Radha Krishna Ganoddesa Dipika

Srila Rupa Goswami, one of the six Goswamis of Vrindavana, was an incarnation of Rupa Manjari, the most important of the eight confidential maidservants of Srimati Radharani in the eternal transcendental Vrindavana. It is said that without taking shelter of Rupa Gosvami one cannot enter into the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, and without taking shelter of Rupa Manjari one cannot enter into the confidential loving pastimes of Sri Sri Radha Krishna. Srila Rupa Gosvami's lineage can be traced back to Karnataka, South India where his Sarasvata brahmana descendants held influential positions. Rupa Gosvami's nephew, Jiva Gosvami has explained in his Laghu Toshani that Rupa's descendants were of the Bharadvaja gotra and were learned in the Yajur Veda.

This work describes the various associates of Kṛṣṇa in his Vṛndāvana pastimes, giving details such as age, complexion, and relationship with others. To give proof, Rūpa Gosvāmī often quotes from various scriptures to support his statements. Though Ujjvala-nīla-maṇi describes some associates, it deals primary with persons in madhurya-rasa. This work however deals with devotees in a variety of rasas. The first part dedicates a major portion to describing Rādhā's associates. The second part largley describes Kṛṣṇa's associates.

The incarnations of the Lord, Krishna or Visnu, are as numerous as the waves of the ocean, a way to say that they are infinite. They keep coming and coming, performing so many different acts in order to please His devotees, destroy demons and establish the principles of spiritual life. For us, members of the Vaisnava Gaudiya tradition, there is no doubt that Sri Krishna and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu are the most important among all divine incarnations. Sri Krishna appeared more than 5,100 years ago , Mahaprabhu more than 520 years ago . We have a vast literature telling us of these two divine descents and Their activities with Their friends. Since we know that Krishna returned on this Earth as Caitanya Mahaprabhu, is only natural that we want to know who among His associates in Goloka Vrindavana came and in which body.

This (Dana Keli Kaumudi) is a divine play/drama, written by Srila Rupa Goswami, with commentaries of Srila Visvanath Cakravarti Thakur. In the Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 4.226) there is a verse that describes the writings of Sril Rupa Gosvami: Srila Rupa Gosvami compiled 100,000 verses, beginning with the book Dana-Keli-Kaumudi. In all these scriptures, he elaborately explained the transcendental mellows of the activities of Vrndavna. This one-act drama describes the very celebrated pastime of Krsna’s efforts to extract a toll from Radha and her companions as they carried butter for the performance of a sacrifice being performed in the forest of Vrndavana. Of course, it cannot be emphasized enough that such pastimes are only to be relished by devotees who have thoroughly understood Lord Krsna’s position as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by carefully studying the first nine cantos of the Srimad-Bhagavatam.”

Two messenger poems with text & translation.

If we have Śrī Kṛṣṇa we have everything and we do not need anyone or anything else (Śrī Caitanya Bhagavat). How do we get Śrī Kṛṣṇa? We can only get Him, Vrajendra-nandana Śyāmasundara, by loving devotional service to Śrīmatī Rādhika - Śrī Rādhā-dāsyam.Therefore we pray to Śrī Kṛṣṇa to get Radha-dāsyamśyāmasundara śikhaṇḍa śekharasmera-hāsa muralī-manohararādhkā-rasika māṁ kṛpā-nidhesva-priyā-caraṇa-kiṅkarīṁ kuruO Śyāmasundara, O beautiful dark-blue boy with a peacock-feather crown. Your playful smile and Your flute completely bewilder our minds. You are expert at tasting the nectar of Śrīmatī Rādhikā''s love, and You are an ocean of mercy. Please make me a manjari maidservant of Your beloved. (Śrī Rādhā-prārthanā, Śrī Viṭṭhalācārya) And we pray to Śrī Rādhā,tavaivāsmi tavaivāsmi na jīvāmi tvayā vināiti vijñāya devī tvaṁ naya māṁ caraṇāntike"Ha Devī Śrī Rādhike! I am yours! I am yours! I have no life without You. Knowing this, please give me shelter at Your lotus feet." (Śrī Vilāpa-kusumāñjali 96, Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī)Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī prays, "O Prince of the cow herders (Kṛṣṇa)! I offer my obeisances unto You and I pitifully pray to You: "Please make me the object of mercy of the crown garland of the young girls of Vraja (Śrī Rādhikā)!" (Śrī Utkalikā-vallarī, 19)We pray to Śrī Kṛṣṇa: "Please make me the object of Śrī Rādhā''s grace" and to Śrī Rādhā we pray: "May Kṛṣṇa give me mercy, knowing me to be Your maidservant!" Śrīman Mahāprabhu''s gift is revealed through the ācāryas. This Rādhā-dāsyam is an unprecedented gift of mercy. The conditioned souls are drowning in the ocean of material existence, but by some stroke of good luck some of them receive the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa in the form of the seed of the vine of devotion. saṁsāre bhramite kon bhāgyavān jīva; guru-Kṛṣṇa prasāde pāy bhakti latā bīja (Cc). By taking shelter of the lotus feet of Śrī Guru a fortunate person can attain purification of the self. Gurudeva is bringing the remembrance of a long forgotten thing back into the heart. When fortunate sādhakas take shelter of Śrī Guru''s lotus feet in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Sampradāya they become acquainted with the service of Śrī Rādhā. After establishing the self-identification as Rādhā''s dāsī, they continue their bhajana according to the love of rādhā snehādhikā (greater love for Rādhā than for Kṛṣṇa). How enchanting it is to think of oneself: "I am Rādhā''s fallen maidservant!" My bhajana is disturbed by bodily consciousness; my life is contaminated by all kinds of external behaviour! Nonetheless, I firmly consider myself Swamini Radhika''s maidservant. The ultimate goal of all the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas'' sādhanā is to attain the confidential nikuñja-sevā of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava. Although our ācāryas are eternal maidservants in the Vraja-nikuñjas, they have descended along with Śrīman Mahāprabhu to teach the world how to perform śrī rāgānuga-bhajana. By giving a perfect example they have made the practising devotees in this world greedy after the nikuñja-rasa and are thus taking them along to the transcendental groves of Vraja. Without this, the advent of Śrīman Mahāprabhu could not have reached perfection, because the mañjarī-service of Śrī Rādhā is Śrīman Mahāprabhu''s ultimate and unprecedented merciful gift.(Adapted from the commentaries of Srila Ananta das Babaji Maharaja)It is our great pleasure and privilege to present this unprecedented harikatha about Radha-dasyam by Prabhupada Srila Premgopal Goswami. We hope that by making such nectar available to a wider readership among devotees we may invoke the blessings of Sri Guru. We apologize for any mistakes and shortcomings in this presentation. Our humble prayer is that it may invoke transcendental greed in the hearts of our readers to delve into the nectar ocean of Radha-dasyam and cultivate the precious mood of Srimati Radhika''s maidservants.The Editor

The two works, Vidagdha-mādhava and Lalita-mādhava were written by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. The Vidagdha-mādhava describes pastimes in Vṛndāvana, and the the pastimes in Lalita-mādhava begins in Vṛndāvana and ends in Dvārakā. Both of them, praised by Rāmānanda Rāya and Caitanya Mahāprabhu for its excellent verses, wonderfully describe the emotions of the highest rasa.Vidagdha-mādhava, a seven-act play was completed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in the 1533 A.D. This work concerning Kṛṣṇa, friend of the gopīs, is permeated with ornaments in the form of conversations. The land within Vṛndāvana has become the arena for the performance of the drama. The spring season in which the moon has become newly red in response has become the suitable time.