RADHA WAS CREATED BY SRI JAYA DEV OF ORISSA

FOR SAHAJAYANA

By Sri Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Chief of orissamatters.com

Radha has developed into a major model in the eyes of Krshna worshipers.
But, originally, she was conceived and created by Orissas revolutionary social reformer
Sri Jaya Dev in consonance with the tenets of Buddhist Sahajayana to restore the nonVedic and female-centric distinction of his motherland, then under pernicious grip of the
Vedic and patriarch caste supremacists.

The immortal love-lyricist of Orissa, being a Sahajayani Buddhist, whom Mother Nature
was the fountainhead of creation and final destination of life, had watched how waves of
the ocean were rising from the water and after touching the shore were going back into
the sea and melting in the water from which they had come, had coined a word to
describe the returning water. That word was RADHA (RA+DHA) the returning shape of
DHARA (DHA+RA), meaning the spread of water.

After arriving at this significant concept, he used the word RADHA for depicting the idea
of female centric union that Sahajayan school of Buddhist philosophy had been
propounding as the cause of creation.

He accordingly authored his female centric love lyrics, which we find compiled together
under a caption wrongfully called Geeta Govinda.

Sri Jay Dev had composed his Astapadi lyrics that revolved around Radha to counter
the impact of male-centric anarchy Orissa was drowned in under Vedic castesupremacists.

Antagonists of Buddhism having failed to undo the Buddhist impact of the Sahajia lyrics
of Sri Jaya Dev, have usurped Radha for Hindu religion, projecting her as the beloved
concert of Krushna of Dwaraka and to make their story look authentic, have projected
her as the daughter of Brushabhanu and the wife of Chandrasena. But Sri Jaya Dev,
creator of Radha, had never created Chandrasena or Brusabhanu.

Radha, as daughter of Brushabhanu or wife of Chandrasena was nothing but a product

of the tactics of interpolation adopted for burying down her role as a Sahaja Nayika of
the Sahajayana (Kama Vajrayana) school of Buddhism. At a much later time, works of
poets contemporary or junior to Jayadev were interpolated with verse or verses to show
Radha as consort of Krshna in a manner that would best serve the design of Hinduism
and in order to establish this, interpolations were made on various works to show that
Radha-Krshna cult was created centuries before Sri Jayadev. The entire exercise was
meant to usurp Radha for Hindu chauvinism by diverting attention from her role in
Sahajiya Buddhism.

That this was a deliberate development is proved by the very fact that there is no
mention of Radha in connection to Krshna in Mahabharat despite rampant interpolations
up to 18th century.

!
No mention of her is found in Bhagavat Mahapurana.
!
No mention of her is found even in Puranas written in the Chaitanya era.
!

As for example, the famous Bhagavata authored in Oriya by Jagannatha Dasa is totally
silent on Radha even though by his time, Jaya Devs love lyrics depicting Radha as the
beloved of Krshna was most popular in Orissa; and not only that, Chaitanya had also
adopted the Radha cult. Absolutely oblivious of Radha, Jagannath Dasa has narrated
the love of the Gopies.

Radha was not even recognized by avowed worshipers of Krshna till many centuries
after Jaya Dev. A reading of the a very famous hymn addressed to Srikrshna as
GOPASTRIPARIBESTITA meaning embraced collectively by the women of the Cowherd
caste proves this as in this hymn the author has not mentioned Radha for once.
There is no mention of Radha in any literature, in Krshna context, at least up to this.
Therefore, till 18th century we do not find any Radhakrshna temple. We find only
Gopinath temples.

It is note worthy that, Oriya Vaisnav saints were so much averse to Radha that they had
opposed Goudiya Vaisnavas as they were singing glory to her under the influence of
Chaitanya, whom Ray Ramananda Pattanayak had initiated into Radha cult; the cult
created and developed by Sri Jaya Dev with the sole purpose of propagating the tenets
of Sahajiya Buddhism.

