5 glories of Radharani RADHA acronym Radhashtami 2024

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

Hare Krishna So I'll talk about five glories of Shirdi Radha Muni today and within that we'll discuss various aspects of her life as well as her particular mood of devotion So these five I will talk in terms of Ekran and Radha So I'll talk about five ways in which love is seen So Radha Muni demonstrates her love and we all aspire for that love So Aar is what is seen right from her world itself Refusal What was it? Her refusal to see anything except her Lord as her first sight arise When she appeared in the world she appeared in Varsana Krishna appeared both in Mathura as well as in Vrindavan and when Vrindavan and Varsana are not very far away so they are not next to each other also So in that sense who were Radharani's parents? Krishna Bhanu and Indira So they went close in terms of relationship with Nanda Maharaj and Yashoda but they were not exactly next door neighbours So in one sense Nanda Maharaj we consider Vrindavan can refer to one village Vrindavan Vrindavan can also refer to the larger area of Vrindavan For example Rajamundry Parikrama So Nanda Maharaj was the head who was staying here but Nanda Maharaj was also the head of the entire area of Vrindavan and within that there was another area named Varsana and it was in Varsana that Radharani appeared Then Kirtida and her father Rishi Bhanu they both had their child So now when they had a child it was a matter of immense joy for them Oh we have a child but the heart wrenching part for it was that this child seemed to be not opening eyes, not speaking, not functioning So what had happened? They had their version of doctors and doctors said we don't see anything wrong with this child at all we don't know what is happening and then there was this mood of joy as well as sorrow that was there and then they decided still we want to invite Nanda Maharaj to our home we have a child and we want to come and see Now Krishna at that time was himself not very much older Now different Acharyas have slightly different understanding of the age difference between them but the eternal age of Radharani in the spiritual world is around 14 and a half specifics vary the eternal age of Krishna is around 16 and a half So Krishna is about 1 or 2 years, 2 years older than Radharani So then Now the word eternal age itself is a oxymoron when you use the word age that itself indicates something which is changing But the idea is in the spiritual world there is time but time is cyclic without being deteriorating So somebody who is middle aged in the spiritual world they will eternally stay middle aged they will never grow older So in that sense in the Bhauvalila when Krishna appears over here at that time he grows in age from childhood to a particular age In the spiritual world they are all of eternal age So when we are talking about the past time now this is as it is in Bhauma Vrindavan as Krishna appeared over here In the spiritual world it's all of the same age eternally But the point is there is some age difference And now so when Krishna comes to the place of Vasudeva of Vishwanath of Kirtida So then Krishna the small child is resting, his mother is keeping an eye on him But he is going here, he is going there And they greet each other Naturally they want to take the parents to go and see their newborn baby But even before they can go Krishna slips out of mother Yashoda's hands They are sitting and he starts exploring them Just like a small child you start exploring And he at this point cannot even walk very well So sometimes he is crawling, sometimes he is walking, sometimes he is falling and crawling And he crawls but like a child looking here and there He is not like that, he straight goes to the crutch where the baby Radha is there And when he goes there he holds the crutch, he pulls himself up And then just like a child went curious what is here I want to see The child peers over and looks And as soon as Krishna's face appears in the Nayana Pathagama In the visual pathway of Srimati Radharani Immediately our eyes open And the first sound that comes from her is not a sound of crying but a sound of joy This baby has not made any sound till now And then they hear it for a mother of a parent in general The smallest sound of a child, what is happening to my child? Ears become very alert, so everybody comes running And Nanda Maharaj and Yashoda have also heard that their child has some concerns So they also come running And there Radharani is beholding Krishna And Krishna is beholding Radharani And Radharani has such a big smile, her eyes are open And she is like a small baby laughing cheerfully And when Kirtan and Krishnababu see this Their joy just knows no bounds And their joy has multiple reasons First that their child is healthy The child is healthy, the child is functioning normally That itself is a source of joy And on top of that they soon realize The way Krishna is looking at Radharani and Radharani is looking at Krishna They soon realize, oh! Krishna is our special child over here, everyone knows And Krishna has done something special for her That itself is a great source of joy for them But then they say that she has something special for Krishna also So all of it just increases the joy Of the Varsanavasis at the level and the Vrajivasis at large So she has all her faculties But she chooses to manifest her faculties When she can see Krishna In the ecstasies of Vijayanagara Mahaprabhu It is described that sometimes He would withdraw his limbs into his body And he would appear to be almost just like a limbless torso His arms would be inside, his legs would be inside And it would say at such times he is manifesting the Kurma Rupa And sometimes his limbs would extend so much That he was already tall, his hands were already long But still they seem to become much much further So the reason described for these bodily transformations is That when Mahaprabhu in his own ecstasy sees Krishna somewhere And Krishna is going away Then his limbs would elongate to try to reach out to Krishna And when he would feel Krishna's presence Then all the limbs would withdraw So that there is no distraction anywhere else So that the entire attention is focused on Krishna So in one sense Mahaprabhu is Krishna But in the mood of Radharani So that same mood, when I am beholding the Lord I just don't want to see anything else I want to behold only the Lord So that Vyapasayatmika Muthi Eki Kutvandana That is a characteristic of Shri Radharani Now love is seen in many ways One of the basic ways of love Love is seen by what we say yes to and what we say no to What we give and what we give up So here if somebody is very important for us We are talking with them Then if they are speaking something We pay full attention to them If they are talking and you are looking Who else is there in this place I want to look at everyone else That indicates itself that The other person is that important So the world offers us many pleasures One sign of our devotion Is that we consciously turn away from those pleasures It is a conscious intention It is a conscious choice And Radharani demonstrates that We don't have that power That we can choose only to see Krishna We live in