Radha maa - Why didn't she marry Krishna? -

Hare Krishna,
Please accept my humble obiesances.I have one question which was asked by one of my friends and i couldnt answer him.Please forgive me if i am asking something very wrong.Why didnt Krishna get married to radha.?I am asking this question because many people have asked me this question and i am not able to answer them.If anyone could please answer me in simple terms with shastric references i would really appreciate that.And please forgive me if i have committed any offence by asking this question.

Hari Bol

Let me first ask about your friend's affiliation. If you need shastric references, there are various sources which differ. Brahma Vaivarta Purana tells one story, and for example Gopala Campu tells another. This is not an issue I could argue on, rather a matter of faith.

I keep seeing these posts that are extremely self deprecating in tone. Yes, it is protocol to offer respects, and a single 'Dandavats' should suffice. There is no need to carry it to such extremes. This forum is not like others on the internet. We have no fancy titles here like Great King (Maharaja), nor are we so formal as to expect every post to begin with 'Please accept my... [whatever you want us to accept goes here]'. Please stop apologizing for every inquiry as though you are expecting to be browbeaten at every turn. Good manners are always appreciated in any discussion, but those can be adhered to without resorting to grovelling. I hope this does not seem too harsh a criticism, but I am not about to start apologizing for it. Finally (and hopefully for the last time), please do not address fellow devotees as 'Prabhu'. That is a bad habit that you all need to be broken of. 'Prabhu' is a title reserved for Nityananda, just as Mahaprabhu is a title reserved for Caitanya. 'Prabhupada' is actually a title reserved for Rupa Goswami. Granted we have become accustomed to referring to A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami by that title, that does not mean it is not a breach of protocol, which it in fact is. We can excuse a bunch of Westerners for not knowing any better, but what excuse did Gaudiya Math have for usurping that title for their founder? Were there not enough other titles that could have been used without having to resort to taking that particular one by which Rupa has always been known? It also can be confusing for some, because it is also a family caste designation like Goswami. You will see it being used in the Gaudiya community at times in that manner.

So, in short, some examples of acceptable addresses are:

Sri Krishnadas
Krishnadas Ji
Krishnadas Dada
Srimati Radhadasi
Radhadasi Ji
Radhadasi Didi
________________________________________________________________________________

Just as a side note, titles like 'Sarasvat'i have never been Gaudiya Vaishnava titles, but in fact are used in the line of Shankaracharya. Titles like 'Bhaktisiddhanta' or 'Bhaktivedanta' were never even used prior to Gaudiya Math's invention of them. Before I start getting flamed by some people here, let me point out that this is not a value judgment, just a statement of fact.

Agreed. Humility appreciated, but let us just try to be normal.

The Goswamis, under Mahaprabhu's order, have preached the superioty of the parakiya bhava of the gopis to the wedded love of Sri Krsna and the Queens of Dwaraka, or Sri Narayana's relationship with Sri Laksmi. The Goswamis have described this throughout their literature. You can read about it in the Caitanya Caritamrta Adi-lila, chapter 4. The parakiya bhava is more relishable than wedded love. That's why Sri Krsna is called 'rasika-shekara', the crown-jewel of relishers of rasa. Its very logical, if Radha was married to Krsna then that will take out a lot of the excitement, apprehention and trancendental adrenalin rush out of Sri Krsna's lila with Sri Radha and the gopis. Because Sri Krsna enjoys the obstacles, the challenges He faces in meeting Sri Radha, who is a married woman, Sri Krsna has eternally manifested these Vraja pastimes for His topmost fulfilment. However, in tattva, They are one and they are eternally united and bound to one another. For that reason Sri Krsna expresses His prema for Radha by wearing a yellow doti, and Sri Radha expresses Her prema for Madhava by wearing a blue sari.

The eternal pastimes are described in the astakalina books, the pastimes of eight divisions of the day eg. Govinda Lilamrta and Krsna Bhavanamrta. Eternally Krsna seeks out and Radha seeks out Krsna from morning to night. This would not be possible without the parakiya bhava manifested in Vraja dhama. Krsna das Kaviraja describes further in the Adi lila that Vraja dhama is the highest dhama in the transcendenal realm.

i see the name of the thread is radha maa. not trying to be picky but can radha rightly be called maa

Smt. Radharani is once called sarva jagater mata, the mother of the whole universe, in Caitanya Caritamrita, otherwise nowhere, at least not in Gaudiya literature. Women can be the ideal lover or the ideal mother. Some women are famous as the ideal mother, but Radha is famous as the ideal lover. In the scenario of parakiya bhava it is imperative that She is not anyone's mother. Having said that, She is called Vatsalya sindhu, or the ocean of motherly love, in Radha Rasa Sudhanidhi, but that is explained to mean that She has motherly feelings of love for Her maidservants.

sarva jagater mata would be refering to her expansion as durga, right?

