Radha Astmi is celebrated in Barsana (15 days after Janmashtmi, the day of Krishna’s Birth) to mark the birth of Radha and cherish the joyous memories of Radhe Krishna and their Leela Ras held at Nandgaon, 4 kms from Barsana. The love of Radhe Krishna flourished to enrich the human souls to reunite and merge into eternity ‘Krishna’ the Supreme Truth, the Absolute godhead manifested in human form who attract the whole world towards him. Krishna itself means Akarshana (attraction).
When Krishna left Vrindavan, He stated that no matter where He resided physically His spirit would always remain in the land where Radha stayed. He promised Radha that she would forever dwell in His heart. Krishna pledged with Radha that her name would always precede His. Hence one always says “RadheKrishna” never “KrishnaRadhe”
If the name Radha is chanted repeatedly, it turns into the word “Dhara”. ‘Dhara’ means a stream. Radha is the stream of love that emanates from Krishna and returns to Him, emanates and returns, becomes ‘dhara’ and turns to ‘Radha’, from ‘Radha’ to ‘dhara’ and so on until Eternity. Radha is the Manifested Universe that originates from the Krishna.
Raas Raaseshwari Shri Radhey appeared in Brij Mandal as the lovely daughter of Shri Vrishbhanuji in Barsana on Bhadrapad Shukla Ashtami i.e. eighth day of bright fortnight of the Bhadrapad month. Her village Barsana is located between Goverdhan and Nandgaon. The entire area is agricultural in nature and land beyond fields is densely forested.
Radha’s love for Krishna personifies the aspiration of the living being to merge with God. Krishna’s flute is a call of the divine and Radha responds to his call as human soul. She expresses unconditional love and surrenders to the Divine. As believed, you take one step towards God, he takes ten steps towards you – Radha took a step towards Krishna and he reciprocated with his divine love. For Radha, Krishna is Ultimate.
Listen to Radha Naam Sang – 84 kos Yatra by Gaurav Krishan Goswami
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