Srila Gurudeva’s May, 1999 class in Houston
— translated from Hindi by Tarunkrsna Das

In 1999 Srila Gurudeva gave a wonderful class in Houston on the topic of the mention of Sri Radha’s name in Srimad Bhagavatam. I wanted to share this very unique and sweet class on the occasion of Srila Gurudeva’s Vyasa puja.

Many people think that Sri Radha’s name is not mentioned even in Srimad Bhagavatam, not to speak of the other Vedic literature. In this lecture, Srila Guurdeva mentioned that each verse in each canto and each chapter of this great literature, especially the Rasa panchadhyaya, has Sri Radha’s name in it. This is accomplished in a secret way so that ordinary people averse to the highest mellow of the love of paramour will not understand. In this regard, he gave one specific example. This is from the verse 10.30.28.

The verse is,

anayaradhita nunam bhagavan hariir isvarah
yan no vihaya govindah prito yam anayad rahah

[anaya – feminine (by her); ārādhito – perfectly worshipped; nunam – certainly; bhagavan – Supreme Being; Hari – Sri Krsna, one who steals devotee’s minds; yat – inasmuch as; nah – us; vihaya – rejecting, leaving; Govindah – Lord Govindahl; pritah – pleased; yām – whom; anayat – led, brought; rahah – to a secluded place]

Translation: Certainly Lord Govinda is so much pleased by Her perfect worship that the Supreme Lord Hari left all of us to bring Her to a secluded place.
Let us see how Sri Sukadev clearly enunciates that the principal subject of this verse is sarva-kāntā-siromani Sri Radha.

The prefix, ā, has numerous meanings. It means “up to” as in the words ā-kantha, ā-karna, etc.; it means “somewhat” as in the word ā-pingal; it means “perfect” or “complete” as in the word ā-rādhito in this verse. Who has worshipped Lord Govinda perfectly? She is none other than Srimati Radhika. Therefore, this verse is clearly naming Srimati Radhika.

Also, Caitanya Caritamrta, adi-lila, verse 4.82, mentions that Sri Radha has five principal names. They are Radha, Govindā-nandini, Govinda-mohini, Govinda-sarvasya, sarva-kāntā-siromani. Therefore, the use of the word Govinda and that “She pleased Lord Govinda by Her perfect worship” befits the name Govind-ānandini. This testifies that ‘Sri Radha is the particular gopi’ referred to here.

Again, the word “rahah” has only two letters and means a secluded place. This can be understood to signify that the secluded place is only fit for the yugal-kishore, Sri Radha and Sri Krsna.

Sri Radha’s Pet Parrot

The other concept Srila Gurudeva explained in this class was that Sri Sukadev was Sri Radha’s pet parrot in eternal abode. The events leading to the parrot’s appearance in this world as Sukadev are as follows. Once Lord Siva was reciting Srimad Bhagavatam to Sri Parvatiji and she was repeating “hum” every time to indicate that she is listening. After a while, Parvati fell asleep and this parrot sitting on a tree nearby and listening to the recitation began to fill in “hum” for Parvati. When the recitation was complete and Lord Siva found out that Sri Parvati fell asleep in between, he was wondering who was filling in. Then, he saw this parrot on the tree and knew that this bird is the culprit. He ran after the parrot with his trident to Vyasaji’s home where his wife Vitika was drying her wet hair outside. The parrot immediately went inside her womb through her open mouth. There he stayed for sixteen years till Sri Vyasa convinced him to come out while the illusory energy, the māyā, of Sri Krsna was kept away by Sri Krsna for one moment. This parrot (Sanskrit name for parrot is Suka) is Sukadeva who is reciting Srimad Bhagavatam to Pariksit Maharaja. As the parrot is so much dear to and loved by Srimati Radhika, Sukadeva is lost in samadhi (trance) as soon as “Radha” name is uttered or heard. The same Sukadeva is reciting Srimad Bhagavatam to Praiksit Maharaja for only seven days. Therefore, he does not want to fall in trance for six months hearing Sri Radha’s name!! That is why, Sri Sukadev has carefully restricted himself from uttering directly Sri Radha’s name in this recitation.

However, this is accepted by all rasika vaisnavas and acaryas in the line of Sri Rupa Goswami that each verse in this spotless great purana has Radha’s name hidden in it. Svami Prabhupada’s English commentary of this verse in line with Srila VIsvanath Cakravarti’s commentary also supports this conclusion.