94 - Uddhava's Prayer to Radha

Sri Narayana said- O sage finding, Radhika lying like dead, Uddhava was surprised and he felt extremely panicky. Thereafter, he somehow brought her back to senses and said to her.

Witnessing the devotion of the chaste and virtuous Radhika towards Krishna, Uddhava thought on to himself that his devotion for the lord was of no consequence.

Uddhava said- O mother of the universe, O virtuous one, you regain your senses, I bow in reverence to you, you happen to have all good deeds performed in the earlier births, now you would surely meet Krishna.

This entire universe has been purified with you, this earth has been sanctified with the dust of your feet, your face is quite auspicious, adorable in the holy places, spotless, bestows the devotion of the lord, the form of welfare and removes all the obstructions.

You are Radha, you are Krishna, you are Purusha and you are Prakruti. The Vedas or the Puranas do not differentiate between Radha and Madhava. Thereafter finding Radha in an unconscious condition, the cowherdesses Madhavi spoke to Radha pushing aside Uddhava and standing before Radha.

Madhavi said- what is the virtue of lord Krishna, who is the form of a thief, clad in the best of garments, enjoys the best of pleasures, glory, prowess, fortunes and strength, beside the siddhis and the glory what more virtues does he have as compared to you? He a somehow arrived here from somewhere and again disappeared but the cowherds shall still remain there. There is no prince here therefore, O virtuous one, why are you dyeing for the son of Nanda, you protect yourself making all the efforts because there is no one else greater than one’s own soul.

Malati said- O Radha, disgrace to your shamelessness and your life has become useless. Presently you are destroying the good name of all the damsels of the universe. All the ladies should keep their moves a secret, because by revealing the same, there is the loss of reputation. Therefore, O friend, open your eyes and carefully look with your own eyes, you love anyone keeping the love of the husband as a secret in your heart. O goddess there is no caste between a friend and foe. In the deeds, one becomes a friend.

The intelligent person performs his own deeds because it is of no use spoiling the work of anyone.

O Radha, who is beloved of whom and who is inimical to whom, people conduct themselves taking both the things into consideration.

You listen from me the symptoms of an enemy. An enemy snatch away the riches and life besides being till spoken and causes pain.

Getting you excommunicated from your caste, throwing you in the ocean of grief, stealing away your consciousness, the heartless Krishna has disappeared. O foolish one, then why do you remember him? you shed away this terrific grief and preserve yourself making efforts, because who could be more important than self.

Padmavati said- O dear, you had yourself spoken on the bank of the river Yamuna that the love of a dull person carries a person too far and with that the women have to suffer a lot. Because no line can be drawn in the lightening and the water, similarly the love of a wicked person is only short lived. Therefore, the people who are well-versed in polity have pronounced that the wicked person should never be believed at any time, whenever you looked with a side glance towards Krishna on the bank of Yamuna, you had kept it a secret, because of your consciousness. This is the result of the same and you have disowned your teachers and your relatives discarding their words. Now you always think of Krishna alone. You are unmindful about your food and life.

Lord Krishna is comfortably lodged in Mathura, while you are rotting here in the forest of banana trees. Even if you lay down your life for his sake, he is not going to appear before you. O beautiful one, you save yourself and you will surely meet him in due course of time.

Chandramukhi said- One achieves pleasure and pain according to one’s earlier deeds including the everlasting fortune, the pain, grief, misfortune and the riches, in the land of Bharata which is sought for by all. You would achieve lord. Hari, your beloved as your husband by performing tapas.

Why are you burning your body with the arrows of passion? How are the moon, the god of love and the spring season, the enemies of the passion? Shiva had burnt the god of love to ashes, Rahu had swallowed the moon and vomited it back and the spring season died with the separation from his friend and arrived in the abode of Yama. The moon who was considered to be the ocean of nectar has turned as the ocean of poison for my friend Radha. The shining garments are like the fire, the sandal-paste serve as the offering in the fire and the fragrant breeze bums the body.

Look this friend of mine is lying motionless discarding food and is alive only by breathing, therefore, O son of the Kuru race, you praise your friend Krishna with your mouth again and again. Because the reciting of his name and his virtues are the good news about him and she would be brought back the life.

Shashikala said- O Madhavi, the one, whose glory is recited by Brahma and other gods beside the four Vedas, whose lotus-like feet are adored by the gods and the sages and whose glory is beyond the recitation of Kamala, Sarasvati, Durga, Ananta, Maheshvara, the siddhas, the ascetics, Manus; therefore, what do you know about Krishna who is the supreme soul? He is the soul of all, is formless, is without qualities, is form of truth, The form of the lord which has been described is truthful, bestows pleasure, blissful, charming, bestower of grace over the devotees, the abode of divine play, the welfare of all the welfare's, whose beauty excels crores of the gods of love, whose beauty is beyond comparison. The same lord Krishna having the said form has incarnated on earth in order to rid of her of the burden. The water of Mandakini has emerged from the sweat lotus-like feet of the lord, who was accommodated by lord Shiva several in his head and getting detached always devotes his mind reciting his name. He discarding his food, costumes and ornaments remaining unrobed, starts dancing in a movement with devotion and recited the qualities of the lord from all his five faces. Brahma, Sesha, Sanatkumara and the siddhas in groups always meditate upon the divine lustre of the lord and engage themselves tapas for him and spend their lives, who could know about the glory of the same Krishna. 

