A Wheel in the service of Sri Radhika

~ śrī-śrī-rādhā-dāmodarāya namaḥ ~

Over the years, many of my devotee friends have asked me to write down my thoughts and realizations in the form of a blog, so that those who are not my Facebook friends can also have access to them. However, when my devotee friend Chaitanya Charan Prabhu ( http://www.thespiritualscientist.com ) asked me that I should write down a blog, I finally took it to be an indication from the Lord that it was time to do so.

This blog is named "rādhikārādhikā". It can have two meanings:

1) rādhikāyāḥ ārādhikā ("The worshipper of Sri Radhika")

2) rādhikā ārādhikā ("Radhika who is the worshipper [of Hari]")

For this blog, I selected the former meaning. This blog is my journal to worship Sri Radhika. Having taken permissions and blessings from my seniors like Madhavananda Prabhu (GGS), I wish to start the blog in this month of Kārttika by an auspicious invocation (maṅgalācaraṇa) to Sri Radhika. In the writings of most Sanskritists, every composition ideally begins with an auspicious invocation.

For this blog, I was inspired to write a cakra-bandha verse in the service of Srimati Radharani. Verses like these were composed by Srila Rupa Goswami in the service of the Lord. By his mercy, I too pray that I shall be able to glorify Sri Radha through this verse.

The verse is as follows,

mṛdvī hallaka-rāja-dīpti-jayikā saṁpuṣṭi-dārṣasya sā

tasmai riṣṭa-sudhāmṛtābdhi-jananī tiṣyasya sā daṁśikā

nityā pārṣada-saṁstutā vraja-pateḥ sā tuṣṭi-saṁsādhikā

kāruṇyāmṛtam ātanotu nitarāṁ sārādhikārādhikā

SYNONYMS

mṛdvī — soft-limbed;
hallaka-rāja-dīpti — beauty of the best of reddish lotus flowers;
jayikā — conqueror;
saṁpuṣṭi-dā — bestower of spontaneous devotion;
ārṣasya — of the devotee followers of the great souls;
sā — she;
tasmai — for such groups of great devotee followers;
riṣṭa-sudhāmṛtābdhi-jananī — the producer of auspicious oceans of nectar;
tiṣyasya — of kali-yuga;
sā — she;
daṁśikā — choker;
nityā — eternally existing;
pārṣada-saṁstutā — comprehensively glorified by associates;
vraja-pateḥ — of Krishna, the king of Vraja;
sā — she;
tuṣṭi — satisfaction;
saṁsādhikā — complete arranger;
kāruṇyāmṛtam — nectar of mercy;
ātanotu — may she spread;
nitarām — always;
sā — that;
ārādhikā — worshipper [of Krishna];
rādhikā — Sri Radhika

TRANSLATION

She who is —

soft limbed;

the conqueror of the beauty of the best of reddish lotus flowers;

the bestower of spontaneous devotion on the devotee followers of the great souls;

the producer of auspicious oceans of nectar for such devotees;

the destroyer of the sins of Kali-yuga;

eternally existing;

comprehensively glorified by her associates;

the complete arranger of the satisfaction of Vraja-pati (Krishna);

May that worshipper [of Krishna], Sri Radhika expand the nectar of her mercy constantly.

ALTERNATE TRANSLATION

This verse can also be considered as a prayer to Śrī Rūpa-mañjarī who is a dear servant of Sri Radhika. This can be done by interpreting the final term as follows:

sārādhikārādhikā = sā + rādhikā - ārādhikā

rādhikārādhikā can be broken down as rādhikāyāḥ ārādhikā (worshipper of Sri Radhika)

Now the final line translates as follows:

“May that worshipper of Sri Radhika [Rūpa Mañjarī] expand her mercy constantly.”

SANSKRIT EXPLANATION

mṛdvīti lālasāmayī prārthanā | sā bhagavataḥ ārādhikā śrī-rādhikā karuṇyāmṛtaṁ nitarām ātanotu | atha-vā sā rādhikāyāḥ ārādhikā śrī-rūpa-mañjarī sva-kāruṇyāmṛtaṁ nitarām ātanotu | sā mṛdvī | mṛdvī komalāṅgī iti mugdhābodha-vyākaraṇe | sā hallaka-rāja-dīpti-jayikā ca | hallakaṁ rakta-padma-viśeṣaḥ | hallakaṁ rakta-kairavam iti ratnamālāyām | tathā ca sā ārṣasya veda-niṣṭha-bhaktasya saṁpuṣṭi-dā rāga-bhakti-pradāyikā | tathā ca tasmai tad-bhakta-gaṇa-yūthāya sā riṣṭa-sudhāmṛtābdhi-jananī | riṣṭaḥ maṅgalaḥ | sudhāmṛtasya bhakti-rasasya yaḥ abdhi tad abdheḥ sā jananī | tathā ca sā tiṣyasya kali-yugasya daṁśikā pāpa-hantrī | tiṣyo nakṣatra-bhede syāt kalau dhātryāñca yoṣiti - iti medinī | sā ca nityā bhagavataḥ śaktī | tathā sā pārṣada-saṁstutā sva-pārṣadena samyak stutā | tathā ca sā vraja-pateḥ kṛṣṇasya tuṣṭi-saṁsādhikā samyak sādhikā samyag yojikā | ṣaḍāra-cakre dāsābhāsena hari-pārṣada-dāsena “hari-pārṣadaṁ sā rādhā saṁpuṣyatu” iti svīya-hastākṣaraṁ sanniveśitam | tac cādhaḥ-sthe rekhā-citre draṣṭavyaḥ |

CAKRA-BANDHA DIAGRAM

SIGNATURE

An extra specialty of this verse, shown in the diagram below, is that a hidden signature is placed inside the spokes of the wheel. It reads, in a circular fashion, haripārṣadaṁ sā rādhā saṁpuṣyatu (“May Sri Radha nourish Hari Pārṣada Dāsa”). This signature is not apparent in the verse and it only becomes visible when the verse is drawn in the wheel formation.

 hari-pārṣadaṁ sā rādhā saṁpuṣyatu