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Radha's name in the Bhagavatam

Although Radharani's name does not appear directly in the Bhagavatam Sukadeva Goswami has
given it in many places in an indirect way. I have heard from my Guru Maharaja that Sukadeva
Goswami did not mention Radharani's name directly because he was the parrot of Radha and if he
had mentioned Her name directly he would have gone into ecstatic trance for six months. As
Maharaja Pariksit had only seven days to hear Srimad Bhagavatam he gave Radha's name in an
indirect, hidden way. He cited the writings of Srila Sanatan Goswami and Jiva Goswami who have
described the Bhagavatam phrase: "sri suka uvaca" to mean, "suka" - the parrot, of "Sri" - Radha.

As this is a very big topic I will present only a few items here. Perhaps some other Vaishnavas may
want to append to this.

Srila Prabhupada has addresses the subject of Radha's name in the Bhagavatam in several places. In
Cc. madhya 8.100 Ramananda Ray cites Bhag. 10.30.28:

anayaradhito nunam
bhagavan harir isvarah
yan no vihaya govindah
prito yam anayad rahah

"[When the gopis began to talk among themselves, they said:] 'Dear friends, the gopi who has been
taken away by Krishna to a secluded place must have worshiped the Lord more than anyone else.'"

In his purport Srila Prabhupada writes:

"The name Radha is derived from this verse (Bhag. 10.30.28), from the words anayaradhitah,
meaning "by Her the Lord is worshiped." Sometimes the critics of Srimad-Bhagavatam find it
difficult to find Radharani's holy name in that book, but the secret is disclosed here in the word
aradhita, from which the name Radha has come. Of course, the name of Radharani is directly
mentioned in other Puranas. This gopi's worship of Krishna is topmost, and therefore Her name is
Radha, or 'the topmost worshiper.'"
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Although Radharani's name is only given in an indirect way in the Bhagavatam, rasik Vaishnavas see
Her presence in each and every verse. Sanatan Goswami, Jiva Goswami and Vishvanath Chakravarti
have given many purports showing how Sukadeva Goswami has given Radharani's name in an
indirect way. In his commentary on the first verse of the Bhagavatam Jiva gives a long explanation of
how the verse is reffering to Radha. A few other examples of Sukadeva's indirect references to Radha
follow:

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In Bhag. 10.32.4 Sukadeva has said, "kacit karambujam saurer jagrhe 'njalina - one of them seized
Krishna's hand in her folded palms." Kacit refers to "*one* of them". That one is Radharani.
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Bhag. 10.30.38 describes:

evam uktah priyam aha

skandha aruhyatam iti
tatas cantardadhe krsnah
sa vadhur anvatapyata
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"After being addressed by a particular gopi, Krishna told Her, "Climb up on My shoulder." Saying
this He suddenly disappeared. Sa vadhur anvatapyata -- His beloved consort (Radharani) then
immediately felt great remorse."
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Bhag. 10.30.26 describes how after Krishna left the rasa dance with one special gopi the other gopis
went searching for "vadhvah"- that special gopi (Radharani).
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In the Brahmara-gita 47th chapter of the 10th canto, text 11 Sukadeva describes:

kacin madhukaram drstva

dhyayanti krsna-sangamam
priya-prasthapitam dutam
kalpayitvedam abravit

"*One* of the gopis, while meditating on Her previous association with Krishna, saw a honeybee
before Her and imagined it to be a messenger sent by Her beloved. Thus She spoke as follows."

The word "kacin" in this verse, meaning "one of the gopis" refers to Radha.
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Aside from the Bhagavatam, Radharani is described elaborately in

Brahma-vaivarta, Padma, and Narada Puranas as well as Garga Samhita. In the 4th chapter of
Ujjvala-nilamani "Sri Radha-prakaranam" texts 3 and 4 Rupapada cites the Gopala-tapani Upanisad,
Uttara-khanda where Radha is called Gandhava and the Rg veda-parisista where Her name Radha is
mentioned. There She is described as the consort of Madhava.

A note of interest: Although this verse was quoted by Rupa, the original texts for this part of the
Gopal-tapani Upanisad were unknown to scholars for many, many years. In 1966 one Vaishnava
scholar here in Orissa named Fakir Mohan Das discovered original palm leaf copies of this rare
literature in the Balasore district of northern Orissa. After finding it he quickly reprinted it to
preserve it.

The following is an excerpt from an article written by Dr Fakir Mohan entitled:

THE HISTORY OF SRI SRI RADHA KRISHNA WORSHIP IN ORISSAN CULTURE

"In Ujjvala Nilamani Srila Rupa Goswami cites the Gopala Tapani Upanisad and the Rg Parisista to
show the authenticity of the worship of Srimati Radharani:
gopalottaratapinyam yad gandharveti visrutah radhet rk parisiste ca, etc.

'From the Vedic literature we come to know that Sri Radharani is referred to as 'Gandharva' in the
second part of the Gopal Tapani, and as 'Radha' in the Rg Parishistha.'

"Srila Vishvanath Cakravarti Thakur and Baladev Vidyabhushan have stated in their commentaries on
Gopal Tapani Upanisad that this tapani of the Atharva Veda, Paippalada branch, was previously being
recited by the brahmanas of Gujarat and Orissa. Although presently there are no brahmanas of the
Atharva Veda Paippalada branch found in Gujarat, thousands of this lineage are still living in the
vicinity of the village Remuna, the birth place of Srila Baladev Vidyabhushan, and in other places of
Orissa. In the absence of any help from ancient manuscripts, the original text of the Paippalada
Samhita can be reconstructed even today from the tradition, which the village reciters still carry with
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them unimpaired. In this area some rare Paippalada Samhita manuscripts have been found along with
a number of hitherto unknown manuals of special Paippalada rites which give an insight into the
social, religious and cultural traditions of Paippaladiyans found in the tapani literature.

"In the 18th century, Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushan has quoted the
Purusa-bodhini Sruti, Purusottama Tapini, in his Prameya Ratnavali in connection with the worship
of Sri Sri Radha Krishna in the Vedic period. Vaishnava poets like Anandi of Nilachala Dhama and
Narahari Cakravarti of Sri Khanda, Bengal, have quoted from the Purusa-bodhini Sruti to establish
the authentic nature of the worship of Sri Sri Radha Krishna and Gauranga Mahaprabhu.

"Later in the 18th century, Srila Radha Krishna Goswami, the disciple of Haridas Pandit (who was
the grand-disciple of Gadadhar Pandit Goswami of Puri), published four prapathakas (chapters) of
the Purua-bodhini sruti in his Sadhana-dipika. Thakur Bhaktivinode of village Chotimangalpur in
Kendrapara District, Orissa, also collected the Sri Caitanya Upanibad of the Paippalada branch from
Pandit Madhusudan Dash of Sambalpur, Orissa, publishing it in 1887. In 1901 Mahamahopadhyaya
Sadashiva Kavyakantha of Puri published some additional chapters of this Sruti. In 1966 we
collected all twelve prapathakas of this Purusa-bodhini Sruti from different parts of Orissa and
published them from our Sri Bhaktivinode Library in Baripada." <end of quote>
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For other references on this subject from Srila Prabhupada's books, one may refer to the second to
the last paragraph of Prabhupada's purport to Bhag. 10.3.31. Also Cc. madhya 18.8 which cites
Padma Purana on the glories of Radha-kunda. And Cc adi 4.83 which addresses the glories of
Radharani from the Brhad-gautamiya-tantra.

I hope that this is of some use. Jaya Sri Radhe!

Das anudas, Madhavananda Das