Child Krishna meets baby Radharani for the first time

Radha and Krishna as very young children and their wonderful marriage later in life.

Part 1 and 2

By Rajasekhara Das Brahmachari

Part 1 Child Krishna meets baby Radharani for the first time

The Divine Appearance of Shrimati Radharani who is a little younger than Krishna.

The Puranas relate a story concerning the divine appearance of Shrimati Radharani as follows. One day, Vrishabhanu Maharaja, who was living at Ravel at that time, went to the bank of Yamuna at around noon to take a midday bath.

As he approached the bank of the Yamuna, he saw a golden lotus flower floating on the water and shining brightly like a thousand suns. Vrishabhanu immediately waded into the river and when he came near to the golden lotus flower, he beheld the most beautiful and radiant form of baby girl lying within the petals of the lotus.

At that same moment, Lord Brahma suddenly appeared in the sky and speaking in a grave voice, informed Vrishabhanu that in his previous life, Vrishabhanu and his wife Kirtida had performed great austerities in order to get the consort of Lord Vishnu as their daughter.

Lord Brahma told Vrishabhanu that this girl was the origin of the goddess Lakshmi and that he should take great care of Her. Lord Brahma then placed the baby girl in the arms of Vrishabhanu who became overjoyed, and after taking permission from Lord Brahma, returned to his home.

Seeing the beautiful baby girl shining like millions of autumnal moons, mother Kirtida was overcome with joy and immediately arranged for all kinds of religious rites to be performed and donated thousands of cows to the brahmanas.

At that time baby Radhika was placed in a gem-studded cradle and gently rocked back and forth by all the little girls of the village. Day by day Her luster increased just like the digits of the moon.

Within a short while it was observed that the baby girl made no noise and had not yet opened Her eyes. Vrishabhanu and his wife feared that their baby girl was perhaps blind from birth and also dumb.

At that time, Shrila Narada Muni visited the home of Vrishabhanu and informed him that regardless of the girl’s apparent blindness, they should continue with the birth celebrations.

Vrishabhanu therefore made elaborate arrangements for a lavish birth celebration and sent out invitations to all the residents of Ravala and Gokula and especially to his dear friend Nanda Maharaja and his family.

On the appointed day, the guests had assembled and the birth celebrations were going on in great jubilation. Nanda Maharaja and Yashoda Mayi had arrived with Rohini and also brought their small children Krishna and Balarama.

Kirtida met with Yashoda and told her that she was very happy to have such a beautiful daughter, but was feeling rather distraught because her child was both dumb and blind.

Krishna had just passed His first birthday and was happily crawling around the courtyard on His hands and knees. Arriving at the cot in which Radhika was lying, Krishna held on to the sides and managed to lift himself up, He then peered into the cot where His gaze fell upon the beautiful moon-like face of baby Radhika.

As soon as baby Radhika smelt the exotic fragrance of Krishna’s transcendental body, She immediately opened Her eyes for the very first time, and looked directly at Krishna, who was the first person that She had ever seen.

As Krishna gazed lovingly at baby Radhika, He began smiling ecstatically. Radhika then suddenly began to cry and for the very first time she made a sound. Vrishabhanu and Kirtida, along with all the assembled Vrajavasis, were overjoyed to find out that their beloved daughter Radhika, was not blind nor dumb after all.

In the Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi it says. “So powerful is the glancing of Her eyes, that the flute slips from Krishna’s hands, His peacock crown starts to slip, and His yellow shawl becomes displaced as He swoons and falls to the ground. Alas, will I ever get the chance to serve with love and devotion such a person as Radharani.

Part 2 The Marriage Ceremony of Radha and Krishna

The forest of Bhandiravana is most famous because it was at this place under the celebrated banyana tree known as Bhandira Vata, that Radha and Krishna were married.

The wonderful story of this pastime was spoken by Shrila Narada Muni and has been recorded in the Garga Samita as follows. One day, Nanda Maharaja came to Bhandiravana from Gokula to graze his cows near the banks of the Yamuna, and was carrying his little boy Krishna in his arms.

By the will of yogamaya, a strong wind suddenly began to blow causing all the leaves on the trees to fall and ripples to appear over the surface of the Yamuna. The sky immediately became dark and overcast as blackish rain-clouds assembled threateningly overhead.

When the clouds loudly thundered, Krishna became frightened and started to cry, forcing Nanda Baba to cuddle Him closer to his chest. The day seemed to turn into night as darkness spread in all directions.

Just then, a shining light as brilliant as ten million suns appeared from nowhere. From within that shining light, Nanda Baba could see standing before him, the youthful, charming, and exquisitely beautiful form of Shrimati Radharani, the daughter of his friend Vrishabhanu.

She bore the luster of a thousand moons and was wearing a deep blue sari and Her pinkish lotus feet were decorated with golden anklets that jingled sweetly.