a world where we have to function Our senses have to interact with so many objects But what we can try to do is What do we dwell on In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says Drishyato vishayan unsa It is dhyayato vishayan unsa Our eyes may see various things Our senses may contact with various objects But what do we dwell on What do we give our attention to In general on the path of devotion There are many stages The first sign of devotion is attention From attention gradually attraction comes So from attraction eventually absorption So if there is no attention There will be no attraction Krishna is all attractive But when we give attention to him That's when the attraction starts manifesting Or rather it becomes revealed to us For us So for us we can see What am I giving my attention to How can I give my attention more to Krishna Yes by functioning in the world We have to pay attention To various things that we do But we don't have to live that Enter into our heart and take a place in our heart So this is Radharani We can play Jagannath as in the Jagannath Ashtakami play May Krishna be on our visual path May Jagannath Swami be with us So Radharani She shows her love by refusing to see anything else Now after that as we move forward The aim is attraction This is a slightly esoteric story But it illustrates a universal principle Of Krishna's all attractiveness When Radha and Krishna are growing up They are in two different places And they are of two different genders Of course spiritually gender is a different thing But whatever So they don't interact very often They keep interacting intermittently But not very often And as they are growing up Especially when people come to the age of puberty They change Their appearance changes So Radharani It is described that the purvabhav Purvabhav is a purvarag That means when puberty comes Then the attraction, the madhuryabhav starts arising So when that time comes Radharani has not seen Krishna for some time So now she also has her seva She has her job They are all cowherd women So they Gopas go out and take care of the cows The gopis they go out to sell The gifts of the cows The dadyadikam Mohapishad The vichad Dadyadikam The curd, the milk, the butter They sell these things So once Radharani along with her sakhis Is going towards Mathura And then carrying butter and milk And suddenly She hears The sound of a flute being played And She looks around where is the sound coming from She can't see anywhere And that flute sound As it enters From the ears Into her heart It conquers her heart It is described in Krishna's flute song Is like a rope The rope that enters through the ears And pulls at the heart That's why when the gopis hear Krishna Singing the Flute song Just leave everything and come Now at this point Radharani does not know that Krishna plays the flute So this is described in the Mahakavya So she hears This flute being played Who is this captivating person? Who plays this flute so attractively? And just by hearing that flute sound Her heart is lost to that person She wants to leave everything and run And find who that person is But she has a responsibility She has to reach Mathura And there are sakhis watching This is still whatever we say A conservative society She can't just act on her attraction So her heart is lost She hears the flute song This person is the lord of my life And she goes away When will I get to meet him? And the next day When she comes out At that time She is again going to Mathura And this time she is eagerly waiting Will I get to see the flute player? Who it is? And then There is no sound of the flute player this time And this time She smells the fragrance of Krishna's body And they are going in one direction The sakhas are going in other direction The wind is coming downstream So she smells the fragrance And that fragrance is so captivating It is She is completely absorbed She forgets everything else Krishna is Sarvanga Sundar Every aspect of his form Every aspect of his personality Every aspect of him is attractive Not just attractive but supremely attractive And She takes in the fragrance And she is looking Who is this person? Where is this coming from? Now she does not know That this fragrance is coming from Krishna At this time Krishna is not playing the flute So Krishna is actually playing with Radharani's heart over here So he is So she starts thinking This person is so attractive And her heart gets captured By this person And she starts thinking What kind of person am I? I have lost my heart to two different men What am I going to do? So With Krishna What he does is He does not Krishna stands twisted His work also in twisted ways So Krishna is playing with Radharani's heart over here And then she is waiting She can't see anyone And she goes ahead Who is this? What is this fragrance? I have never smelled anything like this ever before It is overwhelmingly attractive The The beauty Of the sweetness Attractiveness of the herb Fragrance of Krishna Is something which even the great sages have described When the Kumaras They go to the spiritual world to Vaikuntha They do not They have not yet seen the Lord Who has lotus eyes, lotus feet But what they see is So the Vayu that comes along From Krishna In this case from the Supreme Lord That These are great sages Who are not Attracted by anything mundane In the world People put on lot of perfume So that they can actually Attract others The sheer amount of perfumes that The perfume industry that is there The cosmetic industry The amount of money that is spent on perfumes That money If it is saved It can feed all the hungry people in the world The cosmetic industry is huge in its expense So Now, this is not a criticism of cosmetics It is just that The body is so unattractive That sometimes we have to conceal its unattractiveness So It's not that So anyway the point is At a material level also What is the Spiritually manifested In a pure and powerful way That is manifested here in this world also to some degree The Kumaras are those Who will not be attracted To anything mundane And yet their mind gets agitated Irresistibly So this is the power of Krishna's attractiveness Even his fragrance attracts So the next day Radhanani is going And Krishna has not yet had enough Of playing with her heart This time she is going And Krishna She sees Krishna going from the other side She sees Krishna going This time Krishna is deliberately not playing the flute And everything in Vrindavan Works according to Krishna's will So Krishna arranges that this time The wind is flowing downward So it is Radhanani's fragrance that goes to Krishna But Krishna's fragrance does not come to Radhanani And then Radhanani sees Krishna Oh this is Krishna I have not seen him for such a long time He has changed He is so attractive now And she sees She knows this is Krishna And just the sight of Krishna It captivates her heart And she is just trying to pull herself and move forward She is thinking her heart is There is a double storm now There is a triple storm in her heart She thinks there are three people I am attracted to Because she doesn't know That the person who plays the flute The person who has that fragrance And this attractive Krishna They are the same person So that night