श्रीश्रीराधागोविन्दौ जयतः
दीव्यद्वृन्दारण्यकल्पद्रुमाधः श्रीमद्रत्नागारसिंहासनस्थौ |
श्रीमद्राधाश्रीलगोविन्ददेवौ प्रेष्ठालीभिः सेव्यमानौ स्मरामि ||
Hereby we will answer some confusions that Mr. KR Tadipatrī and his good wife Mrs M Tadipatrī hold for Śrīmatī Rādhārāni. Their statements being in Yellow and Ours response being White. So let's start—
This is the problem with Radha character. If any one claims that Radha or Radhika is one of the Gopikas and never married Sri Krishna, then that is fine. Or if Radha is another name for Lakshmi, then that is fine and then one must be specific that Radha is not Gopika, but Lakshmi herself.
This claim doesn't understand our pakṣa, according to us Rādhārāni is the source of all other consorts of the Lord, as says the puruṣa-bodhini śrūti [belonging from Paipallāda śākhā of Atharvaveda] 'राधिका चेति यस्या अंशो लक्ष्मीदुर्गादिका शक्तिर्', quoted by Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhuṣana, various other proofs substantiating the same will be quoted as the document gradually proceeds. However if we even accept Śrī Rādhā being Lakṣmī then also there is no harm in accepting her as a gopī, because according to Viṣṇupurāṇa 1.9.143b "विष्णोर्देहानुरूपां वै करोत्येषात्मनस्तनुम्", we also know according to Kṛṣṇopaniṣad— "गोपरूपो हरिः", and according to the paninian sūtra 'पुंयोगादाख्यायाम्', the vyutpatti of Gopī is "गोपस्य स्त्री इति गोपी". Now if Mr. Tadipatrī say that Śrī Lakṣmī isn't a Gopī, then he directly negating the matrimonial relation of Śrī Hari and Mother Lakṣmī which is a great offence, Lakṣṃi being a Gopikā is mentioned पाद्मभूमिखण्ड,"अस्य कांता भगवती लक्ष्मीर्नारायणे हरौ।विधाय गोपिकारूपं क्रीडार्थं शार्ङ्गधन्वनः॥".
Garga Samhita is a spurious work, very likely the creation of either Gaudiyas, or some others. None of our standard commentators mention this work. Lot of theories developed around Radha, but with not only lacking support, but going against Pramanas. The Vijayadasara Krutis mentioning Radha can also be spurious as Sri Vijayadasaru will not subscribe to the folk tales created by Sri Jayadeva. If Bhakti is diverted towards fictional characters, that is not encouraging. When the real characters Rugmini and Satyabhama are there, where is the need for finding a replacement?
Garga Saṁhitā is an authentic text which is listed multiple times in the index of pañcarātra texts given in some other Pañcarātras, its the 26th in the Kapiñjala list, 81st in the Pādma list, 87th in the Puruṣottama list, 28th in the Bhāradvāja list and many other lists and is quoted by Nimbārki vaiṣṇavas and also Gauḍīya vaiṣṇavas still if it is a "spurious work" then we have nothing to do other than pray for Mr. Tadipatri's mental health. However an early reference is found in a kṛti of Śrī Kanakadāsāru which goes "ರಾಧಾ ಮುಂತಾದ ಗೋಪಿಯರೆಲ್ಲ||ಮಧುಸೂಧನ ನಿನ್ನ ಸೇವಿಸುತೀರೇ||" from 'Kṛti yādavarāya'. We would like to make Mr. Tadipatri understand that Śrī Rādhā is not the creation of Jayadeva but was a popular Goddess even centuries before him. The earliest reference [On the basis of History 'note that purāṇas are said to be written in the 4th and 5th ce'] of Śrīmatī Rādhārāni is found in 1 CE in the Work of king Hala called गाथासप्तशती, which goes like 'मुखमरुतेन त्वम् कृष्ण गोरजो राधिकाय अपनयन्, एतसम् बल्लविनां अन्यसम् अपि गौरवम् हरसि'; "O Krishna, by the puff of breath from your mouth, as you blow the dust from Radha's face, you take away the glories of other milkmaids.", not only this but she is mentioned by many eminent scholars of their fields all pre dating Śrī Madhva— She is mentioned in Pañcatantra by Viṣṇuśarman (200 BCE) [Where Rādhārāni is mentioned wife of Viṣṇu], She also makes appearances in Venisamhara by Bhatta Narayana (c. 800 CE), Acyutāṣṭakam by Śrī Ādi Śaṁkara (8th CE) Dhvanyaloka by Anandavardhana (c. 820–890 CE) and its commentary Dhvanyalokalocana by Abhinavagupta (c. 950 – 1016 CE), Rajasekhara's (late ninth-early tenth century) Kāvyamīmāṃsā, Dashavatara-charita (1066 CE) by Kshemendra and Siddhahemasabdanusana by Hemachandra (c. 1088–1172). Even Śrī Vedānta deśika mentions her 'differentiating' her from Ramā [Lakṣmī] in his work Yādavābhyudayam canto 10.79 and 9.90—
The famous quoted text from Ṛg Khīla — "राधया माधवो देवो माधवेनैव राधिका" quoted by many Nimbārki and Gauḍīya Ācārayas. So it's established that Śrīmatī Rādhārāni is NOT a fabrication but a true personality.
To be continued.
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