What is the relationship between Radha & Krishna?
Even today, right from stones on the road to the trees to temple walls and cows, all that you see in and around Vrindavan have Radhey-Radhey written all over them. Why Radha’s name and not Krishna’s? Well to ask that question is folly itself, for Radha-Krishna are not separate!
Considered an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi, Radha is Sri Krishna’s playmate, best friend, soulmate, & eternal lover: they are 2 sides of the same coin. Being the purest reflection of Sri Krishna himself, Radha is ‘Prakriti’ the feminine, while Sri Krishna is ‘Purush’ the masculine. None can exist without the other and their love is life itself, divinity itself, being itself. If one is beautiful the other is beauty; if one is water, the other is wetness, if one breathes, the other is breath itself -such is the relationship between the two of them!
The relationship of Radha-Krishna is symbolic of our relationship with Divinity itself. Our soul is a part of what one may call the Supersoul, The Absolute or The Divine. Though we may be physically separated, there is no spiritual separation possible!
The relationship between Radha-Krishna is a great metaphor for our everyday material life. We do not fall in or out of love: the emotion that we call ‘love’ in its purest form is a part of who we are, it is a part of our being. The fact that you love something/something does not mean you have to ‘have’ it. The sense of possession is itself an illusion, for, we don’t even truly ‘possess’ or ‘own’ a tangible ‘thing’ let alone a person. Besides that, when you truly ‘love’ someone, you have the beloved inside you, then where from can the sense of ‘having’ or ‘not-having’ arise?!
The ‘Love’ of Radha-Krishna is a feeling so intense and pure, a oneness so complete and whole that the appearance of Radha-Krishna as 2 separate entities is but a mere mirage…a mirage that can disappear as soon as you come near enough to touch it!
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If Radha-Krishna are lovers then why did Sri Krishna marry Rukmini?
The fact is, that both Rukmini and Radha are considered avatars of Goddess Lakshmi, the eternal consort of Lord Vishnu himself. Then one may ask, why 2 forms then, why could Radha not simply be Sri Krishna’s wife, or the other way round? The beauty of these stories is that simple as they are, they also hold deep layers of symbolism and complex meaning, which when approached with pure faith, is not so complex. Symbolically, Radha was an extension of Krishna himself and an external ceremony of marriage was not needed for them because they were one in soul. Also, as per the stories, Sri Krishna and Radha grew up in ‘Nandanagri’: She represented the phase of childhood, the age of innocence, a carefree existence, a realm of pleasure and happiness away from any painful realities of this world. Krishna, having taken the birth in human form, had to pass through all its stages and he too had to grow out of this carefree, blissful existence, leave Vrindavan and go out in the world to set its affairs in order. It was this transition from childhood into adulthood, from a carefree life of a dreamy cowherd to the responsible life of a ruler.
Sri Krishna did not have any ordinary marriage. He had to elope with Rukmini. This itself speaks volumes about the magnanimity of Sri Krishna. Rukmini never wanted to marry Shishupala, whom her father was forcing her to marry. Being an incarnation of Lakshmi, how could she have given her heart and soul to anyone other than Krishna himself? And so the savior came and gave her the respect and love that she deserved. Look at the beauty of this act! By overturning social order itself, Sri Krishna actually upheld the right social order by protecting the right of a woman to choose a husband.
Whenever pure love, boundless devotion and limitless dedication are to be invoked, one always thinks of Radha-Krishna. And when rectification of society and reciprocation of faith is considered, one invokes Lakshmi-Narayan for domestic peace and happiness!
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Why did Sri Krishna have 16,108 wives?
The legend tells us that all these 16,108 women were kidnapped by the evil Narakasura. After the long imprisonment, when Narakasura was defeated by Sri Krishna, the women, though free were homeless and helpless with no one ready to accept them. There, the protective Vishnu in Sri Krishna came to the fore and married all of them, instating them as respectable queens of his Kingdom. But that is just the story, the real meaning lies behind it. This multitude of women symbolizes the whole of mankind.
Whether you think you belong somewhere or nowhere, you always belong to Krishna: Krishna being that positive, protective force that forms the very essence of being. ’Marriage’ with Sri Krishna meant committing your life to all that Krishna stood for, it meant uniting your soul with his, it meant understand, accepting and dedicating your life to the purest form of bliss!
After all, who is not married to Krishna? Krishna not as a person/character/historical entity but a symbol of Pure Bliss, Beauty, Music, Art, Divinity: all that there is, transcending the limits of Maya!
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