Hare Krishna
23rd of September, 2012 this year is
celebrated all over the world by Lord Krishna devotees as Radhashtami. The date need not be the same in future years.
On Radhasthami day devotees fast like
they do on any Ekadashi in honour of Sri Radha or Radharani and visit Radha
Krishna temples.
Radharani is always picturised with
Lord Krishna as his extremely true and ardent lover. In other words, without Lord Krishna, Radharani has no
identity of her own. Her importance gains only because of her association with
Lord Krishna. Radharani is HIS eternal lover.
This relationship can be better
explained by understanding Radha Rani as representative of an individual soul that craves the re-association and
continued association of the Super Soul
i.e Lord Krishna. No
physical relationship in the
material sense is intended here or elsewhere. We have to be clear that we are a
soul and not a body. And therefore it is only a relationship between a
minute soul and an unimaginably huge Super Soul. Individual souls are represented by the
female form of Radharani. Lord Krishna is the Supreme Soul and assumes the
male form.
Lord
Krishna says that we (our souls)
are a minute part of him. Having been separated from HIM, our soul
needs to connect with HIM as often and as continuously and intensely as it can.
However what we see in the material world is that
our soul gets superceded and
superimposed by our material body and senses. Our soul gets overwhelmed
by the material desires and gradually we
forget the soul within which leads
to a wider disconnect with God.
On this day
prayers are held across temples
to fulfill the desire of the soul (Sri Radharani) to connect to its long lost
owner and lover Lord Krishna. People
sing bhajans in glory of Lord Krishna and dance to the beating of cymbals and
mridangam. A joyous atmosphere prevails. If and when an individual soul
connects to God there is infinite joy and ecstacy. The ecstacy grips every one in the congregation and these are
electrifying moments. Once this desire of connecting to God gets fulfilled,
there is a craving for the joy and
connection to continue till eternity.
Therefore this day is observed to signify the hidden Radharani in all of
us. Our soul has no relevance in the
absence of its connection to the Supreme
Soul.
The festival underlines the statement
that humans alone have the sense and ability to connect their soul to the Supreme Soul. This is the
effect of only Bhakti or intense passion inherent in all of us and waiting to
reveal itself. So says the Holy scriptures.
From this day onwards, reading of the
Holy Srimad Bhagavatham by all devotees commences to be completed within seven
days. People who have the Holy book, which is Lord Krishna himself, make it a
point to complete reading and understanding it within seven days. Their prayer
is to enable them to connect to Lord
Krishna.
Wishing readers a happy Radhashtami
and Happy Bhagavat Sapthah. And happy connection with the Lord.
Hare Krishna
No comments:
Post a Comment