We have gathered on this most auspicious occasion, the sacred day of Sri Radhastami. The Vedic literatures describe that Krishna is the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Lord, and the origin of all that be:
isvarah paramah krsnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah
sarva-karana-karanam
“Krishna, who is known as Govinda, is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all, although He Himself has no origin. And He is the prime cause of all causes.” (Bs 5.1)
The Brahma-samhita further explains that Krishna is the original Personality of Godhead and that He expands Himself into various plenary portions and portions of plenary portions. Still, Krishna is the supreme, original Personality of Godhead, as confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam: Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. (SB 1.3.28)
The Brahma-samhita gives the example that if you have one candle, from that one candle you can light a second candle, from the second candle you can light a third candle, and from the third candle you can light a fourth candle. All may have the same candlepower, yet one of them is still the original candle. In the same way, Krishna expands Himself into so many incarnations who all have the full powers of Godhead. Still, Krishna is the original Personality of Godhead, and His first expansion is Balarama.
Just as Krishna expands on the side of the all-powerful Personalities of Godhead, He also expands on the side of the power of the all-powerful Personality of Godhead. The direct expansions of the all-powerful are called visnu-tattva, and the expansions of the energy of the Lord are called sakti-tattva. The first expansion on the side of the energy is Srimati Radharani. From Srimati Radharani all of the gopis are expanded, all of the queens in Dvaraka are expanded, and all of the consorts of the Lord in various incarnations are expanded. Thus, Sita of Sita-Rama is expanded from Srimati Radharani and Laksmi of Laksmi-Narayana is expanded from Srimati Radharani. Srimati Radharani is the origin of all of the expansions of Krishna’s energy. She also has an indirect expansion, called the material energy. Srimati Radharani is the personification of the spiritual energy, and Durga is the personification of the material energy. Thus, Durga is an indirect expansion of Srimati Radharani.
We also are expansions of Krishna, the marginal potency of Krishna. Krishna basically has three energies: the spiritual energy, the material energy, and the marginal energy. We, the living entities, are called the marginal energy because we can come under the influence of either the spiritual energy, personified as Srimati Radharani, or the material energy, personified as Durgadevi. Srila Prabhupada compares the marginal position to the seaside. Sometimes, when the tide is low, an area is part of the land, and sometimes, when the tide is high, the same area is submerged under the water and becomes part of the ocean. Similarly, we can be part of either the spiritual world, under Srimati Radharani’s protection, or the material world.
We can see the image of Srimati Radharani, standing with Her right hand raised in benediction to bless the devotees. Or we can see the image of Durga, who has ten hands with ten weapons to punish the miscreants. Unfortunately, to some degree all of us are miscreants. And so we are bound to the prison house of the material world. And Durgadevi is the warden of the prison. She punishes the conditioned souls with the different weapons in her various hands. Especially, Durgadevi is known for her trident, or trisul. The three prongs of the trident represent the threefold miseries of material existence: the miseries we suffer because of other living entities, the miseries we suffer because of acts of nature, and the miseries we suffer from our own bodies and minds. Thus the goal of life is to transfer ourselves from the control of the external energy, or the material energy, to the control of the spiritual energy, Srimati Radharani.
Now I shall read one verse from the Bhagavad-gita that will give us a practical idea of how, in our own positions, we can take shelter of Srimati Radharani and come under Her protection.
We read from Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Chapter Nine: “The Most Confidential Knowledge.”
TEXT 13
mahatmanas tu mam partha
daivim prakrtim asritah
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jnatva bhutadim avyayam
TRANSLATION
“O son of Partha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.”
PURPORT
In this verse the description of the mahatma is clearly given. The first sign of the mahatma is that he is already situated in the divine nature. He is not under the control of material nature. How is this effected? That is explained in the Seventh Chapter: One who surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, at once becomes freed from the control of material nature. That is the qualification. One can become free from the control of material nature as soon as he surrenders his soul to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the preliminary formula. Being marginal potency, as soon as the living entity is freed from the control of material nature, he is put under the guidance of the spiritual nature. The guidance of the spiritual nature is called daivi prakrti, divine nature. So when one is promoted in that way—by surrendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead—one attains to the stage of great soul, mahatma.
