The secret to approach Srimati Radharani - Nitai-Bhakti

THE SECRET TO APPROACH SRIMATI RADHARANI! (by Nitaisevika Dasi)

Wishing everyone a very blissful Radhashtami, the  appearance day of Krishna's Pranadhika! May the lotus feet of Srimati  Ananga Manjari's beloved sister eternally be imprinted in the innermost  core of everyone's heart by the grace of Nityananda Prabhu! On this  special day would like to humbly post an humble offering I had placed at  Nitai and Radhe's lotus feet earlier for their pleasure - the  introduction to the series "Nitai Bestows Radha Dasyam." Here it is:

The summum bonum of all devotional service, the highest  achievement of all achievements, is Yugala pada sewa, which is solely  situated on serving the Queen of Vrindavan, Sri Radhika. This divine  love and service is so valuable, so exalted, so inconceivably higher  than all the other forms of devotional service, that to even contemplate  on the glorious position of the one who can grant this topmost treasure  is impenetrable. In order to adequately establish the supreme position  of the one who is granting this divine service and madhurya prem, we  must first understand in depth the supremacy of this divine wealth.

labdhva dasyam tad ati-kripaya mohana-svaditena
"When, by Shri Radha’s supreme mercy and favor will I become Her maidservant?"

Our highest aspiration in devotional service is to achieve  the loving service at the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani. The  attainment of this topmost service is not so easy. Devotees often  mistakenly underestimate the elevated and esoteric position of Srimati  Radharani, and hastily try to jump into directly approaching Her in  madhurya rasa without the proper understanding or qualification. These  words are not to be mistaken as a premise of not worshiping Radharani,  that of course is the topmost goal of our devotional service, but we  must first understand who She is and what is Her position, so as to  avoid committing offenses at Her lotus feet.

brahmeshvaradi-su-duruha-padaravinda-
shrimat-paraga-paramadbhuta-vaibhavayah
sarvartha-sara-rasa-varshi-kripardra-drishtes
tasya namo 'stu vrishabhanu-bhuvo mahimne
(Radha Rasa Sudha Nidhi, verse 3)

"Obeisances to the glory of Shri Vrishabhanu's daughter.  Even Brahma, Shiva and all the demigods cannot attain the pollen of Her  lotus feet. Her merciful glance showers the best of all nectars."

Radharani is worshiped by the demigods headed by Brahma and  Shiva, yet even the dust of Her lotus feet remain unattainable for  them. Lord Shiva is the greatest vaishnava of all, vaishnavanam yatha  shambhuh, yet he cannot directly approach Radhika. He has composed so  many prayers glorifying Radharani, like Kripa Kataksha Strotram and  Radha sahasranam, yet Her divine pastimes still remain forever a mystery  even to Him. Who then are we conditioned souls to try and rush into Her  pastimes without the necessary qualifications?

yo brahma-rudra-shuka-narada-bhishma-mukhyair
alakshito na sahasa purushasya tasya
sadyo-vashi-karana-curnam ananta-shaktim
tam radhika-carana-renum anusmarami
(Radha Rasa Sudha Nidhi, verse 4)

"I meditate on the dust of Shri Radha's feet, dust that  even Brahma, Siva, Shukadeva, Narada, Bhishma, and a host of great  saints cannot see, dust that has limitless power, dust that at once  transforms the Supreme Personality of Godhead into Shri Radha's  submissive servant."

What to speak of vaishnavas and demigods, the lotus feet  which are deeply hankered for and the constant object of meditation for  Sarveshwar Rasaraj Krishna Himself (yogindra-vad yat-pada-jyotir  dhyana-parah), how can They be easily accessible to anyone else?  Vrajendra nandan Himself has to go through great penances and sadhana,  as guided by Radha’s gopis and Vrinda Devi, to simply become qualified  for obtaining Radharani’s darshan and performing pastimes with Her, and  He performs even more intense sadhana to grab hold of Radha’s tender  lotus feet and place Them on His head. The lotus feet which Shyamsundar  holds upon His head with great devotion and reverence, being the Supreme  Personality of Godhead, what must be Their unfathomable glory?

Radha seva is therefore not only the goal of souls engaged in devotional service, it is the ultimate goal for Krishna Himself.