Prior to Chaitanyas arrival, Gajapati Purusottama Dev (son of Gajapati Kapilendra Dev)
had prohibited recitation of Jaya Devs love lyrics in Sri Mandira and had, in its place,
promulgated a work, purported to have been authored by himself, under the caption
Abhinav Gita Govinda.

As people revolted, he had to withdraw his own work in favor of Jaya Devs; but with a
tactful approval of interpolation in form of many stanzas. The mass unrest over this
issue was constant till Prataprudra Dev made it mandatory that only the songs of Jaya
Dev, and nothing else, can be sung in Sri Mandira.

But in the process, the then State Power could succeed in usurping Radha for
Hinduism. And with this, many stories were concocted to show that she was the
daughter of Brusabhanu, wife of Chandrasena etc so that general public could be
diverted from her Sahajiya status to Hindu Vaisnavite role.

This is proved by the fact that there is no mention of Radha as Krshnas consort in any
of religious or religio-historical texts before Purusottam Devs aborted attempt to
marshal a Radha of his own design in the above said Abhinav Gita Govinda.

Taking advantage of Orissas disadvantage under the Britishraj, the Begalis have made
all out attempt to usurp Orissas Jaya Dev for their land and even have dared to say that
Radha was creation of Bengal! As for example, Dr. Bagchi says in History of Bengal,
Vol.1, p.404, Radha was probably a Bengali innovation made shortly before the time of
Jayadev and represented only a Vaishnavite phase of growing Shaktism.

This dare devil cultural dishonesty was threadbare exposed when History admitted that
before Chaitanya came to know of Sri Jaya Devs love lyrics at Puri, and adopted Jaya
Devs Radha cult as the base of his preaching, there was no trace of Radha in Bengal.
The historian in Rakhal Das Banerjee came out to declare, The popularity of Radha
Krshna cult in the North-Eastern provinces of India appears to date from the advent of
the great reformer Chaitanya.(Eastern Indian school of Mediaval Sclupture, Chapter VI,
p.127)

And, Chaitanya came to know of Radha only from Orissas great son Raya Ramananda
Pattanayak. It has been clearly admitted by Chaitanya who has said that he has learnt
everything that he was preaching from Raya Ramananda.

!
Chaitanya had not kept it secret. It was known to all his followers.
!

Kavi Karnapuras famous Chaitanya Chandrodaya Natakam carries this truth in specific
dialogues, where Chaitanya asks, Who should be
worshiped? (KIMUPAASYAMATRA?) and Raya Ramananda Pattanayak says, Only
Srikrshna with Radha. (MAHASISRIKRSHNARADHABHIDHE) (Act-VII)

So, it is Raya Ramananda Pattanayak who initiated Chaitanya in the cult of Radha and
it is Chaitanya from whom the people of Bengal could come to know of Radha. It is
therefore a shame that Bengalis like Dr.Bagchi (quoted supra) claim that Radha was
probably a Bengali innovation!

However, Bengal and for that matter none of the rest of India, had any contribution to
projection of Radha as the consort of Krshna. This is proved from the fact that Radha
was unknown to Vrindavan, the citadel of Krshna cult till even the eighteenth century
A.D.

I quote from Bhakti Ratnakara authored by the famous Vaisnav poet Narahari
Chakravarty. He has mentioned that when the image of Govinda was established at
Vrindavan, there was no image of Radha.

Where from, then, Radha came to Vrindavan? She came only from Orissa.
It is only the King of Orissa who installed Radha at Vrindavana. Admitting this in Indian
Culture, (Vol.V, No.2), historian Amar Nath Roy says, The deities installed by the
Goswamis at Vrindavana were single images of Krshna; that long after their times a
Chief of Orissa sent to Vrindavana the first Srimati (Image of Radha) which was
installed by the side of one of the deities and the omission in case of others was made
good gradually.

From this it is clear that Radha was created in Orissa and popularized through the
Radha cult conceived and carried ahead by Sri Jaya Dev of Orissa.