Radha
The third influential heroine and beloved is Radha, a cowherdess whose story is narrated in the twelfth-century poem, Gita Govinda (Love Song of the Dark Lord). Having once experienced the ecstasy of divine love with Krishna (an incarnation of Vishnu), Radha is separated from Krishna and yearns with single-minded intensity for reunion. In the Gita Govinda Radha is human and Krishna divine, and the poem is interpreted metaphorically in terms of the longing of the human soul for the divine. The final reunion symbolizes the bliss of salvation. By the sixteenth century, Radha was transformed into a goddess, and is honored as the heavenly queen of Krishna's celestial world. |
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Radha and Krishna Entwined. Lent by Leo S. Figiel, M.D. |