The mahatma does not divert his attention to anything outside Krishna, because he knows perfectly well that Krishna is the original Supreme Person, the cause of all causes. There is no doubt about it. Such a mahatma, or great soul, develops through association with other mahatmas, pure devotees. Pure devotees are not even attracted by Krishna’s other features, such as the four-armed Maha-Visnu. They are simply attracted by the two-armed form of Krishna. They are not attracted to other features of Krishna, nor are they concerned with any form of a demigod or of a human being. They meditate only upon Krishna in Krishna consciousness. They are always engaged in the unswerving service of the Lord in Krishna consciousness.
COMMENT by Giriraj Swami
The definition of mahatma is given here. The mahatmas are under the protection of the divine nature, the spiritual nature, personified by Srimati Radharani. Once, when Srila Prabhupada was preaching in Bombay, one of the leaders of the most prominent Hindu organization in India came to meet him. He asked Srila Prabhupada, “How is it that India, which is a land of so many mahatmas, has so many problems?”—because in principle, the presence of mahatmas should remove the problems. Srila Prabhupada replied, “The reason India has so many problems is that you cannot distinguish between who is a mahatma and who is not.”
Here in the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna, the supreme authority, gives the definition of a mahatma: he is under the protection of the spiritual energy and is always engaged in the devotional service of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original source of all incarnations and the prime cause of all causes. Obviously, India, and every other part of the world, needs more mahatmas. And how do we get so many mahatmas? One can become a mahatma through the association of another mahatma. The Srimad-Bhagavatam, considered the supreme authority among Vedic scriptures, confirms that to become freed from the clutches of material nature we must serve mahatmas.
After reading the definition of a mahatma, certainly anyone who knows even a little about Srila Prabhupada can understand that he was a mahatma, a great soul. Srila Prabhupada was always engaged in the service of Lord Krishna—as we read in the next verse, satatam kirtayanto mam, always engaged in chanting the glories of Krishna. So by taking shelter of Srila Prabhupada, who took shelter of his spiritual master, who took shelter of his spiritual master, who took shelter of his spiritual master, one ultimately takes shelter of Srimati Radharani and Lord Krishna. That is the process of parampara.
The same process exists in the spiritual world. In fact, Srila Prabhupada’s activities and the activities he prescribed for his followers are in essence the same activities that the maidservants of Srimati Radharani and Her other associates perform in the spiritual world. The mahatmas in the material world are always engaged in chanting the glories of Krishna. And Srimati Radharani and Her associates in the spiritual world are always engaged in chanting Krishna’s glories. Another wonderful fact about Srimati Radharani is that She always tries to bring other gopis to Krishna; She wants other gopis to get the chance to serve Krishna and give pleasure to Krishna. And the mahatmas in the material world have the same mood. They want to bring others to Krishna, to engage others in the service of Krishna for Krishna’s pleasure.
Earlier, we read about the confidential reasons for the descent of Lord Chaitanya—how He came to propagate the sankirtana movement externally and taste Srimati Radharani’s love for Krishna internally. Not only did Krishna come as Lord Chaitanya and Lord Balarama as Nityananda and Srimati Radharani as Gadadhara Pandita, but all of Radha and Krishna’s associates came and assumed forms in caitanya-lila. Although many of the lady associates of Srimati Radharani in krsna-lila assumed male forms in caitanya-lila, the inner relationships were the same. And the methods of devotional service that Srila Prabhupada has taught us in relation to the sankirtana movement of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu will ultimately help us develop the inner mood of Lord Chaitanya’s associates, which is the same as the inner mood of the associates of Radha and Krishna.
Srimati Radharani’s best friends in krsna-lila are Lalita and Visakha. Lalita and Visakha appeared in caitanya-lila as Svarupa Damodara Gosvami and Ramananda Raya. They were the most confidential associates of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Jagannatha Puri. And just as Srimati Radharani, feeling intense separation from Krishna after He left Vrindavan for Mathura and Dvaraka, would open Her heart to Her friends Lalita and Visakha, Lord Chaitanya, in the mood of Srimati Radharani in separation from Krishna, used to express His lamentation to His most confidential friends, Svarupa Damodara and Ramananda Raya.
