One cannot imagine Krishna without Radha. Some people believe that Radha was not a historical person. Whether she was a real person or not, is immaterial. What is important is the fact that the word radha as a metaphor.
Radha as a metaphor is very beautiful and unique. The word carries a deep meaning for the spiritual seekers and devotees. Radha is a reverse dimension of dhara, which means a rivulet that was born out of the ocean.
Search for God or for the truth is the search for our source — the origin!
Osho explains: "In Sanskrit, when the river moves towards the sea, from the origin to the goal, it is called dhara. If the river can move backwards, not towards the sea but towards the origin itself, then it is called radha. Dhara written backwards becomes Radha. Radha simply means one who has started searching for the origin, for the very source from where we are coming. And the only way to reach to the source is to become a lover of existence."
Hindus worship Krishna as the perfect incarnation of God. He absorbs everything in himself - all the contradictions. He is the best lover who plays his flute and dances with thousands of gopis and then shares the highest wisdom of life in the battle ground without getting disturbed. In short, he represents the whole existence. And Radha, his beloved, represents one who is in tremendous love with him and listening to his call, rushes back to him.
There cannot be any rivulet without the sea. There cannot be any Radha without Krishna. The sea can be there without the rivulets, and Krishna can be there without Radha. Yet, this perfect incarnation of God will not be considered totally perfect without Radha. We just cannot imagine the perfection without Radha. Radha does add something very significant to his perfection. He becomes more perfect if that can be said. Presence of Radha with Krishna creates an eternal romance, the maharaas of existence, the inter-play of man-woman love-relationship.
Osho says: "Radha constitutes the whole of Krishna's tenderness and refinement; whatever is delicate and fine in him comes from Radha. She is his song, his dance and all that is feminine in him. Alone Krishna is out and out male, and therefore, there is no meaning in mentioning his name alone. That is why they become united and one, they become Radhakrishna. Both the extremes of life meet and mingle in Radhakrishna. And this adds to Krishna's completeness.
[ Hindustan Times
August 27, 2003
Krishna's feminine sides
Swami Chaitanya Keerti]
[photos courtesy Google]
