brahmeśvarādi-su-durūha-padāravinda
śrīmat-parāga-paramādbhuta-vaibhavāyāḥ
sarvārtha-sāra-rasa-varṣi-kṛpārdra-dṛṣṭes
tasyā namo 'stu vṛṣabhānu-bhuvo mahimne
I offer obeisance to the glory of Śrī Vṛṣabhānu’s daughter. Even Brahmā, Śiva, and all the demigods cannot attain the pollenlike dust of Her lotus feet. Her merciful glance bestows a shower of the greatest nectar.
Lord Brahmā and the demigods also pray for Śrīmatī Rādhārānī’s mercy. Brahmā took birth in Vṛṣabhānu-pura, taking the shape of a hill with four peaks, which were his four heads. He considered, “All my knowledge and memories are useless. I carry so much garbage in my mind. My knowledge of the Vedas, Vedānta, and the Upaniṣads is worthless. If the foot dust of the Vraja-devīs could fall on my head then my mind and intelligence would be pure and prepared for service in Vraja.”
Brahmā therefore stayed in Varsānā and prayed for the saffron pollen that decorates Śrīmatī Rādhārānī’s feet and is found on the pathways and in the forests of Vraja. This pollen, parāga, is unavailable to the demigods. They cannot understand the extent of the glories of this parāga. This parāga bestows transcendental rasa and destroys the desire for jaḍa-rasa, material pleasures and relationships. Seeing us anointed with this pollen from Śrīmatī Rādhārānī’s feet, or sincerely aspiring for that wealth and the service of Śrīmatījī, the Vraja-devīs will accept us as their own and will train us how to serve Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa with pure love.
Brahmeśvarādi—even beyond Brahmā, Bhagavān and all His incarnations long for the mercy of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. All the incarnations of śaktimān, Bhagavān Himself, pray for the mercy of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. And all goddesses expand from Svarūpa-śakti Śrīmatī Rādhikā and desire to receive Her mercy—umā ramā satyā śacī candrā rukmiṇī, rādhā-avatāra saba āmnāya-vāṇī. Without the mercy of Svarūpa-śakti, no one has any power. The incarnations of Bhagavān are impersonal Brahman without the power of Svarūpa-śakti; They are śaktimān only when They are connected to the power of Svarūpa-śakti
Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. Without śakti They are only impersonal, allpervading,
featureless Brahman.
In this world, mostly all religions and castes follow Brahman but do not have any idea or belief in brahma-śakti. They worship the featureless, all-pervasive Brahma; meanwhile they have no faith in śakti. Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, on the other hand, worship śakti and śaktimān, with prominence given to śakti. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who decisively formulated and propagated the concept of acintya-bhedābheda, gave emphasis to śakti and propounded the principle of śakti-parināma-vāda—that all matter and living beings are expansions of śakti, the Potency of Kṛṣṇa, who is śaktimān, the Potent, and not Kṛṣṇa directly. Other sampradāyas give utmost respect to śaktimān and consider
śakti secondary. However, Vaiṣṇavas of the Gauḍīya-sampradāya worship primarily śakti. They are the Gauḍīyas, meaning the followers of Gaurī, the Golden Śrīmatī Rādhārānī.
kevala mādhava pujaye, so ajñānī
rādhā-anādara koroi abhimānī
Those who, out of mundane pride, neglect Śrīmatī Rādhārānī and worship Mādhava alone are ignorant fools.
Prabodhānanda Sarasvatīpāda originally lived in Śrī Raṅgam and worshipped Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught him, however, that even the incarnations of God have no power without Śrīmatī Rādhārānī’s mercy. Everything flows from the direct and original embodiment of Svarūpa-śakti,
Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. The three features of the Absolute—satcit-ānanda—all come from Svarūpa-śakti. When Bhagavān is connected to Svarūpa-śakti, then He is śakti-samanvitāḥ. Thus empowered, He performs His pastimes as Lakṣmī-Nārayaṇa and viṣṇu-tattva. However, almost everyone follows impersonal Brahman without relation to Parabrahma and śakti. We cannot
be related to Parabrahma without taking shelter and receiving the mercy of śakti.
Brahmā, the incarnations of Bhagavān, and the demigods offer puṣpāñjali to the lotus feet of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī and pray to Her from a distance, waiting for Her mercy in the form of a particle of dust from Her feet.
The inhabitants of the material worlds, the spiritual planets, and Śrī Goloka Vṛndāvana experience transcendental bliss when they hear and sing the glories of the Vraja-devīs, especially Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. When Śrī Hari hears the glories of the gopīs, He is extremely pleased.
Śrīmat-parāga-paramādbhuta-vaibhavāyāḥ—the pollenlike dust from Śrīmatī Rādhārānī’s lotus feet, śrīmat-parāga, is supremely wonderful and is endowed with all transcendental specialties. The shower of nectar, rasa-varṣā, coming
from Śrīmatī Rādhārānī, is present in Varsānā. Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja is very merciful. At Varsānā, he gives everyone the chance to receive Śrīmatī Rādhārānī’s mercy. We offer praṇāma to Vṛṣabhānu-rāja-nandinī, Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. How? We offer praṇāma to Her by surrendering exclusively to Her and desiring to receive Her blessings and none others.
Śrīmatī Rādhārānī is present in Varsānā. Varṣā means a shower, and ānā means to come, so in Varsānā Śrīmatī Rādhārānī is always giving a shower of rasa. Vara-rasa-ānā—vara means boon. Śrīmatījī gives the boon of transcendental nectar, rasa, to all who come, ānā, to Varsānā. Śrīmatī is present with Her family on the hill of Vṛṣabhānu-pura in Varsānā, and from there a waterfall of nectar descends and inundates Vraja with bliss.