Sri Sri Radha Rasa Sudhanidhi – Srila Prabhodhananda Sarasvati
VERSE 3:
BRAHMESVARADI SUDURuHA PADARAVINDA
SRIMAT PARAGA PARAMADBHUTA VAIBHAVAYAH
SARVARTHA SARA RASAVARShI KRiPARDRA DRiShTES
TASYA NAMO'STU VRiShABHANU BHUVO MAHIMNE
I offer my obeisances to the glories of Maharaja Vrishabhanu's daughter (Sri Radhika), the beautiful dust of Whose lotus feet is hardly attained by Lord Brahma, Lord Siva and others and whose merciful glance, which is endowed with the most astonishing prowess, showers the nectar of the essence of all human pursuits (love of God).
SRI RADHA'S GLORIES:
Commentary by Srila Ananta das Babaji:
In Caitanya Caritamrita it is said: citta dridha kori lage mahima jsana hoite "One's heart becomes fixed in faith when one is aware of God's greatness", and for this reason Sripada continues his auspicious invocation of 'Radha Rasa Sudhanidhi' by praising the prowess of Sri Radha.
rasa (spiritual flavour) is built on the foundation of tattva (spiritual truth).
When that foundation is not there (when one disregards or does not know spiritual truth) the rasa may seem to be mundane. In his commentary on verse 10.12.10 of the Bhagavata Sri Jiva Gosvami writes:
bhagavams tavad asadharana svarupaisvarya madhuryas tattva viseshah "God is the Supreme Truth, Who is full of extraordinary selfperfect prowess and sweetness."
In the 40th chapter of the 'Patala khanda' of Padma Purana, Sri Narada Muni offers most respectful prayers to Sri Radha. Vrajadhama is the abode of sweetness and Sri Radharani is sweetness personified, therefore the Gaudiya Vaishnava-acaryas show all the devotees of the world who meditate on the Lord's Vrindavana-pastimes the sweetness of Sri Radha. But sometimes the Gosvamis also hint at Her great majestic aspect, which is the foundation on which the palace of Her charming sweetness is built. Such is the case in this and in the next verse. The dust of Sri Radha's lotus feet has such divine power that it cannot even be perceived by great gods like Lord Brahma. In Srimad Bhagavata it is mentioned that Lord Brahma was astonished at seeing the sweetness of Krishna's pauganda-lila (pastimes as a 5-9 year old boy) of having a picknick on the bank of the Yamuna, and that he offered many prayers to Krishna, some full of sweetness and some full of reverence. For instance:
tad bhuri bhagyam iha janma kim apy atavyam
yad gokule'pi katamanghri rajo'bhishekam
yaj jivitam tu nikhilam bhagavan mukundas
tvadyapi yat prada-rajah sruti mrigyam eva
(Srimad Bhagavata 10.14.34)
"I will be most blessed if I can take any kind of birth (even a subhuman one) in this forest of Gokula, so that I can be sprinkled by the foot dust of one of its inhabitants, whose very life is the Supreme Lord Mukunda, Whose foot dust is even now sought for by the Vedas!"
In his Sarartha Varshini-commentary on this verse Sri Visvanatha Cakravartipada writes that Lord Brahma was so astonished by seeing Krishna's pastimes that he did not have the courage to directly ask for the dust from the lotus feet of the cowherd boys. Therefore he prayed that he could birth as a tile or so outside the house of any low-caste person living on the outskirts of Vraja, so that he can sprinkle his whole body with that person's foot dust. From this it is easy to understand that it is very difficult for Lord Brahma to have a glimpse of the dust from Vrishabhanu-nandini Radha's lotus feet. The dust of the cowherd boys- and girls of Vraja is also difficult to attain in Lord Siva's abode Mt. Kailasa, so Lord Siva sought residence in Vraja under the name of Gopisvara, hoping to attain some of that dust. But when Radha and the gopis saw Him, they prayed for the dust of His lotus feet instead, hoping that in this way they could attain Sri Krishna. Thus it is very hard for Sriman Mahadeva to attain Sri Radha's footdust also. The dust of Sri Radha's lotus feet is called srimat, or filled with opulences, here.
Even for the goddess of fortune, Lakshmi-devi, this foot dust is very difficult to attain. In Srimad Bhagavata (10.16.36), the wives of the Kaliya-snake say that the goddess of fortune gave up the side of Her divine husband Narayana by Her own will and took shelter of Vrindavana to perform harsh austerities there, hoping for the foot dust of Sri Krishna, but that until now She has not been able to get it. Why not? In Caitanya Caritamrita (Madhya lila, chapter eight) it is explained:
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Glories of Srimati Radherani ❤
SpiritualGlories of Srimati Radherani don't need a description . Her glories are infinite and don't end , and in this book , I have tried to describe her glories , collected pieces from different sources , although this is impossible to describe even 0.0000...
