Radha Rasa Sudhanidhi – Sripad Prabhodhananda Sarasvati

VERSE 68:

Aho Radhe! It is only by great fortune that someone can be absorbed in meditating on Your sweet holy name ‘Radha’, which sprinkles a transcendental light of erotic rasa; which is worshipable by hundreds of young girls of Vraja-mandala and Whose extraordinary beautiful pastimes are again embarassing millions of goddesses of fortune!

THE SWEET RADHA-NAME:

Commentary by Srila Ananta das Babaji:

The Padma Purana says abhinnatvan nama naminoh:
“There is no difference between God and His holy name”, and Sri Jiva Gosvami has written: yat tattvam sri vigraha rupena cakshur adav udayate tad eva nama rupena vag adav iti sthitam “The Supreme Lord appears before the eyes of the devotees, that are anointed with the salve of love, and He reveals Himself on the tongues that are made of loving devotion in the form of His holy name.”
Therefore the selfmanifest holy name of Sri Radha is automatically manifest in the hearts and on the tongues of the most fortunate great souls whose eyes are anointed with the salve of love.
According to the authors of the rasa sastra, there are three levels of consorts of Krishna, according to the amount of their selfless love: sadharani rati, samanjasa rati and samartha rati. Ujjvala Nilamani (Sthayi 30) teaches us:

natisandra hareh prayah sakshad darsana sambhava
sambhogeccha nidaneyam ratih sadharani mata

“The love that arises from directly seeing Hari, which is not too deep and which is the abode of the desire for personal enjoyment, is called sadharani, or ordinary, rati.” For example: As soon as Kubja saw Krishna, she thought: “Let me be united with this most beautiful jewel of men! Let me make He who made me happy by showing Himself to me, happy for some time with my service.” This rati arises from the desire for personal enjoyment, and thus it is called ordinary love.

patni bhavabhimanatma gunadi sravanadija
kvacid bhedita sambhoga trishna sandra samanjasa

(U.N. Sthayi 33)

“The love in which the lady thinks herself the beloved’s wife, which arises from hearing about the beloved’s qualities and so, and which is sometimes mixed with desires for personal happiness, is called samanjasa rati, or proper and reasonable love.”
This love appeared in the hearts of Rukmini and other consorts when they heard about Krishna’s glories from persons like Narada Muni. These samanjasa consorts sometimes think: “Krishna spends more time with some other Queen who apparently loves Him more, and He spends less time with me. If I could behave with the same loving expertise as that queen, then I could also capture Krishna like she does!” When that thought arises, the love is mixed with a desire for personal enjoyment and loses some of its depth.

kancid viseshamayantya sambhogeccha yayabhitah
ratya tad atmyam apanna sa samartheti bhanyate

(U.N. Sthayi 37)

“Then there is one very special love, which is fully united with rati, and which consists of a pure desire to please Krishna in union. That love is called samartha, or capable love.” This love is not dependent on first seeing Krishna or hearing about Him, makes the consort forget all about her honour, her family and her patience, and cannot be mixed with any personal desires. iyam eva ratih praudha mahabhava dasam vrajet: When the love becomes deeper, it becomes maha-bhava. The word eva here means that the appearance of maha-bhava in the sadharani and samanjasa ratis is unthinkable. This samartha rati is the exclusive property of the beautiful girls of Vraja. That is why this text says lakshmi koti vilaksha lakshana lasal lila-kisori sataih “Millions of goddess of fortune are embarrassed by the extra special attributes of the playful, adolescent girls of Vraja.” But even these extra-special gopis worship the holy name of Radha. vina radha prasadena krishna praptir na jayate “Without Radha’s mercy, Krishna cannot be attained.” Therefore, even the beautiful girls of Vraja always worship the holy name of Radha to attain the jewel named Krishna. Sripada writes in verse 95: yaj japah sakrid eva gokulapater akarshakas tat-kshanat: “Even the Lord of Gokula, Sri Krishna, is immediately attracted by the repetition of the holy name of Radha.” When Krishna hears someone chanting the name of Radha, He does not only save that person from going to hell at the time of death (as He did when Ajamila chanted the name of his son Narayana), but He even runs after the chanter to give Himself completely to him. When the gopis chant the holy name of Radha, Krishna comes to hear it and tells them:

sakhi! radha nama ke kohile; suni mama prana judaile
koto nama achaye gokule; heno hiya na kore akule
ei name ache ki madhuri; sravane rahalo sudha bhari
cite niti murati vikasa; amiya sagare yeno vasa
ankhite dekhite kore sadha; e yadunandana mana kanda

“My dear sakhi! Who chanted Radha’s name? When I heard it My heart was soothed! How many names are there not in Gokula? None of them can agitate My heart like this one. How much sweetness is there in this name, which fills My ears with sweetness and causes Her form to crystallize in My heart! It is as if I reside in an ocean of nectar! Yadunandana weeps: All my desires will be fulfilled when I see with my very eyes.” By worshiping Radha’s holy name, the gopis become the objects of Krishna’s complete love. Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura laments for those who have no love for chanting Radha’s name:

jaya jaya radha nama, vrindavana yara dhama,
krishna sukha vilasera nidhi,
heno radha guna gana, na sunilo mora kana,
vanchita korilo more vidhi

“Glory, glory to the holy name of Radha, which resides in Vrindavana, and which is the jewel of Krishna’s pastimes! Fate has deprived me by not letting me hear the glorification of Radha!”

tara bhakta sange sada, rasa lila prema katha,
ye kore se pay ghanasyama
ihate vimukha yei, tara kabhu siddhi nai,
nahi yeno suni tara nama

“Anyone who associates with Radha’s devotees and speaks about Her rasa, Her pastimes and Her love, will attain Ghanasyama (Krishna), but anyone who is against this will never attain perfection. Let us not even hear these people’s names.”

Sri Radha’s holy name is ati madhuram, very sweet. God’s name is naturally sweet and full of rasa, because that is God’s nature, but a tongue that is afflicted with the disease of jaundice cannot relish the sweetness of rock candy. In the same way a person who pollutes his heart by committing offenses cannot taste the sweetness of the holy name. Sri Krishna’s name is the sweetest name of God, but Sri Radha’s sweet name attracts even Sri Krishna!

The book Rasa Sagara says:

mridvika rasita sita samasita sphitam nipitam payah
svaryatena sudhapy apayi katidha rambhadhara khanditah
satyam bruhi madiya jiva bhavata bhuyo bhave bhramyata
radhety aksharayor ayam madhurimodgarah kvacil lakshitah

“O living entity! You have wandered through the material world so many times, and thus you have sometimes relished sugared grapejuice or condensed milk, and sometimes you went to heaven and relished nectar, or the lips of the heavenly damsel Rambha. But tell me truly – did you ever experience the sweetness of pronouncing the two syllables ‘Ra-dha’?”

Anyone who brings the Light of Radha’s name in his heart will be showered by countless streams of sweet erotic rasa. The word prag bhava means ‘the seed’. Just as a seed contains a huge tree, so the holy name of Radha also contains all the items of manjari bhava sadhana. Sripada says: “This unlimited sweetness will be automatically revealed in the hearts of those greatly fortunate souls who attain the mercy of the great souls that are dedicated to the worship of Srimati Radharani.”