Serving under Lord Chaitanya and Svarupa Damodara Gosvami were the Six Gosvamis of Vrindavan, who in krsna-lila were Srimati Radharani’s most intimate maidservants. Yet even here we find some hierarchy. Among the Six Gosvamis, Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami were the leaders. And as we read in other works by the Gosvamis, Rati Manjari, who is Raghunatha dasa Gosvami in caitanya-lila, had the most intense love for Srimati Radharani, but still, his goal—or her goal—was not to serve Srimati Radharani directly. She and others wanted to serve under the guidance of Sri Rupa Manjari, who in caitanya-lila is Srila Rupa Gosvami. So, we find the same principle of parampara. Parampara means literally “one after the other”: one takes shelter of a mahatma who has taken shelter of a mahatma who has taken shelter of a mahatma who has taken shelter of Srimati Radharani.
Basically, what we are doing in ISKCON under the guidance of Srila Prabhupada is the same. We take shelter of Srila Prabhupada and his associates, Srila Prabhupada took shelter of his guru maharaja, his guru maharaja took shelter of his guru maharaja, and so on, up to Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Rupa Gosvami, Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, Ramananda Raya, and Lord Chaitanya, or, in other words, Rati Manjari, Rupa Manjari, Lalita and Visakha, and Srimati Radharani and Lord Krishna. So, we don’t have to make an artificial effort to cultivate the mood of the gopis. Of course, at a certain mature stage of devotional service we may naturally develop such a mood internally. But Srila Prabhupada said—and there are so many features to Srila Prabhupada’s genius, but one was his ability to express profound truths in brief, simple statements—he said that the way to develop the love of the gopis for Krishna is to spread Krishna consciousness all over the world.
One might wonder how the two—the gopis’ love and spreading Krishna consciousness—are connected. The connection is that Radharani and Her associates are ready to sacrifice anything and everything to give Krishna the greatest pleasure. And the greatest pleasure that we can give Krishna, at least in the material world, is to bring more souls to Him. It may sound easy, but to bring others to Krishna in the present age is not easy. There is so much opposition—from the material nature, from society, sometimes even from our own families—that we may have a tendency to compromise, because we do not want to lose our position in society, we don’t want to upset our family members, we don’t want to do anything that will have a negative effect on our material lives. But that is not the mood of the gopis. The mood of the gopis is that to please Krishna they are ready to leave everything: mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, husbands, babies—everything. Of course, we are not recommending that you should necessarily do the same, and Lord Chaitanya did teach that one can remain in one’s position and be Krishna conscious. But the point is that the gopis are ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of Krishna’s pleasure. And we should be developing the same mood. In fact, to actually preach effectively one has to have that mood, because if someone is too concerned about one’s material position and assets, he won’t want to take the risk to preach. And because the preacher does take the risk, he is especially recognized by the Lord and specially blessed by the Lord. So the duty of the spiritual master is to engage the disciple in such a way that the disciple can get the most mercy from Krishna and the Vaishnavas. And Srila Prabhupada knew that by his engaging us in spreading Krishna consciousness we would get the most mercy from Krishna and His associates. But it is not always easy.
I shall tell you one story from Madras. It is not a good one, because I am using myself as an example, which is not very becoming, but ultimately what happened was all Prabhupada’s mercy. I was the first devotee from ISKCON to go to Madras, in 1971. There were many Saivites and Vaishnavites, who have a long history of debate, there, and many impersonalists who thought, “The Vaishnavites are arguing that Vishnu is the Supreme, and the Saivites are arguing that Shiva is supreme. How silly! Actually, God has no form. He just assumes the form of Shiva or Vishnu or Durga. So why all these petty arguments?” They were some sort of jnanis, and they really thought themselves superior, both to the Vaishnavites and to the Saivites.
In Madras I began to preach in the same way I had heard Srila Prabhupada preach everywhere. We had programs, and we enrolled life members. Srila Prabhupada was very eager for us to enroll life members, mainly as a way of distributing his books to them, and as a way of giving them the association of devotees. After a few weeks, I found that there was an undercurrent of protest against the way I was preaching, and even friends began to advise me, “You should not criticize others. Whatever you want to say positively about your activities and about Krishna consciousness, say. But don’t say anything negative about anyone else or any other process.”