She was adorned with a golden waistband, a necklace, armlets, and bangles, and She wore a pearl in Her nose that appeared like a small moon orbiting Her full moon-like face. She had a golden Shri-kanta around Her neck, glittering golden earrings, and a glittering jewel-studded diadem situated on Her head.

Nanda Maharaja was struck with wonder at Her effulgence which appeared to light up the entire world. He immediately bowed his head and offered his heartfelt respects to Radharani saying,

“See this child in my arms, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and I know that You are His eternal consort. Oh Radhe! I have heard this great secret from Gargamuni, therefore take this child, Your Lord, from my arms, He has become frightened due to the thundering of the clouds.”

Radha then took Krishna in Her arms and as Nanda Baba offered his humble obeisances, She entered the Bhandiravana forest holding Krishna tightly in Her embrace.

At that very moment, the holy land of Vrindavana assumed a divine form, the dark rain-clouds scattered and the wind subsided into a gentle breeze. Bhumi Devi, the mother earth and consort of Lord Vishnu, appeared there in her eternal form causing the earth to flourish as if it was spring-time.

The gopis headed by Vrinda Devi also appeared there along with the cowherd boys to witness the special occasion. The crystal clear waters of the Yamuna glistened and became beautified by jeweled staircases and golden terraces. In the distance, the rocks on Govardhana Hill appeared like great jewels and its peaks shone like gold.

With its cascading waterfalls and deep caverns, its huge body appeared like the king of elephants. The sweet smelling lotus flowers in the lakes around Vrindavana began to bloom simultaneously, causing the bumblebees to become madly intoxicated by the delicate aroma that emanated from them.

The peacocks, cuckoos, pigeons, and other song-birds began to resound, creating a celestial chorus that permeated the entire forest of Bhandiravana. In each of the nikunjavans, multicolored banners flapped joyously in the breeze announcing a very special event.

Then the Lord of creation, who was being carried in the arms of Radha, suddenly assumed His eternal youthful form of Govinda, that defeated millions upon millions of Cupids, and clasping the hand of His beloved Radha, They both gracefully entered the nuptial arena that was decorated with all the paraphernalia for a wedding ceremony.

Then as the ‘divine couple’ Radha and Krishna sat down beneath the Bhandira Vata on a golden throne. Lord Brahma, who was to officiate as the head priest, arrived there with the host of demigods through the celestial airways. After offering His humble obeisance’s by bowing down, He began to speak brilliant words in glorification saying,

“Anyone who speaks about Your divine transcendental attributes and sings Your praises automatically achieves complete beauty, wealth and perfection, even in this life. Even though you are equal to each other, nevertheless, for the sake of fulfilling local customs, I am going to perform Your marriage ceremony.”

Lord Brahma then kindled the sacrificial fire and after offering oblations into it, asked Radha and Krishna to accept each other’s hands.

After chanting the sacred Vedic mantras, and seeing that the corners of Their clothing was tied together, Brahma requested the ‘divine lovers’ to circumambulate the sacrificial fire seven times according to the Vedic system.

After this, Lord Brahma had Radha place Her hand on Krishna’s chest and Krishna’s hand on Radha’s back, after which They recited their wedding vows and offered garlands to each other.

At that moment, the demigods showered flowers from the sky, and while playing on various musical instruments and beating on hundreds of celestial drums; they began dancing along with their beautiful wives in great transcendental ecstasy.

Philosophical Considerations Regarding the Marriage of Radha and Krishna

This incident of the marriage ceremony between Radha and Krishna was enacted for the specific pleasure of Lord Brahma and the demigods, in a pastime which fulfilled their desire to see Radha and Krishna married together in a wedding ceremony in accordance with the standard social customs of Vedic culture.

This was because Lord Brahma knew in the future that the divine pastimes of parakiya-rasa revealed by Radha and Krishna on the earthly plain, would be severely criticized and misunderstood by mundane moralists and so-called religionists, and therefore to preempt all false criticism, Lord Brahma personally performed Their marriage ceremony while Radha and Krishna were still in Their infancy. 

According to Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy as propounded by Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Shri Shri Radha and Krishna, in Their original manifested forms are not married, but remain as eternal lovers in the mood of parakiya-bhava, which means a conjugal relationship as paramours.

This is because the super-excellent parakiya-bhava manifests the greatest transcendental pleasure for Radha and Krishna as well as Their eternal servitors the gopis, and is therefore regarded as the most superior form of bhava or loving mood within the category of madhurya-rasa, which is itself considered the most superior amongst the five essential rasas.

Another point is that at the time of this ceremony at Bhandiravana, both Radha and Krishna were still only about two or three years old and enjoying Their kaumara-lilas, or pastimes as little children at Gokula and Ravala respectively.

This manifestation of the wedding ceremony at Bhandiravana was certainly a unique spiritual event similar to the secret manifestation of the Yoga-pitha, or the pastimes of aprakata-lila. 

From the book "Vraja Mandala Parikrama"