the king of rasa. As described to please and give happiness to Krishna. They have no
in Śrī Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta 2.3.144, those who desire other desire. They only have desire for the pleasure and
to serve the lotus feet of Radha must constantly happiness of Krishna. When one wants to give all pleasure
perform nāma-saṅkīrtana. and happiness to Krishna, what does he or she have to do?
— From an article in the Bengali Gauḍīya journal. Cited on page 184 One has to give up ones own happiness. When someone
of volume 2 of Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Vaibhava, by Bhakti Vikasa Swami. gives everything, then the one who accepts becomes
Bhakti Vikasa Trust. Surat, India. 2009.
indebted. Then how will he pay them back?
The third reason is that the gopīs attention is single-
krishna's debt to the gopis
pointed, only on Krishna. On the other hand, Krishna’s
Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja attention is multi-pointed. Because Krishna is the
reservoir of all mellows, he reciprocates appropriately
The gopīs have given up everything while
with all types of bhaktas — śānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya,
being devoid of even the thought that Krishna
and mādhurya — and therefore his attention is multi-
is svayam-bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of
pointed. But the gopīs are single-pointed. Therefore,
Godhead. They only know that Kanu, the son of
Krishna’s promise, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs
Nanda Maharaja of Vrajabhumi, is their most
tathaiva bhajāmy aham, is broken when he sees the
beloved, their life, and their object of love — prema-
love of the gopīs. He has said, na pāraye `haṁ [Bhāg.
sarvāśraya. He is their everything. With that prema
10.32.22] — “I have become completely indebted to
they have given up everything. In the literature
you. I cannot pay you back, because you don’t want
of the world you will never find such tyāga, such
anything. What shall I do?” To pay back his debt he
renunciation. It is incomparable. By their love,
Krishna’s promise was broken. His promise is,
ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy
aham — “As someone approaches me I reciprocate
accordingly.” [Bg. 4.11] Krishna never becomes
indebted. He always repays his debts. But this
promise of his was broken by the gopīs. Because
the gopīs don’t want anything, how will he repay
them? If they had some intention, some desire, then
Krishna could have repaid them. But the gopīs don’t
want anything. Therefore, his promise is broken.
The gopīs don’t want svarga-sukha, bhukti-sukha,
mukti-sukha, siddhi-sukha, or sevā-sukha — heavenly
enjoyment, material enjoyment, the happiness of
liberation, the happiness of mystic perfections, or
Unknown artist. India. Circa 1750.

the happiness of service. They don’t want anything.

So what will Krishna give them? How will he repay
them? Because they don’t want anything, Krishna’s
promise — ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva
bhajāmy aham — is broken.
Three Reasons
There are three reasons why Krishna’s promise is
broken. The first reason is because the gopīs don’t
Krishna paints Radharani's feet
want anything for themselves. They are not interested
Issue Five Hundred Thirty, Page — 4 श्रीकृष्णकथामृत बिन् दु

Unknown artist. India. Circa 1795.

Krishna begs for Radha's mercy

became Gaura, assuming the mood of Radharani. Now Questions

he is paying back that debt by crying, crying, crying
Devotee 1: The gopīs are completely free from
for Krishna, as Radharani is crying and feeling acute
bodily consciousness, how can we become like that?
pangs of separation from Krishna. This is Gaura. He is I’m a conditioned soul. I’m not a...
Krishna, but the feeling, the mood, is exactly like that Gour Govinda Swami: Develop your love for Krishna
of Radharani. As Radharani is crying, crying, crying, and then you’ll become free from the conditional stage.
and drowning herself in this unfathomable ocean of Put Krishna on the platform of love. Why are you
separation, similarly, Gaura is burning himself with the putting your body and bodily relations on the platform
fire of separation from Krishna. He is always crying and of love? Give up that thing. Give up all lusty material
crying and talking like a madman, just as Radharani was desires. You have so many lusty desires. Give them
crying and talking like a madwoman. The symptoms up for Krishna! How are the gopīs acting? How are the
of madness in Gaura and Radharani are exactly the gopīs busy, day and night? kāma-kṛṣṇārpaṇa — Be as
same. That is why Mahaprabhu relished the songs of lusty as the gopīs! The gopīs are lusty to give all pleasure
Vidyapati, Chandidas and Jayadev in the association and enjoyment to Krishna. They don’t want anything
of Raya Ramananda and Swarup Damodar Goswami. for themselves. Although the gopīs are in a dying
I don’t know if there are any bhaktas here who can condition, burning in the fire of separation, still they
relish this thing. One who is in bodily consciousness are not dying. Radharani said, “Because he has made
cannot relish this, cannot understand it. It will never us taste that nectar mellow, our bodies have become
touch them. Prabhupada has written here in this deathless. But still we are feeling the pain of death.”
purport [Cc. ādi 13.42] that unless you go above bodily How is it that they are feeling the pain of death
consciousness how can you understand and relish it? but not dying?
Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu Issue Five Hundred Thirty Page — 5

