Hare Kṛṣṇa,
This lesson offers a deeper and more refined understanding of Śrī Rādhā-tattva. At first glance, it may seem difficult to reconcile the idea that Śrī Rādhā is the cause of all the Lord’s consorts, especially when it is firmly established that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam—the cause of all causes.
However, the apparent tension dissolves when we properly understand tattva. Śrī Rādhā is not separate from Kṛṣṇa; She is the full embodiment of His hlādinī-śakti, His internal pleasure potency. As the complete manifestation of that potency, She is the sole source of the transcendental bliss that Kṛṣṇa relishes.
Thus, while Kṛṣṇa remains the ultimate cause of all causes, Śrī Rādhā, as His supreme pleasure potency, is the original source from whom all His consorts expand.
CC Adi 4.71 Purport: Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is as fully spiritual as Kṛṣṇa. No one should consider Her to be material. She is definitely not like the conditioned souls, who have material bodies, gross and subtle, covered by material senses. She is all-spiritual, and both Her body and mind are of the same spiritual embodiment. Because Her body is spiritual, Her senses are also spiritual. Thus Her body, mind and senses fully shine in love of Kṛṣṇa. She is the personified hlādinī-śakti (the pleasure-giving energy of the Lord’s internal potency), and therefore She is the only source of enjoyment for Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Therefore, if Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the sole source of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s enjoyment, it naturally follows that She expands into many forms to enhance and diversify His pleasure. Divine love thrives in variety; indeed, variety nourishes relish.
Because Kṛṣṇa is sac-cid-ānanda—eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss—His ānanda is ever-expanding and dynamic. To facilitate the limitless unfolding of that bliss, Śrī Rādhā manifests in multiple forms—Lakṣmīs, queens, and gopīs—each expressing a unique flavor of devotion, yet all rooted in Her original hlādinī-śakti.
“Kṛṣṇa is ānandamaya. Ānanda means variety is the mother of enjoyment. Unless there are varieties, how there can be ānanda? Kṛṣṇa is sac-cid-ānanda. So Kṛṣṇa’s business is variety. The Māyāvādīs, they cannot understand. They simply understand that we are one. No. Varieties. Cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam (Bs. 5.29). Kṛṣṇa is enjoying varieties. He is living in the cintāmaṇi-dhāma. There are surabhī. He’s tending, tending the cows, and He’s playing with the cowherd boys. He’s making jokes with the gopīs. He is enjoying the company… Varieties. He’s becoming the son, dependent son of mother Yaśodā. So Kṛṣṇa is variety. Without variety, there cannot be enjoyment. So therefore variety of instruction also.” (Srila Prabhupada Lecture on SB 1.8.48 — Mayapura, October 28, 1974)
CC Adi 4.80: Without many consorts, there is not such exultation in rasa. Therefore there are many manifestations of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī to assist in the Lord’s pastimes.
CC Adi 4.81: Among them are various groups of consorts in Vraja who have varieties of sentiments and mellows. They help Lord Kṛṣṇa taste all the sweetness of the rāsa dance and other pastimes.
CC Adi 4.74-75: The beloved consorts of Lord Kṛṣṇa are of three kinds: the goddesses of fortune, the queens, and the milkmaids of Vraja, who are the foremost of all. These consorts all proceed from Rādhikā.
CC Adi 4.77: The goddesses of fortune are partial manifestations of Śrīmatī Rādhikā, and the queens are reflections of Her image.
CC Adi 4.78: The goddesses of fortune are Her plenary portions, and they display the forms of vaibhava-vilāsa. The queens are of the nature of Her vaibhava-prakāśa.
CC Adi 4.79: The Vraja-devīs have diverse bodily features. They are Her expansions and are the instruments for expanding rasa.
CC Adi 4.76: Just as the fountainhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, is the cause of all incarnations, so Śrī Rādhā is the cause of all these consorts.
Lest we mistakenly conclude that Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā are two independent personalities, each possessing separate expansions—an error that could subtly introduce division into our understanding of siddhānta—our ācāryas carefully guard us against such misconceptions.
Great teachers such as Śrīla Prabhupāda and Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī clearly establish that Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one Absolute Reality appearing in two forms for the sake of relishing loving exchanges. They are non-different in essence, yet distinct for the purpose of divine līlā—śakti and śaktimān, inseparable and eternally united.
“They are identical. Kṛṣṇa expands Himself in multi-incarnations and plenary portions like the puruṣas. Similarly, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī expands Herself in multiforms as the goddesses of fortune, the queens and the damsels of Vraja. Such expansions from Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī are all Her plenary portions. All these womanly forms of Kṛṣṇa are expansions corresponding to His plenary expansions of Viṣṇu forms. These expansions have been compared to reflected forms of the original form. There is no difference between the original form and the reflected forms. The female reflections of Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure potency are as good as Kṛṣṇa Himself.” (CC Adi 4.81, Purport)
CC Adi 4.96: Śrī Rādhā is the full power, and Lord Kṛṣṇa is the possessor of full power. The two are not different, as evidenced by the revealed scriptures.
CC Adi 4.97: They are indeed the same, just as musk and its scent are inseparable, or as fire and its heat are nondifferent.
CC Adi 4.98: Thus Rādhā and Lord Kṛṣṇa are one, yet They have taken two forms to enjoy the mellows of pastimes.
All these expansions, including jiva-tattvas like us, are needed to give full pleasure to Krsna.
“In the transcendental realm, enjoyment is fully relished in variety. The exuberance of transcendental mellow is increased by the association of a large number of personalities similar to Rādhārāṇī, who are also known as gopīs or sakhīs. The variety of innumerable mistresses is a source of relish for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and therefore these expansions from Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī are necessary for enhancing the pleasure potency of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Their transcendental exchanges of love are the superexcellent affairs of the pastimes in Vṛndāvana. By these expansions of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s personal body, She helps Lord Kṛṣṇa taste the rāsa dance and similar other activities.” (CC Adi 4.81, Purport)
Therefore, Śrī Rādhā is: (a) The original source of all Lakṣmīs (sarva-lakṣmī), (b) The cause of all the Lord’s consorts; (c) the highest manifestation of divine love (mahā-bhāva).
CC Adi 4.69: Śrī Rādhā Ṭhākurāṇī is the embodiment of mahābhāva. She is the repository of all good qualities and the crest jewel among all the lovely consorts of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
CC Adi 4.99-100: To promulgate prema-bhakti [devotional service in love of Godhead], Kṛṣṇa appeared as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya with the mood and complexion of Śrī Rādhā.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 