SB.10.5.18. Radhashtami
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami · London · 2023
Chapters
Omna mo Bhagavate vasude bhagavate vaya, omna mo bhavagate, Omna Bhagavateva Sudeva Jan Mandasya Tonvayatarataschartyas Vabigasvarat, Te ni Bram Mahridayadikavay Muchyanti Yat Suraya, Teovarim ridam Yatini Majat Ratris Sargom Rish, Damnas venas adani rasta kuhakam, sattyam paramdimhi, sattyam paramdimhi, sattyam paramdim Yam prabrajandampetametakrityam dajpaya novi rahakatara jugava, put reetitan maiatayotaravinedus, tam sarva Bhutta Hridayam Unimana Tosmi Narayan Namaskritiana Cheva Narotamam Devim Sarasvatim Vyasam Tatoja, nashta praje s Bha Dri shu ni tam Bhava Sevaya. Bhaga w tju ta mašlo khtir nastiki. Hare Krishna.
Srimad Bhagavatam Tenth Canto verse
So today on the occasion of Sri Radharani's appearance day, we will read with you one verse from the tenth Kant of Srimad Bhagavatam. This is the eighteenth verse of the uh third chapter. 5th chapter.
Fifth chapter of the tenth canto. We know that in uh Srimad Bhagavatam Sri La Sukadev Gaswami does not mention directly the name Radha. But at the same time, all Shrimad Bhagavatam is about Radha.
Because Shimad Bhagavatam describes the highest love which is the essence of Krishna. We all know God is love.
But how He is love, how He manifests His love, in which way He interacts with living entities and His energies. It's all in detail described in Srimad Bhagavatam.
And therefore, Srimad Bhagavatam is about Srimati Ratharani only.
And uh Shukadev Gaswami Auracharyas explained that Shukadev Gaswami didn't mention directly the name Radha because if he would do this, he thought he would faint in ecstasy, and this ecstasy would last for three months. And in the meantime, the time for departure of Maharaja Parikshet would pass and the whole purpose would be defeated.
Maharaja Parikshet had only seven days to leave and Shukadev Gaswami wasn't sure whether he will be able to contain himself so carefully he avoided to name Shrimati Radharani directly.
It actually is a very great lesson for us because sometimes we mention her name without without due reverence and uh adoration, without due feelings. It's not so cheap.
It's not that, you know, Rādhī Rādhī Śyām Śyām, you know, as sometimes they do during the kīrtana. Of course, when we chant Rādhī Rādhī, nobody faints in ecstasy, which also shows our level of spiritual advancement.
But again, Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī is very cautious. And he is uh by not naming her directly giving us the warning how careful we should be while describing her pastimes directly.
So let's with utmost care chant the verse where Śukadeva Gosvāmī reveals one of the verses where he reveals his complete devotion and dedication to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
And this verse is also very appropriate for today's occasion, because actually this verse describes the appearance of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī in Vraja.
Recitation of Tenth Canto verse eighteen
Again, somewhat indirectly, but nevertheless, quite directly. Tataha, arabya, nandasya, vrajaha, sararva samridhiman, Harehe, Nivasa, Nivasa, Atmagunahi, Atmaguna, Rama Akridakridam Abhoot Nripa Tatarabyanasya
Tatarby Anandasya Vraja Sarva Samridhiman, Vraja Sarva Samridhiman, V Samidhiman, Harernivasatmagunai, Harernivasatmagunai, Vivasat Magunai, Ramakridam Abhundripa, Ramakri Dam, Ramakri dhambundripa,
ramakri dhamma kundi pa, tatara nandasya, vraja sarva samridhiman, harerniva satmaguna, ramakrida nabhundripa arabya beginning from that time.
Nandasya of Nanda Mahārāja of Nanda Mahārāja Rajas Vraja Vraja Bhumi the land for protecting and breeding cows. The land for protecting and breeding cows. Sarva Samridhiman became opulent with all kinds of riches.
Harehevasa of the residence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. At Magunahi by the transcendental qualities, by the transcendental qualities Rama Akridam The place of pastimes of the goddess of fortune.
Abhut became Nripa O King Maharaja Parikshit Maharaja Parikshit. Translation and purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, Text:
O Maharaja Pariksit, the home of Nanda Maharaja is eternally the abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and his transcendental qualities. And is therefore always naturally endowed with the opulence of all wealth.
Yet beginning from Lord Krishna's appearance there it became the place for the pastimes of the goddess of fortune.
As stated in the Brahmasamhita, Lakshmi Sahastra, Satasam Brahmasyamanam G,ovinda, Madhi Purusham, Tamaham Bhajami. The abode of Krishna is always served by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune.
Wherever Krishna goes, the goddess of fortune naturally resides with him. The chief of the goddesses of fortune is Śrīmatī Rādhārānī.
Therefore, Krishna's appearance in the land of Raja indicated that the chief goddess of fortune, Radharani, would also appear there very soon.
Nandamara Sabot was already opulent and since Krishna had appeared it would be opulent in all respects. Śrīla Prabhupada: Ta na nanda-syavjah sarva samridhi man, harer nivassat magunai Ramakridan
Abhund-rpan. The home of Nanda Maharaja is eternally the abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His transcendental qualities and is therefore always naturally endowed with the opulence of all wealth.
Yet beginning from Lord Krishna's appearance there it became the place for the pastimes of the goddess of fortune Na Nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale śrīmate bhaktivedānta- svāmin iti nāmine.
Namaste sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī- प्रचारिणे निर्विशेष-शūнявади-пашчатя-деша-таране vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaḥ ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ. Bevacha, Pattanampavani Byovaisnavyby Maha,
Jaya Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Caitanya Prabhu-nityānanda Śrī-Advaita Gadādhara Śrī-vāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare / Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare / Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hariḥ.
