Category Archives: Radharani

Radha , Krishna and Uddhava

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Uddhava

Uddhava, the apprentice of Krishna, one day expressed his dissatisfaction to Krishna that in-spite of studying all Vedas ,Upnishadas and Sutras, he still was not recipient of the title “Maha-Rishi”, meaning the great sage. He indirectly suggested that Krishna should use his weight in the council of wise men to honor Uddhava  the title.

Krishna sensed the ego and pride of Uddhava. He smiled and asked Uddhava if he thought his study was complete. Uddhava answered a confident yes. Krishna did not say anything. He just told Uddhava to come and see him the next day.

The next day Krishna asked him a for a favor. He asked Uddhava to visit Vrindavan, where Krishna’s soul mate Radha resided, and to give her a message. Uddhava gladly agreed. After all, getting to do a special assignment for no one else but Krishna, the divine one, was an honor. When he was ready to leave, Krishna smiled and waved him goodbye. Uddhava asked about the message and Krishna said he had none.

Uddhava was surprised. He sat in chariot and started on his way, but he could not help wonder what would be Radha’s reaction. He was sure Radha would be very angry at this. He did not want to see a problem in Radha and Krishna’s relationship. So just before he entered Vrindavan, he got a parch-paper and wrote a hi-hello message to Radha and forged to look like it came from Krishna.

On reaching Vrindavan, he did not have problem finding Radha’s house. She gave him a warm welcome. After he settled, he handed over the message, hoping she would not examine the message in too much detail.

For a moment Radha stared at the parch-paper and then she started laughing hysterically. Uddhava was confused. He asked Radha what was the matter. She said the message Krishna wrote was funny. Uddhava pretended surprise and asked what was the message.

“The message says Uddhava’s study is still not complete.” replied Radha.

On listening this, Uddava was stunned.

‘How could she have known this?’ he wondered.

Radha calmed him down.

“I love Krishna and trust Krishna in ways beyond you can imagine.” She said “We are two bodies but same soul. There is nothing to be said in between us. We have walked the path of trust, love, devotion and sacrifices for so long that there are no boundaries in my being and his. He does not need to send me messages. He is my message. He is my love letter from the universe.”

“But Uddhava, you have not learned to trust Krishna. You have not learned to give up your self, your ego, and stop your manipulating mind. You ego stands between you and the truth. Between you and the supreme awakening.”

“Erasing the sense of duality and being one with the universe, being one with the one who beholds universe, is this not the jist of the sacred ancient texts, Uddhava?”

Uddhava was speechless. Within a minute, Radha had explained the the deepest mysteries of life. He just wanted to stand there and listen.

He spent the whole day at her house. She talked about life in layman’s terms of love and truth. But Uddhava found answers to his most profound questions in philosophies he learned all this life.

“How did you get so much knowledge staying in this village and living life doing chores?” He asked.

“Each moment makes you take sides. If you always take side of truth and love, you will gain insights. Each insight awakens you from the illusion and takes you a step closer to the supreme awakening.”

“How can you be in Love with Krishna and still remain free from bonds of life ?”

“There is distinction between the love that results from insecurity and the love that results from faith. The former results in bonds. The later results in freedom. The former gets lost, the later transcends. The former leads to fear of death and abandonment. The later leads to Nirvana, to enlightenment that is death of death, to realization that Radha and Krishna are just ripples and love is like the water, eternal and infinite.”

“How can you get awakened without leaving the society and becoming a monk?”

“Where a man reaches by renouncing the world, a woman reaches by embracing the world in its wholeness.” Said Radha.

“Is there no point in pursuit of knowledge? Then what is the meaning of life?”

“Your ability to give it any meaning, is the meaning of life. ” Ansewred Radha. “And about the pursuits, pursuit of currency is not the same as pursuit of wealth, pursuit of sensation is not pursuit of happiness, pursuit of titles is not pursuit of knowledge. These pursuits are in synergy for some time, and they are at conflict later. You must wake up, and open your eyes.”

Radha’s answers turned all of Uddhavas learning upside down and inside out and presented to him as a paradox, a paradox his doubting mind could never grasp. Uddhava’s ego surrendered. The constant chatter of thoughts at the back of his mind stopped and he saw a totally new world at the same place. An eternal, peaceful world where everything seemed OK.

On his way back to Dwaraka, Uddhava sensed a big change within him. He sang to himself. He offered lift to a sick man. He appreciated the sunset in the Western sky. He did not feel rush to get home and work on getting his title.

