Radharani has twenty-five transcendental qualities

Expressions researched:
"transcendental qualities of Srimati Radharani" |"Radharani has twenty-five transcendental qualities" |"Radharani’s twenty-five chief transcendental qualities" |"Radharani's highly transcendental qualities" |"Her transcendental qualities" |"Her super-excellent transcendental qualities"

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 8.166, Translation and Purport: “Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s transcendental body is brilliant in luster and full of all transcendental fragrances. Lord Kṛṣṇa’s affection for Her is like a perfumed massage.

Sugandhi udvartana refers to a paste made of several perfumes and fragrant oils. This paste is massaged all over the body, and in this way the body’s dirt and perspiration are removed. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s body is automatically perfumed, but when Her body is massaged with the scented paste of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s affection, Her entire body is doubly perfumed and made brilliant and lustrous. This is the beginning of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī’s description of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s transcendental body. This description (found in verses 165–181) is based on a book by Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī known as Premāmbhoja-maranda. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s translation of the original Sanskrit reads as follows:

“The love of the gopīs for Kṛṣṇa is full of transcendental ecstasy. It appears to be a brilliant jewel, and enlightened by such a transcendental jewel, Rādhārāṇī’s body is further perfumed and decorated with kuṅkuma. In the morning Her body is bathed in the nectar of compassion, in the afternoon in the nectar of youth, and in the evening in the nectar of luster itself. In this way the bathing is performed, and Her body becomes as brilliant as the cintāmaṇi jewel. She is dressed in various kinds of silken garments, one of which is Her natural shyness.

“Her beauty is more and more enhanced, being decorated with the red kuṅkuma of beauty itself and the blackish musk of conjugal love. Thus Her body is decorated with different colors. Her ornaments embody the natural symptoms of ecstasy—trembling, tears, jubilation, stunning, perspiration, faltering of the voice, bodily redness, madness and dullness. In this way Her entire body is bedecked with these nine different jewels. Over and above this, the beauty of Her body is enhanced by Her transcendental qualities, which constitute the flower garland hanging on Her body. The ecstasy of love for Kṛṣṇa is known as dhīrā and adhīrā, sober and restless. Such ecstasy constitutes the covering of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s body, and it is adorned by camphor. Her transcendental anger toward Kṛṣṇa is embodied as the arrangement of the hair on Her head, and the tilaka of Her great fortune shines on Her beautiful forehead. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s earrings are the holy names of Kṛṣṇa, as well as the hearing of His name and fame. Her lips are always reddish due to the betel nut of ecstatic affection for Kṛṣṇa. The black ointment around Her eyes is Her tricky behavior with Kṛṣṇa brought about by love. Her joking with Kṛṣṇa and gentle smiling constitute the camphor with which She is perfumed. She sleeps in Her room with the aroma of pride, and when She lies down in Her bed, the transcendental variety of Her loving ecstasies is like a jeweled locket in the midst of Her necklace of separation. Her transcendental breasts are covered by Her sari in the form of affection and anger toward Kṛṣṇa. She has a stringed instrument known as a kacchapī-vīṇā, which is the fame and fortune that actually dries up the faces and breasts of the other gopīs. She always keeps Her hands on the shoulder of Her gopī friend, who represents Her youthful beauty, and although She is highly qualified with so many spiritual assets, She is nonetheless affected by the Cupid known as Kṛṣṇa. Thus She is defeated. Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī offers his respectful obeisances to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, taking a straw in his mouth. Indeed, he prays, ‘O Gāndharvikā, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, just as Lord Kṛṣṇa never rejects a surrendered soul, please don’t reject me.’” This is a summary translation of the Premāmbhoja-maranda, which Kavirāja Gosvāmī quotes.

CC Madhya 8.175, Translation and Purport: “Also ornamenting Her body are the twenty kinds of ecstatic symptoms beginning with kila-kiñcita. Her transcendental qualities constitute the flower garland hanging in fullness over Her body.

The twenty different moods headed by kila-kiñcita are described as follows. First, in connection with the body, there are bhāva (ecstasy), hāva (gestures) and helā (negligence); in relation to the self there are śobhā (beauty), kānti (luster), dīpti (brilliance), mādhurya (sweetness), pragalbhatā (impudence), audārya (magnanimity) and dhairya (patience); and in relation to nature there are līlā (pastimes), vilāsa (enjoyment), vicchitti (breaking off) and vibhrama (puzzlement). There are no English equivalents for the words kila-kiñcita, moṭṭāyita and kuṭṭamita.

Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s flower garland consists of Her qualities and is divided into mental, verbal and bodily parts. Her attitude of forgiveness and mercy is all mental. Her talks, which are very pleasing to the ear, are verbal. The bodily qualities are age, beauty, luster and grace.

CC Madhya 8.185, Translation: “Even Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself cannot reach the limit of the transcendental qualities of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. How, then, can an insignificant living entity count them?”