when she goes back Her heart is in utter turbulence She can't sleep What am I going to do? How am I going to live? And then Krishna He is After all God He sees the turbulence of her heart He sees her angst And he decides to Relieve her of angst And then The next day As Radharani is going along Krishna In the silence Krishna starts playing his flute Radha Kapoor Who is this flute player? I will get to see him today Maybe I will And then The wind starts blowing And She starts Radharani starts saying that Okay The fragrance is also coming from the same area She still doesn't put it together She starts thinking Are these two people? I have two of them friends Okay Will I see both of them today? And then she comes forward And she sees Krishna And she sees Krishna Deliberately to have fun Krishna stops playing his flute And she sees Krishna Okay the third person This Krishna is also here And then As Radharani This time their path is going Closer and closer to Krishna So then Krishna picks up his flute And starts playing it And Radharani sees that Because she just keeps seeing So the flute player is Krishna So she says One problem gone And then She keeps coming closer and closer And the wind starts blowing in such a way That the fragrance starts coming And when the fragrance starts coming She starts thinking Oh This fragrance is coming from Krishna Ah For her The agony of the heart The confusion The mortification All this disappears So Krishna Is Rasaraj Rasaraj means He churns the emotions In the hearts of his devotees So He lets all this anxiety Come in the heart of Radharani So that Her relief and her joy Is that much more Eventually When she realizes That everything that she is attracted to Is actually present in Krishna So that realization Is what the great saints get After many lifetimes Vasudeva Sarvamitri Krishna is everything Whatever it is that we are attracted to In this world That is present In its originality And its fullness In Krishna For many people It takes Bahunam Janmanam Ante It takes many many lifetimes To come to this realization But For Radharani It happens within a few days So we are all Attracted to various things In this world And Just as Radharani Got that realization We can pray Krishna Whatever I am attracted to I may be attracted To this sports player I may be attracted To this politician I may be attracted To this hero Whatever it is They all are Manifesting some Vibhuti of Krishna And all this Vibhuti All this attractiveness Ultimately comes From Krishna So we may Intellectually understand it But to get that Realization That is so important Ultimately Krishna is all Attracted So if we consider An ocean From that ocean Say we are here And from that ocean Some drops of water Have come So now various Drops of water Have come From the ocean So all the drops Have come from the ocean But all the drops Don't take us Towards the ocean So like that Anything Attractive That anyone has That comes from Krishna Maybe there is a Bollywood singer Who sings very nicely Their singing ability Comes from Krishna But if they are Singing mundane songs This drop of water Has also come from the ocean But if we chase This drop of water We go away from the ocean Rather than This drop of water Has come from the ocean But if we follow This water We will go closer To the ocean So like that A devotee sings Very nicely That devotee's Singing ability Also comes from Krishna So among the Various things That are attractive In this world We need to select What we get attracted to Everything Attractive Comes from Krishna But everything Attractive Doesn't take us To Krishna So we need to Select For us How The path Of everything That we are Attracted to Ultimately culminates In Krishna So that is For Radharani That realization Is there And we can pray That we also Can get that Realization Right now Our situation is Bahushakha Anandash We are attracted To this We are attracted To that We are attracted To that And in that way Our consciousness Is pulled in Various directions But by the Lord's mercy By Radharani's Mercy We have The You can see That all The things That I am Attracted to The attractiveness Is actually Coming from Krishna Then What is the Next one? D D is Dedication So It is often said That opportunity Knocks Only once When opportunity Knocks once Temptation Knocks repeatedly Temptation Keeps knocking And knocking And knocking Till the door Opens Till we open The door But When the Opportunity To Come closer To Krishna Opens for us How do we Tap that Opportunity? If we show Dedication In tapping That opportunity Krishna will Reveal himself More to us Krishna will Give us More opportunity So as Radharani Is growing up Kirtida Her mother Teaches her Cooking And she Picks it up Very fast She is a Brilliant cook And then Once again Kirtida and Shibhanu They invite Nanda Maharaj Yashoda To their House For food Initially Krishna says I am not going Krishna is like a boy I want to play I don't want to go For food He says No no You can come He says I have all my Friends I want to play With them Mother says No no They have invited They will feel bad If you don't come He says If I want to come Then I want all my Friends also to come with me He has so many Friends They have already Invited all of them He says No I want my Friends to come He says Ok Then he says Ok One friend You can bring So then Krishna Gets Madhumangal Along with him So Madhumangal Is like the Like the Comedian in Krishna Divya So when they Go along They are Invited by They are welcomed By Nanda Maharaj And then Nanda Maharaj Sorry They are welcomed By Rishi Bhanu Nanda Maharaj Goes with Rishi Bhanu So the boys Go with him And then Kirtidhar takes Vishwamitra Inside And now They go to the Kitchen They see There are Hundreds of Items being Cooked for the Feast He says Oh you have Cooked so much And So then Kirtidhar says No These are The ordinary Items The special Items Are always There Really So Like rice, Dal, Sabji All the Ordinary Items Are being Cooked here He says All the Special delicacies She takes her To another room And there Radha Rani Is personally Cooking those Items And Yashoda Says Hey Radha For us We call her Radha Rani For her Yashoda Says Radha Radha What What are You doing Your Body is Tender Like a Flower Handling All the Stars You are sweating You are getting Shiver You shouldn't Be doing This So Kirtidhar Says Why did you Make her Do this She is so Tender And Kirtidhar Says I didn't Tell her To do it I told her We have Cooks We will Cook She Insisted On cooking She says She wants to Cook for all of you Now When they say All of you They all know Who is the you That has been There over there So Yashoda Is very Pleased With this And she Looks at The delicacies She herself Is a great Cook It takes One to know Another She says You are A wonderful Cook Krishna Krishna Would be so Pleased To eat this And as soon as He says Krishna Radha Rani Becomes very shy And then The purpose of All of us In Vrindavan In one sense Is to get Radha And Krishna Together So then Yashoda Says that Ok Now we Have learnt Cooking from Ram Kirtidhar I will teach You how to Serve So Radharani says, my mother has already taught me how to serve. She doesn't say that. But Radharani, Yashoda's mood is that she should go and serve Krishna.

