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R
Rādhā: see Rādhārānī
Rādhārānī, S'rīmate: girlfriend of the young Krishna, cowgirl from Vrindāvana. Stands for the pure love of and for Krishna. The cause of the madness of Lord Caitanya who completely identified Himself with her love for Him (see Gopī and different bhajans about her).
- Eternal companion of Krishna, personal manifestation of His inner hlādinī potency of spiritual happiness. She embodies the perfect love and devotion unto the Lord.
- The Sanskrit word rādhana means: propitiating, conciliating; pleasure, satisfaction, obtaining, acquisition; the means or instrument of accomplishing anything, worship; and the word ārādha means gratification, paying homage.
- S'rī Hayes'var das, a dutch translator of Prabhupāda's works, says in his comments: The word "served" in all its intensity is the translation for ārādhika in 10.30.28, which for the sandhi (the fluent connection at the end of one word with the beginning of a next one) is abbreviated to rādhika. With this word is indirectly the holy name of Rādhikā revealed of Krishna's eternal companion S'rī Rādhā: for the rest the name of Rādhikā is absent in the Bhāgavata Purāna.
Rāga: attachment, preference, counterpart of aversion (dvesha). A kles'a.
- A musical mood, note, harmony, melody. There are six main rāgas to excite some affection.
- Coloring, dying.
- Color, hue, tint.
- Redness, inflammation.
- Love, affection, sympathy for.
- Vehement desire, interest joy, delight in.
- Seasoning, condiment.
- Second daughter of Angiras.
- Sun or Moon.
- A prince or King.
Rāgānuga-bhakti: devotion of the advanced who took up spontaneous love for Krishna; got attached to Him that way. Also called bhajana (as opposed to arcanā-bhakti temple-devotion with murtis; see further vaidhi-bhakti and sādhana-bhakti). Form of parā-bhakti, in contrast with viddha-bhakti.
Rājasūya-yajńa: ('the king of sacrifices-ceremony') vedic ritual to the assuming of the throne by a vedic sovereign meant to settle his rule over other rulers (see 10:72).
Rākshasas: a certain kind of demons, the wild men, also called asuras: a concept with a broader meaning indicating everyone not complying with the rules who are bent on enjoyment only. Next to this are also the demons indicated who publicly oppose religious principles and the malicious who fight against Krishna.
- Man-eaters.
Rāma ('source of joy') the Highest Enjoyer of eternal Bliss.
- Incarnation of Krishna (Vishnu-tattva), also called Rāmacandra: the Vishnu-avatāra who together with Hanumān and his monkey-hordes and His eternal companion brother Lakshmāna (see Sankarshan, Balarāma and Nityānanda) defeated the demon Rāvana, to free Sītā, His wife who was abducted by the demon (see 9:10 & 11).
- Another name of Balārama.
- Another name for Us'anā.
- Another name of Paras'urāma.
Rāma-rājya: perfect vedic monarchy to the example of the rule of king Ramācandra, the avatāra of Krishna as the ideal sovereign.
Rāsa-līlā: the so called rāsa-dance (rāsa means game or sport or dance). Famous dance of Krishna with the gopīs at night outside of Vraja (the vicinity where He grew up). Erotically charged. Reason of the great renown of the Bhāgavatam, especially chapter 33 of the tenth canto, the summum bonum, in India.
Rāvana: a mighty demon called ten-head, who wanted to build a staircase to heaven and pave the streets with gold, but by Krishna in His Rāma - incarnation was killed after he had abducted Sītā (see also Ramāyana and Hanumān and 9: 10).
Raghu: ancestor of Rāmacandra. His dynasty was also called the raghu-dynasty.
Raghavas: decendants of King Raghu, especially Rāma and Lakshmāna.
Rajas, Rajo-guna: the mode of passion (see gunas).
Rajo-guna: the mode of passion in material nature (see also: gunas, Brahmā).
Ramā: good luck, fortune, splendour, opulence, another name for Lakshmī, the goddess of fortune.
Ramāyana: ('the path of Rāma') the epic written by Vālmīki on the avatāra S'rī Rāma who in His youth was banned to the forest with Sītā, His wife, takes it up against Rāvana, a demoniac ruler and thus obtained His kingdom (see links).
Rantideva: a king famous for attaining brahmāloka as he, himself emaciated, gave away to guests and even dogs his last bit of food after a long fast (9.11).