Next day he met Krishna. Krishna sensed the change too.

Krishna smiled and said “So let’s talk about your title Maha-rishi.”

“I am not that interested in the title anymore. ” replied Uddhava and bent to touch Krishna’s feet.

Krishna rose from his throne. He hold on to Uddhava’s shoulders and smiled at him.

” Your journey is complete. You have arrived. Uddhava, I bestow you the responsibility of writing down my teaching in simple language for all those who do not have luxury of spending their life trying to be Maha-rishi. You will share the gems of knowledge that do not belong to any title such as Maha-rishi. “

“And for this great contribution to humanity, hereafter you shall be known as Maha-rishi.”

“Jai Shri RadheKrishna”

Story Credit: Kedar Soman 

Nidhivan Vrindavan

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raas2

Nidhivan is one of the most significant and popular temples of Vrindavan. It is termed as MADHUVAN also. Swami Haridasa, a divine saint who was the very cause of appearance (advent) or PRAKATTYA of Lord BANKEY BIHARI at this renowned Nidhivana, used to please his PRIYA- PRIYATAM. Lord (Thakur) Bankey Bihari by pouring the melodious rapture of his thrilling music in the periphery of this spiritual temple. It is surrounded with the small-sized trees. So to say, it is a spiritually blessed temple where spontaneous overflow of devotion and penance flows every time.

As a result of swami Haridasa’s hard penance and spiritual aspiration, Lord Bankey Bihari not only came in his dream but appeared also in this spiritually blessed Nidhivan. The appearance (PRAKATTYA) spot of the Lord Bankey Bihari in Nidhivan temple is seen even nero. Thousands of pilgrims and visitors visit it during the day. It is closed after the process of ARTI at 8p.m. (Arti is a kind of vespers).

A very mysterious conception is associated with this temple i.e. after the sacred process of ARTI, not only human beings, but any kind of single animal also can’t remain in the periphery of this temple. In case anyone remains during night in the compass of the temple, either he / she becomes dumb, deaf, blind, lame or dies. He/she is not found hale and hearty in the morning to disclose the spiritual secret of the lord Radha-Krishna, as it is said even now that the priest puts two toothbrushes, some holy water in a jug with four sweets (LADDOO) and ready bed after Arti in the night, but in the morning everything is found and seen as if someone has used it because everything is found at sixes and sevens. It proves that Lord Radha Krishna who are known as PRIYA-PRIYATAM, they appear in the night to perform their spiritual activities (Lilas).

Many worth-watching spots are there in this temple. These spots contain the spiritual mystery of the Lord Radha Krishna. There is a Samadhi of Swami Haridasa, The Radha Rani temple, The Sacred Well of Radha Rani, The Appearance Place of Lord Bankey Bihari and the Costume place of the Lord PRIYA-PRIYATAM, where they decorate themselves and soon.

Tulsi Marriage Story – Tulsi Vivah Katha – Tulsi Marriage

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Tulasi Vivah

 

The Tulsi plant is a variety of the spice we know as basil. The story of Tulsi and the holiday known as Tusli Vivaha is a wonderfully symbolic story that resonates even today.

Tulsi Vivaha, is the mythical marriage of the tulsi plant and Krishna, is celebrated on the 11th day of the bright half of the lunar month of Kartika. The festival is popular in all parts of India and particularly in the south.

In the Vedic tradition there is a rishi by the name of Narada who is the son of Brahma, the creator. He takes the role of cosmic instigator. He is always sneaking in and out of these stories, usually starting things off by making devious suggestions which his unsuspecting target eagerly agrees to. Of course there are all sorts of interesting consequences and they are what make up the core of these stories.

During the time that Krishna was here on earth, the gods in heaven decided that he had been away long enough and that they missed him. They wanted him to come back to heaven. So with Narada, they hatched a plan to get Krishna to return.

While here on earth, Krishna had 2 wives; Satyabhama and Rukmini. Queen Satyabhaama enquired of the Rishi Narada how she could ensure that she would have Krishna as her husband in her next life. Narada told the Queen, and truthfully so, that you receive in the next life that which you give away in this life as charity (Daan in sanskrit). So Satyabhaama immediately gave Krishna away to Narada and they left immediately so that Krishna could go back to heaven.