Grand charity at the Nandotsava celebration
Yundah Pradishi Mamavachima Mampra Supta Sanjeeva Yata Kila Shakti Darah Swadham Nanyam Shahastacharana Shravana Dwagadi Pranandamo Bhagavatai Puru Shaydu So so blessings of yours uh and uh of uh Shishirada Londanishvara I will try to say a few words on the occasion of
uh the appearance of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī.
So here in this verse, this is the last verse in the uh long series of verses where Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains Nandotsava, the beautiful and amazing festival which Nanda Mahārāja arranged in Vraj on the occasion of appearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Just two weeks back we were celebrating Janmashtami and we were describing at that time or meditating at that time on this festival And we were trying to reproduce the same sort of festival.
Of course, the difference was the that the inhabitants of Raj would throw yogurt at each other and we usually don't do this in Hare Krishna temples.
But uh although it is completely bona fide, uh it's a way to celebrate Kṛṣṇa's Janmāṣṭami at actually Rādhāṣṭami too. So if uh the temple president will allow, we can do this, but I doubt it.
In any case, uh that's the you know the custom in Vraj. They have so much milk products so they, you know, they use the excess of milk products by throwing it at each other on this festival days.
In any case, when Śukadeva Gosvāmī is explaining this beautiful festival in Vraj, he first of all saying that Nanda Mahārāja gave two million cows in charity.
And not only two million cows, but the hoofs of the cows were all hoofs of the cows were all uh plated by silver and the horns were gold plated. You know just
for your information, when uh Vasudeva Mahārāja in the prison house of Kaṁsa also celebrated Kṛṣṇa's appearance, he couldn't do anything in reality, so mentally he
also distributed cows because this is the custom when something very you know some joyful occasion is coming, you have to give. You know, giving is one of the main features of Vedic culture. The Vedic culture is the culture of giving, because this is the culture which teaches us to love. And to love means to give.
So when Vasudeva Mahārāja saw Kṛṣṇa in person and was very joyful on this occasion, he also started giving cow to Brāhmaṇas mentally. And at this occasion he gave 10,000 cows.
I mean you can imagine that you know mentally you could give more cows, it doesn't matter how many cows you give. It's in your mind. But he gave it specifically said ten thousand cows.
But when Nanda Mahārāja in reality not mentally gave cows, he gave two million cows. Much much more. And not only just ordinary cows, but cows with gold plated horns and
hoofs, silver plated, all decorated with jewels and beautiful cows. So and then Śukadeva Gosvāmī continues describing these festivities. And naturally the question may arise in the
mind of the listeners and maybe Śukadeva Gosvāmī, how is that possible that so much opulence was given during this festival? How is that possible that, you know, two million cows?
We know that normally Nanda Mahārāja only has 900,000 cows. But on occasion of Krishna's birth, he gave two million cows without even thinking twice, you know, whether something will a cow will remain in his cowshed.
Opulence following Krishna's appearance in Vraja
So and therefore Śukadeva Gosvāmī to explain this while concluding this description of Krishna's birth ceremony and Nandotsava, he says that because Tataḥ Arabya Nandasya Vraj became opulent. It was opulent before.
It was immensely opulent, as Śrīla Prabhupāda explains in the purport even before. But Tataḥ, since the time, Tataḥ ārabhya, since the time when Krishna appeared there with all his qualities.
Because when Krishna appears in person, because he is a person, he has qualities. And he appears with all his qualities as specifically said there. Atma uh Gunaihi.
He appeared together with all his qualities, and uh his qualities are his energies, his energies are his opulences. Therefore, Sarva Samri Diman, all the amazing opulences also appeared in Vraj together with him,
and Vraj has become Rama Kridan. Vraj has become the place of the pastimes of goddess of fortune.
And of course, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains then when Śukadeva Gosvāmī here in this particular occasion mentions Rama Lakshmi Devi. He means the original Lakshmidevi, Adi Lakshmidevi, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
So she appeared together with him at the same day when Krishna appeared, but in her personal form she
appeared one year and fifteen days later. That's very important to understand because we're celebrating this day of Janmashtami, the day when the moon is in the constellation of uh Anurada.
Anuradha is the special constellation which signifies Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. So she appearing, her appearance day, her bona fide appearance day when the energy of love appears in this world is this eighth day of the bright uh
part of the Bhādra month eighth day when the moon enters the constellation of Anurada. So, first before explaining the pastimes of her appearance.
Yeah, maybe uh immediately now I will speak a little controversy about her age. Because in India, in Vraja, Rādhā is a mysterious figure. Actually, before Lord Chaitanya appeared
in this world, hardly anyone knew about Srimati Radharani. Even in Vrindavan, Krishna was alone. He was standing there on the altar alone without Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. For a long time.
Because in Vrindavan we all know that Radha and Krishna are not married. And you cannot really openly place a girlfriend in the Vedic culture in front of your lover, it would be a scandal all over the place.
Therefore for a long time Krishna was alone there. And people were worshipping Krishna alone without Śrīmatī Rādhārānī because she is a very confidential goddess.
She is the most confidential and mysterious figure in the whole Vedic literature. So much so that Śukadeva Gosvāmī doesn't mention her directly.
And therefore, when Caitanya Mahāprabhu came, Śrīmatī Rādhārānī's fame became really glorious and only after his appearance she became very prominent and famous.
And of course now everyone, even in London, chants Rādhī Rādhī, you know. So now it has become kind of ordinary event. But before Caitanya Mahāprabhu, nobody knew, hardly anyone knew about Śrīmatī Rādhārānī.
Yes, Jayadeva Gosvāmī wrote his poem Gīta-govinda where her name is mentioned, and this poem was chanted in Jagannātha Purī. But besides that, hardly anyone knew about her.
And therefore, when she appeared, different sampradāyas started developing her theology so to speak. And therefore, when we study the customs of different sampradāyas, we see quite striking differences.
The understanding of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī is somewhat different.
Like in Vallabha-sampradāya, the followers of Vallabha Sampradāya or Puṣṭi-mārga, which is very prominent and famous in Vraja and in And in Garga-saṁhitā it is said that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī appeared five
And in Garga-saṁhitā it is said that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī appeared five years before Krishna. She was five years older than Krishna.
