BRAHMESVARADI SUDURuHA PADARAVINDA
SRIMAT PARAGA PARAMADBHUTA VAIBHAVAYAH
SARVARTHA SARA RASAVARShI KRiPARDRA DRiShTES
TASYA NAMO’STU VRiShABHANU BHUVO MAHIMNE

Sri Sri Rasha Rasa Sudhanidhi – Verse 3
(commentary by Radhakunda Mahanta Sri Srimat Ananta das Babaji)

I offer my obeisances to the glories of Maharaja Vrishabhanu’s daughter (Sri Radhika), the beautiful dust of Whose lotus feet is hardly attained by Lord Brahma, Lord Siva and others and whose merciful glance, which is endowed with the most astonishing prowess, showers the nectar of the essence of all human pursuits (love of God).

SRI RADHA’S GLORIES:

Commentary:

In Caitanya Caritamrita it is said: citta dridha kori lage mahima jsana hoite
“One’s heart becomes fixed in faith when one is aware of God’s greatness”, and for this reason Sripada continues his auspicious invocation of ‘Radha Rasa Sudhanidhi’ by praising the prowess of Sri Radha. rasa (spiritual flavour) is built on the foundation of tattva (spiritual truth). When that foundation is not there (when one disregards or does not know spiritual truth) the rasa may seem to be mundane.
In his commentary on verse 10.12.10 of the Bhagavata Sri Jiva Gosvami writes: bhagavams tavad asadharana svarupaisvarya madhuryas tattva viseshah “God is the Supreme Truth, Who is full of extraordinary selfperfect prowess and sweetness.”
In the 40th chapter of the ‘Patala khanda’ of Padma Purana, Sri Narada Muni offers most respectful prayers to Sri Radha. Vrajadhama is the abode of sweetness and Sri Radharani is sweetness personified, therefore the Gaudiya Vaishnava-acaryas show all the devotees of the world who meditate on the Lord’s Vrindavana-pastimes the sweetness of Sri Radha. But sometimes the Gosvamis also hint at Her great majestic aspect, which is the foundation on which the palace of Her charming sweetness is built. Such is the case in this and in the next verse. The dust of Sri Radha’s lotusfeet has such divine power that it cannot even be perceived by great gods like Lord Brahma.
In Srimad Bhagavata it is mentioned that Lord Brahma was astonished at seeing the sweetness of Krishna’s pauganda lila (pastimes as a 5-9 year old boy) of having a picknick on the bank of the Yamuna, and that he offered many prayers to Krishna, some full of sweetness and some full of reverence. For instance:

tad bhuri bhagyam iha janma kim apy atavyam
yad gokule’pi katamanghri rajo’bhishekam
yaj jivitam tu nikhilam bhagavan mukundas
tvadyapi yat prada-rajah sruti mrigyam eva

(Srimad Bhagavata 10.14.34)

“I will be most blessed if I can take any kind of birth (even a subhuman one) in this forest of Gokula, so that I can be sprinkled by the foot dust of one of its inhabitants, whose very life is the Supreme Lord Mukunda, Whose foot dust is even now sought for by the Vedas!”

In his Sarartha Varshini-commentary on this verse Sri Visvanatha Cakravartipada writes that Lord Brahma was so astonished by seeing Krishna’s pastimes that he did not have the courage to directly ask for the dust from the lotus feet of the cowherd boys. Therefore he prayed that he could birth as a tile or so outside the house of any low-caste person living on the outskirts of Vraja, so that he can sprinkle his whole body with that person’s foot dust. From this it is easy to understand that it is very difficult for Lord Brahma to have a glimpse of the dust from Vrishabhanu-nandini Radha’s lotus feet. The dust of the cowherd boys- and girls of Vraja is also difficult to attain in Lord Siva’s abode Mt. Kailasa, so Lord Siva sought residence in Vraja under the name of Gopisvara, hoping to attain some of that dust. But when Radha and the gopis saw Him, they prayed for the dust of His lotus feet instead, hoping that in this way they could attain Sri Krishna. Thus it is very hard for Sriman Mahadeva to attain Sri Radha’s foot dust also. The dust of Sri Radha’s lotus feet is called srimat, or filled with opulences, here. Even for the goddess of fortune, Lakshmi-devi, this foot dust is very difficult to attain. In Srimad Bhagavata (10.16.36), the wives of the Kaliya-snake say that the goddess of fortune gave up the side of Her divine husband Narayana by Her own will and took shelter of Vrindavana to perform harsh austerities there, hoping for the foot dust of Sri Krishna, but that until now She has not been able to get it. Why not?
In Caitanya Caritamrita (Madhya lila, chapter eight) it is explained:

gopi anugati vina aisvarya jshnne; bhajileo nahi pay vrajendra nandane / tahate drishtanta lakshmi korila bhajana; tathapi na pailo vraje vrajendra nandana

“If You worship the prince of Vraja in a reverential mood without following in the footsteps of the gopis You will not attain Him. Lakshmi-devi is the best example of that. Although She did worship Krishna as the prince of Vraja, She did not attain Him.”

