The Greatest Divine Power
It is commonly understood in India that Radha and Krishna must be like Lakshmi and Vishnu or Parvati and Shiva, but this is not so. Lakshmi and Vishnu are husband and wife, so too Parvati and Shiva. Radha and Krishna are not husband and wife. Shri Krishna is the absolute supreme divine power. For example, you have a father. But your original father’s father is the progenitor of humans, Manu. Manu’s father was Brahma, the creator of this universe. Brahma’s father was the Supreme Lord, Shri Krishna. But there is no father of Shri Krishna. He is the father of all.
Thus, the one beyond whom there is nothing is Shri Krishna. He governs uncountable Brahmas, uncountable Vishnus, and uncountable Shivas. The Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva that you have heard about belong to a single universe, just as each state within India has its own chief minister. The one who governs all the uncountable universes is Shri Krishna, just like all Indian states are governed by the prime minister. There is no position beyond this.
Scientists accept that when light takes millions of years to reach planet Earth, we can never know how gigantic this universe is. Imagine, light travels at 186,000 miles per second, and it takes millions of years for that light to reach Earth! How inconceivably far this is! Who could ever travel such distances? Who will ever see that far? There are millions of suns in the Milky Way like ours, and there are uncountable such galaxies in the universe. Jagadguru Shankaracharya also accepted this. Thus, everything related to Shri Krishna is unlimited. He has uncountable names, uncountable forms, uncountable qualities, uncountable pastimes, uncountable abodes, and uncountable souls related to Him — they are all unlimited. His powers are also unlimited.
In this regard, Gaurang Mahaprabhu states that out of His uncountable divine powers, three are foremost: sat, chit, anand. A name of God is sat-chit-anand. The relationship between these three is that sat is included in chit and sat and chit are included in anand. Hence, God is sometimes referred to as sat-chit-anand, as chid-anand (including sat), and simply as anand (including both sat and chit).
anando brahmeti vyajanat (Vedas)
ananda-mayobhyasat (Brahma Sutra)
This anand, the foremost power, has an essence called hladini, and this is God’s greatest power. All His other powers are governed by it. What does hladini do? With this power, God does what He wishes, He does nothing at all, or He does the opposite of both. For example, what do your eyes do? They see. They cannot hear or smell. Your eyes perform a single action. But God’s eyes see, smell, taste, touch, think, decide and are all-knowing! This is the miracle of hladini. Even with no senses, God is all-seeing, and He hears everything.
One aspect of God resides in all individual souls and notes our unfaithful thoughts, and yet remains ever blissful. None of our contrary thoughts affect Him. On the other hand, in a typical family of about ten people, we feel so troubled! Someone says something hurtful; the children have their differing demands. A person is so troubled over just ten people, and yet God has uncountable children, and on top of that, they are all wayward due to forgetting Him! They do not regard Him to be their true father. God notes all this residing in our heart. Even so, He never feels troubled. This is all possible through His hladini power.
Hladini has an essence called divine love, which has various classes, the final being mahabhava bhakti, which has two further classes, the highest being adhirudhamahabhava, which also has two classes: madan and modan. Madan is reserved for Shri Radha alone. Even Shri Krishna Himself cannot reach there. Shri Krishna is therefore the servant of madanakhyamahabhava Shri Radha. In other words, Shri Radha is the soul of Shri Krishna. Just as our body is the servant of our own soul, and our soul is the servant of Shri Krishna, Shri Krishna is the servant of Shri Radha. She is that great a divine power. Every pore of Shri Krishna’s divine body resounds with the holy name of Radhe. Her name is this important! We should understand this when we recite it. Just imagine how much happiness you would feel if you found a ring worth millions of dollars. You would take such care of it, wouldn’t you?
Similarly, when we deeply understand the greatness of Shri Radha, and recite Her name accordingly, our love for Her will grow. Always remember who Shri Krishna and Shri Radha are, who you are, and what this world is. Knowing this philosophy is essential because through it we can detach our mind from the world and attached it to God.
An English translation of a discourse delivered in Hindi by:
Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj
4 July 2010
Read Prem Ras Siddhant (Philosophy of Divine Love) by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj to learn more, available in Hindi and English.
https://www.facebook.com/JKPLiterature