So it's okay, you go and serve in this line. So what Radharani does is, she serves half way and she serves more, but all the food gets over and she comes back. And she tells her Sakhi, you go and serve.

She is afraid to go, she is shy to go in front of Krishna. So then Yashoda says, you should go and serve there. So Radharani is reluctant but then she goes.

And then she goes and starts serving. And she serves Krishna. And then she has put the food item in Krishna's plate and she has put the food item in Madhavangal's plate, there is a separate drawer and she makes a sweet and put.

And then she moves forward and comes back and she is watching. And then Krishna sees Radharani is watching and then Krishna takes the food and eats it. He makes a twisted face.

He makes a twisted face and he pushes the plate and throws it away. Radharani's heart stops beating, what happened? Did I not cook properly? And then Madhavangal picks it up and eats it. His face is smiling.

And then Krishna grins at Radharani. So Radharani gets angry. So Krishna is the ultimate Rasraj.

He just keeps having emotions. He keeps kindling emotions in Radharani's heart. So serving Krishna is always exciting.

And then as Madhavangal is eating, so Radharani comes and serves again and as she is serving, Madhavangal speaks in her presence. And he says, eating this food has put me in unprecedented anxiety now. If you are hosting someone and they say, eating this food has put me in anxiety, that will put us in anxiety.

What happened? So he said, Dad, this food is so tasty. I am worried, how will I be satisfied with any other food in the future? The sweetest praise comes in the form of indirect praise, like criticism. So then, now Yashoda is also watching.

And Yashoda says, with how much gusto Krishna is eating what Radharani has cooked. In her heart, she wants to be the one who is pleasing Krishna by cooking. But she sees, Krishna never eats the food that I cook with as much relish, as much gusto, joy as he is eating what Radharani has cooked.

And then the whole meal gets over. Then they wash their hands and go. And Yashoda goes to meet Radharani in Kirtida.

And she says, the food was wonderful. I saw Krishna eating with so much joy. And she says to Kirtida, that Krishna got so much joy in eating.

I want that Radha should come and cook for Krishna regularly. Now this is not an easy request. Both from Radharani's side, from Yashoda's side, from Kirtida's side.

From Yashoda's side, she wants to be the one to be pleasing Krishna. For a newly born child, the mother is the most important person. Mother takes care of the child.

As the child grows up, the father also gradually becomes important. But the mother is the most important woman. But as the child grows up, then there is another woman that comes in life.

At that time the mother has to step back. If the mother doesn't step back, then the relationships don't function properly. So Yashoda voluntarily steps back.

She could have been cooking for Krishna. But she says Radha, Radha should come and cook. Her concern is not that I did the service.

Her concern is that Krishna be pleased. So that shows her selflessness. Now Kirtida says to Yashoda, you are our queen.

And whatever you tell us, we will do. But Krishna is a young boy, Radha is a young girl. How can she come to your house and cook like this? So Yashoda says, I have thought about this.

She doesn't have to come to our house. She can come outside our house. There is a beautiful Sarovar.

Which is a Sarovar? Pavan Sarovar. And there we will make an arrangement for cooking. She can come and cook over there.

And from there our Sarovar, Dhanishtha and others will take the food. And they will serve it to Krishna. Now Radha is hearing this.

This is a conservative society. So elders are speaking, Radha doesn't speak anything. Initially she is excited, oh I will get to cook for Krishna.

But she is worried, how will I cook? What will happen? And how will I go? When Kirtida expresses her reservations, she thinks, oh will I lose the opportunity? Will I not get the opportunity to cook? So when she hears what Yashoda is saying, and Kirtida says, yes that is good. We will do that. And from that day Radha Rani gets to cook everyday for Krishna.

And she is so expressing the spiritual world, there are Kalpataru is there. There are desirable people. Radha can say just to Kalpataru, give me these 50 items.

And I will offer them to Krishna. But she herself cooks for Krishna. Why? Because love has no meaning without expression.

And expression is best when there is some effort. The end result is not important, the end result is of course important. But in love it is both the end result and the effort to get to the result.

Both are important. Say some guest comes to our house and we get some delicious sweets for them. Oh these are so tasty.

That's wonderful. I just bought it from the neighborhood shop. So it's good that you brought something good.

The end result is important. But we personally cooked it for you. The effort is also important.

So Radha Rani doesn't just want to offer the best to Krishna. She wants to be the one who prepares and offers the best to Krishna. So she herself cooks everyday.

She is running around on multiple stoves, stirring this, heating this, moving this and making sure that every item is cooked to perfection. So when she gets one opportunity for service, she grabs that opportunity. And thus she is given more opportunities.

So for all of us, that is an important lesson. We may all feel that I would like to do this service, I would like to do this, I would like to do that. Why am I not getting this opportunity? Why am I not getting that? But whatever opportunity we have, if we grab that opportunity, then what happens is Krishna will give us a bigger opportunity.

We all have our roles in service to Krishna. And sometimes what we want is a bigger role. If I get a bigger role, I could do so much service.

But instead of a bigger role, we may get the bigger role. But what we can do right now is play our role better. Whatever we are doing, if we have a small service, do it as well as we can.

Radha Rani did not have the opportunity to cook everything for Krishna. She told to cook some delicacies, whatever she initiated. So when she had the opportunity to cook the delicacies, she cooked that well.

She didn't demand to cook everything for Krishna. Small service, do that small service well. Many times when we have a small service, we think this is unimportant.

How I do it doesn't matter. If I get a big service, then I will do it well. Only five people are coming for this class.

Even if I don't prepare for the class, who is going to know about it? If I have a class in the temple or a senior devotee is going to be present, at that time I should prepare the class nicely. We are ultimately speaking to Krishna. So whether it is speaking to one person or one thousand people, it is Krishna who is always hearing.

And if we are trying to organize our thoughts and share them in the best possible way, it is Krishna who will notice, it is Krishna who will reward. So there is always the craving, I should get a bigger service. Now even if we have a small service, let us focus on doing it better rather than craving for a bigger service.