Bhagavatah pujyaiva. Radharani is the most worshipable  object and swamini of Bhagavan (Sri Krishna). We are worshiping the  Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is  worshiping Radha. Her worship is therefore even higher than worshiping  Krishna, in fact it is the perfection of Krishna aradhana. The name  Radha comes not only from aradhana, which pertains to Her being the  greatest devotee of Krishna, but it also emanates from “Aradhya” which  means one’s most worshipable deity. Aradhya is also translated as the  “goal of worship”. She is Krishna’s ‘aradhya’, and to attain Krishna’s  aradhya must be even more difficult than attaining Krishna Himself.

So how can we expect to penetrate through Her confidential  pastimes when we are not even fully capable of purely worshiping Krishna  without any offenses. We are committing so many nam aparadhas, seva  aparadhas, dham aparadhas, etc daily, which are hampering our progress  in devotional service. Indeed these aparadhas are directly against  Radharani Herself. Apa-radha, if we deconstruct this word into its two  roots, the meaning which we derive from it is that which is "against  Radha". In this pitiable condition, it is practically impossible to even  meditate on conjugal pastimes with a pure state of consciousness.

Even if we are to consider directly entering into such a  higher esoteric realm, the question arises of how to approach Radharani.  No doubt that She is supremely merciful, even more than Krishna  Himself, still it is not a quick and easy task directly approaching Her.  She is constantly engaged in looking after the desires of Her sakhis,  Her gopis, who are siddhas and Her eternal servants, how will she  immediately turn to us, the nityabaddhas?

The only medium of attaining Radharani is through Her  beloved gopis, who are even more merciful than Radha. No one approaches  Radharani directly without first being guided by the gopis. We see  Bhaktivinoda Thakur personally instruct us on this when he reveals in  Siddhi Lalasa that even in his own spiritual form as Kamala manjari, he  was first accepted and guided by Ananga manjari, followed by Rupa  manjari, Lalita Devi and then finally Radharani. Even Arjunia gopi  (Arjuna desiring to taste the nectar of madhurya rasa after being  instructed by Krishna), got a chance to meet Radharani after the gopis  came and initiated her into the Radha mantra and Radharani’s worship.  Uddhav was also directed to Radhika’s shelter only after associating  with Her gopis. In any given circumstance, we can see that Radharani’s  shelter is only available by those who receive the mercy of Her gopis.  Even Krishna has to seek their mercy first before entering into groves  of Vrindavan to perform pastimes with Radharani.

yat-padamburuhaika-renu-kanikam murdhna nidhatum na hi
prapur brahma-shivadayo 'py adhikritim gopy-eka-bhavashrayaih
sapi prema-sudha-rasambudhi-nidhi radhapi sadharani-
bhuta kala-gati-kramena balina he daiva tubhyam namah
(Radha Rasa Sudha Nidhi, Text 74)

"Brahma, Shiva, and the demigods are not qualified to place  on their heads even a single particle of dust from Radha's feet. Even  so, they who take shelter of the gopis, in the course of time eventually  attain Shri Radha, who is the great treasure of the nectar ocean of  love. O destiny, I bow down before you."

The gopis are the carriers of Radharani’s divine mercy. In  particular, the manjaris are the most merciful. They selflessly serve  the sakhis and Radha, and feel great pleasure in granting others that  service. Indeed it is their mood of service in the nitya lila which we  are aspiring for.

Oh but there is yet another problem. How to approach the  manjaris! The glories of the manjaris are always kept very hidden even  in Krishna lila. If you notice in the scriptures, they are barely ever  explicitly mentioned. The manjaris also tend to keep the sakhis in the  forefront and themselves remain hidden because of their naturally humble  nature, making it even more extremely difficult to understand or  approach them. So how is their most confidential bhava revealed to the  whole world? This manjari bhava, which is hidden even in the scriptures,  is disclosed by the grace of Gauranga Mahaprabhu.

anarpita-carīṁ cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ kalau
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam
(CC Adi 1.4)

The anarpita, most hidden treasure of all time, which  Sachinandan has come to give to this world, is manjari bhava. Serving  Radharani in the mood of a manjari. This is why He has brought all the  manjaris with Him in His pastimes in order to propagate their glories.  The gopis are attained by the mercy of Gaursundar. Lalita Devi was  exceedingly pleased when Rupa Manjari brought Kamala Manjari  (Bhaktivinoda Thakur) and mentioned that she was a devotee of Gauranga.  However Gaurhari does not indiscriminately distribute this rare manjari  bhava to the conditioned souls, because He knows they are unqualified.