It is not directly stated so, but practically, on the ground, it does come down to that. Durga is the archetypal Vedic mother-deity, and is also personally the mother of Ganesh and Kartikeya.

Hahah lol! I always keep forgetting about that. I get so used to the idea that they are "paramours," but there is such a risk since She is a married woman and so afraid of Her mother-in-law, Jatila.

Why Krishna didn't get married to Radha?
Well, he did, and also did not.

There are two modes in approaching Krishna. The left wing gopi approach, headed by Radha, where Radha and Krishna is not married, and then the right wing gopi approach, headed by Candravali, where Radha and Krishna are married. Both modes and seeing Krishna are equally "right". It is a matter of spiritual taste.

So the question here is which spiritual taste a devotee want to follow. The right wing approach, to be a perfect wife or follower of Krishna, to always obey all the rules and never to deviate from what should be done. Or the left wing approach, which is more spontaneous and where there ultimately are no rules to follow, and where love is the only rule. Where the devotee just want to engage in the service of Radha and Krishna, even if parents, authorities, or social protocol says otherwise.

It is the right wing mode which is expanded to the mode of Krishna in Dwaraka, and then to the Visnu in Vaikhunta mode.

When Krishna is approached as the supreme personality of godhead, as the creator, father and lord of everything, it is certainly appropriate to approach Radha as the mother of all creation. Approaching Radha and Krishna in the left wing mode is devoid of all awe and reverence, and there Krishna is just seen as a cowherd boy, a friend, a lover and Radha's boyfriend. So a great way of avoiding offences towards Radha, when approaching Krishna in awe and reverence, is to approach her as the supreme mother.

Jay Radhe
Prisni dd

Now, both Radha and Candravali are in parakiya-bhava in Vraja. Daksina and vamya-bhava refer to being submissive and being contrary and resistant, not to svakiya and parakiya.



Well, Candravali and her sakhis do meet Krishna in secret, too. They, too, have husbands. However, their attitude for the nayaka is different.



No, this is incorrect. According to Lalita Madhava, Radharani appears in Dvaraka as Satyabhama. It is not only the group of Candravali who appear in Dvaraka.



The group of Candravali do not regard Krishna as God, they are under the impression that He is a handsome youngster from the village of Nanda Maharaja, just as everyone else in Vraja thinks.

Does, then, svakiya exist at all? Yes, it does. The realm of Goloka is divided in four sections. Vraja, Mathura and Dvaraka we know. However, there is yet a fourth section outside these three, similar in appearance to Vraja, but different in substance. It is a realm where aisvarya-jnana prevails, and where Radha and Krishna are married. This is the goal of the sadhakas who worship Radha and Krishna following the vidhi-marga, not discriminating between svakiya and parakiya, cultivating awareness of Their majesty and godhood. Visvanatha Cakravartin explains this in his tika on Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu (1.2.303).

If Radha is Radha, who is Chandravali ?

If we agree that Radha is Radha, it logically follows that Candravali is Candravali.

Hahaha funny , may be I should elaborately explain my confusion

Isn't it true that Krishna only loves radha, then who is chandravali?

Thanks!

Hope I understood the question well, if it is philosophical - Candravali is an arrangement to juicen up Radha and Krishna's parakiya rasa, just as Radha is Krishna's hladini shakti or pleasure potency. Vraja Vilasa Stava, verse 41 states:

"I praise the highly fortunate gopis headed by Candravali. Govinda makes these gopis, that are blossoming with amorous desires, assume positions of Sri Radhika's rivals by briefly enjoying with them just to nourish Sri Radhika's fortune, great pride, ecstatic bewilderment and other characteristics of an amorous heroine."

Actually, I did not know who chandravali was in the first place, because she was different from "Radha's group" it made me confused.

But now i get it , chandravali is also a servant of radha, some one who increases the rasa between radha and krishna.

Thank you, that answers my question.

Though ontologically speaking we can regard Candravali as a servant of Radha, in the realm of lila (pastimes) they are rivals, competing for the favor of Krishna. This competition intensifies the moods of Vraja.

Very interesting. I have only previously heard that those who follow the raganuga-marga with a touch of vidhi will attain the forms of the queens of Dvaraka. I suppose that is madhurya with an aisvarya element.
Interesting to see that there is a section similar to Vraja where Radha and Krishna are married and there is aisvarya there. Could you be kind enough to translate the tika of Visvanatha on this point, please?

