Meera, Krishna, Radha and Rukmani
Yes, there is my logic to the order of the names, logic not
in terms of importance of the women or their relationship with Krishna, logic
in the way I saw beauty in each of them, their love for Krishna.
I asked her, so, given
a chance, whom you would like to marry, Ram or Krishna? Both are avtaar’s of
lord Vishnu.
She thought for a
while and replied,”Ram”.
She knew I will ask
the reason for whatever answer she will give.Looking in my curious eyes, she
said, “because Ram had values in him, he lived by rules.”
I saw a compromise in
her eyes, she wanted to say something else, she knew it. Sensing my curiosity,
she was silent, not knowing what to answer.
I asked, “so is it
Krishna?”
She said, “Yes”.
Like any other
confused woman ( Pun intended), she was looking for answers why she said Ram
First and then Krishna.I thought may be I could shed some light on her
response.
“Your mind said Ram
because you felt he was the manly guy who lived by rules, Maryadapurshotam Ram,
one woman guy, who is simple and easy going, who doesn’t lie, who is honest and
he will take care of you.”
“but your heart
always wanted Krishna, the playful, jolly, smart, who with his wit can make
anyone fall for him, he was mischievous, with girls all around him always, he
was the Casanova, real but un-harmful, he will never betray anybody but with his
tactics he will conquer, life will be fun with him, worth living”. I said.
Isn't it always a battle of mind and heart, sometimes Mind
dominates the heart and vice versa. They say there is a cost of following mind
or heart, one has to pay, always, if you follow mind, you will be someone
logical ( Perceptions!), if you follow your heart, you will be someone who is imaginative, the one who sees dreams and attempts to fulfill them. Both types are ok, one gets enough chances to follow each of both.
While my research was on, someone said, Ram is only popular
in north india while Krishna is popular in north, south,west and east, all
parts of india.
Yes, it is not about popularity index, its about two distinct personalities.
This blog is about 3 women who loved Krishna in their own
magical way, they told the world that
love could be of many types, but love is only thing which is real.
Meera
From my childhood, I was fascinated with the name ‘ Meera’,
I don’t know why, whenever I used to hear this name, some mystical feelings I
used to get, someone in a desert, someone alone, some deep soul,someone
selfless.
Born in Rajasthan in a rich kingdom, she was full with all
the luxuries of life, she loved Krishna who had died thousands of years ago.
You know how this love started? Lemme tell you.
One day she saw someone getting married in his family, being
curious , she was sitting with her mom in a room.
“Who will be my
husband”, when I will get married? She asked her mom.
“He is your husband”
Her mom pointed finger at idol of Krishna.
That was the day Meera fell in love with Krishna, he was the
only one in this world who was hers she always told herself, nobody could
understand her better than Krishna. Meera always believed Krishna is the only
man on this mighty earth.
Meera was beautiful woman, such was her beauty that it
reached thousand of kms across india across states, a elegant dancer, singer,
she was dream of every man.
She lived in an era when it was necessary for all the women
to cover their faces, nobody should see a woman’s face, yet she would dance on
the road, her saree would slip down, face exposed, but she would continue
dancing and singing.
Her feminine heart fell for Krishna, she always believed that
there was something between her and Krishna which nobody in this world would understand,
she never wanted the world to understand her emotions for Krishna, they were
divine not following worldly rules. Selfless love, Meera was definition of love, she was love.
Meera got married also, to a prince Bhojraj. He was in awe
of the beauty of Meera, but Meera was so delved in Krishna that no worldly man
could take that role, ever.
She told Bhojraj,
“You are not my husband, Krishna is my husband.”
Can this be real? This love, in today’s world when
everything is becoming a transaction, a series of transactions in love, Could
there be someone who loved someone so selflessly, without any expectations,
without the hope of getting them.
I came
across a article which listed down wrong reasons why people get married in
india, some of them written : marriage is one stop solution for all problems,
marriage is a compulsion in india, fear of staying single ( most ridiculous
reason, where is love), marriage is a reason which sets women free (
financially also), dowry etc.
Meera’s love for Krishna was unconditional, she didn’t knew
who she was in love with, she loved
someone without any physical form, someone who will never be around as a
man, but still she loved, because she believed.
She was given poison also, what on earth she did not face,
expulsion from the family, hate from the society, but her love for Krishna was
real. I don’t think so in today’s world anybody would be able to take that kind
of love or for that matter receive that kind of love. We don’t have the
strength to love someone that way, I don’t have the strength. Meera had, will
always have.
Meera in her last days was in Dwarka when some Pandits from
her family came to take her back, begging, requesting, Meera denied to go back.
