Love - Prema and Devotion - Bhakti are kept at opposite poles in many spiritual circles. By denying love (Prema), one will be denying Bhakti as well. Bhakti is the fulfilment of Prema. For an in-depth understanding of Prema and to understand the intense practice of Bhakti, we need to understand the importance of Bhava [roughly translated as emotions] in our day-to-day life. In addition, to show how Bhakta transcends even the Divine or God, understanding the story and the character of Radha become very important. To most, the exalted experience of Prema is the Dasa and the Priya (lover). We have in Ramayana a very important character called Anjaneya or Hanumantha representing Dasa and in Shrimad Bhagavatam, the character of Radha represents the Bhava of a loved one.
One thing common to both these characters is that their stay with their masters is for a short period of time. In the whole story of Ramayana, in Rama’s 14-year-long journey through the forest, the advent of hanuman is only in the last year. But he created such great importance of his character both in terms of his devotion to Rama, as well as in terms of the events that took place in Ramayana. Similarly, Radha appears to have entered Krishna's life for a brief period of time before all his significant activity began. After that, Radha was never in the image of Krishna's life. However, the role of Radha has become so significant that people take her name first before they take the name of Krishna. Here we try to look into the character called Radha and the role that she played in the life of Krishna.
Another strange thing to observe in the life of Krishna is the two distinct phases. The first is, the kind of Krishna who is fully playful, having a wonderful life of celebration every moment, characterised by teasing, dancing, stealing, filling everyone’s life with joy, naughty, innocent etc. The other is a very distinct second chapter where he was a great kingmaker, strategist, and planner, very keen to re-establish Dharma for mankind. This is characterised by the great rendering of the Bhagavad Gita, a message for mankind and the re-establishing of the Dharmik kingdom run by the Pandavas. Radha stands in between these two chapters of Krishna, making us almost feel that it was Radha who reminded Krishna of his journey of the second phase.
Krishna’s story is something that happened, in reality, more than 5000 years ago. But then this extraordinary character known as Krishna and his great work should not be lost in the history books. Therefore the story of Krishna and the Mahabharata war has been presented in the form of a legend [puranam] so that we do not lose them in history. They become living characters all the time so that even after 5000 years or more, we will always get guidance from the life of Krishna and Radha. The advantage of a Puranic character is that they can be like the other gods, Vishnu, Shiva, Parvathi, Saraswathi etc., for whom we can have temples, ceremonies and rituals. At the same time, we can also think of them as historical characters whose stories are understood as those of ordinary human beings.
Bhagavatham narrates a story of Krishna and there is neither name nor reference for Radha. The only reference in one small chapter almost at the end of Krishna's stay in Brindavan, amid Rasleela, mentions an important cow-herd girl. Later texts such as Geetha Govindam or Krishna Karnamrutam have mentioned the name of Radha as if Radha is the central character of those texts.
Generally, all other paths of yoga are discussed with reference to the Sadhka, whereas most of the texts discuss bhakti yoga with reference to God. In other words, all other paths of yoga are self-centred whereas bhakti is God-centred. This only indicates that in other paths of yoga you don't need a God whereas bhakti yoga cannot be practised without God. Your own faculty called intellect will help you to reach the ultimate realisation in Gnana yoga. Your own faculty-called activity takes you to the ultimate in Karma Yoga. Similarly, your own discipline will help you to reach the ultimate in Raja yoga but only in the case of Bhakti yoga, you need God to take you to the ultimate and none of your abilities will be of help to you.
Another important point is that the feeling of human beings, in my view, has been very much undervalued or condemned. Many times, rather than trying to understand this aspect, it is used as subservient to the intellect. The human feeling in Sanskrit is called Bhavana, roughly translated into English as emotions. These emotions are often painted as something which will hamper the intellect or misdirect the intellect. Therefore they attribute intellect to the highest faculty whereas emotions belong to the mind which is at a lower level. Further, they say when you transcend the emotions and feelings which are in the mind table then you are intellectual and you will become successful.
Let me try to say a few things about the Bhavana and how our Bhavana is a blissful experience which can take you to the ultimate of our realisation.