So, I thought about it. Over the six or eight weeks I was in Madras, I stayed at different places, and one of the men with whom I stayed cited the example of the Gaudiya Math, that the Gaudiya Math was quite well established in Madras and that every year so many thousands of people went there for Janmashtami. “They don’t criticize anyone, so why can’t you be like them?” I thought about it: Is that really what we are meant to be like? Mr. Ratnamiyer, who had his own organization, Astika Samaja, had initially offered to arrange a program for Srila Prabhupada, and his brother, Mr. Krishnamurti, who was even more favorable, said the same thing: “Don’t criticize others. Just say whatever you want in a positive way about Krishna consciousness.” So, I was getting the same thing from all sides, and I thought, Maybe Krishna is trying to tell me something. Maybe I should listen to what they are saying. So, I wrote a letter to Srila Prabhupada.
One Saturday I had an appointment with an industrialist, and I decided that I was not going to get into any controversy or debate. I was just going to show the pictures of our activities, show the books, tell him about Krishna consciousness, and not make any comments about anything else. So, I went to the man’s office—he had a large compound, with his office and his factory and his residence. I showed the pictures, showed the books, took out the life membership forms, and asked him to become a life member. He said, “What about Shankaracharya? You said so many things. Why haven’t you said anything about Shankaracharya? He is one of the great acharyas of India.” I said, “Yes, he is one of the great acharyas of India.” He said, “But you haven’t said anything about him. What about him? What about his teachings?” I tried to be very tactful and avoid any argument, but he kept provoking me, probing more and more. So, I had to explain that Shankaracharya was an incarnation of Lord Shiva, who came to bewilder the atheists and drive Buddhism out of India, but that in order to drive Buddhism out of India he had to preach a false interpretation of the Vedas. The man kept arguing, more and more. I even took out the Teachings of Lord Caitanya (we didn’t have the Caitanya-caritamrta then) and showed him the verses about Shankaracharya. But he was becoming more adamant in his position, and I remained adamant in mine. Finally I decided, “Okay. I have wasted enough time here.” I put away the pictures, put away the books, put away the membership form, closed my briefcase, and said, “Well, it was nice meeting you.” He escorted me to the door and then said, “Before you go, I want to show you my temple room.” I thought, “Oh, no. There is going to be a Shiva linga, and he is going to want me to bow down, and if I don’t he is going to become offended.” He said, “Really, I insist. I want you to see my temple.”
He escorted me to his temple room. It was quite large, as personal temples go. And facing us at the opposite end was a large marble altar, the base of which was at least three feet high. And on top of the base were large marble Radha-Krishna deities. Boy, was I ever happy to see Radha and Krishna! I hadn’t seen Them for a long time, because even the Vaishnava temples in Madras were almost all Vishnu. And there was the famous temple of Parthasarathi, which had just Krishna alone.
I was delighted. I offered my obeisances and prayers, and then I looked at the man with an expression that asked, “What is happening here?” He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Swamiji, I am a devotee of Krishna, and all my family members are devotees of Krishna. My family has worshipped Lord Krishna for many generations. Actually, I was just testing you. And you did not compromise. So I am very pleased, and I will be honored to become your life member.” Then he escorted me back to his office, I took out the forms, he took out his checkbook, and he paid the whole amount in one installment and became a life member.
So, I was really confused. I started thinking that maybe I was not doing the wrong thing after all—but still I was not sure. When I got back to the place where I was staying in Egmore, there was a letter from Srila Prabhupada. I was very excited. When I opened the letter, the words practically jumped out of the page: “The fact is that I am the only one in India who is openly criticizing, not only demigod worship and impersonalism, but everything that falls short of complete surrender to Krishna. My Guru Maharaja never compromised in his preaching, nor will I, nor should any of my students. We are firmly convinced that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and all others are His part and parcel servants. This we must declare boldly to the whole world, that they should not dream of world peace unless they are prepared to surrender fully to Krishna as Supreme Lord.”