Now in Rādhā-vallabha Sampradāya or in the Nimbārka Sampradāya, they say that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī appeared in the same Krishna. That they are or they are of the same age.
But in Gaudiya Sampradāya we are very adamant and we say Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains it very clearly that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is one year and fifteen days younger than Krishna. Why?
Because Kṛṣṇa-sampradāya is teaching rasa. And how the rasa can develop if the girl is five years older than you, you know. Of course, nowadays everything is possible, but in a normal society
the real rasa relationship or very intimate relationship can only appear if the girl is younger than the boy.
And also, uh, Dhyānacandra Gosvāmī in his, um, Gaurāṅga-viruda-kalpataru he explains that, uh, the eternal age of Krishna is 14 years, nine months, no, sorry, fifteen years, nine months, and seven and a half days.
I don't know why seven and a half days, but it is specifically said there. So he's fifteen years, nine months, and seven and a half days eternally.
So that's his eternal age, or that's his eternal mood, because the age in the spiritual world means mood.
So you know when the next time you will become 14 years, six fifteen years, nine months, and seven and a half days mark your mood it may be significant.
So, and it is said that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is, uh, her eternal age is kiśorī, uh, as, uh, eternal teenager. She is fourteen years and two months.
Philosophical analysis of Krishna's spiritual energies
So she is again one year younger than Krishna. So while saying this, we have to go back to tattva of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, because without understanding the tattva, we will never be able to understand līlā.
Līlā only depicts and describes tattva for us to facilitate our meditation on the tattva. It's very difficult for us to meditate on tattva because you know philosophy philosophy is a nut to crack.
But, uh, when the līlā is describing the same tattva, then we can while meditating on the līlā, uh, we can understand tattva more deep deeper. We can go into the tattva, into the essence, into the philosophy deeper.
But when we only describe lilas, describe the stories, then the tendency will be there that we forget the tattva. The līlā is only there to help us to understand the deeper essence of what it is.
So before describing the līlā of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī's appearance, the appearance which is proper on this day, we should understand who she is.
As it is said here that as Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that she is the original energy of the Supreme Lord in her full glory.
And in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī explains that in more details and in even more detail in Bhagavat-sandarbha, where Jīva Gosvāmī explains Kṛṣṇa's energy, and in Paramātma-sandarbha also in Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha, but in Bhagavat-sandarbha, specifically, where Jīva Gosvāmī explains the tattva, the philosophy, the nature of the Supreme Lord.
He explains His energies, and it is explained in Caitanya- caritāmṛta by Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, who follows Jīva Gosvāmī, that the nature of God is sac-cid-ānanda. We all know this.
The three energies, the three spiritual energies, the energy of eternity, of existence, sat, or uh what is this what is this samvid hlādinī? Sandh. Saṁdinī. Saṁdinī-śakti, which is the representation of sat, eternity quality of the Lord.
The essence of saṁdinī-śakti is śuddha-sattva. The pure plane of existence where Kṛṣṇa manifests Himself, where the eternal abode of Kṛṣṇa is manifest, where His pastimes manifest and where His form manifests.
The essence of śuddha-sattva, the essence of saṁdinī energy, saṁdinī-śakti, is actually the body of Kṛṣṇa and the form of Kṛṣṇa.
The beauty of Kṛṣṇa is the creation of saṁdinī-śakti. That's the essence, the very core of His energy of existence. Now, saṁvit-śakti is actually higher than saṁdinī-śakti.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that these three energies, saṁdinī, saṁvid, and hlādinī, they are progressively higher than each other. So, because existence is only meaningful if there is consciousness.
If there would not be consciousness, for example, in this earth, would this earth have any meaning? No. There wouldn't be any meaning. It would be just, you know, a pile of dust.
You know, the essence of existence is consciousness. You agree with this?
So uh the essence of existence is uh Krishna's uh Krishna's form, uh but then when the existence becomes even more refined, it turns into consciousness.
And Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī explains that the essence of consciousness is Krishna consciousness.
When the consciousness reveals Krishna, the energy of Sandhini creates the form of Krishna, creates the beauty of Krishna.
But when by the light of consciousness we can see this form, we can understand his beauty, then the essence of consciousness is being manifest.
So we can only be conscious in the true sense of the word. We can only be called conscious in the true sense of the word if we are Krishna conscious.
And Krishna conscious means seeing the beauty of Krishna, appreciating the beauty of Krishna. If we are looking at Krishna and seeing here a nice statue, very nice statue, it's not Krishna consciousness.
Krishna consciousness means we are looking at Krishna and we see this is the beauty personified in front of me. He is He is there.
So Krishna consciousness means appreciating the form of Krishna, the root of Krishna, his guṇa. That's the real Krishna consciousness.
Meditating constantly on the essence of God and understanding, trying to understand at least how beautiful He is.
So when our consciousness becomes bright enough or purified by the contact with spiritual energy, we will be able to see his form in the plane of spiritual existence which is śuddha-sattva.
But then Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that the essence of consciousness is love. You know, as much as the matter or existence without consciousness is meaningless, consciousness without love is also meaningless.
Stages of spiritual emotion culminating in Mahabhava
You may be conscious, but if you don't have love, does it have any meaning? No, it's it's useless. It ultimately doesn't have any any essence. So love or enjoyment, Chladini Shakti, is the essence of consciousness.
So the essence of the essence of the essence, of the essence of the essence
is Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. hlādinī-śakti premā, hlādi, hlādinī-sāra prema, sāra bhāva, uh bhāvāra paramākāṣṭā, sāra mahābhāva, and mahābhāva-svarūpā Śrī Rādhā Ṭhākurāṇī.
So hlādinī is the most essential hlādinī, which is the energy of love, which is the energy of enjoyment of Kṛṣṇa Himself, is the essence of God.
And therefore, it is rightly said that God is love, because his essence is love. But then it is said that the essence of love, because there are so many manifestations of love.