So that is dedication. Dedication means not just constantly craving for a bigger service but doing our present service better. The last is, the second last is, what is the last word? The next word is H. So H is humility.

So here humility has many different aspects. But at a basic level, humility is seen through concern for others. Often what happens is we make humility very self-centered.

What do I mean by self-centered? Humility means that, Oh I am so fallen, I am so fallen, I am so fallen. I have heard that soundtrack nowadays. Is there anything else to come? The world is not concerned whether we are fallen or elevated.

So humility is not, as I say, humility is essentially out of self-obsession. So if we consider this self-centeredness or self-obsession, people who are self-centered, one way can be, I am so great. That is one form of self-centeredness.

Another is, I am so small. Both are self-centeredness. So humility means this whole coin of being self-centered.

I am so great, I am so small. Just throw aside that coin. I am what I am but I want to be of service.

I want to do what I can for the service. Sometimes when ego is there too much, we don't do a service unless we are going to get respect for the service. But if there is too much insecurity, inferiority, then also I want to do service because I am good for nothing.

No, we need to do what we can. So basically just throw away this coin of self-centeredness. So humility is often seen through concern for others.

So how is this seen? This is where one of the most dramatic and traumatic incidents in Krishnalaya comes up. We all know that Krishna plays the flute and calls the gopis. They all come and then there is a sweet conversation.

Krishna says, have you come to look at the beauty of the forest? Now you can see the beauty and go back. The gopis are shy. They are not speaking but they are moving their toes on the ground, scratching.

Krishna, you know why we have come. Don't make me tell us why you have come. You have called us, that's why we have come.

So then Krishna smiles. Then they start performing the rasa dance. And then when they are performing the rasa dance, suddenly Krishna disappears from the moment.

And then they see that Krishna has disappeared. They see that one gopi has also disappeared. They start searching everywhere.

And when they start searching, they see Krishna's footsteps. Dharan, Mandalam, Krishna's footprint are the ornament of the earth. So they see and they see Krishna's footprint, there is one more set of footprints.

They say, who is this gopi? That Krishna has gone alone with her. So who is that gopi? Radharani. Now in the Anandavanchi Upanishad, at one external level, Krishna Leela can be understood in many different levels.

So at one external level it is thought that the gopis become proud. And that's why Krishna abandons them. Well, that's one way of looking at it.

Kavi Karnapur describes that actually the gopis are all delighted to be with Krishna. But they are thinking that this is a celebrated Leela, Krishna is performing with us. But Krishna is with all of us.

Krishna loves Radharani the most. Radharani loves Krishna the most. So their speciality needs to be, they need special time with each other.

Their speciality needs to be known to the world. So the gopis start acting as if they are proud. And because they start acting as if they are proud, at that time Krishna leaves them and goes away.

But they are not acting as proud. The gopis, it seems like pride, but it is not pride, it is concern for Radharani. They know that Krishna has a special bond with Radharani, Radharani has a special bond with Krishna.

So they want that they should have a special time. So they act as if they become proud. And then when Krishna starts taking Radharani away, then Radharani is delighted.

Oh, Krishna is with me alone. And for a few moments she delights in that speciality of Krishna's attention and love for her. But then immediately her heart starts becoming filled with concern for her sakhis.

She starts saying, thinking, what about all of them? They must be devastated that Krishna has abandoned them and gone away. Now Krishna is leading Radharani alone into the forest, deep inward. And Radharani's heart is torn.

On one side she is eager to be with Krishna. On another side she is thinking, what is going to happen to my sakhis? They are also my friends. I love them.

They love me. They love Krishna. What will they think that Krishna has abandoned them and gone away? How will they bear it? So she starts slowing down.

She starts making various reasons to slow down. As they are going together, Radharani says to Krishna, Krishna, that flower, that's so beautiful. Can you get it for me? And Krishna also gets the flower and he puts it on Radharani's hair.

And Krishna says, can you get that flower? Radharani, Krishna gets that also. Now deliberately Radharani says, can you get that flower? And that flower is high up on a tree. And now Krishna has to make further efforts.

So why is Radharani doing this? So that they will be slowed down. She knows all the sakhis will be searching for them and she wants them to catch up with her. So she gets Krishna to slow down.

And Krishna jumps up and he has to jump 2-3 times and finally reaches that flower. And he gives it to Radharani. Radharani's hair is all decorated with flowers.

And then Radharani thought it will take more time for Krishna to get it. But Krishna is so eager to meet Radharani. He just gets everything that she asked very quickly.

And then Radharani says, Krishna, that flower, you have seen how beautiful it is. I have not seen any flower like this. Can you please get that for me? Now Krishna looks at his way up.

Krishna tries to jump up and he can't reach it. He tries to jump up again. Radharani is watching.

She is abused. Krishna is not able to reach. And then suddenly she is just watching and Krishna turns towards her.

And Krishna sees that Radharani is smiling. A grin comes out of Krishna's face. And Krishna moves backwards.

Radharani is watching. Where is Krishna going? And suddenly Krishna comes from behind and picks Radharani up. And he says, okay, picks her high up.

He says, you reach that flower. Radharani is scared. What happened? She suddenly picked up.

And later on when the gopis come and search, so what happens is that they see at one particular place the footsteps have gone very deep inside. So Radharani is concerned that if some wind comes, some rain comes, the footsteps may not be seen. So when Krishna lifts Radharani up, at that time the footprints go deep inside.

And there the gopis are able to see the footprints when they come. So Radharani reaches and then she gets the flower. And now Krishna puts that flower on her head.

Now Radharani says, what more can I do to delay Krishna now? Everything that I am asking, he is giving. So then Radharani says to Krishna, Krishna, I am very tired now. We have been dancing, we have been walking so fast.