That was Srila Prabhupada’s mood, and that was Srila Prabhupada’s message. And for his service, he is the most dear servant of Radha and Krishna. Srimati Radharani has no desire other than the pleasure of Krishna. And who has given Krishna more pleasure—within the material world, at least—than Srila Prabhupada? Consequently, he has given the greatest pleasure to Srimati Radharani. And so Srimati Radharani would do anything for Srila Prabhupada. If we do even some little service to Srila Prabhupada, his heart is so magnanimous that he will take it as a big service. And he will be very pleased. And when we please Srila Prabhupada, Srimati Radharani is pleased. And then our lives are successful.
Now I shall comment on one other point in the purport, which will also accommodate a little story about Srimati Radharani.
Bhajanty ananya manaso: the great soul is engaged in the service of Krishna without any deviation. Srila Prabhupada elaborates on bhajanty ananya manaso to say that the great soul doesn’t divert his mind from Krishna for anything or to anything, not even to another incarnation of Krishna. He is not attracted even to any other feature of Krishna, what to speak of any demigod or human being. So, there is one story mentioned in the Caitanya-caritamrta, which is discussed more elaborately in other books of the Gosvamis, in which Lord Krishna was enjoying pastimes with the gopis and then left them. The gopis were searching for Him all around Govardhana Hill, and Krishna, to play a joke on them, assumed the form of Lord Narayana with four arms holding the four symbols of lotus, conch, disc, and club. When the gopis came across Lord Narayana, they offered Him namaskara and asked Him if He had seen Lord Krishna. They were not interested in Lord Narayana; they wanted only Krishna. And because Lord Narayana was not helping them find Krishna, they left Him behind. Then Srimati Radharani passed before Lord Narayana, and Lord Krishna became so attracted by Her pure love that He could not maintain His form of Lord Narayana. He had to withdraw His two extra hands and resume His original form as Lord Krishna. That is the power of Srimati Radharani’s love.
Of course, this is transcendental, and whenever Srila Prabhupada spoke on Radhastami he would discuss elaborately how the pastimes of Radha and Krishna are not material and how the attraction between Radha and Krishna is not material. He would also discuss how Sukadeva Gosvami, who was a lifelong brahmachari, recited the pastimes of Radha and Krishna and would never have done so if they had been material. And how Lord Chaitanya was a strict sannyasi but would listen to accounts of the pastimes of Radha and Krishna. Had they not been spiritual, He would not have listened to them. There are so many proofs. The main one, of course, is that Krishna is the origin of everything. Srila Prabhupada would quote the saying that a sweet merchant is not attracted by sweets. Krishna has created the whole material world; He is not going to be attracted by it. So, we should always remember that the loving affairs between Radha and Krishna are completely transcendental. But transcendentally, Krishna could not restrain Himself in the presence of Srimati Radharani, and so He couldn’t maintain His four-armed form as Lord Narayana.
The main verse we discussed in class today stated that originally Krishna, The One, separated Himself into two, Radha and Krishna, and then The Two, Radha and Krishna, combined together again and became Lord Chaitanya. When we were in Calcutta, our landlord, a Bengali gentleman named Mr. Raya, told Achyutananda Prabhu his own version of Lord Chaitanya and Radha and Krishna. He said that Lord Chaitanya is the supreme and the original and that Radha and Krishna come from Him. And he said that Lord Chaitanya is even greater and more beautiful than Radha and Krishna, as rasagulla is better than milk and sugar. Achyutananda was a little confused by the landlord’s philosophy, so he approached Srila Prabhupada—a few of us were also in the room—and told him about the discussion with the landlord and asked, “Who is the original?” Srila Prabhupada replied that Radha and Krishna come first and that when They come together, that combination is Lord Chaitanya. “The same example: first the milk and sugar exist separately and then they combine together to make rasagulla.” Then Acyutananda asked, “Well, who is greater?” Srila Prabhupada paused for some moments, closed his eyes, and then answered, “Srimati Radharani is greater.” He pointed to a picture on the wall that showed Srimati Radharani sitting on a raised platform and Lord Krishna kneeling at Her feet, trying to please or appease Her so She would give up Her mana and accept Him. And he said that the devotees are the greatest, and therefore Krishna becomes the servant of the devotees.
Sometimes Srimati Radharani manifests a type of transcendental jealousy called mana, which is not like the jealousy of the material world. In the material world, jealous anger usually is an attempt by the jealous person to gain control of the situation or gain the upper hand in the relationship with the other person. But Srimati Radharani’s jealous anger exists simply to give pleasure to Krishna. And Krishna takes pleasure too in trying to remove Srimati Radharani’s mana.
