Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals :Ch-8. Part -1.

Chapter 8: Sri Radha – The Divine Mystery-1.

A Discourse delivered on Sri Radha-Ashtami Day, the 6th of September, 1981.


Sri Radhashtami is a joyous occasion observed throughout the country, especially in the North, bringing to one's hallowed memory the advent of Radha, a name familiar to every religious historian and devotee.

But, there is nothing in religious history which is so little understood as the particular spiritual significance which is the theme of the observance of this sacred day, the eighth day in this bright half of the month of Bhadrapada (August-September), the birthday of Radha.

The word 'Radhakrishna' is a reputed compound name, and devotees generally run into mystical contemplation and even fly into ecstasies in their moods in an attempt to understand the relationship between Sri Krishna and Radha.

But, as is the case with almost everything in the world, this relationship which is deeply spiritual and mystical, is hard for the human mind to understand, because God, and everything that is connected with God, cannot become an object of human understanding.

The human mind is not expected to understand God, and to 'understand' Him would be a blasphemy on the part of the human reason.

As a straw would try to carry fire on its body, the intellect of man tries to apprehend the divine mysteries in creation.

Devotees of Sri Krishna relate a lot about Radha, the Divine Mystery.

I can call her only a Divine Mystery and there is no other designation suitable.

Even today, it is a mystery, and it has remained ever a mystery, because God's relation to the world, His relation to devotees, His relation to human beings, His relation to anything, is a Divine Mystery in itself.

Swami Krishnananda
To be continued  ...