According to Sanatana Dharma, you are all born with emotions whereas intellect comes much later. We can see that the child who is 3 or 4 days old looks at your face and smiles! In this condition, one can see that the child smiles because of pure emotion, love which is the Bhava. The intellect in the child comes only after the child becomes five or six years old. Until that age, you see the beautiful emotion connected with the child. This only shows that you are born with Bhavana while intellect is given by the world when a child grows to 5 or 6 years of age. Bhavana belongs to you whereas intellect belongs to the world. Bhavana belongs to the soul whereas intellect belongs to the matter. There is only one Bhavana that we are all born with and that is love or Prema. In my view, the only method which can extensively use the faculty called Bhavana is the yoga technique called Bhakti. When the child has the Bhavana of love - Prema, the child has no idea of God or no God. This single Bhavana called Prema passes through the spectrum and gets manifested in the form of love, compassion, respect for the elders, and friendship within, which can manifest in fellow human beings, animals, nature, and many other things like music, art, architecture etc. All these experiences of Bhavana always elevate and transport you to a state where you feel extremely satisfied and fulfilled. In this context, let us try to look at the story of Radha and Krishna.
Those were the days when people used to go on a pilgrimage from place to place in a caravan in a group. There was always a group leader who had experience with several of these visits and who acted as a tour guide. Before the group enters their next village the tour guide will give a brief story about the place they are visiting, the importance of the place and the people. As the group enters this new village, the guide says “We are now entering GOKUL”. The moment he said that some people in the group were delighted and said “Wow, we are entering Gokul, we are lucky!”. Few others responded by saying “What is this Gokul about? What is important here?” The first group replied, “Have you not heard about the wonder boy who belongs to this Gokul?”. A flood of questions came up as to what this wonder is, why he is called a wonder boy, what he has done and so on. A very enthusiastic reply came “Wow, he is somebody who killed this demon and he is the one who has protected these calves and cows etc., and many stories started flowing. After all that, a few from the group expressed with a lot of wonders, “Can we see this boy, can we meet him, can we talk to him or more importantly can we recognise him”? A very confident note came from others, “Oh definitely! You can meet him and will be able to talk to him. In fact, you can never miss him. He's always in the middle of the people, at the centre of the village and everybody is dancing around him, Oh! What a sight it is to see him!”. They further added, “You can see him with wonderful yellow robes, and the beautiful peacock feather in his crown decorated with flowers around his neck”. They went on and on and on, never tired of describing his beauty. The more the description flows about him, the greater the excitement in people to meet him. They almost reached the edge of the forest.
Suddenly, somebody from the group saw a boy sitting on a big rock in the forest all alone with an angry and dull face and said, “Look at that boy sitting there. Is he not Krishna?” Somebody replied, “No he is not Krishna because he is angry-faced and is also sitting alone with no children around playing with him”. Another remark came, “No, he must be certainly Krishna because, look at the yellow robe, the beautiful peacock feather and the flute in his hand”. So the discussion continues on if he is Krishna or if he is not. By the time they get closer to him an elderly person asks him, “Hey Krishna, what are you doing here sitting in the forest?” For the first-time Krishna didn't reply out of anger but then the second time questioned, he replied, "Don't you see I am enjoying the forest? Don't talk to me”. They thought Krishna was really angry, but they are sure that they met Krishna. Somebody questioned, "Are you angry? Why you are sitting alone?” Krishna furiously replied, "Who said I am angry? Don't disturb me, you can go ahead”. They thought that Krishna is really angry and hence he doesn't even want to talk. Something must've happened very badly and upset him. "Anyway, let us not worry, at least we have seen him. We are not truly lucky to see a playful Krishna”. Having said that, they started walking ahead.
When everybody left, this little girl by the name of Radha from that group came to Krishna alone and told him,
Radha: Krishna, my name is Radha, take me to be your friend, I'm truly sorry that something deeply upset you and that is the reason why you are here. Do you know something? when you talk to a good friend about what happened, you will be unburdened and you will feel lightened. So hey Krishna, can you please tell me what really happened?
