RADHASTAMI CELEBRATIONS

SRI RADHA ASTAMI FESTIVAL
CELEBRATING RADHASHTAMI 2012

www.dandavats.com - Radhastami is the annual observance of the Appearance day of Srimati Radharani, who is dearmost to Lord Krsna. Radharani always comes to be wherever Lord Krsna is present, and her Appearance day is always celebrated exactly two week’s after Sri Krsna’s. The Servants at the Krishna Balaram temple, Vrindavana, explain: “23rd September, is the glorious celebration of a special event, although it occurs annually. Every year it fills the hearts of the devotees with effervescent joy - The build up to another year of pomp and festivity, and of course, the unparalleled flow of unalloyed compassion that just drowns everyone in an ocean of bliss! What is this? It is the glorious festival of Radhastami. Occurring during the eight day of the waxing moon, this beautiful festival is gorgeously celebrated throughout Vrindavana as probably the holiest of all holy days. To the inhabitants of Vrindavana and especially the inhabitants of the Krishna Balarama temple, a very special energy flows through the hearts of one and all. What is this? It is an annual wait to get an opportunity to again glorify the dearest object of there sweet love and worship - a whole year of eagerly waiting with anxiety to once again get a perfect glimpse of Their Lordships Radha-Syamasundara.”  

“This day will give devotees a rare and wonderful darshana, that of the soft lotus feet of Srimati Radharani. This auspicious day is also a rare chance for the devotees to make and offer something wonderful to Radharani in deep gratitude to Her for Her limitless compassionate glance that She casts upon them, moving there hearts to sincerely go on, through the turbulence that life throws at them, just like an affectionate mother. To the devotees of the Krishna Balarama temple, She is not just another deity of Lord Krishna’s internal potency, but she is the original form of Her Majesty. In the Brahma-samhita (5.33), it is stated that the Lord is never to be found by becoming a great scholar of the Vedic literatures, but He is very easily approachable through His pure devotee. In Vrindavana all the pure devotees pray for the mercy of Srimati Radharani, the pleasure potency of Lord Krishna. Srimati Radharani is a tenderhearted feminine counterpart of the supreme whole, resembling the perfectional stage of the worldly feminine nature.”  The temples will be decorated with beautiful flowers, ornately adorning the altar and temple room as well as the inner and outer temple area, a marvel of natures beauty and opulence, quite befitting the mood of Vraja with its abudance of beautiful scented flowers.

The Vedic teachings say the highest truth has both male and female aspects. The female nature is called shakti ("the energy") and the male shaktiman ("the energetic"). Both aspects of the Supreme Being are described in histories like the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Ramayana and Mahabharata, where They appear together as Vishnu and Laksmi, Rama and Sita, and Krishna and Radharani. During Krishna's childhood on Earth in the rural village of Vrindavan, India (circa 3200 BCE), Radharani ("Queen of worshipers") was His feminine counterpart. On Radhastami, the temple Deities are covered entirely in flowers and on this day only, one may take darshan of Srimati Radharani’s lotus feet, which are covered on all other days. The day of Radhastami is spent by the devotees in reading the transcendental pastimes of Radharani and her Gopi friends, and her lila pastimes in the groves of Vrndavana with Krishna.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

The two transcendentalists Rādhā and Krishna are a puzzle to materialists ... one needs great spiritual insight to understand the mystery of these two personalities. One is enjoying in two. Śrī Krishna is the potent factor, and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the internal potency. According to Vedānta philosophy, there is no difference between the potent and the potency; they are identical. We cannot differentiate between one and the other, any more than we can separate fire from heat. Everything in the Absolute is inconceivable in relative existence. Therefore in relative cognizance it is very difficult to assimilate this truth of the oneness between the potent and the potency. ... In fact, Rādhārāṇī is the internal potency of Śrī Krishna, and She eternally intensifies the pleasure of Śrī Krishna. Impersonalists cannot understand this without the help of a mahā-bhāgavata devotee. The very name “Rādhā” suggests that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is eternally the topmost mistress of the comforts of Śrī Krishna. As such, She is the medium transmitting the living entities’ service to Śrī Krishna. Devotees in Vṛndāvana therefore seek the mercy of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī in order to be recognized as loving servitors of Śrī Krishna.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta -  CC Ādi 4.56
Ādi 4: “The Confidential Reasons for the
Appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu”
Verse 56 - http://vedabase.com/en/cc/adi/4/56

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/