Radha

                                                    

The Word 'Radh' first appeared in the Vedic literature,but there it referred Lord Indra as Radhaspati that means the Lord of extreme wealth or gift. In the Jataka of Buddhism, Radha was a boddhisattva (reborn as a parrot).So, obviously It's not the Radha of Bhakti-Dharma ! The Mahabharata and Harivamsa are slient on the topic of Radha.  

 

                   In the medieval Vaishnavism, there are mainly two representation of Sri Radha -Svakriya and Parakriya . Apart from these two,there's one more sahajiya Bhav that describes her as greater than Krsna .Notably ,sometimes South Indian Pinnai is also identified as proto-Radha. As per the first two verses of Narad Pancharatra,Radhika along with other deities and sages are the worshipers of Param Brahma Sri Krsna.

               There's no mention of Radha in Vishnu puran and Srimad Bhagavatam. Sridhara (who wrote the first Bhagavata commentary) and Vishnupuri never focused on Radha. Other Bhagavatic trans-creations of - Eknatha,Sankardeva,Bhattadev followed the Trio (Vyas,Suka,Parikshit),hence,No Radha in their respective translations!But there's a description of a particular gopi in the 10th Canto Sanskrit Bhagavta. The first one is there in the Rasaleela ,where out of her ego ,she tried to climb the back of Krsna ,As Krsna disappeared so she cried aloud ! the next one is mentioned in the Bhramara Geet,where she felt frustration on not seeing Krsna !As per these descriptions ,it's not clear whether it's Radha or some other Gopi. As per the Padma Puran,Gopis are the reincarnation of Sages of treta ,out of lust for Rama, they acquired the forms of Gopis. Hence,this Gopi is certainly not Radha .

            Poet Jayadeva ,Chandidas and Vidyapati are the pioneers of Radha Krsna Cult. Interesting fact that Chandidas was lover of a fisher woman,he imagined a lot of Radha in her (?) .All of them in some way influenced Sri Chaitanya ;as per Gaudiya Vaishnavism,Radha and Krsna are same . In the Sikshyaastak of Chaitanya mahaprabhu,the major Bhavas are Dasya and Biraha. Sri Chaitanya's Madhurya is bit different than his own follwers the Six Gosvamis. The Goswamis introduced a new bhava through the sakhis,their Radha Krsna is both nitya Svkriya and parakriya ;while other branches of Chaitanyaism follows complete Parakiya. The Panchasakha of Jaganatha have no place for Radha .

She was so considered as the phenomenal of soul's (Atman) gaze towards Paratman by some Advaitavadis .

     Another Radha Krsna based Sampraday is that of Sri Nimbark .In this lineage ,Radha and Krsna is considered as nitya svakriya . Harivyasa and Haridas both focused on the Radha Bhava,without Radha, krsna is incomplete .One of Such book is Haridas swami's Kelimal,it also has the yugal namavali.

   Harivamsa prabhu was another preacher of Radha bhava,in his philosophy,although Radha and Krsna are one ,but Radha's worship is greater !This sect is complete Sahajiya ; they neither follow any Commentary nor other rules such as ekadashi .

       Brahmabaivarta puran is a greater puran for Radha Krshna leelas, in the prakirti khanda of this puran, the origin of Radha as mula prakriti is well described. Devi Bhagvata too mentioned the origin and reincarnation of Radha in the house of Brisabhanu .Another book about Radha is Garga Samhita;here Radha was cursed by another associate of Krsna to reborn as the wife of Ayan and she too cursed him to born as a demon !

           Sri Radha is a lover of Krisna, the Goddess of Vrindavan ; she grants Rasa of love,the mellow conjugal devotion .She's hidden in the Vridavan Leela of Bhagavata ,but through Rasiks ,she's well expressed !We can't describe her fully , sometimes madhurya or sometimes all the bhavas are shown by her in the Nitya Vraja .As Krishna says na me viduḥ sura-gaṇāḥ prabhavaṁ na maharṣhayaḥ  

 (Pic Courtesy : SreeRadha mohan blogspot)