In Praise of Radharani's Braid.

If we look at the sciptures, very often we have verses praising different features of the Lord. To give an example, we hear Satyavrata Muni praising the belly of Lord Krishna and also praising the ropes that bind the belly of the Lord. In the Sri Sampradaya,we have Sri Vedanta Desikan,who wrote an epic composition consisting of 1008 verses praising the footwear of Sri Ranganatha of Srirangam, in response to a challenge posed by a sanskrit scholar. The entire composition was completed overnight and completely defeated the opponent who managed to come up with a hundred verses. With this background information, i am presenting here two verses, one from Srila Krishna das Kaviraj Goswami's Govinda Lilamrita and another from Srila Rupa Goswami's chatuh pushpanjali. Both these verses beautifully sum up the exquisite beauty of Simati Radharani's hair. Here it is for your reading pleasure. Also attached are some pictures of Sri Radha Vrindavanchandra who were visiting us from a friend, to further the envisioning of the descriptions provided in the below mentioned verses. All Glories to Srimati Radharani! All glories to her supremely beauiful braid. Some pictures are Repetitive but Krishna always appears beautiful, each and very moment and so in that mood we are putting this up for your viewing pleasure. The verses: Hanging down Her back, Srimati Radharani's braids are decorated with flowers, tied with ribbons, and pressed by the cluster of necklaces at Her neck. I think these braids are actually a serpent climbing a staircase mercifully created by demigod Brahma from the foothills of Srimati Radharani's hips up to the mountain summit of Her head. 94- Upon Srimati Radharani's arms Visakha then placed flower garland, a blue ribbon, and the golden armlet. In his Catu-puspanjalih [Stava-mala], Srila Rupa Gosvami says: "O Queen of Vrndavana, Sri Radha, I worship You. Your fair complexion is more resplendent than molten gold, the color of Your sari the hue of a blue lotus flower. Your beautiful braided hair is long and raven-black, its coiffure studded with many brilliant gems, like the shining black hood of a cobra. "Even the beautiful lotus in full bloom or the rising full moon offers no comparison to Your breathtaking face, for it is much more exquisite. Your shining forehead is marked by a tidy saffron tilaka. "The arches of Your elegant eyebrows put to shame Cupid's bow. Your cascading black tresses sway, and the dark mascara on Your roving eyes makes them look like restless black partridges. Chatuh Pushpanjali Stava mala

Kanha Graduates/ Gopastami.

"Krishna Govinda Govinda Gopal Nandlal...."HH Lokanath Maharaja's kirtan streams from the speakers. Its a dream come true to actually celebrate Gopastami and dress up Srimati Radharani as a Gopa. This Kartika, the deities seemed to have understood my pleas for extra mercy and we were were surrounded by a host of transcendental visitors. First came Gaura Nitai from one devotee who was away on yatra, They are dressed in pink in the picures, then came two laddu Gopals, from another devotee, and then twice this Kartika, Radha Vrindavanchandra, Nitai Gaurasundar and laddu Gopal visited...to give us some extra mercy. In Kaliyuga the most fallen get the most mercy. Along with our own Big Jagannath, little Jagannath, the Salagram Shilas and Nimai Nitai, the whole house wore a festive look...it was as if a host of stars had converged to witness a graduation ceremony of the most loved cowherd boy, KRSNA. Our Acharyas say that on Gopastami day,Krishna received the honor of grazing cows. He coaxes his parents to let Him become responsible for the cows and finally wins their approval and graduates from herding calves to cows. My reflection and meditation on this festival was the subject of Eagerness.The pastimes of the Lord, Srila Prabhupada said are like a sweetball, anywhere you bite in it is sweet. Srimati Radharani,the epitome of service, the topmost devotee, displays her eagerness to witness this pastime, so much so that she exchanges clothes with Krishna's cowherd friend Subala and appears at the graduation ready to assist Krishna in His cowherding pastimes. In some temples, Srimati Radharani's lotus feet are visible for darshan on this specific day. The eagerness of Srimati Radharani set me praying at Her lotus feet for a drop of that same eagerness to participate and serve in the pastimes of Krishna be it in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the alluring Nikunjas of Vrindavan, in the pastures of Gokula or in forests of Vrindavan. They set me praying to Gurudeva and Srila Prabhupada to be enthusiastic to serve the mission of Lord Caitanya without any personal preference and to do what is pleasing to Them. we also prayed to the cows to bless us so that we may eternally follow Krishna, bound by His ropes of love, waiting for his call, for a pat on the nose, to run gleefully to Him with tails waving in the air like flags of an army band. Here is a small passage from Srila Jiva Goswamipad's Gopal Champu which describes the unique unparalleled beauty of Radha and Krishna: I have no power to describe how Shri Krishna has all splendor, all handsomeness, all sweet fragrance, and all soft and delicate grace. Is He decorated by ornaments, or is He Himself the ornament that makes the ornaments look beautiful? Are similes and metaphors to spoken comparing Him to other beautiful things, or should beautiful things be described by comparing them to Him? Is He perceived by the eyes and other senses, or is He the creator the eyes and other senses? He does not walk on the path of being understood by the speculative activities of the material mind. Of Shri Krishna it may be said, "Shri Krishna's face is like Shri Krishna's face. Nothing can compare to it." In this way the ananvaya-upama metaphor may happily be used to describe Shri Krishna. As it was said of Shri Krishna's face, so it may also be said, "Shri Krishna's eyes are like Shri Krishna's eyes. Nothing can compare to them." It may also be said, "Shri Krishna's face defeats the lotus flower." It may also be said, "the effulgence of Shri Krishna's teeth is like Shri Krishna's gentle smile." Or it may also be said, "Shri Krishna's gentle smile is like the effulgence of Shri Krishna's teeth." These statements mean, "Shri Krishna's splendor eclipses all other splendors. This kind of metaphor is called "upameyopamana". With this figure of speech it is asserted that Shri Krishna is more glorious than all else and thus cannot be rightly compared to anything but Himself. It may also be said, "Shri Krishna's face reminds us of Shri Radha's face. It is like a duplicate of Shri Radha's face." Or it may also be said, "Shri Krishna's eyes remind us of Shri Radha's Eyes. "In this way Shri Krishna's glorious handsomeness is described by the verbal ornament called "smarana-alankara". Still, Shri Krishna is so glorious He makes us forget all verbal ornaments. He is a kingdom of glorious handsomeness. He shines with great splendor.

Here is a poem by my daughter Vrinda...
Govinda, The Lover of cows.

  

श्रीमती राधिका के चरण दर्शन.

Gopala, Govinda, the keeper of cows
Four different colored cows you call,
Sunrise to dusk you watch them all!
Moo, Ma, Mooo they say in return
Govinda the lover of cows,

Its a call and response Kirtan!

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