Sri Sri Radha Rasa Sudhanidhi – Srila Prabhodhananda Sarasvati

VERSE 3:

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

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 by Srila Ananta das Babaji:

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 lotus feet 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 footdust 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’ footdust 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 footdust 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 footsoles 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 that 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!”