July/August 2012 [Vol 23. No. 4] - Chinmaya Mission San Jose

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Radha-KRishna
sWaMI sHaRaDapRIyananDa
Under the dark shadows of the tamala tree waits
a fair girl, fairer than the full-blown jasmine. Her
heart throbbing with ecstasy and pain, her lips
breaking into rosy smiles and desperate sobs,
she awaits the eternal lover. The Dark One never
comes. Even if He appears, it is only for a brief
interval. He comes in a flash and vanishes in a
wink, throwing her into a gloom deeper than
before.
The story of the lovelorn Radha and the playful
Krishna is the theme of many Indian art forms.
Dance, drama, music, painting, sculpturing, and
poetry have all been enriched by the Radha-
Krishna love theme.
Who is this girl Radha? Did she really exist?
Wherein lies the secret attraction for millions in
India for Radha and Krishna?
The Bhagavata Purana by Vyasa, who was a
contemporary of Krishna, does not mention Radha,
but describes the similar love of innumerable gopis
for Krishna, and His exploits with them. Among
them there appears to be a gopis named Radhika,
yet Vyasa does not attach special significance
to her character. In the later literature of the
Vaishnava Tantric books, the name of Radha comes
into prominence. She becomes a living reality
through the works of Mahaprabhu and Jayadeva.
As understood by any serious thinking student,
Radha and Krishna represent the mortal individual
and the immortal Lord respectively, and Radha’s
pining for Krishna is the pining of the individual
for the Lord. Of all the things that can be said
of the love of a devotee for the Lord, why this
particular choice of comparing it to the love of
a married woman for an illicit lover?
The supreme Godhead is without name or form
and is attributeless. Ultimately, it has to be realised