One secret with the children is that when you talk to them lovingly they will open up their hearts and honestly share their feelings so that there is a good remedy for them. The same thing happened in the case of Krishna. When Radha questions him lovingly, Krishna pours out his heart to Radha along with tears running down his eyes. We must understand the way children speak!
Krishna: Radha, I have not done anything wrong. Especially today I have not done anything wrong!
The exclamation mark itself indicates that on other days he is done wrong.
Radha: If you have not done anything wrong then tell me what exactly happened.
Krishna: You know what Radha, that small boy came and said that he is hungry and asked me to give him something. What do I have to give him? I only know that the next-door neighbour lady has just then skimmed shea butter and kept it in the pot. I thought I could give that butter to this boy. What's wrong with that particular reason that he is hungry?
Radha: Yes, there is nothing wrong with that
Krishna: So I went there, a couple of other boys too came but nobody could reach the pot. I climbed up and then brought the pot down. Somebody put that little butter in my mouth and by the time we were doing this, the lady came in. What is wrong with this?
Radha: Yes there is nothing wrong. In fact, she should've given the butter to you.
Krishna: You see Radha, you understand but ladies do not. Then she goes all the way to my house and complains to my mother that I take all the kids and steal butter from her house. Now when the lady returns to her own house, I have to talk for myself. But my mother believes whatever the neighbours say without even verifying. She only catches hold of me but never my brother. She says that I always trouble everybody and later they come and complain to her.
Radha: So did your mother spank you out of anger?
Krishna: No she cannot spank me, in fact she loves me.
Radha: But then what she did she do?
Krishna: She said, “Look, if I leave you, you go to every house and create problems. I don't want you to create further problems anywhere. So just stay at home” and saying so she tied me to the huge stone with a rope and said “You stay at home, and you don't come out”.
Radha: Oh no, Krishna! that's very bad! A young boy like you should be playing in the evening on the streets. Not allowing you to go out to play is so wrong on the part of your mother. So Krishna, what did you do? Did you stay at home?
Krishna: No! I did not stay at home!
Radha: Then what have you done?
Krishna: When mother went away to the other side and I dragged the whole stone along, came to this forest and I am sitting over it”
Radha looked at the stone on which Krishna is sitting and wondered how ten adults put together would not be able to move the stone, whereas Krishna just dragged it all alone and sat on it in the forest?
Radha: Oh Krishna, you brought this big stone all the way?
Krishna: Yes I did
Radha: In bringing this, you must have really bruised yourself all over.
Krishna: Yes.
Radha: Can I release you so that you can go and play?
Krishna: No, do not release me. Let my mother come home, not finding me at home, let her panic and go around searching for me. Finally, when she comes to the forest to find me here, let her fall at my feet and ask for pardon. Once I pardon her, she can release me.
Radha: Hey Krishna, are you not suffering, are you not having pain? Let me release you
Krishna: No, you have talked to me so pleased that my pain is gone. Don't worry about me Radha, all my pain has vanished.
Radha: But I have to go now because all the other people are away.
Krishna: Yes Radha you can go
Radha: Krishna I love you.
Krishna: Radha I love you too.
There is a smile on both of their faces and this was the first-ever meeting of Krishna and Radha in Gokul.
Several years passed. Gokul was infested with wild beasts and the seniors decided not to punish the wildlife and planned to move to a bigger place nearby in order to save the ecology. So with this decision, the people of Gokul moved to Brindavan which was not far away. Elders at Brindavan were making arrangements to welcome them. Radha was the leader of the children at Brindavan and Krishna was the leader coming from Gokul. An exciting meeting has taken place between Radha and Krishna. When the children meet there are always lots of stories connected with that place. Radha introduced everything in and around Brindavan to Krishna, the river, mountains, festivals, the cows and the forest etc. It took almost 6 to 8 months. In this process, they fell in love with each other and decided to get married.
