Radha Krishna aur Meera

GetbusyLiving thumbnail
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Posted: 6 years ago
#1
the last episode about krishna talking about love without attachment reminded me of this popular song which talks about Radha's love v/s Meera;s devotion for krishna...
[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE4P7QKwRVU[/YOUTUBE]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE4P7QKwRVU

do give it a listen...its a beautiful song about how both Radha and Meera loved krishna but loved him differently...it is more in tune with krishna saying in one of the episodes last week..that loving is not about loss or gain..

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AreYaar thumbnail
Posted: 6 years ago
#2
Thanks for sharing!

The lyrics of the song are deffo quite beautiful and pertinent.

I suppose the biggest difference b/w Radha and Meera's love for Krishna beyond the obvious devotional aspect to Meera's is that Krishna is depicted as only having truly loved Radha. There was a reciprocity there. While in Meera's case, she was always more of a devotee than a lover. He never loved her back like she loved him. It was more like the relationship b/w God and a devotee. While in Radha's case, it was almost like a love between equals.


This show is attempting to fill in the gaps beyond just the general trivia of Radha-Krishna being playful lovers in Vrindavan. Many women were devoted to Krishna in his time...why is only Radha's name taken with him or rather before him? They are trying to explore the depth behind the legend in some ways, I suppose.
GetbusyLiving thumbnail
19th Anniversary Thumbnail Rocker Thumbnail + 2
Posted: 6 years ago
#3
you are welcome..yes the song is really beautiful..

i agree with most of your points but meera was a devotee in the sense she had krishna only in the idol form and not physically the way radha had..but meera's love went beyond devotion..she believed herself to be married to krishna and refused to marry any one else inspite of family and societal pressures..even when she was forced to marry Prince Bhoj Raj she never acknowledged him or gave him rights as her husband..so in meera's mind she considered herself as his mate and not a devotee just like radha

the reciprocity part again..i agree about the physical aspect here too...now there is a lot of version on this.. but in the film by gulzar on meera showed meera attaining moksh by vanishing inside krishna;s idol..thereby becoming one with god..

radha and meera are similar in the sense both were the chosen one..now i didn't know about the backstory of radha krishna as shown in the serial where both were cursed to be separated and radha was cursed to forget krishna..this is the first time i have heard of it

in all the stories i have read and seen so far..radha was one of the gopis who like you said were in love with kirshna but radha was the one krishna was in love with

also down south..radha has not much relevance like it in north india...here more importance is given to krishna;s wives..mainly rukmini, satyabhama and jambvanti

PS: i recommend the film meera by gulzar btw..it is a really well made film..if you like gulzar's style of films that is..and one of hema malini's finest work
sambhavami thumbnail
Posted: 6 years ago
#4
The song is really, really beautiful. But I kinda don't like the parts where Meera is made out to be superior than Radha, I know that was important from the movie POV, but then their journeys were different from each other and it would be unfair to compare them.

---

In my view, Radha was special not because Krishna was 'smitten' by her. Krishna is never 'smitten' by everyone. But sure, Radha did sweep his off his feet, but that wasn't beauty. Sure, she was beautiful, but more than that, she was one of the FEW persons (Nand and Yashoda being the others) who considered him MORE than a/the God.

It's, in my opinion, a most beautiful thing- to care about someone more than God (remember all these peeps were pretty religious people so...).

Basically, God does all his Leelas to teach mankind various lessons. But have you ever thought, whether he did that willingly? Or are we, his creations, so insufferable, that he has to constantly do his 'antics' to keep us in line?

Personally, I don't think so. Apart from the 'lessons' part, the Lord also likes to get sown here and, you know, kinda go with it.

You know, while he was busy looking out for the world, killing demons and counseling people into dharma, and what, there were these FEW people who took care of him while he took care of the world.

Yashoda always made sure he was warm, wed-fed and generally happy without really worrying how many demons he killed. She was always afraid Krishna would hurt himself, and nope, she wasn't worried about him losing or something- she just didn't want precious darling hurt (or, just tired) because a bunch of nutcases were insecure!

Nand baba, on the other hand, always stood with him in all situations, as a friend would do...he would make Yashoda back off when she didn't let Krishna fight, and for God's sake, the man alone fought against a thousand of years' worth of tradition to make sure Krishna's will was done (Govaradhan)!

And Radha, always made sure that He knew that people cared. She would dress up, flirt with him etc! In most songs, if you notice, Radha is found tending to him. Feeding him, laying him a cool bed, and kinda just letting him cool down. She always made sure Krishna has a cool place to rest and a patient ear to vent (if he needed). Yes we was jealous, and possessive, but I believe a part of that was also because the other Gopis didn't know him that well! They all wanted Krishna to love them, but Radha just wanted to love Krishna, and make sure he loved back just like he deserved.

Also, the other people from Gokul and Vrindavan, the beauty of their relation with Krishna was that, they all loved him like their equal. Yes they also looked up to him as their leader and stuff but all the same, he wasn't really treated differently. You know, they never made him feel like an outsider. You'd say, they don't know but come on, you can't just spend half of your life and not realize he's divine. Everyone knew he was different, but they couldn't care any less because Krishna was their friend and nothing was ever gonna change that.

Krishna didn't really get much of that in his life. Arjun, a little bit, maybe, but still he kept his distance. But this really explain why Krishna was SO fond of him.

