Radha: Love as a Value in itself

The subject of week 6 was Radha. I used a number of articles from JVS, including a couple by Graham Schweig describing the Rasa-lila. The bibliography is included at the end of the blog. Schweig's first article is a part of his book on the Rasa-lila and, I assume, his thesis. It is a very thorough structural analysis.

Since I am writing this a long time after the class, I just wanted to stress the one realization that I had in discussing the famous 10.32.22 verse, na paraye'ham. The point that Krishna is making here is that the gopis, and everyone else, must realize that the reward for devotion or love, is love itself and nothing else.

That sounds vaguely trivial, but yes, that is what it is.

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Week 6 Readings.

23. Schweig, Graham M. “Rasa-lila Pancadhyaya: The Bhagavata’s Ultimate Vision of the Gopis.” JVS 5.4 Fall 1997. 1-47.

24. Schweig, Graham M. “Radha and the Rasa-lila : The Esoteric Vision of Caitanyaite Vaishnavism. JVS 8.2, Spring 2000, 43-71.

25. Wulff, Donna M. “Rupa’s Radha : Passionate, Worshipful, Strong-Willed, Divine.” JVS 8.2, Spring 2000. 73-94.

26. Goswami, Shrivatsa. “Radha: The Play and Perfection of Rasa.” JVS 4.1, Winter 1995. 3-20.

27. McDaniel, June. "The Tantric Radha: Some Controversies about the Nature of Radha in Bengali Vaishnavism and the Radha Tantra." JVS 8.2. Spring 2000. 131-146.

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