Once the decision was made, Krishna wanted to tell his father that he would like to marry Radha. On his way to the palace, people saw Krishna and began to say, “Hey Krishna, where were you? Your father was searching for you”. When Krishna asked the reason, they replied “We really do not know why but it seems that some guests have arrived from Mathura”. Krishna asks who those people were. The villagers replied, “How would we know about those great people? But it looks like there is a message from Kamsa the emperor, to invite you to the grand function going on there”. In villages people come to know everything, yet, they say they don’t know, nevertheless they speak! When Krishna reached home, all the elders were sitting and Krishna's father introduced the guests from Kamsa’s place to him. Further, he said, Kamsa is doing a great ceremony and Krishna was invited as the chief guest along with his brother. Certainly, Krishna got suspicious and checked if anybody else had received the invitation.
Krishna's father expressed his doubt, "No one else received the invitation except for you and your brother. That is strange! Why is it that others are not invited, especially the elders and the kings? What is the secret behind it?”
When enquired, Akrura revealed that King Kamsa suspects Krishna to be the missing eighth child of Devaki. Therefore he wants to invite you alone and eliminate you in a wrestling battle.
“If I do not go, what will happen?” Krishna enquired.
Akrura replies if Krishna does not go, Kamsa would come with his entire army to kill all the children in Brindavan and there will be a lot of bloodsheds.
Prophetically, Krishna replies, “I think the time has come for Kamsa, to pay back for all the sins he has committed. I think that he should die, I don't want to put everybody into trouble, so let me go ahead and finish Kamsa by accepting his invitation".
Akrura too thought that it was the right decision. Once it was decided that Krishna and Balaram would go to Mathura the next day, Krishna wanted to pass on this information to Radha because just then they had mutually spoken about their marriage. So Krishna rushes into the forest to the place where normally Radha would be sitting.
Krishna tells Radha, “Hi Radha, do you know what is happening?”
Radha replies in a taunting way, "Yes Krishna, I know what is happening. I heard that the great king sent a very special invitation to you alone. It looks like you are a very great and important person because neither your father nor mine were invited and no other elders from the village were invited. You seem to be the special guest of King Kamsa. I don’t think that you still remember me because you are a celebrity and I am an ordinary cow-herd girl. So Radha mischievously says “Oh, Krishna, please go ahead”.
Krishna replies to her, “Hi Radha, you do not know the truth behind all this. Radha gets curious and asks what the truth was. Krishna now replies, “Radha, you know that Kamsa’s sister Devaki and her husband are imprisoned”.
Radha “Yes we all know”.
Krishna continued, “Kamsa carries a curse on him that the eighth son of Devaki will kill him for all the atrocities he has committed.
Radha questions "Yes, so what?” "Kamsa imprisoned both Devaki and her husband. Every newborn child of theirs was killed by Kamsa”.Radha felt such hatred for Kamsa and said, “ Kamsa is treacherous!”
Krishna further adds, “Radha, did you know that only seven kids were killed by Kamsa and the eighth one which happens to be a girl cautioned Kamsa that the real eighth child is growing elsewhere and that missing child will kill him”.
A cloud in the mind of Radha gets cleared when she heard this. It further became clear when Krishna added, "He thinks that I am the eighth child. Who is born to kill Kamsa.”
This was like a thunderbolt from the blue. Krishna could see on Radha's face that she was absolutely shocked. Krishna thought the shock on Radha's face was for the danger she must have felt for Krishna's life. But what really is going on in Radha's mind is a totally different idea. Krishna tried to assure Radha by saying, "Do not worry Radha, I am going to kill Kamsa and will eliminate him. Once that happens it will take about a year or so to settle down the issues there, about my mother Devaki and my father Vasudeva and settle the kingdom. Like a responsible person, Krishna replies to her saying, "Radha, I will come back and then I will talk to both our fathers about our marriage. Just a few months you'll have to wait.”
Krishna thought he had a very clear plan of action but this is where one can see the wonderful reaction of Radha and the beautiful divine love and relationship between Radha and Krishna.
