Dr. Malashri Lal in conversation with Ajay Singha on “Finding Radha: The Quest for Love” Penguin

Namita Gokhale and Dr. Malashri Lal have curated an anthology of essays, poems and songs offering various perspectives, explaining the mystique of Radha as it has evolved over time. Radha remains one of the most enigmatic figures in India’s vast religio-cultural landscape, attracting writers across centuries to share their own interpretation and understanding. Our desire to understand Radha’s stellar role in the pantheon of Indian deities is heightened by the lack of direct textual references to her persona even in the Mahabharata.
Renowned scholars who have penned these accounts and whose writings are referred to in the book provide an interesting kaleidoscope of commentary on the legend of Radha. An exquisite aura surrounds the eternal play of ‘Raas Leela’ and the story of her unwavering love, sometimes earthly and sometimes divine, is elaborated in this book.

No other Goddess combines the elements of ‘Bhakti’ and ‘Shringara’ quite as comprehensively as Radha. She sits distinctly apart in the line of divine, female consorts, defying conventional codes. Yet she becomes adorable for the masses through her combined attributes of the spiritual and the sensual.

Those who question the authenticity of Radha’s existence must first address the need for creating such a complex and enigmatic figure in the realm of the imagination. The book encapsulates the philosophical tradition of accepting the sacred and the erotic as pleasingly compatible and not contradictory. Dr. Malashri Lal in conversation with Ajay Singha points out some of these interesting interpretations through a wide gamut of authors who write on a distinctive subject.

Question:The 12th Century portrayal of Radha as depicted in Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda is her popular and universally acceptable image. What are the key features of this interpretation?
Dr. Malashri Lal: Jayadeva’s 12th century composition Gita Govinda is the climax to a movement which had been around but from then on gained huge popularity in much of India. Around 10th century, Prakrit literature refers to one Radha who is portrayed as Krishna’s favourite. She is the loved one, and the dominant emotion is one of longing and separation. By making the relationship somewhat clandestine, the poet heightens the emotional impact of the narrative and enhances popular interest among the people.

Question: When does the story of Radha begin?
Dr.Malashri Lal: During our research Namita Gokhale and I found the earliest reference to Radha, by name, in a 7th century poem in Sanskrit by Vidya. Sacred texts of Bhagavata Purana in the 9th century mention Radha indirectly, as a woman being singled out for special favours by Krishna. Jain scholars mention Radha around the 8th century alluding to an intimate companionship of Radha and Krishna. Later, compositions by Surdas, written in Braj Bhasha increased the outreach of the love saga but the narrative of romantic love was altered to show conjugality, a more acceptable position. Radha was largely a medieval phenomenon and barely existed in the classical world. Jawhar Sircar and Makarand Paranjape write of this complex history.

Question: Does limiting Radha to a birthplace, a geographical location or a time period constrict her persona and her outreach?
Dr. Malashri Lal: Not at all, the story of Radha being born in Vraja to Vrishabhanu only emphasises her human origins as opposed to Sita’s divine birth. The Radha-Krishna worship gained momentum in the 12th Century, and was later built into a sacred geography in Barsana and Vrindavan by the followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The film maker Madhureeta Anand recounts her journey through this landscape.

Question: What was the position of the Radha-Krishna cult during the Mughal period?
Dr. Malashri Lal: By the 16th Century Radha and Krishna became paired as inseparable and accepted as part of the Hindu tradition. Allegorically they were seen to represent the body and the soul. A movement favouring Krishna as the ‘supreme being’ was inspired by vernacular poetry and established itself in the Braj region between Agra and Delhi. The Mughals found this variety of Hinduism non-threatening enough to permit the emergence of a temple city in the midst of their power base. The much needed visual component to the Radha -Krishna story was fulfilled through romantic depictions in paintings which in turn were influenced by the Mughal style. The legend of Vrindavan was given an impetus with Radha emerging as a charming and alluring maiden.

Question: Rajasthani miniature paintings were greatly influenced by the Radha-Krishna theme, inadvertently abandoning love stories from the local tradition. Is this common perception misplaced?
Dr. Malashri Lal: Dating from the 16th to the 20th century many illustrated manuscripts of the Gita Govinda are still available. Perhaps the easy appeal of the Radha- Krishna tale lay in the lyrical depictions of love in the forest, surrounded by birds and other gentle creatures. This lent itself to pictorial depictions readily. Bani Thani of Kishangarh has often been painted as Radha but her own story deserves a research project. Themes portraying love stories of regional origin such as Dhola- Maroo showed their presence in folk lore, wall paintings and local ballads.

Question: What do Shir Ha-Shirim of the Hebrew Bible and Gita Govinda have in common?
Dr. Malashri Lal: This is based on the research conducted by Yudit Greenberg. Both the texts focus on female yearning, imagery depicting beauty and sexual desire, and the angst of physical separation of the lovers. The woman’s voice is dominating and she is seen asserting her emotions and desires. Another common feature is that the lover’s body is often described with allusions to trees, fruits, flowers and animals. But there are differences too, based on the religious context.

