My Affair with Rãdhã

by Kunal Desai

Although Krishna is seen with his family in very few temples, Krishna is widely worshipped coupled with Rãdhã. Though he is a supreme god, the relationship between them is undefined.

“Loneliness is not felt only when we are alone at a desolate place. It can be felt amongst the masses or when with few but relatively close ones or even with friends and relatives. It can be felt whenever we are forced to do what we do not want to do; when we have to act in ways that go against our wishes or when we have to stay quiet and allow the unacceptable deeds and behavior of others.

Mainly, when someone very close to us shoots down our enthusiasm and hurts our emotions, discouraged and dejected in such moments, we feel vacuum-minded. Such feeling of emptiness and non-existence is real ‘loneliness’.

“I am never separated from Rãdhã.

How can I be alone, when in all circumstances she walks with me, holding my hand?”

“Along with emotional attachment to someone, our expectations also increase to a large extent. These predominant expectations raise perplexity in our mind. And in the state of perplexity, when we face unfavorable and undesirable results, we experience conflict. Conflict between anxiety and affection, between greed and love. Rãdhã was also anxious because of the same reason.

Love and affection, which are the basis of relationships get converted to ardent desire because of this fear of detachment. Such desire to dominate and control someone, is nothing but selfishness.

Love is not about domination and control, but to surrender oneself. Love is not to restrict or restrain but to give liberty.

Even if our beloved is independent and detached, even in his or her absence, the feeling of the unshakable faith in each other is love. The incorruptible relationship is love. When two people attain such impartible closeness in w...

Yes, love can never be explained; it can only be realized. Love can never be exhibited; it can only be experienced. The pleasure of absolute unification and resemblance is love.

“Attributes such as wealth, glory, power, prowess, knowledge, and philosophy are attached to ambitions and appetite. If you achieve any of these, it can make you greedy. Whereas love is the only attribute that gives you pleasure in giving. It seeks to overcome shortfalls of essential elements in each other. When two people become supplementary to one another, it provides completeness to each one. It aims to get rid of the ego by making two people surrender to each other.

To maintain life, one needs wealth. To acquire wealth, we require power, knowledge, and intelligence. In the root of the desire to acquire any of the above lies love and affection. Anyone can survive without wealth, power, knowledge, or even intelligence, but to remain alive in the absence of love and affection is just impossible.

You may argue that the one who is detached to the materialistic world and free from passion or attachment to worldly pleasures remains alive, but they live because of their love and affection for me. Their aim is to surrender self and attain me.

If we imagine a lamp without light or a light without its source, we will find nothing but darkness. So it is with me. I cannot exist without my energies. In the form of soul, I can only provide life, but by adding love and affection to it, only Rãdhã can make it alive.”

“Affection and feelings for each other are the links that keep everyone attached. This bonding with one another is known as ‘relationship’.

If we imagine a relationship as a tree, then selfless surrender to each other is the root of this tree. Unshakable faith and confidence in each other are like its foundation just like a trunk. Reciprocation of pleasure, comfort, happiness, satisfaction, gratification and joy are various branches of this tree.

Attempts to become supplementary to one another and to provide completeness to each one are its leaves. To get and give something in return can be considered the fruits of any relationship. With all this put together, an...

As the tree gets nourishment from its roots, so do relationships. Relationships always get stronger with affection and love. The intensity of the love and affection adds strength to faith and trust, and that magnifies pleasure, comfort, happ...

Sometimes, due to temptation and greed, we accept any connection and relationship. But such relationships are easily destroyed by simple disagreements because they are deficient in love. Also, many times we feel co...

Selfish desires make relationships weaker and weaker and finally, they ...

Unselfish love and affection are the strength of our relations. The desire to give and to add ...

“The acrimony of this multitude of persons was well-justified. A person who you are affectionate about, a person you love more than your life and over whom you have been enjoying your authority and domination has suddenly been found to be divine and supernatural. Suddenly, you find that he is no more under your control or rather, that he never was under your control. When you realize that it was only your ignorance that made you feel a sense of ownership over that person.

Also, sometimes, apprehension about a sudden separation from that person takes over your feelings. When you experience all this, it is natural to get angry. We are not aware of it, but that anger is not targeted at the person we love, but it is anger at our own selves for being ignorant.

The person who gets angry is more violent to himself than to the one at whom he is furious. It is because by his behavior he damages love, respect, decorum, judgment, friendship, and much more.

More than the reason of getting angry, results of our behavior in the state of anger give us more pain.

anger is an intense emotional response. A response that indicates one’s basic boundaries are violated. Anger, due to fear of losing what we are affectionate about, als...

Contemplating the objects develops attachment; such attachment develops desires, and from unfulfiled desires rises anger, leading to the bewilderment of memory and loss o...

Any action or decision taken by the bewildered mind, in a state of anger and without using intellect, a...