CC Madhya 23.86, Translation: “Similarly, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī has unlimited transcendental qualities, of which twenty-five are principal. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is controlled by these transcendental qualities of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

CC Madhya 23.87-91, Translation and Purport: Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s twenty-five chief transcendental qualities are:

1. She is very sweet;
2. She is always freshly youthful;
3. Her eyes are restless;
4. She smiles brightly;
5. She has beautiful, auspicious lines;
6. She makes Kṛṣṇa happy with Her bodily aroma;
7. She is very expert in singing;
8. Her speech is charming;
9. She is very expert in joking and speaking pleasantly;
10. She is very humble and meek;
11. She is always full of mercy;
12. She is cunning;
13. She is expert in executing Her duties;
14. She is shy;
15. She is always respectful;
16. She is always calm;
17. She is always grave;
18. She is expert in enjoying life;
19. She is situated at the topmost level of ecstatic love;
20. She is the reservoir of loving affairs in Gokula;
21. She is the most famous of submissive devotees;
22. She is very affectionate to elderly people;
23. She is very submissive to the love of Her friends;
24. She is the chief gopī;
25. She always keeps Kṛṣṇa under Her control.

In short, She possesses unlimited transcendental qualities, just as Lord Kṛṣṇa does.’

These verses are found in the Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi (Śrī-rādhā-prakaraṇa 11–15).

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Kṛṣṇa has sixty-four transcendental qualities. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī has twenty-five transcendental qualities, but She can control even Kṛṣṇa by them.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 14: Kṛṣṇa has sixty-four transcendental qualities. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī has twenty-five transcendental qualities, but She can control even Kṛṣṇa by them. Her transcendental qualities are as follows:

1. She is sweetness personified;
2. She is a fresh young girl;
3. Her eyes are always moving;
4. She is always brightly smiling;
5. She possesses all auspicious marks on Her body;
6. She can agitate Kṛṣṇa by the flavor of Her person;
7. She is expert in the art of singing;
8. She can speak very nicely and sweetly;
9. She is expert in presenting feminine attractions;
10. She is modest and gentle;
11. She is always very merciful;
12. She is transcendentally cunning;
13. She knows how to dress nicely;
14. She is always shy;
15. She is always respectful;
16. She is always patient;
17. She is very grave;
18. She is enjoyed by Kṛṣṇa;
19. She is always situated on the highest devotional platform;
20. She is the abode of love of the residents of Gokula;
21. She can give shelter to all kinds of devotees;
22. She is always affectionate to superiors and inferiors;
23. She is always obliged by the dealings of Her associates;
24. She is the greatest amongst Kṛṣṇa's girl friends;
25. She always keeps Kṛṣṇa under Her control.

Thus Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī are both transcendentally qualified, and both of Them attract one another. Yet in that transcendental attraction, Rādhārāṇī is greater than Kṛṣṇa, for the attractiveness of Rādhārāṇī is the transcendental taste in conjugal love. Similarly, there are transcendental tastes in servitude, friendship and other relationships with Kṛṣṇa. These can be described with reference to the context of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu.

Since even Lord Kṛṣṇa cannot estimate Rādhārāṇī's highly transcendental qualities, it is not possible for an ordinary man to estimate them.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31: Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is fifteen days younger than Kṛṣṇa. She always keeps Her hand on the shoulders of Her friends, and She always talks and thinks of pastimes with Kṛṣṇa. She always offers Kṛṣṇa a kind of intoxication by Her sweet talks, and She is always prepared to fulfill His desires. In other words, She supplies all the demands of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and She possesses unique and uncommon qualities for Kṛṣṇa's satisfaction.

In Govinda-līlāmṛta there is a verse which states: "Who is the breeding ground for Kṛṣṇa's affection? The answer is that it is only Śrīmatī Rādhikā. Who is Kṛṣṇa's most lovable object? The answer is that it is only Śrīmatī Rādhikā and no one else." Sheen in the hair, moisture in the eyes and firmness in the breasts are all qualities present in Śrīmatī Rādhikā. Only Śrīmatī Rādhikā is able to fulfill all the desires of Kṛṣṇa. No one else can do so.

Satyabhāmā is another competitor of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, but she always desires to come to the standard of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Rādhārāṇī is so expert in all affairs that all the damsels of Vraja come to learn arts from Her. She is so extraordinarily beautiful that even the goddess of fortune and Pārvatī, the wife of Lord Śiva, desire elevation to Her standard of beauty. Arundhatī, who is known as the most chaste lady in the universe, desires to learn the standard of chastity from Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Since even Lord Kṛṣṇa cannot estimate Rādhārāṇī's highly transcendental qualities, it is not possible for an ordinary man to estimate them.

1970 Correspondence

By Her super-excellent transcendental qualities, she could charm Krsna who is the charmer of the three worlds.

Letter to Syama -- Los Angeles 23 February, 1970: Women are by nature endowed with many artistic tendencies, and from the Vedic age we find that high grade women and girls were highly qualified in sixty-four arts. Srimati Radharani was fully qualified in those arts, and therefore, by Her super-excellent transcendental qualities, she could charm Krsna who is the charmer of the three worlds. One of the Principle Gopis was Syama dasi, and you are supposed to follow the footsteps of Syama dasi.