In that case, for limitlessly fallen souls like us, this  Radha prema still does not remain fully accessible. Gauranga would never  even discuss the topics of Radha Krishna before anyone. The merciful  glance and benediction of Gauranga Mahaprabhu is attained only through a  very important personality. :)

So now comes the final question, how to attain the unprecedented mercy of Sri Gaursundar?
This is the final answer which will give us our ONLY medium to surely and easily attain Radharani and madhurya bhava!

Gaurahari is definitely more easily approachable than  Radharani and the manjaris, but yet do not forget that He is Nyaya  Kripadhish. There is still some consideration of judgement. Because He  is Radha-Krishna combined, He contains Radharani’s magnanimity to a  great extent, but Krishna’s nyaya (judgement) is also present. Now who  is our only resort left?

So now the only hope that remains for us hopeless souls is  the Lord who is cent percent Kripadhish! He knows nothing but causeless  mercy. The one who is the most liberal Lord in the whole creation, and  His greatest pleasure is in giving Gaur Radha Krishna to whoever comes  before Him. The one and only Nityananda Raya! Without Radha, no Krsna.  Without Gopis, no Radha. Without Gaur, no Gopis. And without Nitai, no  Gaur. In conclusion, without Nitai there is nothing! Everything begins  only and only with the mercy of Nityananda!

Mahaprabhu is also very magnanimous, but His mercy is not  freely available to those who are extremely fallen or those who do not  aspire for the mercy. Nitai’s mercy however exceeds the mercy of  Mahaprabhu. Nitai runs after even those miserable souls who are averse  to devotional service and abominably fallen, bestowing upon them the  qualification to directly serve the lotus feet of the Divine Couple Sri  Sri Radha Krishna. The uniqueness and peculiarity of Nitai’s lavish  mercy is that He is willing to even change our free will, which is not even  a consideration for Gaur and Krishna. This is what makes Him the only  hope for fallen souls to attain the Divine Couple.

Srila B.R Sridhar Maharaj makes the following commentary:

"Mahaprabhu's grace presupposes some selection, whereas  NITYANANDA's grace has no selection The grace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu  presupposes some selection, but Sri NITYANANDA Prabhu's grace has no  selection. He gives His grace to whoever He comes across. NITYANANDA  Prabhu is so magnanimous that He saves whoever He comes across on His  way. His mercy is so raw, undiscriminating, and broad. NITYANANDA Prabhu  is most benevolent. Mahaprabhu has a sort of discrimination, but  NITYANANDA Prabhu does not care for any discrimination whatsoever.  Whether one is a fit or an unfit candidate, he is still counted as  worthy. Such is His mercy.

Never dare to approach Sri Sri Radha and Krsna, neglecting  the grace of Lord NITYANANDA (hena nitai vine bhai, radha-krsna paite  nai). So, our revered Sripada Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja laid stress  on Nityananda Prabhu. NITYANANDA Prabhu is Lord Balarama. NITYANANDA  Prabhu's grace is  stressed for the fallen; His grace is real wealth for them because  discrimination has hardly a place in it. Although not much, we  nonetheless find some sort of discrimination in the magnanimity of Lord  Gauranga. But NITYANANDA Prabhu is more generous. So first go to  NITYANANDA Prabhu, and by His grace you will go to Mahaprabhu. And by  the grace of Mahaprabhu you will easily reach Sri Sri Radha-Govinda in  Vrndavana."

What will get us into the realm of Radha Krishna’s conjugal  love is not qualification, what can be the "qualification" to witness  such high pastimes - it is only mercy which enables us to enter into that  realm. And Nitai is the last limit of causeless, unconditional mercy.

"There is no limit to the mercy of Nitai, you cannot find  out the limit. If there would have been some limit to His mercy, then  the last limit is Nityananda!"
- Gour Govinda Swami

At the present age when committing offenses has become  unavoidable and pure love has become practically unattainable, Nitai has  made His heroic entry!

"The devotion of the gopis described in Srimad Bhagavatam  was awarded to the people of the world by Nityananda."

(CB Antya 5.303)

Nitai is so causelessly merciful that He is distributing  this most hidden treasure of all time not to just one or two souls, but  the whole world (nityananda hoite taha paila jagate)! One may ask, what  is their qualification? The answer is very simple, Nitai’s mercy IS the  qualification. Gauranga will only distribute the fruits of His divine  conjugal love to those who are graced by the causeless mercy of  Nitaichand. This is the ultimate qualification. In fact Gauranga has  Himself proclaimed Nitai as the proprietor of His mercy. Gauranga always  gives all His mercy only through Nityananda, and it is through  Nityananda that all His actions are performed.

