Page 1: Our Lord's Beloved Power

"Although the divine form of Radha-Krishna is one, sometimes for the Pastimes of love, the Power and the Powerful play together as two. There we will see hladini-sakti playing with Krishna in full love, beauty, charm, and affection. That is the form of Srimati Radharani. Pranaya-vikrtir - where Love Herself is taking form and playing with the Powerful, that is Srimati Radharani."

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana salakaya
chaksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

vancha-kalpatarubhyas' cha
krpa-sindhubhya eva cha
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah

namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-chaitanya-namne gaura-tvise namah

he krsna karuna-sindho dina-bandho jagat-pate
gopesa gopika-kanta radha-kanta namo 'stu te

tapta-kanchana-gaurangi radhe vrndavanesvari
vrsabhanu-sute devi pranamami hari-priye

Today is Sri Radhastami, the Appearance Day of Srimati Radharani. In the Scriptures, especially Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta there is much glorification of Srimati Radharani.

hladinira sara 'prema,' prema-sara 'bhava'
bhavera parama-kastha, nama - 'maha-bhava'
mahabhava-svarupa sri-radha-thakurani
sarvva-guna-khani krsna-kanta-siromani
(Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 4.68–69)

"The essence of ecstasy is love; the essence of love is heart; and the acme of heart is called 'mahabhava.' And the personality of mahabhava is our Queen, Sri Radha Thakurani. She is the mine of all good, the jewel of Krsna's beloveds."

We can understand the identification of Srimati Radharani in this way: the Power and the Powerful are non-different, but when the Power wants to play with the Powerful, They are taking different forms. One is Power and the other is Powerful.

radha krsna-pranaya-vikrtir hladini saktir asmad
ekatmanav api bhuvi pura deha-bhedam gatau tau
chaitanyakhyam prakatam adhuna tad-dvayam chaikyam aptam
radha-bhava-dyuti-suvalitam naumi krsna-svarupam
(Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 1.5)

Although the divine form of Radha-Krishna is one, sometimes for the Pastimes of love, the Power and the Powerful play together as two. There we will see hladini-sakti playing with Krishna in full love, beauty, charm, and affection. That is the form of Srimati Radharani.

" And in Vrndavan, where Krishna's play is overflowing with love and affection, everything is for the satisfaction of the Powerful. There, love has five kinds of manifestation: santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and Madhura."

Pranaya-vikrtir - where Love Herself is taking form and playing with the Powerful, that is Srimati Radharani. Srila Swarup Damodar Prabhu has explained that Krishna's power is classified in three manifestations: first is chit-sakti (transcendental potency), the second is jada-sakti (mundane potency), and the third is where the first two come very close to each other, and that is called tatastha-sakti. First is light, second is shadow, and third is the position midway between the two. That is called tatastha. And from that third plane, the innumerable jiva-souls are manifest.

Krishna, the Powerful, with these three powers in their fullness, is playing in the Paravyoma Dham. There, unlimited manifestations of the Lord are living, all within the infinite plane. And in Vrndavan, where Krishna's play is overflowing with love and affection, everything is for the satisfaction of the Powerful. There, love has five kinds of manifestation: santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and Madhura. And Madhura is of two types: consorthood (swakiya) and paramour (parakiya). Where we see the supreme manifestation of Madhura-rasa, there we see the manifestation of Srimati Radharani. She is hladini-sakti, and hladini-sakti is further explained in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta:

krsnake ahlade, ta'te nama—‘hladini'
sei sakti-dvare sukha asvade apani
(Chaitanya-charitamrta: Madhya-lila, 8.157)

"That power which is always supplying service for the satisfaction of Krishna, and through which comes full happiness, full joy and full ecstasy, that is called by the name 'hladini.'"

In that realm everything is eternal and we cannot properly conceive that within our mundane intelligence. Therefore Sriman Mahaprabhu has said it is achintya. We have seen in the garden of one lady, a tree with three different types of fruit growing from it. Apricot, pear and plum, all growing on the same tree. I often use the example that if I ask a banana tree to please give me one mango, it will not be able to give that, not in this world. But after seeing that tree - actually two or three trees were there - I can say that it is possible, but still unbelievable. So if in this mundane world it is possible, then why not in the transcendental world.

chintamani-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vrksa-
laksavrtesu surabhir abhipalayantam
laksmi-sahasra-sata-sambhrama-sevyamanam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
(Sri Brahma-samhita: 5.29)

"Surrounded by millions of wish-fulfilling trees, in abodes made of multitudes of wish-yielding gems, He who tends the ever-yielding cows and who is perpetually served with great affection by hundreds of thousands of Laksmis - the Primeval Lord, Govinda, do I worship."

The explanation of Goloka Dham given in Sri Brahma-samhita is inconceivable from this plane, but it exists eternally and there all play is going on by the power of Srimati Radharani. She is always trying to satisfy Krishna in so many ways. Her form is most beautiful, and Krishna is also so nice and beautiful, and when they are playing together, the whole transcendental universe also plays through that mood of their love.

Here, is the shadow universe where jada-sakti is the power, and that power is also eternal. Still in the shadow we cannot clearly see everything. The shadow of my hand will not show the colour of my hand, and many other things are unmanifest in the shadow. That jada-sakti can also be divided into three: gross matter, subtle matter or the mental plane, and the ego or ahankara. These three cover the jiva-soul, so we are unable to perceive our real self.