Radha and Krishna return to Dwaraka, and Krishna reunites with his family. Krishna and Rukmini's son Pradyumna returns to Dwaraka after suppressing unrest in Vidarbha. Pradyumna marries Vidarbha king Rukmi 's daughter Rukmavati, and soon a son Aniruddha is born to them. Rukmini is the incarnation of Goddess of Fortune, Mother Lakshmi and Radha is the origin of Mother Lakshmi and she is extremely dear to Lord Krishna. Some scriptural evidence for this: “yatha radha priya visnos-tasyah kundam priyam tatha sarva gopisu saivaika visnor-atyanta-vallabha”. Radha and Rukmini are back to their old form! The mother-daughter duo starts hatching a plan against Shyama. Rukmini (Sanskrit: रुक्मिणी, IAST: Rukmiṇī, lit. 'radiant') or Rukmani is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of Krishna, the king of Dwaraka and the avatar of the god Vishnu. She is described as the avatar of Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu. In 'RadhaKrishn', Rukmini’s character will be played by popular Television actress, Zalak Desai. Confirming her entry in the show Zalak Desai said in a statement that, 'Rukmini is an ethereal beauty to me. She falls in love with Krishn even before meeting him and that in itself is a testament of her devotion.

• Rukmini And Radha
• Rukmini And Radha Dance
• Rukmini Radhakrishn

New Delhi : Love is all around us and most of the time, couples in India, often relate themselves to the heavenly couple, Krishna and Radha. Their names cannot be taken without each other. Without Radha, Krishna is incomplete and without Krishna, Radha can never be complete.

They are believed to have shared the love via their souls. But, the tragedy is that Lord Krishna never married his beloved Radha. The divine love story ended with the death of Radha. Here is a little we must know how she died and why Lord Krishna broke his flute.

According to the Vedic scriptures, Lord Krishna fell in love with Radha when he was just eight years old. His love for her was so true and eternal that he maintained his feeling throughout his lifetime.

It is believed that Lord Krishna used to love only Radha and his flute, more than any other people or things in his life. It was his flute skills which attracted his love to him. This is why he used to keep the flute always with him. But, the couple never managed to be with each other.

How Radha died

After being released from all the duties, Radha went to meet her Krishna for the last time. When she reached Dwarka, she heard about Krishna's marriage to Rukmini and Satyabhama but she did not feel sad.

When Krishna saw Radha, he was very happy. Both talked to each other for a long time. However, nobody knew Radha in Dwarka. She requested Krishna to appoint her as a Devika in the palace.

Radha lived in the palace throughout the day and as soon as she got the chance, she used to see Krishna. But in the palace, Radha could not feel the spiritual connection with Lord Krishna like before. So Radha decided to go away from the palace with the aim to establish a deep spiritual relationship with Shri Krishna.

Rukmini And Radha

Radha did not know where she was going and is completely lonely and weak in her last days. Lord Shri Krishna came in front of them in the last time. Krishna told Radha that he demanded something from her, but Radha refused. On the request of Krishna again, Radha said that she wants to see her playing flute for the last time. Sri Krishna took a flute and started playing in a very harmonious tune.

Shri Krishna played flute day and night until Radha took her last breathe and merged with Krishna in a spiritual way. Radha abandoned her body while listening to the tunes of the flute.

Lord Krishna could not bear Radha's death and broke his flute as a symbolic ending of love and threw it into the bush. Since then, Sri Krishna has not played the flute or any other instrument of life.

The scriptures of Sanatana Dharma refer to innumerable illustrious women. Out of these, the protagonists of Ramayana and Mahabharata – Radha, Rukmini, Sita, and Draupadi – stand out in my mind. Though they faced many challenges, their positive qualities helped them sail through this world and go beyond it.

They were all referred to as Sri Devi, a name frequented by the scriptures for Ādi-Parā-Śakti or Ādayā Śakti, the formless primordial force.

Radha: Unconditional Love

She was a charmer who lived and breathed divine sentiments. While many see her as Goddess Mahalakshmi’s incarnation, the Tantrik texts have a different take on Radha-Krishna.

At one point in time, Shiva and Shakti desired to experience love from the other’s perspective. To fulfill this desire, Shakti (or Kāli) took the form of Lord Krishna, and Shiva appeared as Radha, who’s affectionately called the Rani or queen.

Incarnation or not, Radha had one significant similarity with Shiva, she too was a Vairāgī, the detached one. Radha remained and functioned in this world, but never got attached to it.

Love that’s not contaminated by attachments and expectations is said to be pure or unconditional. While contaminated love binds us, Radha’s unconditional love for Lord Krishna liberated her. Her purpose was to help Krishna be at the receiving end of unconditional love, and she fulfilled that to immaculate perfection!

