Radha Ashtami – Birth anniversary of Goddess Radha

Radha Ashtami is commemorated as birth anniversary of Goddess Radha. It falls on Ashtami Tithi during Shukla Paksha of Bhadrapada month. Devotees keep fast on Radha Asthami day. Goddess Radha is worshipped during Madhyana Kaal which is noon time according to Hindu division of the day. Currently Radha Ashtami falls in the month of August or September in English calendar. Radha Ashtami is also known as Radhashtami and Radha Jayanti. In this Year – 2014 it is falling on 2nd September. Ashtami Tithi Begins on 05:02 Hrs. on 2/Sep/2014 & Ashtami Tithi Ends on 04:08 Hrs. on 3/Sep/2014.

Here we shall know about Sri Radha Ji & her divine. immortal Love with Lord Sri Krishna. Sri Radharani was a Gopi who was most near to Lord Krishna’s heart. Sri Radha's devotion and dedication towards Lord Sri Krishna was complete, that is the reason that she was most dear to Lord Sri Krishna. Goddess Shri Radha Rani took birth at a place called Barsana in Uttar Pradesh state in India. Goddess Sri Radha was the daughter of Vrishbhanu & her mother was Kirti.

Goddess Sri Radha was not married to Lord Sri Krishna but still she was most dear to Him even more than His wives. It was because, Sri Radha was always full of devotion towards the Lord & never thought of anyone else besides Lord Sri Krishna. In pictures Sri Radha is almost always depicted alongside Sri Krishna.

Sri Radha Rani is considered as the greatest devotee of Lord Sri Krishna. It is said that Sri Radha, herself is the "Devotional energy" of Lord Sri Krishna who is the Lord of the universe. Her name always comes before the name of Lord Sri Krishna that is why God's one name is "Radha Krishna" also. Just take out only one "R" from "Radha Krishna" & it becomes just "aadha Krishna" i.e. "half Krishna" & that is the power of the name "Radha". As Sri Radha Rani is always in the thought of Lord Sri Krishna the Supreme God, so her state of "Spiritual Emotion" is called "Maha Bhaav or महाभाव" i.e. the highest state of Spiritual Emotion or Spiritual Ecstasy.

As per the Bhagwat Gita, devotion is the easiest method to develop "Bhaav" & get close to the God. God himself declares about the glory of devotion in Bhagwat Gita:

"man-mana bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaishyasi satyam te
pratijane priyo ’si me" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eighteen verse 65)

"Sri Krishna says to Arjuna: Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend."

"sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
mokshayisyami ma suchah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eighteen verse 66)

"Sri Krishna says to Arjuna: Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear."

"ye tu dharmamritam idam
yathoktam paryupasate
sraddadhana mat-parama
bhaktas te ’tiva me priyah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Twelve verse 20)

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: O Arjuna, Those who follow this imperishable path of devotional service and who completely engage themselves with faith, making Me the supreme goal, are very, very dear to Me."

"mayy eva mana adhatsva
mayi buddhim nivesaya
nivasisyasi mayy eva
ata urdhvam na samsayah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Twelve verse 8)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Just fix your mind upon Me and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt."

So let's have devotion in God. Let's remember God for some time in our daily life so that we too can generate some "Bhaav" or "Spiritual Emotion" towards the God. Once that is developed, we shall always find God near us & our life shall be filled with joy, love & ecstasy.

जय राधा रानी!
राधे-राधे
जय राधा कृष्णा.

Jai Shri Krishna

Supreme Abode of God that is Indestructible

In Hindu Philosophy it is said that a Soul needs to take rebirth again & again till it attains to God & attains to the Divine abode of God. As per Hindu Philosophy there are two type of Worlds in this Universe. Material Worlds & Spiritual Worlds. Material World is our world in which we live. Spiritual Worlds are abodes of God Himself & there is no need for any external body like Sun to illumine it. These are illumined by the power & Grace of God Himself, that is the reason that these Planets / abodes of God are Self Illumined in nature. These planets are full of beauty & there is no disease etc. on those abodes. A person's soul always remains in Blissful & Happy state over there. These Spiritual Worlds are beyond the Material Worlds. Below verse of Bhagwat Gita explains that these abodes are Self Illumined in nature.

Spiritual nature & spiritual worlds are indestructible, eternal, inexhaustible and unlimited. It is the Supreme abode of God, consisting of three fourths of the Lord's opulence & it is known as paravyoma, the spiritual sky. Although God is present in His Spiritual abode in higher spiritual worlds, He is yet all-pervading, and everything is situated within Him.

Below are few verses of Bhagwat Gita which describe about the material & spiritual spaces & worlds :

"a-brahma-bhuvanal lokah
punar avartino ’rjuna
mam upetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eight verse 16)

"Sri Krishna said: From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My Supreme Supreme abode, O Arjuna, never takes birth again.

"paras tasmat tu bhavo ’nyo
’vyakto ’vyaktat sanatanah
yah sa sarveshu bhutesu
nasyatsu na vinasyati" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eight verse 20)

"Sri Krishna said: Yet there is another unmanifest Spiritual nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested material nature. This Spiritual nature is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this material world is annihilated, those Spiritual worlds remains as it is."