Sushila said - Hundreds of the gods of love cannot be compared with the beauty of Sri Krishna and the moon, Ashvinikumaras are of no consequence before his beauty. Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, the gods, the sages, Manus, siddhas and devotees besides the ascetic always adore and meditate upon the feet of the lord Krishna in the innumerable globes. All the four Vedas are unable to recite his glory. The goddess Sarasvati becomes dumb before him and getting nervous she seeks apology from him, the serpent Sesha with a thousand hoods always shakes while offering prayers to him, Brahma the creator of the Vedas is known as a lord because of him. The same lord is being denounced by Madhavi.

Therefore, this assembly has become in auspicious and the life of a cowherdess is of no consequence now. Only Radha is the most virtuous of all who always remains engaged in the love of lord Krishna, with the reciting of whose name the sin of crores of birth gets destroyed, there is no doubt about it. 

Ratnamala said- Krishna had lifted Govardhana with his left hand but he could add to the glory of the kings because the one who could reduce to pieces thousands of mountains, the same Krishna kills lakhs of demons at a time. 

Vishnu in the form of a boar incarnated on earth from his amsha and lifted the goddess earth over the tip of his tusks quite playfully, redeeming the earth from the vast ocean, with thousands of mountains and trees, in which innumerable demons dwelt. 

O friend, by that deed alone one could asses his prowess, strength, reputation and praise. He happens to be the soul of ail.

Parijata said- O dear, the earth is the base of all the seven continents, the forest, the mountains, the oceans, Mem mountain, seven heavens and up to Brahmaloka. Below the earth there are seven nether worlds. The globe comprises of all of them which is created by Brahma. The same Brahma resides in the hair-pits of Mahavishnu in a tiny form.

Because the number of globes is equivalent to the number of the hair-pits on the body of Mahavishnu. The same Mahavishnu is the sixteenth part of lord Krishna.

Therefore, how could the reputation, the strength and the glory of lord Hari be described? Therefore, cowherdess Madhavi who is a glutton, can never know about him.

Madhavi said- O Uddhava, these cowherdesses are uselessly speaking without understanding my words. Therefore, you please listen to me whatever I have to say.

Lord Vishnu becomes Saguna according to his own sweet will and with his own sweet will he becomes Nirguna. The same lord, in order to rid the earth of her burden incarnate on the earth in the form of a cowherd.

In case the Vedas, the Puranas, the siddhas, the ascetics, the noble souls, Brahma, Shiva, Sesha and his devotees are not aware of his true identity, then how could a foolish cowherdesses like me, who is a glutton, know about him? Still O son, you listen to my truthful words just now. Are all the virtues of the lord including his duties, his strength, reputation, strength, prowess, costumes, siddhis and all other virtues are beyond description. Lord Krishna who move at will in definite form, can be beyond description? What is the name of the Nirguna supreme soul? What is his form.

All the foolish cowherdesses are denouncing me without understanding my words. How could this foolish cowherdess know about the lord who is beyond nature, truthful, the form of eternal flame, the supreme soul, the inexplicable lord and the one who takes to a human form in order to grace his devotees.

Kamala the spouse of Vishnu who happens to be the mother of the three worlds serves at his feet like a slave getting panicky. He happens to be Vishnumaya, Mulaprakruti, eternal and the form of Brahma. Still she remains panicky remaining on his right side, Similarly the goddess Sarasvati getting terrified becomes non-pulsed and is unable to recite his glory, then how could the Vedas recite the glory of the lord.

On hearing the words of cowherdess, Uddhava was flooded with devotion and he felt emotional in his body. He then started crying and getting fainted, he fell down on the ground. On regaining consciousness, he devoted his mind at the lotus-like feet of the lord and considered himself to be of no consequence before the cowherdesses and he spoke to them with devotion.

Uddhava said- Of all the continents Jambudvipa is quite graceful glorious and pleasant, on which the auspicious land of Bharata is lodged. This is the auspicious place for the traders and is the best place for their auspicious commercial activities, because the merit earned by performing good deeds by anyone in the land of Bharata is enjoyed at another places.

This land of Bharata has been purified with the dust from the feet of Radha which is quite spotless, graceful, meritorious and auspicious. Even more than that, of all the ladies in the land of Bharata, the cowherdesses are considered quite graceful, who always have the privilege of having an audience with Radha, looking at her lotus-like feet.

