My Guru is Radharani

In this line, in our guru-parampara Krishna is at the top,
but Krishna says,
radhikara prema-guru, ami-sisya nata
sada ãmã nand nrtye nacaya udbhata
(Caitanya Caritamrta Adi 4.124)

“My guru is Radharani,” Krishna says. “In loving affairs My guru is Radharani, so She always makes Me dance according to Her tune.”

So who is at the topmost platform of guru? That is Rādharani.

So although in our guru-parampara the topmost position is Krishna, He says, “Rādhārāni is My guru in loving affairs and She makes Me dance according to Her tune. I’ll dance, I’ll dance. Ami-sisya nata, I am Her disciple and nata, dancer.”

The guru makes the disciple dance, “Go there, come here, up down, up down.”
The guru can make the disciple dance so Krishna says, “Radharani is My guru in loving affairs and She always makes Me dance according to her tune. I am dancing acording to Her tune. My guru is Rādharani.”

So in the guru-parampara the topmost position is Radharāni.
This is guru-tattva. Those who get vraja-sevā-adhikāra, the right to serve Krishna in Vrajabhumi, they are the servants of Rādhārāni. Those who have gotten that opportunity serve Radharanatha.
And Gaurasundara is radha-bhava-dyuti-suvalitam.
Radha-bhava is predominating in Gaurasundara.

gaura ariga nahe mora-radhariga-sparsana
vrajendra-suta vind teriho na sparse anya-jana
(Caitanya Caritamrta M.8.287)

What does He say, this is His own statement. “This is not the body of Gaura, this is the body of Radha.” Gaura says this thing. “Only Vrajendra-suta, the son of Nanda Maharaja can touch this body. Nobody else can touch this body.”
So radhabhava is predominating in Gaura.

In our guru-paramparā where Gaura comes, there Radha comes. That guru-paramparā in which Gaura comes is Radha’s paramparā. This is guru-tattva, because in Gaurasundara, radhabhava is predominating. So those who are gauranugas, followers of Gaura, they are radhanugas, because radhabhava is predominating in Gaura, this is Gaudiya-guru-dhara.

The Vedas mention three tattvas, vede-tri-tattva-kaya. sambhanda, abhidheya and prayojana.

Sambhanda-tattva is the tattva based on the relationship, abhideya is bhakti and prayojana is prema.
So when we discuss this prayojana-tattva, then krsna-prema will come up and only by the mercy of such a premi-bhakta who is very dear to Rādhārāni, you can get that krsna-prema.

Without that mercy how can one understand that prayojana-tattva, prema-tattva? Nobody can understand it!

The sādhaka who cannot understand this guru-tattva and if he cannot see the svarūpa of the guru, how will he get direction on his bhajana-patha, the path of devotional service?
Who will give him direction on this path.

So he cannot understand this sādhya-tattva, the goal, that is krsna-prema. Sādhana-sadhya, the means as well as the end, that is prema-tattva.
The means is bhakti and the goal is prema, pure love, because Krishna is only bound up with the rope of love.

So in the question of guru-tattva, there has to be a relationship with Radharani and Her group of sakhi-manjaris, Her expansions of gurus.
And the sadhya-tattva is Radharanatha, Sri Krishna.

Who will give the sadhaka that right to serve Radharanatha?
Only Sri Gurudeva. who is very dear to Radharani.

nikunja-yūno rati-keli-siddhyai
yā ydlibhir yuktir apeksaniyā
tatrdti-ddksydd ati-vallabhasya
vande guroh sri carandravindam
(Sri Sri Guru-astaka 6)

“The spiritual master is very dear, because he is expert in assisting the gopis, who at different times make different tasteful arrangements for the perfection of Radha and Krsna’s conjugal loving affairs within the groves of Vrndavana. I offer my most humble obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master.”

That Gurudeva is a very dear girl-companion of Radhārāni.
And so guru-seva is srimatirseva.

To serve guru means to serve Radharani, because he is very dear to Radharani.

Service to Radharani means service to guru and service to guru means service to Radharani, this is the tattva.

To become the servitor of guru means to become the servitor of Radharani and thus to become the servitor of Krishna. This is the tattva. Those who know this tattva, who are fixed in this tattva, only they can render loving service to Krishna.

So unless one knows all these tattvas, one cannot tread this path of devotional service, or bhajana-patha as we say.

Patha means path. But one who knows this guru-tattva perfectly, well, he knows that the guru is a dear devotee of Radharani and non-different from Radharani.
He is Her expansion.

He who is completely, day and night, constantly, twenty-four hours engaged in the loving service of Krishna, that is guru.
And that Gurudeva is very dear and intimate to Srimati Radharani, priya-jana.

Another point on guru-tattva. He is guru who is day and night, twenty-four hours engaged in the loving service of Krishna. Who is the source of all sorts of loving services to Krishna? That is Srimati Radharani. Rādhā vina āra kaha naya. Krishna only belongs to Srimati Rādhārāni, He doesn’t belong to anyone else, He completely belongs to Her. And so Srimati Rādhārāni is the source of all sorts of loving services to Krishna. so She is the original guru-tattva, only Rādhārāni can give you the opportunity to serve Krishna. Without Radharani no one can give you the opportunity to serve Krishna. Without Radharani’s mercy there is no opportunity available to serve Krishna.

Krishna is completely under Radha, He does not belong to anyone else but Rādhārāni. So without Radharani’s mercy how can you get the opportunity to serve Krishna? Therefore without Radharani’s mercy nobody is a guru!

So the original topmost post in the guru position is Rādhārāni. Rādhā and Her expansions, kayagraha, sakhis and manjaris, they are guru. They are very intimate and dear to Krishna. They are nija-jana, Krishna’s own men. One who has not established his relationship with Vārsabhānavi Radha, how can he become guru? He may be guru, but he cannot be the guru of krsna-tattva. Anyone can be a guru of other tattvas, such as maya-tattva, itara-tattva. But no one can become a krsna-tattva-vit guru unless he has established his relationship with Radharani, because Krishna is completely under Radharani. Radha vina āra kaha naya. Krishna completely belongs to Radha, this is guru-tattva.
So Krishna is pūrna tattva, the complete truth and Radharani gives the seva-adhikara, the opportunity to serve that complete Krishna.

Nobody else but Radharani and Her expansions, sakhi-manjaris has that right to give such an opportunity. so without Her mercy and taking shelter of Rādhārāni we cannot get the opportunity for loving service to Krishna.

Those who have accepted Krishna as sevya-tattva, as the only one to be served, they have accepted Rādhā as guru. These two words sevya and sevaka come up again. Sevya means to be served, and sevaka means servitor. It is a very deep philosophical point. And one has to accept Radha as guru otherwise how can you understand Krishna as sevya-tattva, the only one to be served.

In all rasas; dasya, vatsalya and madhurya, Krishna is visaya and the sevakas, those who serve Him are asraya. Visaya and ashraya, so those who accept Krishna as visaya, in all rasas, Vārsabhānavi Radharani is their guru. So unless one gets the mercy and the directions of Radharani, nobody can serve Krishna. Those who are very lusty persons, who want their own pleasure and enjoyment, they cannot serve Krishna because they cannot get the mercy and the directions of Radharani. But those who are inhabitants of Vrndavana, they know these tactics, that without Radharani’s mercy nobody can get the opportunity to serve Krishna. They know it very well.

• Sri Srimat Gour Govinda Swami