There are so many different manifestations of love, even in this world. You know, sometimes people say I love chocolate. Is this the essence of Krishna? No. Or sometimes people love pizza or whatever.
Or sometimes people love dog or cat. So this is also called love. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa-dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī says, no, no. The essence of hlādinī-śakti is prema. Prema is spiritual love. It's spiritual love, it's love for God.
It's God's love and love for Him. So this is and this love for Him gives the enjoyment to Kṛṣṇa when we love Kṛṣṇa and this love for him, uh give the enjoyment of somebody who has this love.
Somebody who experiences the love for Kṛṣṇa, He is the most blissful person on the earth. So and Kṛṣṇa-dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī says that hlādinī-āra prema, the essence of hlādinī is prema. The essence of prema is bhāva.
The essence of bhāva, that essence means the highest manifestation of prema is bhāva, which is the most amazing, the most brilliant ujjvala-rasa. The most brilliant love which actually eclipses everything else.
So therefore it's called ujjvala. The essence of bhāva is mahābhāva. When bhava becomes the most brilliant and most essential and most condensed, it becomes Mahabhava. And the essence of Mahabhava is Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
So this is how we go. That's why even her name is so sacred. You know, to even imagine that we can understand her means to manifest our foolishness to the utmost extent.
You know, because to understand Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī means to understand the essence of the essence of God. And we can't understand even God. Slightly. But to speak about understanding his most essential nature.
But still, nevertheless, we should try. And my uh talk today is a feeble attempt to explain this or at least to have some faint idea of what we are celebrating today.
Because the real celebration of Rādhāṣṭamī would be if we feel at least a glimpse of real love for Krishna.
So, and you know, we all know that love for Krishna is so high and we chant Hare Krishna but you know Hare Krishna Hare Krishna. Ah Krishna Krishna we don't we don't feel even a fraction of emotions which Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī feels when she chants Hare Krishna.
Narada Muni discovers Radharani in Raval
When she chants Krishna's name, or when Krishna chants Radha's name, uh that becomes the most amazing experience for them. That triggers the emotions which are indescribable.
So much so that you know people they they faint when they uh feel the glimpse of these emotions.
Before going any further uh in this connection, I I would like to describe a little pastime connected with this appearance of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, how Nārada Muni saw Rādhārāṇī for the first time.
It was famous all over the world that uh Krishna appeared in the world and uh at one point approximately one year after Krishna Janmāṣṭamī Nārada Muni uh decided to visit uh Krishna in Vraja.
He decided to visit the house of Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodā. And of course, Narada Muni is busy traveling all over the world, so it's understandable
that it took him one year before he came to Vraja after Krishna's appearance day. So he came to the house of Nanda Mahārāja in Gokula, Mahāvana. Perhaps some of you have been to this beautiful place.
There is still this palace with stone columns where Krishna made his appearance. And Nārada Muni knocked at the door of Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodā opened the door and she was very pleased to see Nārada Muni.
She bowed down to Nārada Muni and Nārada Muni said, I heard that you have a son. Can you show me your son? And she brought him to Krishna's bedroom
and he saw beautiful boy Krishna with his uh black, bluish black hairs and uh reddish eyes, huge like lotus petals, reddish at the uh at the ends, and his beautiful nose and lips, and uh Nārada Muni was amazed.
He felt so much emotions, he started crying, and he looked at Krishna and looked at Krishna and looked at Krishna and he couldn't stop looking at Krishna. And ultimately, finally, a thought comes to his mind.
He said, if Krishna has appeared here, he said, I've seen different forms and manifestations of God. I travel to Vaikuṇṭha and I see four armed form of Nārāyaṇa.
I travel to different planets, I see different manifestations, but I have never seen anybody who is so beautiful.
But then Nārada Muni thought, you know, if Krishna appeared in this world, his śakti, his original energy must have also appeared somewhere. And therefore, he decided to search for Krishna's śakti.
So he went in Varachi, said, she must be here. If Krishna is here, she also must be somewhere here. So he knocked in different doors and he was asking and you know there was nobody close to what he was looking for.
And ultimately he came to Raval.
And uh in Raval uh there was this beautiful uh house of uh uh Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja and Kīrtidā Devī and uh he asked as usually he asked uh Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja and Kīrtidā Devī, do you have any children?
And uh uh Vṛṣabhānu said, Yes, yes, I have beautiful son. Oh I have such a beautiful son. Show it to me. him to me.
And son was procured and showed to uh Nārada Muni and Nārada Muni looked at son and he said, Oh, such a nice boy, beautiful boy. I bless this boy. Let this boy become the friend of Krishna. I just visited Krishna.
Let them become very close friend and let they let them spend years and years together playing all the time. And Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja became so pleased by these blessings of Nārada Muni.
And then Nārada Muni said, do you have any girl? And Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja, he nodded his head.
Uh he hung his head and he said, Yes, I have a baby girl who was just born, but the problem is that she is deaf and dumb and blind.
Her eyes are closed, she doesn't hear anything, and she doesn't she doesn't say a word, she doesn't cry, she doesn't pronounce any sound. You know. Nārada Muni said, Really? Can you show her to me?
And uh then Vrishabhanu Maharaj took Nārada Muni to the little room, internal room, and he said, This is my baby girl. And Narada Muni looked at her. And he couldn't really believe himself.
Because the love which he felt at this moment exceeded the love which he felt when he looked at Krishna many, many thousands of times. And then he looked at Vriṣabhānu Mahārāja. He said, you know what?
I have to do some very secret samsara for this girl. I will definitely help you to relieve her from these difficulties. Don't worry, she will be talking all the time. No problem.
She will be hearing, but you have to leave from here. And you have to collect all the paraphernalia. We will do some yagya, so please collect that for a long time. I'll be busy here.
I need to do some really secret ceremony here. So when Vrishabanuaraj left the room, Narada Muni approached with utmost reverence this girl and he took her on his hands and he closed her to his heart.
And you know the The feeling which he had at that time cannot be described because the essence of love of Krishna, he is holding to his heart. He is holding tight to his heart.