Brahma had performed tapas for sixty thousand years in order to achieve dust of the lotus-like feet of Radha but was unsuccessful. Radha the dweller of a Goloka is dearer to Krishna more than his own life. She had to be born as the daughter of Vrushabhana due to the curse of Sridama, such of the people who are devoted to lord Krishna, are also devoted to Radha, Brahma and other gods do not compare to the sixteen part of cowherdesses.

The devotion of lord Krishna is well known to Shiva the lord of the yogis, Radha, cowherdesses, the cowherds and the dwellers of Goloka.

Sanatkumara and Brahma also know a little about him. The siddhas and the devotees also known about him. I have been graceful by coming to Gokula. The cowherdesses have served as the teacher to me, as a result of which I have achieved the infallible devotion of lord. I shall not go back to Mathura now. For all future births I shall serve the cowherds and cowherdesses and spend my life reciting the name of Krishna because out of the devotees of lord Krishna, no one could be superior to the cowherdesses. The type of devotion which has been achieved by the cowherdesses has not been achieved by anyone else.

Kalavati said- The manes had three daughters named Dhanya, Mena and Kalavati and all the three of us roam abate on earth according to our sweet will. Out of these three, the chaste Dhanya became the wife of Janaka and the mother of Sita, both myself and Radhika are born without any human contact. Because of the curse of Sridama, Radha had to be born as the daughter of Vrushabhana on earth and because of the curse of Sanatkumara, the three sisters had to be born on earth.

Once all the three of us went to Sveta-dvipa located on the ocean of milk with the mind filled with devotion, in order to have an audience with lord Vishnu.

At that point of time Sanatkumara the lord of the yogis also arrived there but all the three of us did not welcome him by standing, which enraged him and he pronounced a curse on us.

Sanatkumara said- O foolish girls, you would be reborn on earth and become the wives of human beings, because of the arrogance displayed by you. You would not be able to go back to the heaven again.

Thereafter the sage was somehow pleasing and granted boon to all the three of us. He said to Mena you would be born and become the wife of Himalaya from the amsha of Vishnu and you would have a daughter named Parvati. Dhanya would be the wife of Janaka the great ascetic in whose house Lakshmi in the form of Slta would incarnate. At the end of the Dvapara you would be born as Kalavati and become the wife of Vrushabhana, Vaishya and would be known as chaste Kalavati. Radha the dweller of Goloka would be the daughter of Kalavati who would incarnate on earth because of the curse of Sridama. There is no doubt about it.

Sri Krishna, the lord of Maheshvara, Brahma and Sesha would also incarnate on the land of Bharata in order to rid the earth of her burden.

Thereafter accompanied by her daughter Radha, Vrushabhana and Kalavati would be relieved of the cycle of the birth and death and arrived in Goloka. There is no doubt about it.

Dhanya too would go to Vaikuntha together with Sita. Menaka with the boon of Parvati would be turned into a Siddhayogini and at the end of kalpa she would proceed to Vishnuloka and reside there delightfully like Lakshmi. Who can achieve glory without facing the painful situation? After facing the difficult situation according to one’s own deeds, one achieves the inaccessible pleasures. In earlier times the daughters of the manes enjoyed all the pleasures in the heaven. Because of the boon from Brahma and by at the adoring the feet of lord Vishnu they were treated like Lakshmi. Thereafter having an audience with lord Vishnu or their deeds were destroyed. Because of the grace of same lord, we met Kumara and we achieved the divine knowledge from his mouth. Sri Krishna happens to be the lord of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, gods, siddhas and the entire universe. He is beyond Prakruti, Nirguna, unattached, of all the best and moves at will.

Tulasi said- In all the creatures the gods are variously lodged, Vishnu happens to be the life (breathing), Brahma, lord of consciousness and the mind, the goddess Prakruti, control all the "Strength and intelligence, Shiva controls the eternal knowledge, Dharma himself appears in the form of nobility, lord Krishna who is Nirguna, the supreme soul, eternal Brahman and beyond Prakruti, remains as the witness of all the deeds which are performed by all the people. The Jiva happens to be the recitation of the same, the sun and the moon reflect the eyes, Sarasvati resides in the tongue, the earth dwells in the skin and the Lokapalas in the arms.

All of them serve the soul in one way or the other. The soul loves them all. As in the assembly of the human beings, the people go to the king, similarly all the Jivas, go to the supreme soul. The yogis meditate upon the lord with great devotion. Krishna happens to be the witness of the deeds of all the people, therefore, who can keep a secret of any deed from him? Lord Krishna who pervades all the people propagates for them.

Kalika said- All the children, the old and young and three types of human beings including the gods and the siddhas know Krishna pretty well. At the present movement, it would be only wise to bring Radhika back to consciousness who is lying fainted. O Uddhava, you therefore do something for that. Bring her back the consciousness.

Uddhava said- O virtuous one, 0 mother of the universe, you regain your consciousness, I happen to be the servant of the devotees of Krishna. Therefore, O mother be compassionate on me. I intend to return Mathura. I am controlled by somebody else like the puppet as the bull is controlled by the person who yokes him, similarly I am also controlled by the lord of the universe.