Let me cite the relevant passages from Sri Ananta das Pandit's tika on Raga Vartma Candrika 1.12 for you.

riraMsAM suSThu kurvan yo vidhi mArgeNa sevate
kevalenaiva sa tadA mahiSItvam iyAt pure (B.R.S. 1.2.303)

"A person who desires amorous enjoyment with Sri Krsna, but serves only through the vidhi-marga, will attain the position of a Queen of Dvaraka."

The blessed author has personally commented upon this verse. Here the word kevala means krtsnenaiva, or to the full extent. This means that one does not give up even one item of pure vidhi-marga sadhana that may be unfavorable to one’s own desired mood, like worshipping the Queens who are situated in Dvaraka-dhama. The word kevala means krtsna. This is described with the words trilinganteka krtsnayoh in the Amara Kosa, from the verse nirnite kevalam iti.

...

In his commentary on the verse of Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu here under discussion, the blessed author has written: yeSAM tu vRndAvane rAdhA-kRSNayor mAdhuryAsvAdane ‘bhilASaH athaca nyAsa mudrAdi vaidhI mArgAnusAreNa bhajanaM teSAM dvArakAyAM na rukmiNI-kAntasya prAptis tatrAbhilASAbhAvAt. na vA vRndAvane zrI rAdhA-kRSNayoH prAptiH rAga mArgeNa bhajanAbhAvAt. tasmAt teSAM vidhi mArgeNa bhajana kAryasya aizvarya-jJAnasya prAdhAnyaM yatra yathAbhUtasya zrI vRndA-vanasyAMze goloke zrI rAdhA-kRSNayoH prAptiH na tu zuddha mAdhuryamaye vRndAvane iti jJeyam.

If someone desires for amorous enjoyment with Sri Krsna without eagerly longing for things related to that, such as Vraja, and does not give up items of worship such as worshipping the Queens or meditating on Dvaraka, however unfavorable they may be, and thus serves in the vidhi-marga (through meditation and practice of the mantra of gopikanta), he will become an associate of the Queens of Dvaraka. Those who desire to relish the sweetness of Sri-Sri Radha-Krsna in Sri Vrndavana but still practise vidhi-marga bhajana with items such as nyasa and mudra, will not attain Dvaraka, because they do not desire Rukmini-kanta. On the other hand, because they do not practise the pure raga-marga bhajana they also do not attain Sri Radha-Krsna in Vrndavana. Therefore such a practitioner of vidhi-marga bhajana will attain Sri-Sri Radha-Krsna in Sri Goloka, in the sector of Sri Vrndavana where the majesty of Krsna prevails -- not the purely sweet Vrndavana.

Srimat Rupa Gosvami has described Goloka as a vaibhava (majestic manifestation) of Gokula.

As my husband says: No rule without an exception (just like in linguistics)
It is not that the rules guide the relationships in Goloka, but instead the rules are made afterwise to describe what goes on there.

Better call Radha as raadha raaNi or just shrii raadha - not Raadha maayi - this maataa or maayi shabda better suffixes to Seetha, Paarvati et al. In The Gospel of Narada, Duncan Greenlees, Theosophical Publishing House, Adayar, TN it puts this as, via naaradiiya pancaraatra, a very unknown and remote text, unlike nadarada bhakti suutraa-s, as below:

suutra 1. Just as Sri Krishna is essentially God and beyoind Nature, so too is [Radha...]

Yet is She not other than [he means - she is not, old English] nor can she act apart from him, any more than a man can set apart of his own heart; She is to Him "like the fragrance of th flowe. the luminosity of light...' So it is wrong to say Radha and Krisha, right to say Radha-Krishna, as one should say Sita-Rama...'

This is also untenable, because it is Radhakrishna, Sitarama, where Krishna and Rama are imbued into these ladylike personages, where Radha is rasa adhiSTaatri devi - Godess of Love-Delight, where Sita is cetana adhiSTaatri devata. So, the mundane marriages do not work here. Rama married Sita. Hari is not a licentiat husband. When both are one why onning them agan? All this appears from the viewpoint of mortal social methods. Any licence of marriage available either with Adam or with Eve?

Ok. If this finds elevant and some place here, more next. - dhrao

Radhe Syam!



Narada Pancaratra is not completely unknown to Gaudiya Vaisnavas, since this Agama, afaik, regulates the temple service to Deities and so forth, but i never heard about it's English translation... I have the Sanskrit text of it, but translation would be extremly valuable to me. Can i find it in any internet site or ftp-server in e-form?

I don't think there is any online translation, though it's definitely been translated into English.

I recall Jagat stating that it is a post-Mahaprabhu work. I'd be curious to hear more on that. Jagat?