And she's this amazing emotion personified and he is holding her tight to his heart. And he immediately fainted. He could not contain himself.
And then, you know, because he had this experience then all the sakhīs of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī appeared at this room in a mysterious way. And they started sprinkling the water on Nārada Muni's head and Rādhā herself manifested her kishori form.
She became a teenager and all her sakhīs, uh aṣṭa-sakhīs appeared together with her and they gave the darśana to Nārada Muni. And again Nārada Muni he was he was out of this world that he was dancing and fainting and dancing again.
So that's why this is in this connection I wanted to say that, you know, that yeah Krishna is beautiful. But you can only appreciate his beauty if uh if you have love.
If you are somehow or other connected with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Yes, Narada Muni had direct darshan of Krishna first.
Reaching Krishna through Radharani's divine grace
But then only when he had the darśana of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, when he had this encounter with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, he could really understand who Krishna is and who he could really understand and appreciate how beautiful Krishna is.
This is actually what Śrīla Prabhupāda explains in his lecture which he gave in London on the occasion of Radhastami. There in the in this lecture he says that you can only understand Krishna through Radha.
There is no other way. There is no other way to understand Krishna. If you try to go to him directly, you may get something.
But as Acharya says, what you get by going to Krishna directly is only a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of what you can get if you try to understand Krishna through Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. If you try to look at Krishna through her eyes or by her mercy.
Because she is one of the names of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is Taḍit. Tadit means literally lightning.
Like at night when there is a you know thunder and uh when there is this uh and lightning, you know, you cannot see the dark cloud. Uh the only way to see the dark cloud and everything only when the lightning is there.
So therefore she is called Taḍit, Taḍit-vāsāḥ. She is the energy of the Lord which helps us to understand the Lord. She is the essential energy of the Lord by which we can understand the Lord.
So many people are trying to understand the Lord. So many people have different conceptions of God.
But only those people who know Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and who try to go through her by saying Hare Krishna. First Hare and then Krishna. Not Krishna Krishna Krishna. Hare Krishna.
Only those who go through her by her grace they will be able to see the Lord in His full glory.
Because other people they they see some aspect of Krishna. Some sort of understanding of Krishna is there, you know. They say, you know, mostly they say that their understanding of Krishna is that he could not be understood. That's the most common conception of God.
Yes, he must be there, but nobody can understand him. You know, like some people say that God is, it's it's written in the Quran that God is hidden behind one thousand coverings of light and darkness.
So you have to penetrate this 1,000 coverings of light and darkness, light and darkness, light and darkness, before you can understand or have some glimpse or idea of God.
So when people try to understand God, that's the conception which they come about. God is uh behind the curtain, He can never be known, or God is something impersonal, or God is this or that.
Uh you know, but we can only know that God is the most beautiful person if we go through Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Because she is the light. She is the light of love, uh which uh shows or manifests to us the beauty of God.
So, and Prabhupada says that you know you should try to approach Krishna Sur Shimati Ratharani because she is so full of love and she always meditates on Krishna.
So when she sees some fool like you coming to her and saying, you know, this is something for you, please give it to Krishna. She will look at you. And Prabhupada says, you may be the most fallen rascal number one.
But she will look at you and she will say, Oh, he comes to my Krishna, he loves my Krishna, he is better than me. And then she will come to Krishna and say, there is somebody who is better than me. He's standing here.
He is rascal number one, but nevertheless. If she introduces you to him, then only Krishna will recognize you.
And if you're trying, if you will try to impose yourself upon Krishna, Krishna will look at you and said, you know, get out of here. You know. I don't have anything to do with you.
I don't want to have anything to do with you.
So that's why it is so important for us to at least try to understand and to meditate on the glories of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and her appearance in this day, how only by her mercy we can understand.
And that's why, you know, Caitanya Mahāprabhu comes. And that's why Caitanya Mahāprabhu comes and gives something which was not given before, Naṁ-arpitaṁ cira-carāt karuṇāvatīrṇaḥ kalau samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam.
For a long time, the thing which he is ready to give is not being given. Why? Because he is intoxicated with the same love.
And because he is intoxicated with the same love and because this love is overflowing his heart, he is preaching it to everyone else.
His preaching is just the manifestation of this overflowing love which is going through the brim of his heart and uh the uh little droplets of this uh love are landed in our head through the mercy of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
So again it's all Rādhā's mercy. It's the mercy of her love and uh we should try to understand her. And to understand her is uh to understand uh at least try to understand how she loves Krishna.
So the next story of course maybe I should first uh speak different stories of uh her oh my goodness, it's too late.
Diverse scriptural narratives of Radharani's birth
I can go on a little bit. Okay. I'll go on a little bit.
So there are different historias again, as I said, there are different even conceptions about Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, but we proudly claim that only Caitanya Mahāprabhu's conception is correct because he knows he knows the heart, he knows the essence. And he proved it by his personality.
When he was there, it was crystal clear to everyone that he's not of this world. Whoever would see him, whoever would see manifestations of his love, they understood.
This is not something which could be experienced in this world. Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He's still very special even in in whole Vedic literature.
All over India people worship Caitanya Mahāprabhu and they know, most of them know he is God Himself in a very special feature.
So Caitanya Mahāprabhu revealed to us the glories of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is describing the glories of Rādhā's love, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu revealed to us the glories of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and her love, because that was his mission.
And uh um as I said, uh people have different ideas about Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. If you go to Raval, Raval is the village where she appeared in this world. It's near Gokul Mahavan on the other side of Yamuna.
So in Raval they usually tell the story how Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja after a long time and they were married with Kīrtidā Devī and uh uh for a long time they didn't have any children, and ultimately he was uh worshipping Katyani Devi.
And Katyani Devi gave him the blessings, uh and this story we can accept. So they say in Raval that the story is that once
he went to Yamuna to take baths, early in the morning, after getting these blessings from Katyani Devi, he went to Yamuna to take baths.
