compiled by Padmapani dasa
The following are just a few of the many quotes from Srila Prabhupada which encourage us to approach Krishna through the mercy of Srimati Radharani, Krishna’s eternal consort. For those of us who feel that there is no hope of making spiritual progress in this lifetime, Srimati Radharani, Who is compassion personified, kindly comes to our rescue if we can humbly invoke Her divine blessings.
tapta-kancana-gaurangi radhe vrndavanesvari
vrsabhanu-sute devi pranamami hari-priye
“I offer my respects to Radharani whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queen of Vrndavana. You are the daughter of King Vrsabhanu, and You are very dear to Lord Krishna.”
(Sri Radha Pranama)
“Actually, because Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is very difficult to approach Him. But the devotees, taking advantage of His compassionate nature, which is represented by Radharani, always pray to Radharani for Krishna’s compassion.”
(Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 22)
“Krishna, everyone is trying to love Krishna, but Krishna is trying to love somebody. Now how great She is. Just try to understand. Everyone, the whole world, the whole universe, all living entities, they are trying to love Krishna, krsna-prema. Lord Caitanya describes, prema-pumartho mahan. And Rupa Gosvami described that ‘You are distributing krsna-prema.’ So krsna-prema is so valuable, but Krishna is after Radharani. Just see how Radharani is great. Just try to understand the greatness of Radharani. Therefore She is so great, and we have to offer our respect.”
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, August 30, 1968)
“Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami offers his respectful obeisances to Srimati Radharani, taking a straw in his mouth. Indeed, he prays, ‘O Gandharvika, Srimati Radharani, just as Lord Krishna never rejects a surrendered soul, please don’t reject me.'”
(Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 8.166, Purport)
“Radharani can deliver Krishna. She is so great a devotee, the emblem of maha-bhagavata. Even Krishna cannot understand the quality of Radharani’s devotion. Although Krishna says vedaham samatitani — ‘I know everything’ — He fails to understand Radharani. Radharani is so great.”
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, September 18, 1969)
“I am very much indebted to my father, for he took care of me in such a way that I became perfectly Krishna conscious. My father used to receive many saintly persons at our home, and to every one of them he used to say, ‘Kindly bless my son so that he may become a servant of Radharani.’ That was his only ambition.”
(Srila Prabhupada Conversation, October, 1973)
“I emphatically say to you, O brothers, you will obtain your good fortune from the Supreme Lord Krishna only when Srimati Radharani becomes pleased with you.”
(Prayer to the Lotus Feet of Krishna, September 13, 1965)
“Of all the young girls, Radha is the most beautiful. She always dresses so nicely that Damodara is attracted by Her beauty. If you go to Vrindavan you will find everyone worshiping Radharani. All the devotees in Vrindavan worship Radharani. The pure devotees pray to Radharani, ‘O my worshipable Radharani! You are so full of mercy. I am begging for Your mercy.'”
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, September 18, 1969)
“Yes, the bumblebee is very much favored by Krishna and Radharani. Sometimes the bumblebee is taken as a messenger by Radharani and she rebukes the bumblebee because the bumblebee is blackish and Krishna is also blackish. Still, in spite of all rebuking, the bumblebee tried always to touch the Lotus Feet of Radharani. Therefore the bumblebee is to be offered our all reverence and respect.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, June 15, 1971)
“Radharani is hari-priya, ‘very dear to Krishna.’ Through the mercy of Radharani we can easily approach Krishna. If Radharani recommends, ‘This devotee is very nice,’ then Krishna immediately accepts me, however great a fool I may be. Because I am recommended by Radharani, Krishna accepts me. Therefore in Vrndavana you’ll find all the devotees chanting Radharani’s name more than Krishna’s. Wherever you’ll go, you’ll find the devotees greeting one another, ‘Jaya Radhe!’ You’ll find this still in Vrndavana. The devotees are glorifying Radharani. If you go by the speculative process to understand Krishna, it will take many, many lives. But if you take to devotional service and just try to please Radharani, Krishna will be gotten very easily.”
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, September 18, 1969)
“Radha is one who gives pleasure to Govinda, and She is also the enchantress of Govinda. She is the be-all and end-all of Govinda, and the crest jewel of all His consorts.”
(Caitanya-caritamrta Adi 4.82)
“Srimati Radharani is the center of all Vrindavana’s activities. In Vrindavana, Krishna is the instrument of Srimati Radharani; therefore all the inhabitants of Vrindavana still chant ‘Jaya Radhe!’ From Krishna’s own statement given herein, it appears that Radharani is the Queen of Vrindavana and that Krishna is simply Her decoration.”
(Caitanya-caritamrita Madhya 13.150, Purport)
“Radharani is presented, the original pleasure potency, always absorbed in thought of Krishna. So anyone who comes before Radharani to serve Krishna, oh, She becomes so pleased, ‘Oh, here is a devotee of Krishna.’ She immediately recommends, ‘Krishna, oh, here is a devotee. He is better than Me.’ This is Radharani. I may be a, not devotee. I may be most fallen rascal. But if I try to reach Krishna through Radharani, then my business is successful. Therefore we should worship Radharani first. That is our business. Instead of offering directly one flower to Krishna, you just put it in the hands of Radharani: ‘My mother Radharani, Jagan-mata, if you kindly take this flower and offer it to Krishna.’ ‘Oh,’ Radharani says, ‘Oh, you have brought a flower?’ Krishna said, patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayaccati (Bg. 9.26), but don’t try to offer Krishna directly. Just offer through Radharani. It will be very much appreciated by Radharani.”