But Krishna’s wives Rukmini and Satyabhama sorely missed their husband, and both requested Narada to bring Krishna back. Narada said that they would have to give the gods something equal to the weight of Krishna if he was to return from heaven. Proud of all the jewels and valuables that Krishna had given her, Satyabhama set up a large weighing balance scale. Krishna came and sat on one side. Satyabhama, who as befits a Queen, was rather arrogant and brought out all her jewels and gold and silver pots to weigh against Krishna. But the more she piled onto the balance scale, the lighter her side became. Krishna just became heavier and heavier. Reduced to angry tears, she finally gave up.

Satyabhama asked Rukmini to do what she could. Rukmini removed all the gold and gems from the scale and plucked a few leaves of the wild tulsi plant growing nearby. She put them on the scale with all her love. The leaves proved to be far heavier than Krishna. With a smile, Krishna returned to earth to be with his wives.

Since that time, a tulsi leaf is added to any auspicious gift. A father also places a tulsi leaf in his daughter’s hand during the Kanyadaan – giving away of the daughter during a Hindu marriage ceremony.

On Tulsi Vivaha the yagya tradition is for the tulsi plant to be dressed up as if it were a murti. The ceremony of Vishnu’s marriage is reenacted in a uja called Kalyana Utsavam. A dainty wedding pavilion (mandap) is made of sugarcane stalks and the tulsi plant is decorated with a yellow bridal sari, miniature jewellery and red kumkum powder. Krishna wears a golden crown and the traditional bridegroom’s attire. The wedding is conducted with complete wedding puja and homa rites. The Tulsi plant is offered a feast of seasonal berries, new tamarind, turmeric, amla fruit and rice. Krishna is offered sweets made of milk.

You might ask why it was that Rukmini, who was really Lakshmi, offered the tulsi plant to Krishna in this story. As is frequently the case in Vedic stories, it begins with a demon who has gained too much power and is troubling the gods. Since the strength of the gods can not always equal that of the demons, the gods have to win by some form of trickery. Of course ultimately it backfires and the gods have make amends.

In this case, there was a demon who was a famous warrior by the name of Jalandhar. By constantly annoying, fighting and defeating the gods he made his fellow demons happy and more and more of the universe came under their control. Jalandhar had a wonderful wife by the name of Vrinda who was a pure and spiritually dedicated soul and a powerful yogi in her own right. Because of her purity and spiritual strength, Jalandhar became invincible in all three worlds.

Desperately, the gods tried to find some way to defeat Jalandhar. Vishnu developed a plan and sent messengers to tell Vrinda that her husband had been killed in battle. The severed head and body of two monkeys were put in front of her, and after reciting some mantras, Vishnu, through his magical powers made her believe it was her husband’s dead body and she was plunged into grief.

Then Vishnu snuck away and took the form of a sadhu and seemingly innocent, walked by Vrinda. Faking compassion, Vishnu recited some mantras and joined the head and the body together again. Vishnu quickly took the form of Vrinda’s husband who thought that her husband Jalandhar stood there in front of her. She embraced him with passion and relief. But quickly she realized her mistake and discovered that it was in fact, Vishnu. In that conservative era, she immediately lost her spiritual virtue and power for having touched the body of man who was not her husband. She was distraught at having been tricked, but it was of no use. After Vrinda had lost her holiness and purity, Jalandhar lost the source of his power, and was killed in battle.

When Vrinda came to know the full truth of her husband’s death, she was wild with anger and cursed Vishnu saying, “Your wife will be taken away from you and you will have to ask help from monkeys to recover her.” A rishi’s curse is a powerful thing and not even the gods can escape it. It was after all, the result of Vishnu’s own actions coming back to him.

As we well know, this curse was realized when Vishnu took the form as Rama and Sita was taken from him only to be saved again by Hanuman, the monkey god.

After issuing her curse, Vrinda prepared the funeral pyre for her husband and jumped into the fire. Vishnu, whose job it is to protect everyone in creation, was very sorry because as a result of his deceit the poor widow had committed suicide. He remained sitting at the side of the pyre for many days, deep in depression. Worried about him because he was neglecting his cosmic duties, the gods planted three medicinal trees in the cremation ground; Tulsi, Amala, and Jasmine. Of these three trees the Tulsi was most dear to Vishnu and to this day is used in his worship rituals

Because Vrinda had for a while truly believed Vishnu to be her husband, when Vishnu appeared as Krishna, Vrinda came in the form of Rukmini and on the day which we celebrate as Tulsi Vivaha, they were married.