Brahmā’s Stotras to the Divine Teja and to Rādhā
The Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa of the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa keeps two stotras of Brahmā. The first is addressed to the first blazing divine light (teja) that Brahmā saw in Goloka, before the forms of Kṛshṇa and Rādhā came out of it. It is found in Chapters 5 and 6. The second is sung to Rādhā at the vivāha (wedding) of Rādhā and Kṛshṇa, where Brahmā was the priest. It is found in Chapter 15. Together they are Brahmā’s praise of the Parāt-para Brahman: first as the formless light beyond all creation, then as Kṛshṇa and his eternal śakti Rādhā, joined in marriage.
The stotra to the divine teja in Goloka
The setting
At the opening of the Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Brahmā and other devas went to Goloka. Goloka is the highest world, above Vaikuṇṭha and beyond all the created worlds. There they saw a first, overwhelming, blazing divine light. This light was the Parāt-para Brahman before the forms of Kṛshṇa and Rādhā became separately visible. Brahmā was overcome by the sight. He made a stotra to this supreme teja.
The themes of the stotra
The formless Absolute. Brahmā addresses the teja as the Parāt-para Brahman, nirguṇa (without the guṇas) and nirākāra (without form). It is the reality before and under all creation, all devas and all worlds. Brahmā says that he himself, Vishṇu and Śiva came from this light, and that before it even they are only derived.
The origin of creation. Brahmā praises the teja as the origin of all creation. From this divine light came prakṛti and purusha. From them came the mahat tattva, ahaṃkāra, the five tanmātras and all of creation. Brahmā, the creator, knows that his power to create is only a task given to him by this supreme light.
Beyond all categories. The teja cannot be fully described, sorted or held in any system of thought. It is both sat and asat (being and non-being), personal and impersonal. It is saguṇa (with qualities) as Kṛshṇa, and nirguṇa (beyond qualities) as the Parāt-para Brahman.
Humility before the Supreme. Brahmā is the maker of the fourteen worlds and the father of all living beings. Yet before this teja he stands like a single drop before the ocean. He accepts his limit and rejoices in the greatness of what he sees.
The stotra to Rādhā at the vivāha
The setting
Chapter 15 tells of the first meeting of Rādhā and Kṛshṇa on earth, in the Bhāṇḍīra forest. Nanda carried the child Kṛshṇa to the forest and gave him to Rādhā. This was the meeting again of the eternal divine pair, who had been parted by māyā and śāpa (a curse). Rādhā then carried Kṛshṇa to a beautiful maṇṭapa (pavilion) that had appeared there.
Brahmā himself came down to the forest. He did the Vedic rites of a vivāha between Rādhā and Kṛshṇa:
- Agni-sthāpana: setting up the sacred fire.
- Saptapadī: the seven steps.
- Pāṇigraha: the joining of hands.
At the end of these rites Brahmā offered a stotra to Rādhā.
The themes of the stotra
Rādhā as Parāśakti. Brahmā praises Rādhā as Parāśakti, the supreme power of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. Without her Kṛshṇa would not manifest, and all creation would be lifeless. She is the moving power (śakti) and he is the steady reality (śaktimān). The two cannot be parted. Rādhā and Kṛshṇa are one reality in two forms.
Rādhā as Mūla-Prakṛti. Brahmā names Rādhā as Mūla-Prakṛti, primal nature. She is not the lifeless prakṛti of Sāṅkhya. She is the conscious divine śakti, and from her all other śaktis come as aṃśas (parts): Lakshmī, Sarasvatī, Durgā and the rest. She is the source of all the divine power of the feminine in the cosmos.
The divine pair together again. The stotra praises the meeting again of Rādhā and Kṛshṇa. They had been parted by two curses. Śrīdāma cursed Rādhā to go to earth, and Rādhā cursed Śrīdāma to become an asura. Their meeting again is the return of the first harmony that is the eternal truth of Goloka. Their parting was the frame of the earthly līlā (divine play). Their meeting in the Bhāṇḍīra forest renews that eternal bond.
Brahmā as witness and priest. In the stotra Brahmā speaks of the great honour of being the priest at this wedding. The union of Rādhā and Kṛshṇa in the forest of Bhāratavarsha mirrors their eternal union in Goloka. By doing the Vedic rites, Brahmā formally sets this union in the human world.
The stotras of Śiva and Dharma
In the same part of the text, in Chapters 5 and 6, Śiva and Dharma (righteousness in person) also made stotras when they saw the divine light of Goloka. These stotras also praise the Parāt-para Brahman as the source and support of all that exists, beyond the power of even the greatest devas to describe.
The phalaśruti
The stotras of Brahmā give these fruits of recitation, whether they are to the divine teja, to Rādhā, or in praise of the union of Rādhā and Kṛshṇa: firm devotion (dṛḍha bhakti) to Śrī Hari and Rādhā, and at last the eternal service (dāsya) of them.
Sources
- Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapters 5–6
- Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 15