The ārati is over now. Svāminī is surrounded by Her girlfriends, sitting on a jewel-studded sofa. She makes jokes with Her girlfriends, but these are not ordinary jokes: nirbhara narma goṣṭhīm. It is a very funny conversation. While Śrīmatī is absorbed in such a joking discussion Śyāmalā-sakhī comes before Her with a new sakhī. Seeing … Continue reading Naughty Krishna deceives Radhika

Śrīla Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī now does not see Rādhākuṇḍa anymore, he sees Śrī Rādhikā chewing pān on Her jewelled sofa in Yāvata. How sweetly She's sitting there, chewing pān and floating in the nectar of laughter and joking with Her girlfriends! Now there will be ārati. In the summer ārati is done with a plain … Continue reading Arati-ceremony for Śrīmati Rādhikā

Just as a conditioned soul is in māyā while sleeping, dreaming and being awake, the devotee is always absorbed in bhajan, while sleeping, dreaming and being awake. Bhajana means keeping the mind fixed and attracted. The mind should be poured into the Yugala Kiśora. Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa duhu pāya, tanu mana rahu tāya, āra dūre yāuk vāsanā … Continue reading Bhajan with attachment and the secret elixir of Srimati Radhika

QUESTION: "What interests me in your post "Please take me by the hand" is why does Srila Ananta das Babaji describe Srimati Radhika as not being nicely dressed while cooking for Krsna in the late afternoon? Because in the Govinda-lilamrita, it is stated:  CHAPTER 19 - "Afternoon-pastimes"  "I remember Shri Radha in the afternoon, cooking … Continue reading …more about Radhika´s cooking

Tulasī has brought Śyāma's adharāmṛta (lip-nectar, or food-remnants). Even a fibre of Madana Mohana's adharāmṛta is sukṛti labhya phelā lava, only attainable by a lot of pious merit. kṛṣṇera ye bhukta śeṣa tāra phelā nāma; tāra eka lava pāya sei bhāgyavān sāmānya bhāgya hoite tāra prāpti nāhi hoy; kṛṣṇera yā'te pūrṇa kṛpā sei tāhā pāy … Continue reading How Radhika tastes the nectar of Krishna-prasadam

The book 'Rādhā Rasa Sudhānidhi' consists of Śrīpada Prabodhananda Sarasvati's prayers in both sādhaka āveśa - the more external consciousness of a practising devotee - and siddha āveśa - the internal consciousness in which he is aware of his eternal spiritual body as a maidservant and/or girlfriend of Śrī Rādhā. Sometimes we will see him … Continue reading Sweetest Madhusūdana

On Svāminī's order Tulasī has gone to Nandīśvara to serve Śyāmasundara Her own cooked dishes there. After Śyāmasundara has eaten, mother Yaśodā lovingly gives some of His sweet remnants to Tulasī, so that she can bring them to Svāminī. Dhaniṣṭhā had secretly mixed some of Kṛṣṇa's adharāmṛta (lip-nectar, or food-remnants) in it. Śrī Kṛṣṇa knew … Continue reading Radhika´s deep affection for Her maidservants

The preparations Radhika singlehandedly cooks for Her Prāṇanātha in the evening, on the order of mother Yaśodā, are excellent. She does not wear many ornaments and She cooks alone. There's nobody around so She does not have many clothes on. The maidservant can thus relish the sweetness of Her scantily clad body, and she jokingly … Continue reading Please take me by the hand!

For the benefit of the neophytes in rāgānugā-bhakti, Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī has revealed the expertise of these ornamenting-services through his prayers. The neophyte should not serve as he likes it; he should serve according to Śrī Rādhārāṇī's wish, following in the footsteps of those who understand what is on Her mind. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura … Continue reading Artificial practice yields no progress – Follow the mahajanas!

A general examination of bhakti The word “raganuga” literally means “to follow loving attachment”, love directed towards God. To gain a deeper understanding of the concept, let us first examine the concept of bhakti, loving devotion for God, in general. Bhakti is divided into three main categories in accordance with its development. sa bhaktih sadhanam … Continue reading Understanding raganuga-bhakti 2.0