Hare Kṛṣṇa,
In my humble reflection, I cannot recall encountering another Vaiṣṇava text in which Śrī Rādhā so deeply unveils Her heart. We do read in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta that Śrī Kṛṣṇa longs to understand the glory of Rādhārāṇī’s love, the extraordinary qualities in Himself that only She relishes through Her love, and the happiness She experiences in tasting the sweetness of His affection (Ādi 1.6). Yet, neither Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam nor Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta presents extended dialogues directly between Śrī Rādhā and Śrī Kṛṣṇa. In this light, Śrī Prema-sampuṭa stands out, to me, as a truly landmark work of devotional study.
In this beautiful scripture, Śrī Rādhā and Śrī Kṛṣṇa are both eager to glorify one another. Kṛṣṇa’s affection is so profound that He even desires to take all blame and apparent faults upon Himself in order to safeguard Śrī Rādhā’s glory. When He tells Her, “O My most beloved, My passionate love for You has no equal. Not even in a dream can another girl reside within My heart” His words are utterly true. The occasions when Kṛṣṇa places Her and the gopīs in states of apparent suffering serve only one purpose — to deepen the intensity of separation and thereby expand the joy of Their loving union.
“Desiring only the good, one friend may sometimes put another friend into suffering, suffering that will eventually lead to great happiness in the same way a physician may apply to the patient’s eyes a bitter ointment that will eventually lead to good vision.” (Śrī Prema-sampuṭa, 89)
Let’s see the various ways Śrī Kṛṣṇa glorifies Śrī Rādhā.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa says, “In enjoying pastimes of love, Rādhā is the best, and in love-in-separation, Rādhā is the best millions and billions of times over. These two kinds of love attain their highest purity and intensity in Rādhā. Rādhā’s love puts the gopīs to shame. Rādhā’s love is the greatest.
Therefore I will show the gopīs how Rādhā’s love is separation is a flaming volcano of love, a love many millions of times greater than theirs. When they are licked by the flames of that volcano, the gopīs will understand that their love is only a series of small lamps in comparison.
I know that You are the shelter of the love You have described. For You, Your beloved’s faults are all virtues. For You, the hundred sufferings Your beloved brings are all like nectar. You cannot tolerate that Your beloved may feel even the smallest particle of a particle of suffering. Even if it means You must leave Your body, You have no power to renounce Your beloved. Even though they don’t really exist, You imagine that Your beloved possesses a host of peerless glories. That is the love You feel. O Rādhā, I have heard about You. Now I see You directly.” (Śrī Prema-sampuṭa, 85-97)
Now let’s see how Śrī Rādhā glorifies Her beloved Śrī Kṛṣṇa, She says, “Krsna is not at fault for killing Ariṣtāsura, Bakāsura, Aghāsura, and Vatsāsura, who are enemies of all the worlds, and for killing the cheater Pūtanā. Actually it is Lord Viṣṇu’s glorious potency, manifested within Krsna’s own body, that kills the demons. Krsna extraordinary deeds, like His lifting Govardhana Hill and killing the demons, stand as witnesses to the words Garga Muni said to Vraja’s king: `Your son is like Lord Nārāyaṇa Himself.’ Ah! In My heart something more, something the great sage Garga did not say, is manifest. Nārāyaṇa is not Krsna’s equal in handsomeness, sweetness, and transcendental qualities.” (Śrī Prema-sampuṭa, 92-94)
The final section of Śrī Prema-sampuṭa is truly astonishing, as it exquisitely reveals the profound position of Śrī Rādhā and Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Our ordinary understanding that Śrī Rādhā and Śrī Kṛṣṇa are two separate personalities is, in fact, mistaken.
Rādhā said, “The people may say of Us, `They always stay in each other’s hearts. Therefore They must know what is in each others hearts.’ That idea, the idea that We are two, is a misunderstanding, is an artificial imposition, is only a metaphor spoken by poets. We are one. We can never become two. We are one person with two bodies. We are like a pair of lotus flowers, one blue and the other yellow, growing from a single lotus stem in a fathomless nectar lake. We are like two flames on the wick of a single oil lamp, flames that light up the darkness, flames that delight the gopī friends at Our sides. If the wind of separation makes those two flames flicker or fall, Our friends quickly come, protect Us, and carry Us to the place of happinesses.” (Śrī Prema-sampuṭa, 107-110)
The practical manifestation of the truth that Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one is revealed in the appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. When They unite in a single form, They manifest as Śrī Mahāprabhu. When They expand into two distinct forms, They appear as the Divine Couple — Śrī Rādhā and Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
“The loving affairs of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are transcendental manifestations of the Lord’s internal pleasure-giving potency. Although Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one in Their identity, previously They separated Themselves. Now these two transcendental identities have again united, in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. I bow down to Him, who has manifested Himself with the sentiment and complexion of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī although He is Kṛṣṇa Himself.” (CC Adi 1.5)
All glories to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 