And at that time, the beautiful thousand petals lotus flower, golden lotus flower was flowing in Yamuna. And this lotus flower bumped at Vrishabhanu Maharaj
and he took this lotus in his hands and he saw a baby girl in this lotus and he took the baby girl and he understood this is the blessings of Katyani who gave me this girl. So that's one understanding.
Srila Rupa Goswami in Lalita Madhava, he explains the different story. And of course, the difference of the stories, all the stories are okay, alright, because they all happen in different Yuga.
Yuga Beda, according to Yuga Beda, different th, therefore different saints they meditate and in their meditation, they see reality in a different way. We should not be confused.
This story about Radha appearing on the lotus flower and flowing in Yamuna is actually explained in Padma Purana also. There it is explained that this is how she appeared in Vraj.
Srila Rupa Goswami explains the story in a different way. And it's a very beautiful way how he explains this. He said that actually Kirtida Devi was pregnant with two baby girls. One is Radha, and another one is Chandraoli.
And uh when Kirtida Devi was pregnant, uh at the same time uh uh what happened, uh Vindya Mountain, the king of Vindya, that's a mountain in the south of India. He became very jealous of uh uh uh Himalayas.
Because at that time Himalayas that they had a beautiful daughter and Parvati, and they gave the daughter Parvati uh in marriage to Lord Shiva.
And you know this this is explained how this very pompous uh marriage ceremony was there when Lord Shiva was marrying Parvati, and you know the fame of this was spread all over the world.
And this Vindya mountain he became very, very jealous. And he decided to perform austerities. And for a long time he performed austerities.
And ultimately, Lord Brahmā came to Vindya Mountain and he said, what do you want? You're performing this severe austerity, you must have some very strong desire. What do you want?
And uh Vindya mountain said, "Yes, uh I know you are the supreme God of creation. I want to have a son-in-law which is more powerful than the son-in-law of Himalayas. This is how it works. You know, I have to be better.
So uh Brahmā who was flattered by uh by Vindya Mountain before uh he said, "T tathāstu," has to let it be so. And then after he said this he realized what did I say? What did I promise to him?
How can be, you know, the son-in-law of Himalayas is Lord Shiva himself? How somebody can be more powerful than Lord Shiva himself. You know, did I make a fool out of myself by
promising this to Vindya mountain, you know," and then he uh he started thinking uh and then uh he uh then he realized that yeah Krishna is soon appearing on the earth.
Or he's about to appear, or he already appeared. And he realized yes, you know, if Krishna would become the son-in-law of Vindya Mountain, then my promise would be fulfilled and then I would not make fool out of myself.
So he went to Krishna and he started begging Krishna and uh you know he said, you know, after all I'm you know I'm doing some service to you. Uh very selflessly. Can you give me some boon?
This is again how usually it works. I'm doing something completely selflessly. Can you give me something in return? So so he goes to him and he says, you know, I I need some boon from you.
You know, Krishna says, What do you want? Yeah I want that you know your energy would become uh the daughter of Vindhya Mountain and you become uh the husband of uh Rādhā.
And Krishna blessed Lord Brahmā and said, "No problem. So my energy can become anyone's daughter, you know, if because she's the most merciful. So uh and it is said that Kirtida they she became pregnant and she had these two beautiful daughters in her womb.
And then Yoga Maya, by the desire of Krishna, she transferred Rādhārāṇī and Candrāvalī to the womb of the wife of Vindhya mountain.
It's also very interesting because when Vindhya mountain they became very proud. He became very proud and he started growing.
He wanted to compete with Himalayas and he started growing, growing, growing, and ultimately he became higher than Himalayas.
And when Lord Brahma came to Vindhya Mountain, then the Vindya Mountain bowed down, asked for Boon and then when Lord Brahma gave the boon again Vindhya mountain again bowed down to Lord Brahma and said, thank you.
And Lord Brahmā said now you stay like this. So that's why now Vindhya mountains they are very flat and not very high.
Not as high as Himalayas, even before they were quite prominent. Anyway, so that's the that's the story. And then when Vindhya mountain appeared in this world, and that's the most important part of the story.
Why I started telling this story. There is a reason behind this.
It is said, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī explains that when Krishna appeared in this world, we know the story, this is explained in Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, that Vasudeva Mahārāja, he took a little baby girl from Yaśodā-māī in Vraja and brought it to the prison cell in Mathurā.
And when Kamsa stormed into the prison cell, he grabbed this baby girl despite the desperate cry of Devakī, and he just, you know, uh smashed, tried to smash the baby girl on the stone.
There was a special stone where he would kill the children of Devakī. And uh the baby girl she slipped out of the hands
of Kamsa and she went to the sky, manifested her ten arms form and started saying that, Kaṁsa, you fool, somebody who will kill you was born somewhere else.
And she said also, Rūpa Gosvāmī adds to this speech which was revealed by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, he said that together with somebody who will kill you, his different energies also appeared in this world.
Because he is the Supreme Lord, He is the Supreme Person, He cannot appear without His energies. His energies are always with Him.
So they all they appeared with Him. His most prominent and opulent energies. So when Kamsa Maraj heard about this, he immediately had this plan,
we know after consultation with his demoniac friends that he should kill all the male children somewhere else wherever they're born. But he also said to Pūtanā, Pūtanā uh was the first one who volunteered.
She said, you know, my dear sir, may may I do this most important service to you. So and he said to uh Pūtanā uh you kill all the male uh babies who are born uh within this uh nine-two days, uh n nine-ten, days.
Uh and then, but you uh take all the girls uh and bring them to me. Because he knew if the energy of the Lord appeared together with the Lord, then uh you know uh she could enjoy the energy of the Lord.
That's the demonic mentality. Uh demons they always want to enjoy the energy of the Lord without the Lord. And you know, that also is quite a prominent characteristic of our psyche, of our consciousness, of our mentality.
We want to enjoy the energy of the Lord without the Lord, separately of the Lord. So that's exactly what Khamsa wanted. He wanted to kill the Lord, and he wanted to enjoy his energy. And we all know Lord killed him.