She wants to say that maybe let's sit down over here. But Krishna says, enough is enough. So Krishna gets angry.

He says, because this is a forest, I cannot get a palanquin for you now. So you climb on my back and I will carry you. Now Radharani is actually looking around to see where they can sit.

Which is a nice, every place in Vrindavan is nice. But she wants to see which is the best place. So she is actually not looking at Krishna and suddenly Krishna's tone changes.

And she becomes concerned. Sometimes we speak some words, but what we speak is not as important as how we speak it. If a wife says to her husband, you don't love me, I love you.

Now the tone completely defeats the purpose. What words are spoken, they just have no meaning because of the tone. So what happens? Krishna's tone is so strong.

Krishna says, you sit on my back, but he seems so angry. Radharani whirls around, what happened? Why is Krishna so upset? She looks around and Krishna has disappeared. And she then realizes, Krishna got angry with me.

She was so concerned about the Sakhis and she was so concerned about slowing things down. And she was so concerned about finding some reason to slow things down. She doesn't realize that Krishna has got upset with her.

And then Krishna disappears. Did Krishna think that I got angry? She is calling out to Krishna, Krishna please, where are you? She doesn't hear anything from Krishna. And then she just can't bear that pain at all.

Because she can't bear that pain, the agony that Krishna has gone away. I have angered Krishna by my behavior. I didn't want to anger Krishna.

Krishna has misunderstood me. And I have no opportunity to explain this to him. She just can't bear it all and she just fades.

She swoons and falls to the ground unconscious. At that time, Brutadevi, she arranges the grass to be like a cushion to catch her. To soften her fall.

And later on when the Gopis come, the Gopis are searching for where is Krishna? Where is the Sakhi with Krishna? And then initially there is some annoyance. Why has Krishna chosen this special Sakhi and gone with her? But when they see Sakhi fallen on the ground, completely devastated. Although she is unconscious, her face is as if frozen in time.

Her face still that utter horror and shock and dismay and agony, all of it is there. And when they see that on her face, they understand how much she must be loving Krishna. So even the other group of Sakhi, Chandravali are there.

And there is a rivalry between Chandravali and Radharani, the groups. Even that group of Sakhis, their hearts are also in this. If Krishna has gone with her, it is not because Krishna is Varshi.

She really loves her so much. They all rush, get some water from Yamuna, sprinkle it on her face and they bring her back to consciousness. So this whole pastime goes on further.

Then they come back and they sing the Gopikis and finally Krishna appears. But even when Radharani is with Krishna, her concern is not that I want to enjoy Krishna for myself. Her humility is seen in her concern for others.

So I was at one place and there the temple president was telling me an incident. He said that there is a visiting Sanyasi Guru who had come. And he was quite close to that Sanyasi Guru.

So there was supposed to be a Bhagavatam class and there were several hundred people who had come for the Bhagavatam class. And that Sanyasi Guru said to the president, I want to talk with you. And they started talking and kept talking and kept talking.

The class time being 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes. On one side he was thinking I am delighted to have my spiritual master's association. But I am also concerned there are all congregations waiting over here.

They also need the association. So I was stunned. So he was telling me, he was there when I spoke to this class.

He said I could identify with Radharani's plight over there. That Radharani is with Krishna. She is delighted to be with Krishna.

But she is also concerned that I want, what about others also? So I said, I told him that is a sign of your responsibility also, your humility, your service attitude. You could have crowed to others, oh I am so special for my spiritual master. Instead of giving a class to thousands of people, my spiritual master would spend time with me.

I am so important for my spiritual master. But that is not the mood of a devotee. A devotee's mood is that, yes I want Krishna but I want everyone else also to have Krishna.

So that was Radharani's mood. I don't want to delight in my specialness. I want everyone to relish Krishna's specialness.

That is actually humility. Even with bhakti, if we are delighting, I want to be special. And I want to delight in my specialness.

I want everyone to realize how Krishna is special. I want everyone to relish Krishna's, how Krishna is special. So that is the humility of Shri Radharani.

The last part is, A is agony. So now, when I say agony, agony means what? It's great pain. See pain can be physical.

Agony is primarily emotional pain. So when something terrible has happened, something unbearable has happened, that's the time the agony is experienced. So now, what is the agony? This is the plight of Shri Radharani when Krishna departs.

And Krishna departs from this world, not from this world, from the world of Vrindavan. He said, I'll come back soon. But he just said soon.

It's a very vague term. Soon means 5 minutes, 5 days, 5 weeks, 5 months, 5 years. What is soon? So the gopis are waiting and waiting and waiting.

And Krishna just doesn't come. So their eager anticipation, the situation keeps getting worse and worse and worse. And it means in this that ultimately the gopis' love for Krishna shines forth the most.

Among them is Radharani's love. Radharani loves Krishna like no one else. And that's why when Krishna sends Uddhava to come to Vrindavan, he gives a message.

And when he gives a message at that time, what happens is that all the sakhis are coming and they are hearing, but there is one sakhi who just stays far away. He doesn't want to hear. Who is that? That is Radharani.

And she is talking with a bumblebee. Now in the Chaitanya Charita Amrit, there is a word that we use, Divyonmaad or Premonmaad. So Unmaad is madness.

Divyonmaad is divine madness. Or Premonmaad is the madness of love. Even Bhishma Pitamah, right in the first canto, when he is about to die, he remembers the gopis and says, Unmaad andhaha.

Unmaad, madness, andhaha. They become blind by that. So all the gopis are eager to see Krishna.

Among all of them, Radharani is the greatest agony. And one part of her wants to know about Krishna. Wants to know how Krishna is.

Wants to know when Krishna is going to come back. And other part of her wants, I don't want to let Krishna get away so easily. Krishna has upset me.

I want him to pay a price. I want him to know that I am displeased. So there is, in Krishna Leela, there is Radharani and there is Chandravali.

