Remembering Radha-Krishna

The fol­low­ing is intended to be med­i­tated on daily while imag­in­ing our­selves in our per­fect spir­i­tual iden­tity as a char­ac­ter inter­act­ing in the play. This is the basic plot out­line given by Rupa Goswami in his Ashta-Kaliya-Leela-Smarana-Mangala-Stotram.*

We updated it for con­tem­po­rary use, while try­ing to remain as faith­ful to the orig­i­nal as pos­si­ble. It pro­vides a sim­ple out­line, and each of us can flesh it out dif­fer­ently accord­ing to our per­sonal lov­ing rela­tion­ship with Radha-Krishna.

Radha-Krishna are a young cou­ple madly in love with each other. They spend much time together, but there are peri­ods of sep­a­ra­tion. They are not mar­ried, but have a com­mit­ted open rela­tion­ship. Mar­riage is not an issue as there is no birth, death, dis­ease, or old age, which erases many of the tra­di­tional rea­sons for mar­riage. Peo­ple do form com­mit­ted rela­tion­ships if they so desire, but rela­tion­ships are much more open there than here since Radha-Krishna and all their expan­sions includ­ing us sim­ply want to share in their love and increase the enjoy­ment of all. Radha-Krishna are twenty years old. Their inti­mate friends are dif­fer­ent ages rang­ing from eigh­teen to twenty, depend­ing on their mood and relationship.

Radha-Krishna live in Braj, a mag­i­cal myth­i­cal world that pos­sesses an unimag­in­ably beau­ti­ful rus­tic charm. Nature pro­vides abun­dantly with lit­tle toil required. Peo­ple work at what­ever they do because they enjoy it and want to con­tribute to the enjoy­ment of oth­ers. A sort of com­mu­nal coop­er­a­tive lifestyle is practiced.

Krishna is the “son” of a lead­ing cou­ple and Radha, the “daugh­ter” of another. They spend time with their fam­i­lies and have their own places as well. Every­thing is con­scious, and by desir­ing some­thing, it is. The prob­lem of inert mat­ter does not exist. Radha-Krishna enjoy sump­tu­ous com­mu­nal meals and enter­tain­ment pro­vided by the tal­ented com­mu­nity mem­bers who love pleas­ing them in this way. Radha-Krishna are so in love with each other and so lov­ing to every­one that they are the cen­ter of everyone’s life. Every­one wants to please them and they please every­one. All enjoy a life of sim­ple elegance.

1. I extol Radha-Krishna’s eter­nal play in Braj and describe their daily activ­i­ties, which those fol­low­ing the path of pas­sion­ate nat­ural devo­tion med­i­tate upon. This emo­tional and men­tal visu­al­iza­tion brings us to the lov­ing asso­ci­a­tion of Radha-Krishna by our intense desire to be absorbed in the play of Braj as a par­tic­i­pant. It is unat­tain­able by other means even if prac­ticed by lead­ing persons.

2. May Radha-Krishna pro­tect us, as at dawn, they leave their for­est love cot­tage and return to their homes in town. In the morn­ing and evening, Krishna takes part in vil­lage activ­i­ties help­ing, encour­ag­ing, and inspir­ing every­one. He eats in the com­mu­nal din­ning hall where Radha super­vises the prepa­ra­tion of deli­cious meals twice a day. After the morn­ing meal, Krishna tours the forests and mead­ows with his friends and tends the cat­tle. He slips away to join Radha and her friends at the lake and then returns to town in the evening. After din­ner, Radha-Krishna par­tic­i­pate in com­mu­nity enter­tain­ment and then slip away to their for­est cot­tage for love play.

3. At dawn, I remem­ber Radha-Krishna who are awak­ened by cocks crow­ing and birds singing. They unite one more time before ris­ing and being greeted by their friends who spent the night in sur­round­ing cot­tages, gaze­bos, and pavil­ions — well appointed for the enjoy­ment of all. Radha-Krishna each return to their own homes sur­rounded by lov­ing friends.

4. In the morn­ing, I take shel­ter of Radha who is mas­saged, bathed, dressed, and dec­o­rated by her most inti­mate female friends. She then goes to the com­mu­nity kitchen and super­vises the prepa­ra­tion of the most deli­cious foods for Krishna and the whole com­mu­nity to rel­ish. I also remem­ber Krishna who is bathed and dressed. He goes about inquir­ing into everyone’s well-being and bring­ing joy to all. Krishna then goes to the din­ning hall and eats sump­tu­ously with Radha, their fam­i­lies, and friends.

5. In the late morn­ing, I remem­ber Krishna who along with his friends tends the cat­tle in the sur­round­ing forests and mead­ows. He slips away to ren­dezvous with Radha for love sports at the lake. I also remem­ber Radha who relaxes at the shore with her friends await­ing Krishna’s arrival.

6. At mid­day, I remem­ber Radha-Krishna who look inde­scrib­ably beau­ti­ful and radi­ant due to their pas­sion­ate meet­ing. They are sur­rounded by inti­mate lov­ing friends, like Lalita, who pro­vide delec­table snacks and drinks, pleas­ing com­pan­ion­ship, and by their youth­ful beauty and pas­sion cre­ate an erot­i­cally charged atmos­phere that attracts the God of Love. They engage in play­ful fun in the for­est and the water. They steal Krishna’s flute, swing, make love, drink honey wine, enjoy aro­matic, sweetly rous­ing herbs and other delights.

7. In the late after­noon, I remem­ber Radha who goes home, is bathed and beau­ti­fully dressed. She then goes and super­vises prepa­ra­tion of the evening com­mu­nity meal. Krishna goes around town to see how everyone’s day went, encour­age them, and show love for all.

8. At sun­set, I remem­ber Radha-Krishna who beau­ti­fully dressed enjoy a lav­ish ban­quet with their friends and fam­i­lies. After din­ner, dif­fer­ent peo­ple take turns enter­tain­ing with music, song, dance, and com­edy. They tell sto­ries of won­drous dis­tant lands, of worlds filled with most won­der­ful crea­tures and heroic deeds, of insa­tiable love and dan­ger too, where land and peo­ple can per­ish. Lis­ten­ing to such tales by the evening fire they some­times fall into reverie, imag­in­ing them­selves as par­tic­i­pants in such stories.

9. At night, I remem­ber Radha-Krishna who slip away with some close friends to their love cot­tage by the river­side. Radha-Krishna pas­sion­ately enjoy each oth­ers com­pany sur­rounded by their dear friends who sing, joke, and speak sweetly. They drink honey wine, enjoy sweetly intox­i­cat­ing herbs, and dance lov­ingly. Their minds are all absorbed in love, their hearts are opened, and they rel­ish the var­ied fla­vors of erotic joy in their per­sonal love cottages.

10. Radha-Krishna are bliss­ful in the com­pany of their friends who serve them out of love with beau­ti­ful flower dec­o­ra­tions, tasty morsels, cool drinks, and mas­sages. After the girl­friends fall asleep, Radha-Krishna also doze off on their flower strewn bed shar­ing sweet lov­ing mur­mur­ings of deep love. When they fall asleep, they even dream about tales they talked about and lis­tened to, thus enjoy­ing both their eter­nity and worlds of per­ish­able nature in their dreams.
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* Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇayor; Aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā-smarana-maṅgala-stotram by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī

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