And uh of course, Lord always enjoys his energy. So that that's's the great lesson of this appearance day.
And Pūtanā, when she was flying over the Vindhya mountains, she took uh these two baby girls because she saw how beautiful they were.
And she thought, if I bring these beautiful baby girls to Khamsa, he will give me a lot of wealth. So she was she was taking this and uh at that time uh that was the birth ceremony and there was a big yagya going on.
Vindhya mountain uh invited so many qualified brāhmaṇas and they were doing big yagi, and when all of a sudden, you know, the cause of this yagya was grabbed by Pūtanā, and she's flying with this.
So the main priests, all the brāhmaṇas who were performing these yagyas the mantra. And by this mantra against the demons, by this mantra, uh Pūtanā
she felt uh weaker and weaker. She is flying with these girls and she feels that girls are so heavy, you know, incredibly heavy,
and she is weaker and weaker and weaker, and ultimately she drops uh these girls and uh you know she actually n uh you know first delivered them to Raj uh and then you know sh she was a good courier so and she brings them
to Vraja and uh she drops them and then uh of course Purnamasi Devi finds Śrīmatī Rādhārānī gives the the hill to Mukhra and Mukha delivers uh hirtu Kīrtidā Devī.
But again, it's very interesting that there are different stories of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī's appearance and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī and his meditation in Vraja Vilāsa-stava, he specifically says that uh no no no.
Actually Śrīmatī Rādhārānī was born from Kīrtidā's womb. It's like this, you know, we have the story from Śukadeva Gosvāmī who describes that Krishna appeared in the prison cell of Kamsa.
But then our ācāryas come and they say, yeah, maybe, Devakī-janmāvaḍā. They say that he was born to Devakī. That may or may not be, but for sure he was born to Yaśodā.
Because nobody can be compared, the love of Yaśodā cannot be compared with the love of Devakī. Therefore, Krishna could only appear from Yaśodā's womb directly. You know, he has to be there.
Because she was awaiting for Krishna and meditating on Krishna, not on somebody else. So he must be in her womb. In the same way Rādhārānī can only be in the womb of Kīrtidā. Because Kīrtidā is her eternal mother.
So Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī He specifically says that Kīrtidā, she is named Kīrtidā. The name Kīrtidā means the one who gives kīrti, the one who gives glory, the one who gives fame.
So she is named Kīrtidā because she brought or she gave the most glorious Śrīmatī Rādhārānī to this world. And therefore, in both in Bhakti-ratnākara and Vraja-vilāsa-stava by Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī they say that
all these stories they may be there with Vindhya Mountain because sometimes Śrīmatī Rādhārānī is called the daughter of Vindhya. That's one of her names. That may be there.
There is another story in Purāṇa how Kalāvatī and Suvandra were performing austerities and by the boon of Kātyāyanī Devī they received Śrīmatī Rādhārānī as their daughter. That may be there.
But ultimately, the eternal mother of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī is Kīrtidā Devī. And she could only be born from her womb. From nobody else's womb she can appear in this world.
Because again, love can only appear from the womb of love. She cannot appear from you know from the womb of jealousy. She cannot appear, uh you know that may be some past time in some other yuga,
but when Krishna himself comes, especially in this yuga, a-carya says, he was born as Yashodanandana, and his eternal counterpart, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, was born as Kīrtidā Devī.
First meeting of Krishna and Radharani
And that's how they appeared in this world, and ultimately how they uh met each other. But that's another story I don't have time to say about this. But actually the last, very last story because it's already too late.
How they met with each other for the first time. As you remember, Narada Muni he gave these blessings to Vishabanu Maharaj and Kirtida. Devī, don't worry, your daughter will talk too much. And she will also see and hear.
So immediately after, because he understood what's happening. Immediately after having this darshan of Kishori form of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, he went back to Nanda Mahārāja's house.
He went to search for the energy of the Lord after he went to Krishna, but then immediately he went to Nanda Mahārāja's house and he said, You know what?
I've just been to the house of Kīrtidā and Vṛṣabhānu, and they recently they delivered the most beautiful girl in the creation. You must go to see them.
So you know, it's village, you know, just no internet at the time, no YouTube.
The only you know entertainment is to go s somewhere and you know to to see who is born or who is dead or who is getting married. That's the village life, you know.
So immediately Yaśodādevī, she puts the best dress, and Nanda Mahārāja puts his turban, you know, in the most beautiful way. And they're taking little baby Krishna, who is one year old and taking
him with them, you know, Yaśodā carries him in the lap and they go to Rāval to the next village, which is close to Gokula Mahāvana. And they come to Kīrtidā and Vṛṣabhānu, they're good friends. And uh they met each other and uh you know and they started saying, you know, started talking. And they said, you know, we heard that the most beautiful girl was born in your house.
And they said, yes, yes, but the problem is that she is deaf and she's blind. She doesn't open her eyes and she is she's not you know pronouncing any any uh sound at all. So then Yaśodā said, Can I see the girl?
You know, and we all know that mothers they they like their baby and they like other babies. They they like to, you know, especially when they're very small.
So and then Kīrtidā brings Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī to the other room where Yaśodā is sitting with Nanda, and the Yaśodā puts Krishna down on the floor and she sits Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī on her lap and she she looks at her and she sees how cute and beautiful she is and she's golden and Krishna's black and you know she looks and looks at her and cannot take her eyes from the beautiful girl and Krishna becomes really angry and he starts crying. As we know, when little children when they feel that they're neglected or uh they uh don't have enough attention from their mothers, they start crying.
So and so that she cannot, you know, she cannot part with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. So she takes little Krishna and sits him on her lap together with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
And then and you know, you know, this is little baby Krishna, he's you know, he's little he doesn't understand anything.
So we know that children they they like to touch, you know somebody so Krishna sees this uh Radha uh sitting next to him and he's just quite like this. He's just attracted to her.
