Radha
Hindu goddess of love and chief consort of the god Krishna / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Radha (Sanskrit: राधा, IAST: Rādhā), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. In scriptures, Radha is mentioned as the avatar of Lakshmi[12][13] and also as the Mūlaprakriti, the Supreme goddess, who is the feminine counterpart and internal potency (hladini shakti) of Krishna.[1][14][15][16][17] Radha accompanies Krishna in all his incarnations.[18][19] Radha's birthday is celebrated every year on the occasion of Radhashtami.[20][21]
Translations of राधा (Rādhā) | |
---|---|
Sanskrit | राधा (Rādhā) |
Bengali | রাধা (Rādhā) |
Hindi | राधा (Rādhā) |
Kannada | ರಾಧಾ (Rādhā) |
Malayalam | രാധ (Rādhā) |
Marathi | राधा (Rādhā) |
Odia | ରାଧା (Rādhā) |
Telugu | రాధ (Rādhā) |
Gujarati | રાધા (Rādhā) |
Glossary of Hinduism terms |
In relation with Krishna, Radha has dual representation—the lover consort as well as his married consort. Traditions like Nimbarka Sampradaya worship Radha as the eternal consort and wedded wife of Krishna.[22][23][24][25] In contrast, traditions like Gaudiya Vaishnavism revere her as Krishna's lover and the divine consort.[26][24]
In Radha Vallabh Sampradaya and Haridasi Sampradaya, only Radha is worshipped as the Supreme being.[27] Elsewhere, she is venerated with Krishna as his principal consort in Nimbarka Sampradaya, Pushtimarg, Mahanam Sampradaya, Swaminarayan Sampradaya, Vaishnava-Sahajiya, Manipuri Vaishnavism, and Gaudiya Vaishnavism movements linked to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.[28]
Radha is described as the chief of Braj Gopis (milkmaids of Braj).[24] She has inspired numerous literary works, and her Raslila dance with Krishna has inspired many types of performance arts.[29][30][26][31]