Not because she didn’t get respect in her hometown but she couldn’t live
without Krishna.
Dwarka temple was her home where she danced and sang, people said she was alone but she never felt
loneliness, she always believed Krishna was with him. She didn’t need world’s
approval for considering Krishna as her husband.
When Pandits said that they will not go back if she was not
going with them, Meera agreed. She agreed to go back. Only she knew where she
was going.
One day, she entered Krishna’s room in the temple and closed
the doors from inside, never to return again in this selfish world. They say
when the doors were opened, nobody was there, Krishna’s idol was draped, draped
with saree of Meera, Meera had lost herself in Krishna’s idol.
They call her Krishna’s devotee, I have no words for her,
love is the word, selfless.
Lets love more and more….
Next section is Radha, another woman who loved Krishna in
her own way.
Stay connected!
Vikas Sachdeva
Radha
Radha
Radha
Before I started writing about Radha, the visual imagery of
Radha filled in my eyes, dressed in beautiful ghagra choli with earrings,
bangles in her hand, bindi on her forehead, Girl who was full of life, running
around here and there, A imagery flashed before my eyes as I kept my hands on
the keyboard.
Do we believe in imageries? Whenever we are told something
which we don’t know, don’t we imagine, whenever we told our grandparents to
tell us a story, we imagined when words flew from their mouth, we reached in
some other world and then our mind was at peace, no turbulence.
Radha always imagined, she imagined about Krishna, love of
her life, the legends say she had not opened her eyes till 11 months after she
was born as she was waiting for Krishna. The wait of her life ended when
Krishna appeared in her dreams.
Krishna had promised Radha’s friend Ratanmala that he will
never leave Radha and would appear in her dreams whenever he is not around.
Radha didn’t want to miss a single glimpse of Krishna, so much love she had for
him.
I heard somewhere in a temple, Radhe means ‘Raah de’ e.g
Give directions and when this name is used with Krishna i.e Radhe Krishna
meaning ‘Give me directions Krishna’, I liked this explanation.
Many a times, we get stuck at various points in life for a
brief period, be it relationships, be it people, be it anything, isn’t it?
Krishna says keep walking, your duty is to keep moving irrespective of whatever
happens, Practice detachment.
Can someone Practice detachment? Of course there is a degree
to it, During my conversations with my father-in-law once, he said, just
imagine yourself standing near the window, you can see people moving on the
street, you can’t control anything except shutting down the window, so don’t control,
let the world do whatever it wants to do and you focus on whatever you want to
do.
Radha never controlled herself, never wanting to be separated
from Krishna, they were always together, They say when Krishna left Vrindavan
for killing the demon Kans , Radha also went with him as a shadow.
I believe Radha was the luckiest one among Meera and
Rukmani, she got maximum time with Krishna, playing with him always, teasing
him, she lost herself in Krishna’s love, Krishna was her companion.
Companionship is wonderful, always, it is different from
marriage, you can be a companion with anyone, share your stories, confess, be vulnerable.
Krishna had many companions, some in the form of wives, some in the form of girlfriends,
he believed in love, pure love rather than putting it into buckets of
relationships, he loved people, all the people.
That’s why Radha loved her more, she always felt attracted
towards Krishna and never complained to him that why he is always surrounded by
women. She knew that’s how Krishna was, the day she would try to put brakes on
Krishna , she would loose him, but she expressed her love to Krishna often.
Why all the temples have idols of Radha and Krishna? And not
Rukmani Krishna, Rukmani was Krishna’s wife?, That was the power of love Radha
showered on Krishna.
Radha was very playful with Krishna, one day Radha asked
Krishna to do entire make up of her, Krishna readily agreed and with his whole heart,
he put efforts in making sure that Radha looked beautiful.
One point, if you are a man who liked this make up aspect,
you know what the expectation of a woman are, she can expect anything, and when
she asks, do your best.If you are a woman who has liked this aspect, this is
how a man can show his love to a woman.
They say Radha and Krishna can never be separated and they demonstrated
‘Companionship’.
While Meera’s love for Krishna was selfless, Radha got the
maximum share of love in the form of companionship of Krishna.
But then they never got married? Where did Radha go? Was she
playing her part in telling the world that fairy tale love exists, one needs to
believe in companionship, her name is chanted with Krishna.
Who was Rukmani? When did she enter Krishna’s life? Why did
Krishna marry her? What kind of love
Rukmani displayed with Krishna ( Meera selfless love and Radha’s companionship)
Rukmani had a different story to tell….
Rukmani in my next blog, Thank you for reading
Vikas Sachdeva