And he is coming and touching her and as soon as he touches her she opens her eyes. She has beautiful blue eyes. And then she opens her eyes and immediately she starts crying.
And this is the the tears of love which he manifest when he saw Krishna.
Guidance on prayers for Radhastami celebrations
So that's that's the last story. Thank you very much. I guess that's it. Questions? Questions. I don't know if there are some questions.
Well what would you recommend to pray on the day if you want to run an experience day in all the Our prayer is all the same. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains the meaning of our main prayer or energy of the Lord.
Oh Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, please engage me in the service of the Lord. Help me to become his real servant. Bless me with your purity uh make me one pointed in my devotion to the Lord. Make me forget about my own petty pleasures
and sorrows and make me overwhelmed with the uh emotions or uh waters of the beauty of the Lord. So that's that's our prayer. Please make me pure servant of the Lord.
It's like Śrīla Prabhupāda's father, Gour Mohan De. He would ask all the sādhus who would come to their house, please bless my little baby son so he would become the pure servant of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
So our prayers for this because this is the highest achievement because the pure service uh means pure love and pure love means the highest possible enjoyment which Nārada Muni experienced when he saw Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
Mahārāja, I've heard that Rādhārāṇī is the guru for all the devotees who are in mādhurya-rasa and she they they they inspiration from her and and also uh the rasa of um sakhya-rasa usually Balarāma is accepted as the guru so how do the devotees who are in sakhya-rasa relate to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī?
Well in spiritual world everyone adores and worships Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. She is the hub, she is the center of all existence, she is the highest manifestation. And yes, some of the friends of Kṛṣṇa they directly taking part
in his uh romantic pastimes like Subala or Madhumangala. They are allowed to be a part of the close relationship.
Others they just they just you know they just being completely overwhelmed with with the love of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Everything depends on her ultimately.
She is the essence of the essence of the essence of the essence of the spiritual world, spiritual existence. Thank you Mahārāja for the wonderful class.
Mahārāja, my question is in the very beginning of the class you mentioned Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is actually Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
So and then you mentioned about essence of the essence of the essence and the heart is also essence of the essence. So my question is Mahārāja, how do I enter into Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam?
Of course after systematically reading Canto One to Tenth, how do you reach if systematically reading may not be enough because uh Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam requires not just reading but meditating or taking it into the heart.
And taking into the heart means living Srimad Bhagavatam. So if you systematically living Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from 1st Canto to the Ninth Canto, then the entrance to the Tenth Canto will be very smooth.
And systematically living means that uh you go through uh by reliving the stories by identifying yourself as the heroes of the stories, by placing your consciousness within the stories.
Because reading means here's the book and here's I am and you know I'm reading something, you know, it's you know my mind may be somewhere else. But deep meditation means you take the book and place it in your heart.
So you kind of relieve reliving you are reliving what is being described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And by reliving what is being described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you're overcoming obstacles
which are now the impediments for you to enter the tenth canto, to understand the tenth canto. To understand the tenth canto we have to be done with kāma, krodha, lobha, mada, moha, matsarya.
And the best way to do it is just by hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and reliving Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, meditating on the verses of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
You will be able to, you know, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam automatically will go you will take you on this path.
And all the obstacles and all the anarthas will be uh will be gradually purified from your heart and then the meaning of the tenth canto
will be revealed to you by the grace of Śukadeva Gosvāmī. And of course we should always pray to Śukadeva Gosvāmī.
Yam pravrajantam anupetam apeta-kṛtyam dvaipāyanō viraha-kātara ājuhāva. Tam sarva-bhūta-hṛdayam munim nato 'smi. Śukadeva Gosvāmī, he can enter even the trees. He can enter even the trees, tam sarvabhūtahṛdayam.
And you know, if he can enter trees, then he can enter our heart. At least there's some hope. And if he enters our heart, then he can reveal Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to us from within. So we should pray this prayer to him.
only giving like Rādhārāṇī a special blessing because she cooked like sweet rice for him and then he became so in ecstasy and then she he gave her the blessing that whoever is her cooking will be like having well fame I think wealth, fame and beauty.
And then just Māyā finds out about this past about this blessing and I ask like a kuṭīra for Rādhārānī to go to cook for Krishna almost daily.
Would you say that all this pastimes was just an arrangement for the lords to see each other often? It is said also.
There is a description how they celebrate Rādhāṣṭamī in the spiritual world. It's a beautiful description. It's explained that Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja, they take Krishna and they come to the house of Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja.
And at that time, on Rādhāṣṭamī day, they engage so many brāhmaṇas to cook. Thousands and thousands of brāhmaṇas are cooking because you know all the inhabitants of Vraja are coming for on this day to Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja's palace, and they have to feed everyone. So everyone is cooking.
But surprisingly, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is also cooking. She is also busy and all her sakis and all her friends are cooking because usually it's not the time uh for you know to cook because it's the time for her abhiṣeka. But she mattered before that she's there in the kitchen.
And Yaśodāmāyi, she comes and she sees that Rādhikā is cooking this big feast and she's sweating and uh and all her uh girlfriends also cooking with her.
And Yaśodāmāyi looks at Kīrtidā and says, Oh my friend, you're so cruel.
Why do you engage your little tender girl to stand in front of this stove which is so blazingly hot. Why she's cooking on this day, on the day of her birthday.
You know, you're exploiting little children, why you why are you doing this?
And then Cirtida says, because she has these special blessings, whatever she cooks will be like nectar, and I want you and especially your son to taste what she cooks. That's only why I engage her to cook even on this day.
And then they see it and she might let her and it personally ser Actually, it is also explained that before serving they cooked everything, they set all
and all her guests in rows, and then Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and all her friends they start quarreling with each other. Who will serve first?
And they quarrel and quarrel and ultimately her friends says, You are always right, so you do first.
So she goes to the row where Kṛṣṇa is sitting and she personally serves to Yaśodāmā and Nanda Mahārāja and Kṛṣṇa, something which she cooked.
So that's how we should also celebrate our birthdays. We should cook and feed others. Okay, thank you very much.