"I tell you frankly that all My activities are performed through Nityananda.”

Nitai is perpetually maddened and engulfed in the ambrosial  of Gaur Krishna prem. When one is overly intoxicated, the tendency to  judge completely wears off. (uttama adhama kichu na kare vichaar) So  Nitai is in that state. Intoxicated with Gaur prem. This Gaur prem is  gushing out of His lotus eyes incessantly in the form of tears, just  like a waterfall of uncontrolled compassion. Only when Nitaichandra will  wash our filthy hearts with His pearl-like tears, will Gaurhari appear  in our heart. Only then will we be able to peer into Gauranga's heart  and see the divine conjugal pastimes of Sri Sri Radha Krishna. Gaur’s  pastimes are encapsulated within Nitai’s heart and Radha Krishna’s  pastimes are locked in Gaur’s heart. Therefore Nitai’s heart is the  transcendental abode of Gaur Radha Krishna’s pastimes and He is the sole  transparent medium for all souls to see them. Gaur Radha Krishna are  forced to appear where Nitaichandra is present.

"Nityananda Prabhu is our only hope, He is so benevolent,  so generous, so gracious, that very easily we can draw his attention and  we can get his recommendation. Gaurangadeva will not be able to  disregard his recommendation, and when we have got the grace of Gauranga  then the Radha-Krsna lila is within our fists. Nityananda Prabhus grace  means to get Mahaprabhu’s grace within our clutches and to get  Mahaprabhu, means to get Radha-Govinda, Vrndavana, and then everything  is within our fists."

- B.R Sridhar Maharaj (Source: The Magnanimous Nature of Sri Nityananda Prabhu)

Nitai’s drunkenness in Gauranga prem is so intense, that He  is bound to distribute that prem to one and all without seeing any  qualification. In our present condition we are actually running away  very fast from Gaur Radha Krishna due to our unforgivably offensive  nature, which we are persisting to at every moment. Nitai is the only  Lord who is running faster than us to catch us and bring us back to Gaur  Radha Krishna’s shelter! Our aparadhas are the greatest obstacle in our  Krishna bhakti which makes us Radha vimukha. Nitai is the only Prabhu  who is not only forgiving these offenses unconditionally but is also the  one who annihilates these offenses from their root.

(CB Antya 5.629)

"You forgive all offenses of the living entities, and You bestow mercy on the fallen souls.”

Thus, Nitai is the direct, safest, fastest, most reliable and ONLY medium of approaching Radharani and madhurya rasa.

Out of His causeless mercy Lord Nityananda freely  distributed to His dear associates the love for Krsna that is desired by  personalities like Brahma and the attachment to Krsna displayed by the  gopis.

(CB Antya 5.418-419)

Demigods headed by Brahma cannot understand the gopis'  cultivation of Krsna consciousness. But Sri Nityananda Prabhu mercifully  and freely gave His own servants the gopis' attachment to Krsna, which  is rare for even personalities like Brahma.

We have seen earlier how the demigods headed by Brahma are  unqualified to even touch one pollen of the dust of Radharani’s lotus  feet. Nitai is giving Radha bhava, Radha prema freely to one and all.  Brahmara durlabha prema prema sabakare jache.

In this way, Nitai easily provides for everything which we  cannot even imagine of attaining in the next millions upon millions of  lifetimes. That which devotees have to continually search out and aspire  for, Nitai distributes it freely to one and all, the only delay is of  going before Him. (je age padaye tare kare nistara)

Misconceptions about Nitai’s ability to award madhurya are  extremely prevalent and are a major cause of downfall.

The intention of  this article is to eradicate all those misconceptions, and establish  Doyal Nitai as the greatest benefactor of all times, who causelessly  awards Radha prema.

To reiterate the essence, there is no service greater than  the service of Gaur Radha Krishna. That is the perfection and summum  bonum of all service, that is the dormant bhava in our swarupa (jivera  swarupa hoi krishnera nitya das). Therefore, what must be the position  of one who is granting that service?

And there is only ONE person in this entire creation who is  capable and more importantly, MERCIFUL enough to grant this topmost  service. And that personality is Nitaichand!

More valuable than the treasure itself is the one who  grants that priceless treasure. Indeed their value is even more than the  treasure, because without them there would be no possibility of  attaining it in the first place.

Let us wholeheartedly glorify that Nityananda Rama, who is  the gateway to madhurya rasa and the foremost bestower of Radha Dasyam.

Nitaisevak ganer seva abhilashi,
Nitaisevika dasi