Radha-Krishna - Page 2

Originally posted by: Radhikerani

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I'll try to edit this tomorrow.

-edit-

See, the name Radha appears only in the medieval ages, the earliest major reference being Gita Govinda, but wherever Krishna is mentioned (provided he's in Vrindavan) there's always this one special Gopi who is the greatest devotee of Krishna.
The name Radha has its roots in the word Aradhika, which means devotee. So, even if the name 'Radha' is incorrect, we can take it as a title given to that special Gopi.

Radha, from the scriptures where she's mentioned, is the daughter of Brishbhaanu, the head of the village called Barsana. It is said that once when Brishbhaanu went to worship Lord Surya in his personal lake, he saw a girl, as bright as the sun inside a lotus. He was childless then, and thus, took the girl back home. Narad muni came to him and told him, that wherever this girl will go, Lord Vishnu will follow (probably this is the origin of the myth which says Radha was older to krishna) and gave her the name Aradhika, which was shortened to Radhika nd then Raadha.

Now, Brishbhaanu nd Keertida (his wife) were very happy with the girl when they were shocked to discover that the girl was blind. In those days girls with any defect were considered unlucky. However Brishbhaanu decided that since Narad muni had himself come down to praise the girl, she was special.

He arranged a grand party in her honour, where one of the guests was Nand, the chief of Gokul, the adjacent village. He had brought his wife Yashoda and one year old son Krishna.

No one had noticed when the little Krishna had crawled up to Radha's cradle and started playing with her. Just then Krishna, accidentally touched her eyes and she opened then to her Lord's lotus face. Since then, they'd been best friends who grew up to passionate lovers, the talk of the town.

Till Krishna was there, no one dared to tell her anything, but after Krishna went away to Mathura, her parents quietly married her off to a man called Ayaan Ghosh, who apparantly was a former soldier of Kans and a staunch hater off Krishna.

Now don't ask me why Brishbhaanu, the doting father, suddenly turned so rash. I really don't know.

BTW, this is what I gathered from all the tales and serials and translations I've followed. Bhaiyas and Didis are more than welcome to correct me.

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Originally posted by: Radhikerani

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So, you see they've been so close that they're almost like one soul contained in two bodies.
They say that Radha is the body whose soul is nothing but Krishna's energy, and Krishna is non-existent power without Radha's love.

For more info., insights and POVs, you can watch Dr. Ramanand Sagar's Shri Krishna. He had perfectly blended all the myths into one sublime and ethereal tale.

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Originally posted by: Surya_krsnbhakt

It is a common belief that Radha is an invented character.. that she is ONLY a symbolism of Bhakti, and that no one knew her until Jayadeva composed his beautiful Gita Govinda.

But the truth is, Radha has been worshipped alongside Krsna for a LONG time. Well, at least according to the Puranas. (If you want to say that the Puranic stories were created by Western people, then I have nothing else to comment on...😆)

So for example, the Devi Bhagavata gives an elaborate description of Srimati Radharani, the highest among the Five Prakritis or Five Energies of Lord Krsna.

The Padma Purana and Skanda Purana talk about the glories of her worship alongside Krsna, and the Narada Purana and Brahmanda Purana give methods of her worship. The Matsya Purana contains only references to her though.

The Harivamsa, Southern Version, contains a Chapter called, 'Krsna's Marriage to Neela'.

Since I have not read this chapter, I don't know exactly what it talks about, but I do know that it relates to Krsna's marriage with a gopika called 'Neela' (who COULD be Radharani, or could be another gopika called Nappinnai, who is revered in Tamilnadu.)

That's it about the details.

Her appearance has been beautifully illustrated by Radhikarani...

And, uh if you are interested, you could go through this:http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=3718764

Which DOES sound like self promotion, but still...😛😃

EDIT: Oh, and Shiva Purana gives a vivid description of how Krsna and Radharani are immesed in bliss always in Goloka, and the subsequent chapter describes how both of them come to Shivaloka to discuss with Lord Shiva about their cursed devotee Shankhachuda...

Originally posted by: rishbala4eva

That was very imformative...Thank u so much for sharing... 😛
But I have a doubt...U mentioned that a one year Krishna had crawled upto Radha's cradle...so was there not much an age difference between them? Like...was it only a few months or one-two years? Becoz I'd heard that that Radha was already a married woman, by d time she met Krishna...Now..I could be wrong. Plz do correct me if it is so. 😊

Originally posted by: rishbala4eva

I do believe in d legends of the 'Puranas'..n also all ancient scriptures. 😛 Somewhere or d other, our present n future bear a reflection of our past...
So, there is still ambiguity over d story of Radha...But whatsoever d version might be...d universal truth is that Radha n Krishna very d greatest lovers ever. Their love was ethereal n pure. 😳
Thank u for sharing such valuable info. 😛

Originally posted by: Radhikerani

That's the most accurate story.
There's another version, where once Nanda went to graze cows in a meadow close to Vrindavan with the few-months-old baby Krishna (it's called fatherly love, which is ever-blind, even to the age of the boy). A storm was about to come, and so he wanted to keep Krishna somewhere else and round up his cows. He saw the teenage Raadha nearby. So, he gave Krishna to her and went away.

Suddenly Krishna transformed into a handsome youth and married Raadha in the presence of all the Gods. But, none of their parents knew of this. Krishna was enjoying much with his Radha, when Nand came back and he had to revert back to his original self. Soon after, Raadha was married to Ayaan Ghosh (or Abhimanyu) who, in this version, was a distant brother of Yashoda.

And thus, this Raadha maami and Krishna bhanja concept came up. But as you see, Krishna married Radha before Ayaan, so the second marriage was not valid till Krishna was alive, and the question of adultery does not arise at all.