Original text
राधा रासेश्वरी रम्या कृष्णमन्त्राधिदेवता। सर्वाद्या सर्ववन्द्या च वृन्दावनविहारिणी॥ वृन्दाराध्या रमाशेषगोपीमण्डलपूजिता। सत्या सत्यपरा सत्यभामा श्रीकृष्णवल्लभा॥ वृषभानुसुता गोपी मूलप्रकृतिरीश्वरी। गान्धर्वा राधिकाऽऽरम्या रुक्मिणी परमेश्वरी॥ परात्परतरा पूर्णा पूर्णचन्द्रनिभानना। भुक्तिमुक्तिप्रदा नित्यं भवव्याधिविनाशिनी॥
Transliteration
Radha raseshvari ramya krishnamantradhidevata Sarvadya sarvavandya cha vrindavanaviharini Vrindaradhya ramasheshagopimandalapujita Satya satyapara satyabhama shrikrishnavallabha Vrishabhanusuta gopi mulaprakritirishvari Gandharva radhika''ramya rukmini parameshvari Paratparatara purna purnachandranibhanana Bhuktimuktiprada nityam bhavavyadhivinashini
Twenty-eight names in four lines
This is a nama-stotra, a hymn made only of names. Each name is a small portrait of Radha, and together they move from the intimate to the cosmic. Some of the most telling:
- Raseshvari: queen of the rasa, the circle dance of Krishna and the gopis in Vrindavan.
- Krishnamantradhidevata: the presiding goddess of Krishna's own mantra. In the Radha-centred traditions, no Krishna mantra is complete without her.
- Vrindavanaviharini, Vrindaradhya: she who wanders in Vrindavan, and she who is worshipped by Vrinda, the goddess of the forest and of tulsi.
- Ashesha-gopi-mandala-pujita: honoured by the whole circle of gopis.
- Vrishabhanusuta: daughter of King Vrishabhanu of Barsana.
- Mulaprakriti, Ishvari, Parameshvari, Paratparatara: the root of all nature, the sovereign goddess, higher than the highest. These names place her at the source of creation.
- Satyabhama, Rukmini: the names of two of Krishna's queens at Dwarka. Including them says that every beloved of Krishna is a form of Radha.
- Purnachandranibhanana: she whose face is like the full moon.
- Bhuktimuktiprada, Bhavavyadhivinashini: the giver of both worldly enjoyment and liberation, and the one who destroys the "disease of becoming", the cycle of birth and death.
How to recite it
Recite the four verses after lighting a lamp before a picture of Radha-Krishna, ideally once in the morning and once in the evening. It is especially recited on Radhashtami (Bhadrapada Shukla Ashtami), on the Ashtami of each month, and through Kartik. Many devotees follow it with the Radha Kripa Kataksh Stotram and the aarti Aarti Shri Vrishbhanusuta Ki.
For simple japa, the Braj tradition needs no more than her name itself. "Radhe Radhe", repeated on a tulsi mala, is the most widespread Radha mantra of all, and the greeting of every pilgrim in Vrindavan.
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