There is one great devotee of Krishna, named Jayadeva Gosvami, who lived in Sri Navadvipa-dhama some centuries before Lord Chaitanya appeared. He wrote a poem called Gita-govinda, which describes the pastimes of Radha and Krishna. And what he would do (as would some of the other Gosvamis) was actually see the pastimes within his heart and then record what was manifest to him; then the poem would be accepted as authoritative scripture. So, he was writing about the pastimes of Radha and Krishna in rasa-lila. Srimati Radharani was manifesting Her jealous anger, and Lord Krishna wanted to pacify Her. Jayadeva Gosvami saw in his heart that Lord Krishna was putting His head at Srimati Radharani’s lotus feet, but he could not accept that Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes, the ruler of the universe, was acting in such a way. Jayadeva Gosvami was having a debate within his mind: How could this be happening? His intelligence and heart were in conflict. He couldn’t decide. He thought, I can’t write this. He started, but he couldn’t continue. So he closed the book, left it in the care of his wife, Padma, and went for his bath in the Ganges. Very soon, “Jayadeva” came back and said, “Padma, please bring me my book.” So Padma brought his book and he took up the pen and completed the verse and went away. A little while later, the original Jayadeva came back and his wife said, “You have come back so soon. You left, then you came back, then you left again, and now you have come back again.” Jayadeva said, “I never came back.” “No, you came. I saw you.” “No, I never came back.” “Yes, you came. You said, ‘Padma, bring me my book. I want to write something.’ So I brought your book and you wrote something and left again. Then Jayadeva said, “Well, bring my book. I will see.” So, he looked in his book, and he saw that the verse he had begun had been completed by Sri Krishna Himself. The verse read, smara-garala-khandanam mama sirasi mandanam dehi pada-pallavam udaram, which means, “I am burning in the poison of separation.” Krishna is telling Radharani, mama sirasi mandana: “Please decorate My head with Your lotus feet.” That was the essence of the verse. “And I would consider that to be Your greatest favor.” Then Jayadeva realized that Krishna Himself had come and completed the verse. He offered his obeisances to Padma and said, “Padma, you are so fortunate. You saw Krishna Himself. I could not see Krishna, but you saw Him.” And Padma replied, “I am so unfortunate. I saw Krishna but didn’t know He was Krishna.” And they both were overwhelmed with different types of ecstasy.
There is a very beautiful verse by Raghunatha dasa Gosvami in which he prays to see Lord Krishna’s head decorated by the red paint—in Sanskrit and Hindi called alta—that ladies put on their feet. Raghunatha dasa prays that he might see the beautiful face of Krishna. Krishna is always beautiful, and when He comes home from the pasturing grounds with the dust raised by the cows and calves smeared on His face and hair, He looks even more beautiful. But Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami prays for the day when, in the form of Rati Manjari, he will see Krishna’s face and hair beautified by the most gorgeous of all ornaments: the red paint from the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani. He says that this will be the perfection of his meditation.
So, Lord Krishna takes pleasure in serving His devotees and worshipping His devotees. Sometimes ignorant people think Shiva is the Supreme, because when Rama went to Ramesvaram He worshipped the Shiva linga. But no, the Lord takes pleasure in worshipping the devotee and serving the devotee. Just like Krishna’s carrying Nanda Maharaja’s shoes doesn’t mean that Nanda Maharaja is the Supreme. Krishna takes pleasure in being subordinate to His devotees. Similarly, in Dvaraka, Krishna’s washing the feet of Sudama Vipra doesn’t mean that Sudama Vipra is the Supreme. Krishna likes to worship His devotees. Krishna drove the chariot of Arjuna. This doesn’t mean that Arjuna is the Supreme. Krishna likes to serve the devotees. And Srimati Radharani is the greatest devotee. Therefore Krishna likes to serve Her the most and to become the most subordinate and obedient to Her. And therefore, once a year, on Radhastami, we are allowed to see the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani, which are otherwise the exclusive property of Lord Sri Krishna’s head.
Sri Sri Kisora-Kisori ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Hare Krishna.
[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Radhastami, August 25, 2001, Chicago]