Now Chandravali is from the Adal Paksha. So what that means is that both of them are immensely devoted to Krishna. But it is described that the way it is that Chandravali chases Krishna and Krishna chases Radharani and Radharani goes her own way.

So the idea is that's why there is no Leela like the Maan Leela for which there is Maan Mandir in Varsana. Chandravali is begging constantly, where and can I please Krishna? How can I please Krishna? But Krishna is worried, how can I please Radharani? So when Radharani gets angry, Krishna becomes worried, how can I pacify her? And that's why based on this mood, G. Goswami in Gopal Champo says that actually if we consider the Sakhis in Vrindavan are manifested as the queens in Dwaraka, then actually Radharani is not Chandravali, is not Rukmini, she is Satyabhama. Because Rukmini has a very submissive mood and that is more the mood of Chandravali.

On the other hand, that almost demanding mood, Maan Leela is described, that is the mood of Radharani, that is more manifested in Satyabhama. So Krishna gives one Parijat flower to Rukmini, she is so happy. But Chandravali demands, I want the whole tree.

So like that Radharani has that sweet nature. She is so confident in her love for Krishna and Krishna's love for her, that she in her own way makes demands from Krishna. And Krishna loves that.

Krishna is very pleased with Rukmini, Krishna is very pleased with Satyabhama also. Krishna is very pleased with Chandravali, Krishna is very pleased with Radharani also. So here that mood Radharani is manifesting.

You can't pacify me so easily. Sometimes we have done something to upset someone and we just go and give them a gift. And you know a gift is a way to avoid addressing the underlying issues.

And sometimes some people get pacified with the gifts, sometimes some people don't. So Radharani is saying, you have gone away for so much time and you have not come, you have just sent some unknown messenger, just because he looks like you, we are not going to be deceived by that. She says, I am not going to be deceived.

So she stays away from all of them. And then what she is doing is, she is talking with a bumblebee. And this is how the Brahmal Gita comes in the 10th canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam.

She says to that bumblebee, you are the unreliable servant of an unreliable master. Now what is she referring to? She is thinking that this bumblebee is actually, in poetic language, there are many different things that come up. So this bumblebee is actually the messenger of Krishna.

And she is using the bumblebee also to address Uddhava. Turn it on. Hare Krishna.

Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna.

Krishna Krishna. Hare Hare. It's interesting when the power comes off, the power goes off.

Hare Krishna. So here she is addressing Uddhava indirectly by speaking to that bumblebee. So her anger that is there, that is being expressed.

So the point over here is that love is an emotion that is very big. And within love there can be anger also. And that anger is also a sign of love.

Just like we know Narasimhadeva's anger is a sign of his love. Of course that anger is God's anger directed towards the devotee. But here it is actually a devotee's anger directed towards the Lord.

How could you go away like this? How could you stay away like this? How could you not come back at all? So that is an expression of the depth of her love. So her agony is there. Very deep emotion is there of agony.

And when she gets an opportunity to express when Uddhava comes, she is angry. But that agony as well as the anger, both of them are emotions within the ocean of love. Rupa Goswami talks about Bhakti is a Sindhu.

It is not just an Ananda Sindhu. It is actually a Sindhu. It is an ocean with many waves and many emotions.

And Radharani's love for Krishna is greatest but associated with love there are many other emotions. And those are also present in Radharani. And that is her glowing.

So when she experiences unhappiness or she expresses unhappiness, that is not because she is not absorbing Krishna. She is so absorbed in Krishna that those emotions come out. So there is normally we say nectar and poison.

So in the spiritual world there are dualities but there is also reality beyond duality. In this world nectar is sweet, poison is generally bitter. Now this is the material domain.

Now in the spiritual domain we can say at one level there is only nectar. It's all spiritual. That's one level understanding.

But actually in the spiritual level also there is nectar and there is poison. So the nectar is union with Krishna. The poison is separation from Krishna.

So there is union, there is separation. And nectar is delicious, it is wonderful. And the poison separation from Krishna is like agony.

However it is at another level all of it is nectar because the nectar is remembrance of Krishna. It is absorption in Krishna. So the point is that in the spiritual world as I said there is duality and there is reality beyond duality.

So there is just like in the material world there is day and night. Like that there is day and night in the spiritual world. But there is no deterioration of a person's body because there is no aging process that happens.

So the dualities of this world are present in the spiritual world. But there is a higher reality which makes the dualities function differently. So the duality is there is poison and there is nectar.

But the reality is it's all centered on remembrance of Krishna. So it is ultimately like nectar. So we could say in that sense separation from Krishna and union with Krishna.

Separation from Krishna is like sweet nectar. Union from Krishna is like sweet nectar. Separation from Krishna is like bitter nectar.

Now you may say how can nectar be bitter? But Chetan Sertan used the example of hot sugarcane juice. It is so delicious and you can't stop drinking it. It's so hot that we can't drink it.

So that is the plight of a devotee. Radhanand manifests that plight to the highest degree. And it is in her agony and her anger it is seen that Krishna is thunderstruck.

What is her love for me? I haven't seen this kind of love. I want to understand this. Sometimes when we see a devotee has so much devotion.

We are singing kirtan and looking here and there. Everybody is closing eyes and looking completely absorbed. What are you tasting? What are you experiencing? I also want to experience that.

So Radharani, her love for Krishna is so much that Krishna is mystified. Krishna is intrigued. And it is Krishna who wants to explore the mysteries of that love.

That is how he comes as Radharani. So that is especially the mood of agony and separation from Krishna. That mood, you are Krishna, I am Vrindavan, I am now left Vrindavan, I am now Mathuranath.

I don't know what to do now that you have gone away. When will I get to see you again? The fear that I never get to see you. My heart is trembling with fear that you may never return.