You know they say God made man in his own image, so it is but natural for humans to treat him as an equal. Well, not an equal even, God is like a mirror, you can't hide from them and so you're better off being friends. You know you can mistreat people beneath you and you can feign respect for those above but you can't EVER mistreat a person you mark as an equal.

And as far as the person in the mirror is concerned, you can't harm them even if you try because whatever you throw at a mirror comes back to you.

---

As for Meera, she had more of a devotional kinda love and that was beautiful as well. Not many people have the courage to give everything up for that one thing.

Her love was equally selfless as Radha, only the nature of it changed. Radha was lucky enough to have done something for Krishna in real life while Meera only dreamed of it.

Meera's love I assume stems from the heavy losses she suffered early in life. And you know, by the turn of faith as she was left bereft of all friends and family at a tender age, she turned to the only option she had, i.e. her Giridhari, and made him her best friend, lover, guardian.

What she did was break free from the clutches of patriarchy with Krishna at her lead and that was some real courage given her surroundings! On the devotional front, she dedicated everything, including her living breaths and her conscience to Krishna and that is one of the greatest forms of love that you can have for someone!

---

The basic difference between Radha and Meera's love lied in the point that Meera, in all the difficulties of life that faced, surrendered all her worries and fears to Krishna and walked forth. Radha on the other hand, did her best to hide her own fears and trepidation from Krishna so that the latter could move on in his life without being guilty for putting her through the troubles that ensued.

I feel, both these attitudes were very dear to Krishna and he cherished them both.
GetbusyLiving thumbnail
19th Anniversary Thumbnail Rocker Thumbnail + 2
Posted: 6 years ago
#5

Originally posted by: Radhikerani



The basic difference between Radha and Meera's love lied in the point that Meera, in all the difficulties of life that faced, surrendered all her worries and fears to Krishna and walked forth. Radha on the other hand, did her best to hide her own fears and trepidation from Krishna so that the latter could move on in his life without being guilty for putting her through the troubles that ensued.

I feel, both these attitudes were very dear to Krishna and he cherished them both.


thanks for this beautiful post..i really loved reading your insights..frankly i didn't have much knowledge about either radha or meera's story...

@bold..how true ..again love the way your write

i don't think the song made meera's love seem more superior..the line "ek jeet na maane..ke haar na maane"..summed up both of their sacrifices beautifully
Edited by FateBeChanged - 6 years ago
sambhavami thumbnail
Posted: 6 years ago
#6
^Intentionally it didn't, but don't you think, for the sake of the movie, it did kinda bend towards Meera?

Although, let's just leave it, it's about POV. BTW thanks so much for liking my writing! I'm Pro, n you? :D
AreYaar thumbnail
Posted: 6 years ago
#7

Originally posted by: FateBeChanged

you are welcome..yes the song is really beautiful..

i agree with most of your points but meera was a devotee in the sense she had krishna only in the idol form and not physically the way radha had..but meera's love went beyond devotion..she believed herself to be married to krishna and refused to marry any one else inspite of family and societal pressures..even when she was forced to marry Prince Bhoj Raj she never acknowledged him or gave him rights as her husband..so in meera's mind she considered herself as his mate and not a devotee just like radha

the reciprocity part again..i agree about the physical aspect here too...now there is a lot of version on this.. but in the film by gulzar on meera showed meera attaining moksh by vanishing inside krishna;s idol..thereby becoming one with god..

radha and meera are similar in the sense both were the chosen one..now i didn't know about the backstory of radha krishna as shown in the serial where both were cursed to be separated and radha was cursed to forget krishna..this is the first time i have heard of it

in all the stories i have read and seen so far..radha was one of the gopis who like you said were in love with kirshna but radha was the one krishna was in love with

also down south..radha has not much relevance like it in north india...here more importance is given to krishna;s wives..mainly rukmini, satyabhama and jambvanti

PS: i recommend the film meera by gulzar btw..it is a really well made film..if you like gulzar's style of films that is..and one of hema malini's finest work



Thanks for the recommendation about Gulzar's Meera :) Will try and check it out.


@bold: I would still call that devotion only...just a very extreme form of it. She utterly immersed herself SPIRITUALLY in Krishna...her considering herself married to him was just another way of submitting herself to him and not wanting to align herself with the physical world around her. Strangely, even if it's a bit of an extrapolation, this takes me back to the debate from the first epi of RK where Sridama touts his extreme devotion to Krishna as above all and dismisses Radha's love for him as Moh and Maaya...again in a sense putting devotion above love...while both are just two sides of a coin...it's not a competition and both should be respected in their own space...that is the point Radha tried to make to Sridama too.


In the case of Radha, yes I understand that she is revered in different ways depending on which part of the country we're talking about. But the common point remains that her name is take in nearly the same breath as Krishna in almost every tale...which in itself shows that her importance rises above just being one of the many gopis...based on what I've read in this forum by others who are more knowledgeable about Radha's history, she too was ultimately married to someone but only loved Krishna all her life and considered him her only soulmate...so she too devoted herself to Krishna in a sense. As did he, even though he took other wives. That is the difference b/w his equation with Radha and Meera.


The case I find more interesting is that of Rukmini and her importance in Krishna's life...since she too is revered the most out of his wives as far as I know.


I don't think the show is going to go that far down the narrative in touching that portion of Krishna's life...the main focus of this show is these teen years of Radha-Krishna and they are imparting his teachings through this angle of taking human avatars to teach the world about love. Specifically, Radha-Krishna's love which is revered the most out of all his other associations...what makes it epic and an example for all to follow...that is the depth they are trying to flesh out.

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