What is going on in Radha's mind is not about the safety of Krishna but what he is saying in front of her, that Krishna is not an ordinary person. He is God’s incarnate. He was born to be a kingmaker. Suddenly Krishna became like a huge Himalayan mountain standing in front of her and she remained as his little girl at the foot of the Himalayas. Her love for Krishna is extremely pure and divine. Love has not become greed or possession or lust.
Let us carefully look at Radha's reply and also let us try to understand the extraordinarily deep feeling that Radha has. Radha says to Krishna, “That is not the issue, Krishna. I am not afraid that something will happen to you and you should not go fighting. I know for sure that you will vanquish not only Kamsa but many other demons around which takes you to the further mission of life as the celestial voice said. You are born with a purpose and you are the great Lord.”
Before proceeding further, let me clarify if in Radha's place anybody else would happen to be there, what would have been the process of thinking. That will give us an idea of the difference between lust and love. When one takes the lustful view filled with the grade and greed, she would have said if you are going to become big, I too will be big along with you, so before you leave why don't we get married? You are a kingmaker then I will be a queen. If you are rich I will also get rich. This is a view of the lustful mind. On the other hand, Radha is different, therefore you hear a different kind of response from Radha’s heart.
Radha says to Krishna, "Krishna you go ahead, your mission is something which is very divine. I am a simple cow-herd girl. My Krishna is a very simple Krishna who I can hear in this river which is flowing. These trees whisper Krishna in my ears, the flowers give me the fragrance of my Gopal, and I can hear the stories of Krishna in the sound of birds. I can see my Krishna in the eyes of these innocent cows. I can see my Krishna in these playful children around. I'm satisfied with this Krishna and this will never go away from my life. I will never come in your way, you are always in my heart.”
Love knows no possession, love does not demand. Where there is greed or lust, they do not care for others. You are not there where love is, and love is supremely satisfied. On the other hand, where there is ego or greed, you will only see ‘pomp and show’. when somebody is in lust she will always become a hurdle in the other's life.
This is a beautiful incident which gives us a very clear difference between love and lust. Love is very internal whereas lust is everything from the outside. The love of Radha is so divine and lofty, touching the soul that even Krishna did not seem to understand it clearly. That's why in love, the devotee grows bigger than the god himself. Here, Krishna is a mute spectator and Radha is on a sprite journey! Radha has touched the soul of Krishna. Krishna responds to her saying, "Radha you seem to be saying some extraordinary truth. I don't know whether I have understood it fully but I feel that you are living the truth. You are not looking for a material world but you are one with love far above the state of consciousness”.
After saying this, Krishna hands over the flute to Radha and says "Please keep this as a memory from me”. The flute here is highly significant. It has no material value, bamboo is the cheapest wood. A small piece of bamboo which has holes in it is all the more a waste. You blow through this bamboo stick and exhale air, which is now more useful. But look at the beautiful Melody it brings about! So material-wise it is nothing but a-material-wise it is divine. Krishna gave the flute to Radha because she did not go for material comfort but looked at the divinity of Krishna. After this incident, you can never find Krishna with a flute again.
Now let us see how the name of Radha happened to come to this cow-herd girl. Let us take the analogy of a river born in and flowing from the Himalayas. When it is at the top of the Himalayas, it is full of energy, with rumbling noise, and pure, tasty water. As it flows downwards towards the ocean it has lost its lustre, taste, energy and beauty. This downward flow of the river is called "Dhara". The same river flows in the opposite direction from the ocean, all the way to the Himalayas is the reversal of “Dhara”. When Dhara is reversed it becomes Radha. Therefore somebody has very beautifully given the name. Even though she is with Lord Krishna, instead of going in the greed of becoming a queen and getting more and more material comfort and recognition, which is like flowing downwards, she preferred to accept the divinity of Krishna which may be in the form of separation. This is similar to going to the peaks of the Himalayas. She endured separation and that is who Radha is. Here is the whole story, where you see that Radha and Krishna are not Gods. But the moment Krishna is found to be God, Radha becomes humble, simple and a dissolved self. This is true love. This is the message of bhakti yoga. There is no greater incident from the Puranas which represents more than this story of Radha and Krishna.
By,
Yogashree N.V. Raghuram