What should I do? Should I wait for you to come? Should I just give up my life in hopelessness? I just don't know what to do, Krishna. That is the agony of Radharani. And that agony is considered to be the highest emotion.

Why is it considered the highest emotion? I will conclude with this. Generally we talk about Krishna consciousness. Here we all have consciousness, it is there.

Krishna is not there in our consciousness. So for Krishna consciousness, Krishna needs to be there and consciousness needs to be there. So consciousness is always there but consciousness is not open to Krishna right now.

So what we want to do is we want to bring Krishna into our consciousness. And it is that the more we bring Krishna into our consciousness, the more we chant Krishna's name, the more we behold his deities, the more we hear about him, the more we can be Krishna-conscious. Now we say remember Krishna.

Krishna ko yaad karoon. But yaad karne ke liye yaade chahiye. So for remembrance of Krishna, we need memories of Krishna.

So for all of us, we need to form memories of Krishna. So when we come for festivals like this, we behold the beautiful darshan, we dance in kirtans, we hear katha, it is not just specific facts about Krishna we want to remember. It's like we want to form memories of Krishna.

And as those memories of Krishna become more and more, then the Krishna consciousness will become more and more. Then Krishna consciousness will become constant for us. So actually speaking, you could say there are four things.

There is the consciousness of Krishna and there is manifestation of Krishna. So in the material world, there is no manifestation and no consciousness. This is utter darkness.

We don't see Krishna over here and our consciousness is not directed towards Krishna. So there is consciousness of Krishna but no manifestation of Krishna. This is the sadhaka stage.

So from here we like to come here. Although Krishna is not there, I am not manifested here but still I want to be conscious of Krishna. From the sadhaka stage, this is the stage in the spiritual world.

Where we have consciousness of Krishna, that means in our consciousness there are memories of Krishna, there is a desire for Krishna and Krishna is also manifested. Now this is love in separation. Where there is consciousness of Krishna even when there is no manifestation of Krishna.

Sorry I went wrong over here. There is consciousness of Krishna. So in one sense from here, so in the spiritual world, the sadhaka stage is where there is consciousness of Krishna but no manifestation of Krishna.

From there we have manifestation of Krishna and consciousness of Krishna. But in the siddha stage what happens is that even when there is no manifestation of Krishna still there is consciousness of Krishna. Here for us this comes through cultivation.

It requires cultivation for us and it is not easy for us. It is very easy to lose out. But at the highest stage whether Krishna is manifested or Krishna is not manifested, it just doesn't matter for anybody.

In fact through it all the gopis, whether Krishna is manifested, Krishna is not manifested, there is consciousness of Krishna. So the idea here is that Radharani has a prayer in one of her prayers. She says Krishna when you are present I can see you at one place, when you are absent I can see you everywhere.

Krishna is so filling her consciousness. So for us while Radharani sometimes Krishna is unmanifest to her, that is not because she doesn't desire Krishna. She desires Krishna but Krishna is not there.

For us Krishna is not there because we don't desire Krishna so much. But the important thing is she never loses her longing for Krishna. She never gives up on Krishna.

She never thinks Krishna I don't want to come back, why should I care? That unflinching devotion even when there is no reciprocation is what conquers the heart. For Radharani there is no knowledge when Krishna is going to come back. For all of us also there is no knowledge when Krishna is going to reveal himself to us.

But we need to continue on that faithful persistence. That is what is the greatest gift that we can pray for Radharani. That even if there is no reciprocation Krishna will reciprocate.

You know the past time of Srivastava, Mahaprabhu said after one million lifetime you get to see me. Only one million lifetime, wonderful. So that is the faithful persistence.

Krishna will reciprocate. But that persistence if we get then whatever difficulties we face in our life by Radharani's mercy we can overcome them. To summarize what we discussed today, we discussed about the glories of Radharani from five different perspectives.

Starting from her life itself. What was the first? R was her refusal to see anything other than Krishna. Let her first sight be Krishna alone.

So for all of us we don't have a choice. We can't choose what we see but we can choose what we focus on. What we know Drishyato, we can choose that.

And in that way we try to open our senses and open our heart for Krishna. Then Krishna can enter into our heart. Her refusal to see anything other than Krishna.

The second was her attraction. So how she was attracted? First to Krishna's flute, then to his fragrance and then to his aum. And she initially thought that each of these is different.

And then she felt it's all one. So for all of us also we are attracted to various things in this world. So everything attractive, it ultimately comes from Krishna.

So you can pray for that realization and we all can keep moving closer to Krishna. D is a dedication. She got one opportunity to serve and she grabbed that opportunity.

And thus she got a daily service to Krishna. Similarly for us we all have various roles in service. We often seek a bigger role.

Oh then I will do wonderful service. But instead we can try to play our role. Show Krishna that we value the service independent of the size.

And then we will be able to express our dedication. H was humility. And even when she was with Krishna her concern for her Sakhi was there.

And that's why she acted as if she was proud although she was actually not proud. So for us we don't want our devotion is not that oh I am so special. Even spiritually I am so special.

It is rather Krishna is so special and I want everyone to relish how Krishna is special. Everyone should know that. So the last part was that about her agony.

So her agony seen in her and Krishna abandoned, Krishna left them. That was a great pain for her at an emotional level. But that did not lead to the relationship ever breaking.

That never happened. Why? Because her love was unconditional. Love was big enough from her side to include the agony and even anger for Krishna.

That's why when Krishna sent Uddhava she was angry. So she waited as long as it took for Krishna to come. So for us we also seek from Radharani that faithful persistence through whatever life may send our way we want to continue serving Krishna.

And then one day Krishna will manifest his presence. So let us pray to Radharani. May she bless her.

Bless us all with the devotion that helps us to stay connected with Krishna through this troubling world and ultimately to be united with him by her mercy. Shri Mati Radharani Ki Jai Shri Radhaashtami Mahamahotsav Ki Jai Daigaun Premanande.