Glories of Srimati Radhika and many wonderful, lesser known songs… Class given in Odessa, Ukraine, 5.9.2011.

Слава Шримати Радхики и множество замечательных, менее известных песен…

Audio online:

Audio for download – class only:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GZK55Ui7q3j_xzNpS49FfcwoKFmGN7iM/view?usp=sharing

Audio for download – class with bhajans:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KUMEQJriOIf5Nba1q7qWqALJ4GfKOyTr/view?usp=sharing

All classes for download (mp3):
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1YWJSUGWPYYlK7sYufLzHu51xqWkS-WcG?usp=sharing

TRANSCRIPTION:

Today is a very auspicious and glorious day, because on this very day Srimati Radhika, the Supreme Divine Goddess appeared here on the earthly planet at the place called Raval, near Vrindavan in Vraj-mandala. A huge grand festival in Raval, near Vrindavan is taking place today. Its happening not only in Raval, but also in Yavat, in Varshana and all Vrindavan-dhama. All those places are filled with the mood of festivity. If you’d be in Vrindavan-dham, you would hear everywhere: “Sri Radhe! Jaya Radhe!Radhe! Radhe! Radhe!” The whole air and sound level is full of divine vibrations of the holy name of Sri Radhe. Usually in Sri dhama Vrindavana all the devotees and the vrajavasis address to each other with the name: “Sri Radhe”. Like among the devotees we say to each other: “Hare Krishna”, the style of Vraj, devotees and common people is to address each other with the name Sri Radhe. When I say Vrindavan dhama, I mean overall Vrindavan-dhama. If I have to describe part by part, then I have to say Raval, Yavat, Varsana, Vrindavan and others. So, on this day all these places are filled not only with sound vibration “Jay Radhe” but also with so much singing of the glories of Srimati Radhika. The air is filled with singing the glories of Srimati Radhika and dancing in festivity, in the mood of a great festival related to Her. Devotees of Srimati Radhika are engaged in singing so many beautiful songs in Hindi, Bengali all over the places: in the temples, on the streets everywhere…
vṛṣabhānu-dulāri śrī rādhe rādhe
vṛṣabhānu-nandini rādhe rādhe rādhe
In various ways they are singing…
rādhe śyām milādhe rādhe
rādhe rādhe śyām milādhe rādhe
So, today the devotees in Sri dham-Vrindavan are engaged in praying to Sri Radhika:
“Oh, beloved Goddess, please bless us with ecstatic love for Krishna along with Krishna Himself”.
Now I’m going to explain the tattva-siddhanta of Srimati Radhika. The nature of the glories of Srimati Radhika is limitless. Today devotees of Radha and Krishna are engaged in praying to Both of Them. Krishna devotees are praying to Him: “Oh, beloved Krishna, please let me have the ecstatic love of Srimati Radhika in relation to You, let me attain the loving servitude of Srimati Radhika” and they also pray to Srimati Radharani “Oh, Radhika, please, give Your Krishna to us. Please, bless us with Your Krishna in our life”.
Nature of Srimati Radhika’s glory is simply endless and time is very short. I don’t know which way to go. Because every way of describing Her glories ends into limitlessness. Just as you see a long a way from far and you cannot see the whole way, similarly situation of my feelings is like that: long ways of the glories, so much glories of Srimati Radhika are there and I simply can’t see the end.
Srimati Radhika is the Supreme Guru-tattva. As Krishna is known as Supreme Guru, Srimati Radhika, being non-different from Him, is also realized as Supreme Guru-tattva. Because Krishna and Srimati Radharani are known to be identical, both of Them are the original Guru-tattva in the He- and She-form. From that Supreme Guru-tattva Sriman Mahaprabhu, Krishna, Radhika and various representations of Guru are coming down to bless us. As Krishna is realized as Supreme Personality of Godhead, similarly Srimati Radharani is known as Supreme Goddess. He-form of Supreme God and She-form of Supreme Goddess. But there is difference in nature of Their manifestations. Krishna is known as visaya-vigraha, the Supreme Object of all devotional loving worships, whereas Srimati Radhika by holding Krishna-tattva in Her laps, is known as asraya-vigraha, top-most asraya-vigraha. Poetically speaking, She is holding unlimited Krishna in Her heart and life through everything in Her life, by all Her love, being the embodiment of all ecstatic love worship of Krishna. Srimati Radhika is considered to be Supreme Goddess. She is even worshipped by Supreme Lord Krishna Himself. Many times Lord Krishna engages Himself in worshipping His beloved Goddess Srimati Radharani in blissful love. Even though Krishna becomes so much pleased when He sees that any of His devotees become ecstatically engaged in worshipping His beloved Goddess Srimati Radharani, yet Srimati Radharani is considered to be the embodiment of love worship to Krishna. Commonly it is understood that Krishna is the Supreme Object of all loving worships, and Srimati Radhikai is the abode, unlimited abode, endless ocean of the ecstatic love worship of Krishna. ‘rasa-rāja’, ‘mahābhāva’ — dui eka rūpa. Krishna is known as Rasa-raja, the embodiment of all super excellent blissfulness. Mahabhava means the Personality who is unlimitedly excellently tasting the ecstatic love for Krishna, mahabhava. Srimati Radharani is also called Mahabhava Svarupini, personification of all mahabhava, top quality, super excellent Krishna prema.
Today in Varshana-dham, in Raval, in Vrindavana male and female devotees, sometimes separately sometimes together are engaged in ecstatic dancing, chanting and singing of the devotional songs for the Divine Couple. Let us go to Vrindavan dham in our minds now and see (at some places) the Vraja ladies as well as male devotees throwing flowers, colors to each other, smearing each other’s foreheads with chandana, sandalwood paste, decorating with flower garlands, and just engaged in blissful dancing and chanting the names of Srimati Radhika. They start the festival from around 12 o’clock, a grand feast of this maha-prasadam of Srimati Radhika. (At certain places) they not only throw flowers, but also big laddus, sweet balls. They throw them in the air and everyone is catching. Some of them fall on the ground, some get caught in the air. Devotees compete who can catch more sweets. Their hands become full with laddus and they think: “What to do now? My hands are full. I can’t get more laddu”. So in order to collect more sweet balls, they start eating those which they have in their hands. In this way they manage to take more and more laddu. Mood of festivity…
So much glorification is there… Singing and speaking the glories of Srimati Radharani is also a great worshipping, no less than archana, ritualistic worshipping. So a great worshipping of Srimati Radharani [through hari-katha] is going on now. Already so much glories of Srimati Radharani is composed and sung by Her great beloved devotees, like Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur and others. So let’s read out the translations…
[devotees read out translations of following bhajans:
“Rādhā -bhajane jadi”, “Varaja-vipine jamunā-kūle”, “Rādhikā caraṇa-reṇu”, “Rādhā-kṛṣṇa prāṇa mora jugala-kiśora” ]
Edited by Rasakrishna das; Corrected by Kasturi Manjari devi dasi.