Unknown artist
The gopīs love Krishna

“If someone dies, then his or her pain is finished. Gour Govinda Swami: Lust is the disease of the
But when we are dying, death doesn’t come to heart. The Bhāgavatam states, kāmaṁ hṛd-rogam āśv
us. Our bodies have become deathless because he apahinoti — by hearing rādhā-kṛṣṇa-prema-līlā from
has made us taste, adhara-sudhā, the nectar of his the right source, from the lips of a vaiṣṇava who is
lips. tapta-ikṣu-carvaṇa — It is like chewing very on the platform of love and who is always feeling the
hot sugarcane. The mouth is burning, but one gopī’s bhāva of separation from Krishna, it will act as
cannot give it up.” a medicine. [Bhag. 10.33.39]
Such is their condition. This is love for Krishna. Devotee 2: So Srila Prabhupada’s statement in the
This is his mercy. This is the test of how much you purport is referring to someone who is not hearing
love Krishna: You feel yourself in a dying, painful from a vaiṣṇava but is only reading?
condition, but still you cannot give up Krishna. By Gour Govinda Swami: Yes. Then one will get
this separation the love survives and grows. If there the reverse effect. He will imitate and become a
were always union, then love would have met an debauchee, and then there will be social scandals.
untimely death. Viraha, separation, makes the love Devotee 2: So the key is that one should hear
survive. Therefore, Krishna puts them in this ocean from the lips.
of viraha. That is Krishna’s mercy. He puts the gopīs Gour Govinda Swami: Yes, hear from lips. If you
and Radharani in the ocean of viraha. Thereby the only read, you cannot understand. Hear from the
love survives and grows. right source. And if you are on that level then you
Devotee 2: It seems like a contradiction. On the can understand. Then you can relish this subject.
one hand Srila Prabhupada is saying in his purport Otherwise you cannot understand such topics
[Cc. ādi 13.42] that the materialists should not read because they are not material.
about Krishna’s pastimes with the gopīs. Then on the Devotee 2: What if the guru tells you to read
other hand Prabhupada also says that if one has sex these subjects?
desire then by reading about the rāsa-līlā pastimes Gour Govinda Swami: Why will the guru say that?
they will become free from lust. The guru knows what level the disciple is on. He will
Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu Issue Five Hundred Thirty Page — 7
debar you, “Don’t read.” No. You cannot understand. ke āniyā padma diba pṛthī dibya tāre
If you read, only the reverse effect will come and you ata boli bhīkhabhānu kaha-i satbhare
will imitate. You will think, “Oh, Krishna is doing like Seeing the lotus, his mind became full of bliss,
this, or the gopīs are doing like this. Let me also do and yet he simultaneously fell into deep despair. He
that.” There is no question of imitation. That won’t thought and spoke aloud, “How can this divine lotus
help you. When you become elevated to that level be brought to the shore?”
then spontaneity has come. It comes by the association śuniyā cākaragana kehu nā śunila
of sādhus. By the sādhus’ mercy you may be elevated rāye rāmānanda prabhu carane sevila
to that level. Otherwise there is no other means. The Although his servants heard what the king had
mercy of such sādhus, vaiṣṇavas, is required.” uttered, no one could speak. Ramananda Raya aspires
— Excerpted from Mathura Meets Vrindavan. Gopal Jiu Publications.
Bhubaneswar, Orissa. 2003. Pages 207-209, 236-237.
to serve his feet.
Kali (refrain)

all brijbasis chant mane’ mana rājā bhāleni kare

"radhe radhe"
ke āniā diba more
In his internal vision, Raya Ramananda asks the
king: “Shall I fetch this lotus?”
There is a saying in the vrajabāsī language, ḍāra ḍāra
Song Two
aura pāta pāta pai śrī rādhe rādhe hoya — What to speak
bhīkhabhānu rājā tabe ati ānandite
of active living entities, even every branch and leaf
aśvaru uturi rājā calila turite
of the trees chants, “Radhe! Radhe!”
— Vaiṣṇava Kaṇṭha-hāra. By Krishna Balaram Swami. Page 181.
yamunāre ḍeiṅ rājā paḍila turite
Prabhupada Institute of Culture. Baltimore, USA. 1988. kālandī laharī uṭhe gaganera gate

radharani's appearance

Srila Ramananda Raya

The following songs were collected by the Orissan State
Museum in Bhubaneswar from palm leaf manuscripts
written in Odiya script. In 1992 they published these and some
other rare songs of Raya Ramananda in a book titled Rāya
Rāmānanda Padyāvalī. What follows are the first three of
twenty-nine songs found in that collection that speak about
the appearance and pastimes of Srimati Radharani.
Song One
eka dine bhīkhabhānu pāridhike gela
bhramite bhramite yamunā kulate milila
yamunā sohati bahe atyanta prakhare
eka padma bhāsiāye teja dibākare