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, September 5, 1973)
“Krishna attracts everyone, but devotional service attracts even Krishna. The symbol of devotional service in the highest degree is Radharani. Krishna is called Madana-mohana, which means that He is so attractive that He can defeat the attraction of thousands of Cupids. But Radharani is still more attractive, for She can even attract Krishna. Therefore devotees call Her Madana-mohana-mohani — the attractor of the attractor of Cupid.”
(Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 1)
“The word Hare is a form of addressing the energy of the Lord, and the words Krishna and Rama are forms of directly addressing the Lord Himself. Both Krishna and Rama mean ‘the highest pleasure.’ Hara is the supreme pleasure potency of the Lord. This potency, addressed as Hare, helps us in reaching the Supreme Lord.”
(On Chanting Hare Krishna)
“O Radha! O beloved of Madhava! O you are worshiped by all the young girls of Gokula! All glories unto You! All glories unto You!”
(Sri Radhika-stava chorus by Srila Rupa Gosvami)
“Among the gopis, Srimati Radhika is the foremost. She surpasses all in beauty, good qualities, in good fortune, and, above all, in love.”
(Caitanya-caritamrta Adi 4.214)
“Without energy, there is no meaning to the energetic, and without the energetic there is no meaning to the energy. Similarly, without Radha there is no meaning to Krishna and without Krishna there is no meaning to Radha. Because of this, the Vaisnava philosophy first of all pays obeisances to and worships the internal pleasure potency of the Supreme Lord. Thus the Lord and His potency are always referred to as Radha-Krishna. Similarly those who worship Narayana first utter the name of Laksmi, as Laksmi-Narayana. Similarly those who worship Lord Rama first utter the name of Sita. In any case — Sita-Rama, Radha-Krishna, Laksmi-Narayana– the potency always comes first.”
(Caitanya-caritamrta, Introduction)
“The transcendental goddess Srimati Radharani is the direct counter-part of Lord Sri Krishna. She is the central figure for all the goddesses of fortune. She possesses all the attractiveness to attract the all-attractive Personality of Godhead. She is the primeval internal potency of the Lord.”
(Caitanya-caritamrta Adi 4.83)
“It is very simple. Hare means, ‘O energy of the Lord,’ and Krishna means, ‘O Lord Krishna.’ Just as there are males and females in the material world, similarly, God is the original male (purusa), and His energy (prakriti) is the original female. So, when we chant Hare Krishna, we are saying, ‘O Lord Krishna, O energy of Krishna, kindly engage me in Your service.'”
(Science of Self-Realization, Chapter 1)
“Spiritual happiness is anandambudhi-vardhanam, or the ocean of happiness which increases. The material ocean is stagnant, but the spiritual ocean is dynamic. In the Caitanya-caritamrta, (Adi-lila, Fourth Chapter) Kaviraja Gosvami has very nicely described this dynamic increment of the ocean of spiritual happiness in the transcendental person of Srimati Radharani, the pleasure potency of Lord Krishna.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.6.36, Purport)
“Lord Krishna enchants the world, but Sri Radha enchants even Him. Therefore She is the supreme goddess of all.
“Sri Radha is the full power, and Lord Krishna is the possessor of full power. The two are not different, as evidenced by the revealed scriptures.
“They are indeed the same, just as musk and its scent are inseparable, or as fire and its heat are nondifferent.
“Thus Radha and Lord Krishna are one, yet They have taken two forms to enjoy the mellows of pastimes.”
(Caitanya Caritamrita Adi 4.95-98)
“Srila Bilvamangala Thakur has prayed in his book as follows: ‘Let Srimati Radharani purify the whole world, because She has surrendered Herself completely unto Krishna.'”
(Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 29)
“Sri Krishna continued: ‘All the inhabitants of Vrindavana-dhama — My mother, father, cowherd boy friends and everything else — are like My life and soul. And among all the inhabitants of Vrindavana, the gopis are My very life and soul. Among the gopis, You, Srimati Radharani, are the chief. Therefore You are the very life of My life.'”
(Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 13.150)
“In Radharani is found the science of ujjala, or the brightest jewel of love of God.”
(Krishna Book, Chapter 47)
“Krishna is the energetic, and Radharani is the energy. Just like energy and energetic, you cannot separate. Fire and the heat you cannot separate. Wherever there is fire there is heat, and wherever there is heat there is fire. Similarly, wherever there is Krishna there is Radha. And wherever there is Radha there is Krishna. They are inseparable.”
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, August 30, 1968)
“Among all the gopis, Srimati Radharani is the most exalted. She is the most beautiful, the most qualified and, above all, the greatest lover of Krishna.”