Question: Did the divine lovers Radha and Krishna actually cross-dress? Is there any comparison to the western notion of cross-dressing?
Dr. Malashri Lal: Alka Pande has written on this subject. The cross dressing is part of the erotic play of Radha and Krishna and denotes a willingness to extend gender consciousness to the ‘other’. The cross-dressing is a beautiful and effective way of illustrating unity beyond the gender differential. According to some traditions, Radha represents physical love and Krishna is the universal soul but this can be reversed. Consequently, their coming together is the union of the aatman with the paramaatma. I don’t think this parallels the discourse of cross- dressing in the western context, which is located in the secular domain of power- play.

Question: Are there any commonalities between Gopis and their relation with Krishna as compared to Catholic nuns as brides of Christ?
Dr. Malashri Lal: This comparison in untenable as we are looking at a legend in one instance and religious practice in the other. Gopis are extensions of Radha, and stand for the eternal seekers of salvation in the love of Krishna. The famous raas leela which depicts Krishna’s absorption by each of the gopis is a beautiful metaphor for losing oneself in the ultimate union with the divine. The celibate practices of the Catholic church are based on a very different history.

Question: Can you comment on Kazi Nazrul Islam, an Islamic scholar who penned verses on the Radha-Krishna theme.
Dr.Malashri Lal: The Kazi’s mellifluous songs, exploring all the nuances of a lover’s quarrel became popular in Bengal in the 20th Century. He is remembered for writing stirring patriotic songs during India’s freedom struggle. He belonged to a syncretic tradition that brought Hindus and Muslims together in Bengal in the 19th and early twentieth century. Radha was an icon of love, the religion did not matter. The historian and singer Reba Som has written in detail on this aspect of Radha.

Question: Was there any role of the Bhakti cult in popularising this belief in the Radha-Krishna movement?
Dr. Malashri Lal: The Bhakti movement significantly propelled the romantic tale across the sub-continent. Bhakti poets addressed God in personalised vocabulary hence the narrative of Radha-Krishna was especially suited to the expression of intimacy that the devotee felt towards divinity. In the section called “Songs of Radha” there are several examples of this. Namita and I are keen to explore Bhakti literature more closely.

Question: What is the curious tale of Bhanusingh?
Dr. Malashri Lal: Bhanusingh was the pen name adopted by Rabindranath Tagore when he mischievously wrote Bhanusingher Padabali in Braj buli, pretending it was an old manuscript found mysteriously. The songs about Radha and Krishna were beautiful and led to much speculation about the identity of the author. Tagore had to finally confess to his ‘prank’.

Question: The 8th century female saint Andal, in South India, was closely associated with Krishna. Was that a reason for Radha’s acceptance beyond the Vindhyas?
Dr. Malashri Lal: Andal was found by a priest as a baby girl and grew up seeing Krishna as her husband. She is believed to have ‘merged’ into Vishnu’s massive idol in Sri Rangam. Her songs greatly influenced Sri Ramanuja and remain hugely popular up to present times. The presence of Radha in southern literature needs further study.

Question: Is the Radha-Krishna pairing purely symbolic and should it be interpreted primarily in allegorical terms.
Dr. Malashri Lal: The immortal story of Radha and Krishna should be read along the dual axis of the physical and the spiritual. The utter surrender to the beauty of form and touch raises the romantic to a transcendental plane, so the erotic holds a justifiable place in sexual experience. In parallel, this complete union and ecstasy is only possible in a spiritual epiphany where all distinctions melt. Hence, the physical and the spiritual are co-existent, a reality that few people acknowledge.

Question: Bollywood seems to have discarded the Radha-Krishna analogy and changed to something different. Why?
Dr. Malashri Lal: Bollywood has used, and continues to use, Radha as an alluring character but her visual and aural contours have changed over time. Lyrics show how the representation of Radha has altered from the delicate coquetry of ‘Mohe panghat pe Nandlal chhed gayo re’ in Mughal-e-Azam (1960), to the jealousies of competing romance in ‘Bol Radha bol sangam hoga ki nahi’in the film Sangam (1964), to the robust breaking of gender stereotypes in ‘Radha on the dance floor’, the popular number from Karan Johar’s film Student of the Year (2012).

Question: How is chanting ‘Radhe-Radhe’ different from chanting ‘Radhe-Krishna’?
Dr. Malashri Lal: It’s hard to tell. ‘Radhe-Radhe’ is the usual greeting in Vrindavan where, traditionally, the widows see themselves in the character of Radha paying obeisance to Krishna. In general ‘Radhe-Radhe’ may be an indication of support for the ‘Radha’ quality of adopting the path of joy in the search for divine benediction. Chanting ‘Radhe-Krishna’ is widely heard from the bhakts in the Hare Krishna movement.

Question: The present socio-political thinking in India seems replete with patriarchal undertones and a regressive mindset. Against that background will Radha cease to be the pastoral Goddess and seen as the fallen seductress?
Dr. Malashri Lal: That’s too simplistic, I suggest that people read our book and develop a broader understanding of the subject. We have presented a wide collection of views which are enjoyable to read yet authoritative in content. The Radha-Krishna saga is evergreen and should be of interest to readers universally.