One day as Maharaj Vrishabhanu [Bhikhabhanu]

arrived upon the Yamuna’s banks, after having been
moving around here and there during a royal expedi-
tion, he saw a lotus flower, resplendent like the rays of
Unknown artist

the sun, floating down the stream.

dekhi bhīkhabhānu rājā manate ānande
padmake dekhiyā bole atyanta biṣāde
Opposite page: Radha-Krishna milana Radha appeared on a divine lotus
By K. Gupta. Calcutta, c. 1930's.
 Issue Five Hundred Thirty, Page — 8 श्रीकृष्णकथामृत बिन् दु

Ślokāmṛta

Who is a Vaishnava?
Padma Purāṇa 4.1.31-32

veda-śāstrānuraktā ye tulasī-vana-pālakāḥ
rādhāṣṭamī-vrata-ratā vijñeyās te ca vaiṣṇavāḥ

śrī-kṛṣṇa-purato ye ca dīpaṁ yacchanti śraddhayā

para-nindāṁ na kurvanti vijñeyās te ca vaiṣṇavāḥ

Unknown artist
Those who are attached to studying the Vedic
literatures, who protect the tulasī groves, who
joyfully observe the vow of Radhastami, who offer a
Unknown artist

lamp before Lord Sri Krishna with faith, and who do

not criticize others, should be known as vaiṣṇavas.
— Translated by Matsya Avatar Das, from the Nag Publishers
edition. 2003. Delhi.
Vrishabhanu Maharaja discovered a tiny girl child in the lotus

paeṅri paeṅri rājā karate dha-ila

padmake lāiāṅ tabe kulate milila

In great bliss, Maharaja Vrishabhanu swiftly

dismounted from his steed and jumped into the Yamuna.
Swimming amidst waves that seemed to touch the sky,
he caught hold of the lotus, and brought it to the shore.
[Translators note: It makes sense that the Yamuna
had high and turbulent waves as it was during the
monsoon season.]
ca-uki kariāṅ rājā vimāna manḍila
padmake lāiṅā rājā pūjāvidhi kaila

The king brought that beautiful lotus flower and

started worship of it on a nice seat.
[Translators note: From the text it appears that
they first placed the lotus flower on a ca-uki, or
nice seat, and then placed that seat on some kind
of vimāna, or palanquin, to make it like a temple.]
rāya rāmānanda bole rādhā janamite
Painting by Ananda Payihi.

suphala ha-iba pṛthī rādhāke dekhite

Raya Ramananda speaks of Radha’s appearance,

and how the world is now crowned with success by
beholding the vision of Radhika.
Kali (refrain)
bhīkhabhānu pura śobhā
ki diba upamā abā
Kirtida and Vrishabhanu have a festival to
What can possibly compare to the beauty of celebrate the appearance of Srimati Radharani
Vrishabhanu’s abode?
 Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu Issue Five Hundred Thirty Page — 9
Song 3
nānā bādya bajāiñā vimāna manḍila
bhīkhabhānu rānī tabe garbhamāsa hela
navamāsa gela daśamāsa saṁpūrṇate
rānī bole yābu āmi padmake dekhite
As a variety of musical instruments made
music around the palanquin wherein the lotus
was kept, it was then that the queen noted her
pregnancy. When nine months of pregnancy had
elapsed and she had approached the completion
of her tenth month, the queen said, “Now I will
go and see the lotus.”
rāya rāmānanda bole ati sukhabānī
janama ha-ibe āmāra rādhā ṭhākurānī
Raya Ramananda tells the good news that our
Radha Thakurani will take birth.
Kali (refrain)
padmara mandire gela
rānī āsi praveśila
Painting by Radhe Gendron

The queen approached the lotus temple and

entered therein.
[Translators note: In the next song Ramananda
Raya describes that Radha appeared in the lotus.]

Baby calf with Radha

Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu

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Unknown artist

Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Quotations from the books, letters, and lectures of His Divine Grace
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ©Bhaktivedanta Book
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Radha has a vision of Krishna
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