The Lord’s greatest devotee, Uddhava Mahasaya, was astonished when he saw the greatness of the gopis’ love for Krishna and he praised them, praying for a birth in Vraja even as a blade of grass, so that he could get the gopis’ foot dust on his head. This is written with golden syllables in the pages of Srimad Bhagavata (Canto Ten, chapter 47). From this it is clear how hard it is to attain the foot dust of Sri Radha.
brahmesvaradi can also be interpreted as meaning: the Lord of Brahma (Krishna). Even for Krishna the amazing foot dust of Sri Radha is rarely attained! It is said that Krishna personally assumed the form of the poet Jayadeva to write the famous line dehi padapallavam udaram “Give Me Your generous lotus feet” of ‘Gita Govinda’. The purport to the 201st verse of ‘Radha Rasa Sudhanidhi’ is: One day Srimati is manini (angry out of jealousy) so with the help of Her girlfriends Krishna keeps Her feet on His head. Thus Her pique is soothed. Srimati’s lotus feet are moist with sweat, so the red lac on Her foot soles sticks on Syama’s head, while His peacockfeather falls off. This does not make Krishna inferior; the signs of Radha’s mercy rather increase His glories! This makes Him rasikendra mauli, the king of relishers, and this is the quintessence of Godhead. Therefore, simply to increase His own greatness, Krishna always desires the dust of Sri Radha’s lotus feet. And this is not a fairytale, there is strong scriptural evidence for this statement. Krishna Himself tells Uddhava in Srimad Bhagavata (11.14.16): anuvrajamyaham nityam puyeyetyanghri-renubhih
“I always follow My devotees to sanctify Myself with their foot dust.”
Srimat Jiva Gosvami comments on this verse:
tad bhaktyanishkriti doshat pavitritah syam iti bhavenetyarthah
“Since I am not able to repay My devotees for their devotional service (see Bhag. 10.32.22),
I perform atonement by following them to take the dust of Their feet for My purification.” Since Sri Radha has the greatest love for Krishna, it is needless to say that He will always be most eager for Her lotus feet. This is the sweetest possible explanation for the rasika sadhakas of Vrindavana.
Then again it is said sarvartha sara rasavarshi kripardra drishte “The merciful glance of Sri Radha showers the quintessence of all human goals of life”.
That quintessence is love of Krishna and Sri Radhika showers it all around. Caitanya Caritamrita says (Adi 7):

krishna vishayaka prema pascama purushartha; yara age trina tulya cari purushartha
pancama purushartha premanandamrita sindhu; mokshadi ananda yara nahe eka bindu
pancama purushartha ei prema maha-dhana; krishnera madhurya rasa koraya asvadana
prema hoite hoy krishna nija bhakta vasa; prema hoite pai krishnera seva sukha rasa

“Love of Krishna is the fifth and highest goal of human life compared to which religiosity, economical development, sense enjoyment and liberation (the other four goals) are as insignificant as blades of grass. Prema, the fifth goal of life, is like an ocean of nectarean loving bliss, compared to which the bliss of liberation and other goals of life are not even one drop. The great treasure of love of God is the fifth goal of human life which makes the devotee relish Krishna’s sweet taste. Through prema Krishna becomes controlled by His devotees and through prema the devotees relish the blissful taste of Krishna’s service.”

When Sri Radha simply casts Her merciful glance, this love-rasa is attained without any further endeavour, and flows in innumerable directions. What to speak of Her merciful glance, simply by seeing Sri Radharani one attains the treasure of love of Krishna without any separate endeavour! In the Padma Purana, Patala khanda, chapter forty, it is described how Sri Narada attained the audience of Sri Radha and how he spoke from his own experience: asyah sandarsanad eva govinda caranambuje; ya premabdhir abhut sa me bhutapurva na karhicit “I have never tasted such an ocean of love for Govinda’s lotus feet as after seeing Her (Radhika).” Srimad Sanatana Gosvami wrote in his Brihad Bhagavatamrita (2.5.233): sa radhika bhagavati kvacid ikshyate cet prema tadanubhavam ricchati murtiman sah.
“When goddess Radhika is ever seen, one sees love of God in very person and one gains experience of that love.”
Especially in this present age of Kali (quarrel), the day has come to directly experience this, for now Sri Gaurasundara has descended, accepting the mood and lustre of Sri Radhika and blessing the people of the world who see His brilliant golden aura with prema. Such is the prowess of Sri Radha’s aura! The following verse (234) of Brihad Bhagavatamrita says:

cet Krishnacandrasya mahavataras tadrig nija prema vitanakari
syad va kadacid yadi radhikayah premanubhutim tad upaityathapi

“When there is such a great descent of Sri Krishnacandra who can distribute love of Himself, or when Sri Radhika manifests some descent, then (through His or Her audience) that prema must be experienced.”
This verse speaks about Sriman Mahaprabhu.
Sri Radha’s merciful glance showers the nectar of love of Krishna, which is the quintessence of all human goals. This means that love of Krishna is sweetened by love of Sri Radha. She is Vrindavana’s personified sweetness and She is the all-in-all of the Vrindavana-pastimes. In the 80th verse of this book Sripada explains that the worship of Krishna without the worship of Radha is only a drop of the nectar-ocean of divine love.
Therefore, the very life of love of Krishnacandra is love of Sri Radha’s lotus feet. I offer my obeisances unto the greatness of She whose merciful glance showers the nectar of love of Krishna, through which we can attain His lotus feet! Sriman Mahadeva has said:

gaura tejo vina yas tu syamatejah samarcayet
japed va dhyayate vapi sa bhavet pataki sive

“O Sive (Parvati)! Anyone who meditations on Krishna, worships Him or does japa of His holy name without worshipping Radha is a sinner!”

– translation by my friend Sripad Advaita das