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Rukmini: Faith

The first wife of Lord Krishna, who is said to be an incarnation of Goddess Mahalakshmi, was an embodiment of faith. When her brother Rukmi tried to get her married against her will, she notified Krishna and patiently waited for him to rescue her. She didn’t even have the slightest of doubts if her beloved would show up or not!

Rukmini’s faith made her Krishna’s favorite, which caused jealousy in his other wives, particularly Satyabhama, an incarnation of Goddess Bhu-Devi or Mother Earth.

As per a Puranic tale, Sage Narad once played a trick on Satyabhama to demonstrate faith’s power. The Sage received Lord Krishna in charity from her in exchange for a promise. She could win the Lord back in Tulābhāra Sevā, giving away wealth equivalent to a person’s weight. Satyabhama fell for this trick in the desire to show-off her control over Krishna.

Unfortunately, her wealth in entirety and the jewels she borrowed from Krishna’s other wives couldn’t equal the Lord’s weight! Finally, the situation got resolved when Rukmini, with a firm belief in Krishna, replaced all the wealth with just a leaf of Tulsi, a medicinal basil plant.

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Sita: Forbearance & Devotion

As the devoted wife of King Raam, she supported her principled husband in all his endeavors. When Raam sent her away to the forest, she did not try to return to Ayodhya or present her case. She just accepted her husband’s decision and quietly resided at a hermitage. Aptly called the Daughter of Earth, Sita’s forbearance was no less than that of Mother Earth.

Rukmini And Radha Dance

Towards the end of Ramayana, King Raam faced a predicament. His kids, Luv and Kush, had captured the horse from his Ashvamedha Yagna. If he didn’t accept the boys, he would have to kill them as per the rules of the Yagna. Welcoming the boys and Sita would make his subjects morose because people doubted her character (due to her misadventure with Ravana). Accepting just his boys without Sita, separating the mother from her tweens would be unjust (Adharma).

To resolve that intolerable situation, King Raam requested Sita to give a test of her chastity to the entire kingdom. Sita responded by disappearing into the earth. By this single act, she proved her purity, thereby adhering to her Dharma of unwavering devotion towards Raam. Sita also saved herself from further humiliation and ensured that the ignorant people wouldn’t lose their future kings. Finally, she shocked everyone to bring awareness about the social evils faced by women.

If Lord Vishnu incarnated as Raam to be Purushottam, the ideal man, his consort Sita demonstrated a woman’s power as Stri-Uttam, the extraordinary woman.

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Draupadi: Surrender & Compassion

As weird or repulsive an act may be, it becomes compassionate if done with utmost purity of intent and concern for everyone involved, not excluding ourselves. Unlike unconditional love, compassion is not blind, and so becomes very difficult for others to understand.

Draupadi was the epitome of compassion and hence was an enigma! Her marriage to all the five Pandava brothers was her most prominent act of compassion. For this, though, she was looked down upon then and sometimes made fun of even now.

Scriptures proclaim, and my personal experience says that the thoughts of those who abide by truth materialize in one form or the other. When Kunti asked the brothers to share Draupadi, Yudhisthira (a truth practitioner) probably visualized Draupadi as his wife for a second. Perhaps, not wanting this to materialize in some negative way, he advocated for all the brothers to marry her.

Out of compassion for Kunti, the Pandavas, the society in general, and even for herself (to secure her future), Draupadi married the five brothers. Her compassionate act turned out to be a turning point in history, which eventually caused massive social reform.

One folklore sums her up beautifully. Before her impending marriage, she questioned Krishna about the need for a Svayamvar, a ceremony to select a husband. Since she was deeply in love with the Lord, she didn’t have to find a husband. The narrative goes that Krishna saw himself, the energy of Kāli, in Draupadi. So, he preferred that she be his companion and support his social welfare aspirations. She was surrendered to Krishna and hence accepted his wish.

Deeply moved by her surrender and selfless sacrifices, Krishna ran to her at every whim and will of hers. She proved the scriptural viewpoint, “While everyone else runs in search of the Divine, the Divine runs in search of the compassionate ones!”

Rukmini Radhakrishn

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Both admirers and researchers believe that the stories of Sanatana Dharma are exaggerated versions of real incidents. If we buy into that perspective, Radha, Rukmini, Sita, and Draupadi were all wonderful women who lived socially and spiritually responsible lives and attained Moksha or liberation.

If we view the Puranic tales and folklores as works of fiction, then Radha, Rukmini, Sita, and Draupadi represent essential qualities. Either way, if we remember these eminent women and imbibe even one of their characteristics in our life, we (man or woman immaterial) too shall realize the Mother Sri Devi in us!

|| Om Śrī Mātrai Namaḥ ||