"avyakto ’kshara ity uktas
tam ahuh paramam gatim
yam prapya na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eight verse 21)

"Sri Krishna said: That which the Vedantists describe as Spiritual unmanifest and infallible, that which is known as the supreme destination, that place from which, having attained it, one never returns—that is My supreme abode in the Spiritual world."

"purushah sa parah partha
bhaktya labhyas tv ananyaya
yasyantah-sthani bhutani
yena sarvam idam tatam" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eight verse 22)

"Sri Krishna said: The Lord / God, who is greater than all, is attainable by unalloyed devotion. Although He is present in His Spiritual abode, He is all-pervading, and everything is situated within Him."

So let's always pray to The Lord Krishna, who is greater than all, with full devotion. By doing so we can attain to His Spiritual abode where there is no misery of any type & which is full of bliss.

Jai Shri Krishna

All Pervasive Brahm (God)

God is omnipresent (present everywhere) in it's un-manifest aspect & is always present all around us. This omnipresent God consists of knowledge & knows everything about this whole world & also knows about all the people of this world. Every inch of the space is occupied by Him. Every nook & corner is filled by Him. He is therefore called Brahm (God) who is Truth Absolute, Knowledge Absolute and is Infinite.

To fulfill the desire of a devotee, this un-manifest, all pervasive Brahm (God) by the power of His Yogmaya, manifests Himself as an embodied Being and appears before the devotee. In fact there is no difference between the Manifest and Un-manifest aspects of God. It is the Un-manifest that becomes manifest only.

Brahm (God) manifests Himself in the same form in which a devotee likes to see Him. In Bhagwat Gita, Arjuna wanted to see God's Universal form in the first instance, then His celestial form endowed with four arms, and last of all His human form with two arms only. Divine Lord Krishna, in order to fulfill the desire of Arjuna, appeared before him in all these forms successively within a short time.

So the God appears before a devotee in whatever form he worship Him, whether it is the form of Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti, Ganesha or any other form. A devotee should always remember that the God whom he worships, always pervades through this whole universe & can manifest Himself in any form, anytime He wants to appear before his devotee. God is never invisible to such souls who have understood His true nature, nor does He ever lose sight of them.

God is called Brahmn,

Whole world dwells in Brahmn,

Whole world comes from Brahmn,

Whole world goes back in Brahmn,

Whole world breathes in Brahmn,

Let's worship that Brahmn, the God.

"maya tatam idam sarvam
jagad avyakta-murtina
mat-sthani sarva-bhutani
na chaham tesv avasthitah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Nine verse 4)

"Sri Krishna said: By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them."

"athakasa-sthito nityam
vayuh sarvatra-go mahan
tatha sarvani bhutani
mat-sthanity upadharaya" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Nine verse 6)

"Sri Krishna said: Understand that as the mighty wind, blowing everywhere, rests always in the sky, all created beings rest in Me."

"prakritim svam avastabhya
visrijami punah punah
bhuta-gramam imam krtsnam
avasam prakriter vasat" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Nine verse 8)

"Sri Krishna said: The whole cosmic order is under Me. Under My will it is automatically manifested again and again, and under My will it is annihilated at the end."

Jai Sri Krishna

Lord Krishna Bhakti is Like Boon Giving Tree Kalpvriksha

"Kalpvriksha" is a mythological Wish-Fulfilling or Boon-Giving tree. It is a tree that has mythological significance in India and elsewhere. As per mythology, if you ask anything from this tree, it fulfills that wish of a person. Considered as sacred among Hindus, the tree is believed to have been one of the nine jewels, which were churned out of the sea (Samudra Manthan) by the demons and gods.

As per the saints, Lord Krishna Bhakti too is Like the "Kalpvriksha" for his devotees. From the God, whatever, is asked for, God provides that to his devotee. God is so kind that he provides everything to his devotee even without being asked for. Surely, He does not give anything which shall be harmful to his devotee or anybody else. If you have firm faith in God & your wish is pure then God shall certainly fulfill that wish. Just like an unmarried woman, who when gets married to a man, automatically enjoys all the affluence of her husband; similarly when a devotee by his/her devotion gets to the God, then that devotee automatically gets all the affluence of God & of this world. This whole world is created by God only, so when one is able to get to the God, then that person too gets all the affluence of this world. As per "Srimad-Bhagwat", in the past, God became very happy with the devotion of child "Dhruva" & gave him all the boons & the kingdom of the world.

The essence is that, whatever you want, material or spiritual, you can get it from God by becoming His devotee. God Himself declares in "Bhagwat Gita":

"ananyas cintayanto mam
ye janah paryupasate
tesham nityabhiyuktanam
yoga-ksemam vahamy aham" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Nine verse 22)

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form—to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have."

"mam cha yo ’vyabhicharena
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa gunan samatityaitan
brahma-bhuyaya kalpate" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 26)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, One who engages in full devotional service to Him, unfailing in all circumstances, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman & attains God."

"man-mana bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaishyasi satyam te
pratijane priyo ’si me" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eighteen verse 65)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend."

"sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
mokshayisyami ma suchah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eighteen verse 66)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear."

So as the God promises that He shall always protect His devotee & fulfill all his/her rightful desires, so let's always be with God & keep Him in our thoughts. Remember, Lord Krishna Bhakti is Like Boon Giving Tree Kalpvriksha.

Jai Sri Krishna