Rādha and Mādhava together in a bower of Vṛndāvan
jai Radha Madhava - Meaning.
je Rādha Mādhava
je Raadha Maadhava
success & woman & man (together)
joy to
je kuñja vihāre
je kunyja vihaare
success & bower located in a
joy (in their) sacred space (together)
je gopī jana vallabha
je gopii jana vallabha
success & cowherder, (a) person friendly
joy to
je giri vara dhāri
je giri vara dhaari
success & prominent beneficial support
joy to (this) important
The Song.
Another poignant song by Deva Premal and Miten, from their early yet successful album “Love is Space”, 2000. Deva’s voice, and Miten’s guitar are simple yet powerful. Then Miten’s voice joins in, expressing the man and the woman together in song.
I recommend you buy this album, for it has at least four good Kirtan songs : om shree sache, chidananda, jai radha madhav, om namo narayanaya. All these have –
- good singing and
- good instrumental,
- good melody for the song, that is easy to sing along to.
You can listen to samples and buy the album at –
https://devapremalmiten.com/love-is-space/
U-Tube has a good quality recording, with a quarter of a million visits, on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_7pG6PSSbA
This has imagery that is remarkable but not related to the mantra meaning – word-for-word translation is not provided there.
The Mantra Discussed.
This is a song about a man and woman together in a kunyja (kuñja) or bower : in an attractive secluded place fringed with foliage, creepers and trees. The album is called “Love is Space”, the Sanskrit name Premal can mean “love”, and this was recorded early in their Kirtan career. So this could be a “love song”. If so, it is one with an important difference …
The central word in this mantra is last in the second line –
vihara (properly spelled vihāra, and pronounced vihaara) can mean “sacred space or sacred place”, and
vihāre (vihaare) can mean “located in a sacred space or place”. (vihāre is the locative form of the noun vihāra.)
So this song is about a man (Madhava, Mādava) and a woman (Radha, properly spelled Rādha and pronounced Raadha) in a sacred place and space together. The traditional term in Western tradition is “holy” as in holy matrimony. Holy matrimony is one of seven things that are held sacred in the religious tradition : the seven sacraments, which include eucharist = “with Christ”, or holy communion.
If this is a love song, then it is a sacred love song, which celebrates the sacred-ness of sexual relationship. More precisely, a song that wishes (je) that the relationship may be located in a sacred space (vihare).
This is important, for sexual desire is a potent force leading to potent experience : intense pleasure or intense pain. Intensely pleasurable when it is gratified, and intensely painful when it is not gratified.
It is this stark contrast between the current pain and former pleasure that causes so much suffering for us, when our “love endeavours” fail. Such intense pain is naturally of great importance in the Dharma, for our Goal is Freedom from suffering, especially intense suffering.
Holy matrimony does not come from getting prior Church approval before commencing proceedings. It comes from getting our posture right, towards relationships of this kind, and the courtship phase the precedes. Building the right foundations needed for sustainable and satisfying relationship. And then allowing the Divine to enter into the relationship, and dwell therein. It can help carry a mountain of responsibility, with much benefit for many (giri vara dhāri).
In building such relationship, it’s important to transcend the romantic connotations of sexual desire, for these can confuse more than clarify. Especially unrealistic expectations. Sexual desire is potent because Mother Nature designed us that way. Its natural outcome is children, and in our species the offspring remain dependent on their parents far longer. In the modern world, this is even further prolonged, due to the many years of training needed to learn the highly specialised occupations of our modern workforce. In addition, the mother is rarely allowed to have her children with her at work, and children are no longer allowed to play together without parental supervision. All this creates major financial problems for single mothers.
Hence the need to build the foundations for something sustainable and satisfying. Let us make effort to bring the Divine into relationships of this kind. Let us also wish each other success in such a prominent beneficial support (je giri vara dhāri), for this is important. This is at the heart of the wedding ceremony.
je giri vara dhaari
success & prominent beneficial support
joy to (this) important
Ethnology Note.
Madhava (Mādhava) is another Name for Krishna. In the religious story telling, Radha (properly spelled Rādha and pronounced Raadha) was a cow herding maiden, called a gopi (gopī). She was Krishna’s woman. These two are often presented as lovers, in the traditional stories. Radha is sometimes presented as the “celestial lover”. In the traditional stories, Radha and Krishna wandered in the groves (kuñja vihāre) and dallied in the bowers of Vṛndāvan, now in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, now a sacred place for Krishna devotees.
Derivation Details.
“The vihara” was the name we gave for Buddhist House, where the Buddhist Society met. So for me, vihāra meant “sacred space” or “sacred place” as soon as I first heard Deva Premal’s song, 10 years ago. vihāre is the locative form of the noun vihāra, and means “located in vihāra”.
However, vihārin means “wandering for recreation” or “delightful, beautiful” in https://sanskritdictionary.com . Thus vihāra was originally the forest that the early Buddhist monks wandered in. Later they had a temple or hermitage built there, and that became known as vihāra. kuñja can also mean “grove, forest.”
This gives two quite different translations of second line of our Sanskrit song –
giri can mean “prominence” or “hill”. dhāri can mean “support” or “protect, carry”. In the traditional story telling, the beautiful hill of Govardhan near Vṛndāvan , where Krishna dallied with his Gopis, was once threatened by serious monsoon flooding rains, sent by Indra. Krishna protected the hill, by carrying or supporting it on his hand. This gives two quite different translations of line 4 of our mantra –
These traditional stories, magical and imaginative, can be interpreted according to the spiritual advancement of the reader. Likewise for mantra.
However, vihārin means “wandering for recreation” or “delightful, beautiful” in https://sanskritdictionary.com . Thus vihāra was originally the forest that the early Buddhist monks wandered in. Later they had a temple or hermitage built there, and that became known as vihāra. kuñja can also mean “grove, forest.”
This gives two quite different translations of second line of our Sanskrit song –
- kuñja vihāre can mean “located in sacred space in a romantic bower together”, or
- kuñja vihārin can mean “wandered in the groves of Vṛndāvan together.”
giri can mean “prominence” or “hill”. dhāri can mean “support” or “protect, carry”. In the traditional story telling, the beautiful hill of Govardhan near Vṛndāvan , where Krishna dallied with his Gopis, was once threatened by serious monsoon flooding rains, sent by Indra. Krishna protected the hill, by carrying or supporting it on his hand. This gives two quite different translations of line 4 of our mantra –
- giri vara dhāri can mean “prominent, beneficial support” or
- giri vara dhāri can mean “carried the (Govardhan) hill to benefit (the Gopis)”.
These traditional stories, magical and imaginative, can be interpreted according to the spiritual advancement of the reader. Likewise for mantra.
For more translated Sanskrit mantras :
click onto the + at the top of this webpage, then click again onto the +
My introductory webpages “Mantras Translated A - C”
discuss how to gain the full benefit of these mantra writeups.