(Caitanya-caritamrta Adi 4.214, Purport)
“Radharani is the best, topmost servitor of Krishna, and the printing machine is the biggest medium at the present moment for serving Krishna. Therefore it is really a representative of Srimati Radharani.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, August 13, 1969)
“Srimati Radharani is the most beautiful, and She always enchants Krishna, but at the same time, Krishna is always the Enchanter of Radharani. This reciprocal attraction of Radharani and Krishna is the basic principal of Lord Caitanya’s philosophy.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, May 22, 1969)
“Radha-Krishna. Radha’s name is first. Why? Nobody can be better devotee than Radharani. As soon as Radha’s name is there, Krishna is more pleased. That is the way. If we glorify the devotees, the character of the devotees, before the Lord, He’s more pleased than to glorify Himself, He directly.”
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, March 24, 1969)
“Lord Krishna’s Pleasure Potency is called Hladini, so this spiritual energy of Krishna’s pleasure potency, Hladini, is Srimati Radharani Who is always increasing the transcendental pleasure of Krishna by Her super-excellent loving devotional service.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, March 29, 1970)
“Yes, you are certainly right when you say Radharani cooks prasadam for Lord Krishna. Whenever He returns in the evening from herding cows with His cowherd boy friends, Radharani has a nice preparation waiting for Lord Krishna.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, August 5, 1970)
“Krishna likes Radharani. Therefore all the gopis, they are trying to push Radharani to Krishna. ‘Krishna likes this gopi. All right, push Her.’ That is Krishna consciousness. To satisfy the senses of Krishna, not to satisfy my senses. That is bhakti. That is called prema, love for Krishna. ‘Ah, Krishna likes this. I must give Him this.'”
(Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers, Chapter 6)
“The beauty of Srimati Radharani’s eyes forcibly devours the beauty of newly grown blue lotus flowers, and the beauty of Her face surpasses that of an entire forest of fully blossomed lotuses. Her bodily luster seems to place even gold into a painful situation. Thus the wonderful, unprecedented beauty of Srimati Radharani is awakening in Vrindavana.”
(Caitanya-caritamrita Antya 1.169)
“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. Therefore, the mercy of Radharani is available very readily to the sincere devotees, and once She recommends such a devotee to Lord Krishna, the Lord at once accepts the devotee’s admittance into His association. The conclusion is, therefore, that one should be more serious about seeking the mercy of the devotee than that of the Lord directly, and by one’s doing so (by the good will of the devotee) the natural attraction for the service of the Lord will be revived.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.23, Purport)
“You’ll find in Vrindavan, if you go to Vrindavan, everyone is worshiping Radharani. Rani means queen. They are always speaking, ‘Jaya Radhe!’ Radharani. All the devotees in Vrindavan, they are worshiper of Radharani. Hari-niskuta-vrnda-vipinese. Vrsabhanu-dadhi-nava-sasi-lekhe. And She appeared as the daughter of King Vrsabhanu, and Her companion, Lalita-sakhi and Visakha-sakhi, and the devotees… So on behalf of the pure devotees of Krishna, Rupa Gosvami is praying, karunam kuru mayi karuna-bharite. ‘Oh, my worshipable Radharani, You are full of mercy. So I am begging of Your mercy because You are so merciful, very easily You offer, bestow Your mercy. So I am begging Your mercy.'”
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, August 30, 1968)
“There is a supreme symptom of ecstatic love which is called maha-bhava. This mahabhava expression was possible only in Radharani, but later on when Sri Krishna Caitanya appeared to feel the mode of love of Radharani, He also expressed all the symptoms of maha-bhava. Sri Rupa Gosvami says in this connection that when the symptoms of ecstatic love become the most bright, that stage is accepted as mahabhava.”
(Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 28)
“The beauty of Srimati Radharani is described as follows: ‘Her eyes defeat the attractive features of the eyes of the cakori bird. When one sees the face of Radharani, he immediately hates the beauty of the moon. Her bodily complexion defeats the beauty of gold. Thus, let us all look upon the transcendental beauty of Srimati Radharani.'”
(Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 44)
“The photos are very nice, and Radharani looks very satisfied, as I see in the features of Her face in the photo. If She is pleased, then Krishna is pleased, and all living entities are pleased.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, November 11, 1973)
“There is no comparison to Radharani’s beauty and the luster of Her transcendental body. The so-called beauty of the moon has fallen on the ground in the presence of Radharani’s beauty.”
(From Vrindavana by Srila Narottama das Thakura)
“Therefore Radha is parama-devata, the supreme goddess, and She is worshipable for everyone. She is the protectress of all, and She is the mother of the entire universe.”
(Caitanya-caritamrita Adi 4.89)
“So this is our philosophy, to please Krishna through Radharani, and just today is the auspicious day of Radharani appearance. So we should offer puspanjali and pray to Radharani that ‘Radharani, kindly be merciful and tell about me to Your Krishna. To Your Krishna. Krishna is Yours.’ Krishna, Radha-Krishna. Krishna is not independent. Krishna is Radharani’s property. So you have to approach Krishna through Radharani. That is, today is the auspicious day. Worship Radharani very nicely and be happy.”
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, September 5, 1973)