Rasa (literal: taste, state of love, relation, mood, emotion, mellow): ecstatic emotional relation with Krishna; relation of the Lord with the living beings (see also vishaya):
seven indirect (by S'rīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in the Bhakti Rasāmrita Sindhu 2.5.115 -116):
anger (raudra),
wonder (adbhuta),
ghastliness (bibhatsa),
dread (bhayānaka),
humor (hāsya),
chivalry (vīra) en
compassion (dayā)
and five direct main rasa's:
the neutral (santa),
the servant-Master-relation (dāsya),
friendship (sākhya),
the parent-child relation (vātsalya)
the amorous relation (sringāra).Marital (mādhurya) is distinguished sringāra in:
- svakhya, mature and
- parakhya, youthful. Indirect means distorted by temporality. Direct means experienced to the full in the liberated state.- Also mentioned in the Bhāgavatam Canto 10 in verse 17 of chapter 43 where Vyāsa describes the diffent emotional states of the audience at the wrestling arena of Kamsa as Krishna steps forward to wrestle for justice, explained by S'rīla S'rīdhara Svāmī in quoting the verse:
raudro'dbhutas'ca s'ringāro
hāsyam vīro dayā tathā
bhayānakas'ca bībhatsah
s'āntah sa-prema-bhaktikah"(There are ten different moods:) fury (perceived by the wrestlers), wonder (by the men), conjugal attraction (the women), laughter (the cowherds), chivalry (the kings), mercy (His parents), terror (Kamsa), loathing (the unintelligent), peaceful neutrality (the yogīs) and loving devotion (the Vrishni s)."
- Also in five described in the Bhāgavatam 7.1: 30-32 as: (30) Of in lust, hatred, fear, affection and devotion having a mind absorbed in the Supreme have many given up the sin and by that attained the path of liberation. (31) The gopīs with their lusty desires, Kamsa out of fear, S'is'upāla and others out of hatred, many Kings out of kinship, Krishna 's family out of affection and you and us through bhakti did so o King. (32) Anyone but Vena would adopt one of these five in regard to the Original Person and therefore should one by any means fix one's mind on Krishna.
- Monier Williams dictionary: (...) the taste or character of a work, the feeling or sentiment prevailing in it (from 8 to 10 Rasas are generally enumerated, viz. {s'ringāra}, love; {vīra}, heroism; {bībhatsa}, disgust; {raudra}, anger or fury; {hāsya}, mirth; {bhayānaka}, terror; {karuNa}, pity; {adbhuta}, wonder; {s'anta}, tranquillity or contentment; {vātsalya}, paternal fondness; the last or last two are sometimes omitted.
- S'rīla Bhakti siddhānta Sarasvatī Thhākur quotes the following Vedic statement: raso vai sah rasam hy evāyam labdhvānandī bhavati. "He Himself is rasa, the taste or mellow of a particular relationship. And certainly one who achieves this rasa becomes ānandī, filled with bliss." (Taittirīya Upanishad 2.7.1)
- S'rīla Bhakti siddhānta Sarasvatī quotes a further verse to explain the word rasa:
vyatītya bhāvanā-vartma
yas'camatkāra-bhāra-bhūh
hridi sattvojjvale bādham
svadate sa raso matah"That which is beyond imagination, heavy with wonder and relished in the heart shining with goodness - such is known as rasa."
- The sap or juice of plants, juice of fruit, any liquid or fluid, the best or finest or prime part of anything, essence, marrow, elixir, soup, serum, semen.
Ratha-yātrā: festival of the chariot in which Krishna as Lord Jagganātha is taken around the city placed on a cart, pulled by the devotees.
Raudra: anger as a rasa (indirect).
Recaka: the phase of breathing in which one exhales (see prānāyama, pūraka, kumbhaka)
Regulative principles (see also vidhi): with this term are indicated the injunctions that are to be followed strictly by anyone who wants to advance spiritually. They are known in categories of values according the different aspects of spiritual life, but the most important, followed naturally by every civilized person, and thus for certain also by the person of self-realization, are the following four:
1) No meat, fish or eggs for food but to be compassionate with respect for all living beings (see dayā and ahimsa);2) No intake of any intoxicant, stimulating or sedating (drugs, alcohol or even coffee, tea and chocolate, tobacco etc.), but have respect for the natural order and the Absolute Truth of His creation (see sathya, kāla and purusha);
3) Not to engage in any form of illicit sexuality, but to share faithfully and be pure of spirit and body (see prema, dāna and sauca, no sex for the sake of sex outside of the marriage, and within the marriage only for the purpose of begetting children).
4) Not to engage in any form of gambling, not eat more or acquire more than is needed, but to be austere, not to go beyond necessity and to know where and when to stop (see tapas and bhāgavata dharma).
Ribhus (ribhu means: clever, skilful, inventive, prudent) an artist, one who works in iron, a smith, builder of carriages.
- Name of three semi-divine beings Ribhu, Vāja and Vibhvan, the name of the first being applied to all of them; thought by some to represent the three seasons of the year, and celebrated for their skill as artists; they are supposed to dwell in the solar sphere, and are the artists who formed the horses of Indra, the carriage of the As'vins, and the miraculous cow of Brihaspati; they made their parents young, and performed other wonderful works. They appear generally as accompanying Indra.
Rishabha: 'the best', avatāra Lord Rishabhadeva was an example as a king but was as an avadhūta misinterpreted (see māyāvāda and 5.4-5). He had a hundred sons of whom the nava-yogendras were the ones best known.
- Of them was indeed the eldest, Bharata, a great practitioner of yoga; he had the best qualities and it was he of whom this land was called Bhārata-varsha by the people (5.4: 9).
- As the son of King Nābhi (the pivot) He was born as Rishabha (the best one) from Sudevi to go for the certainty of being equibalanced in the matter of yoga (2.7: 10).
- Under the tenth Manu will from Āyusmān from the womb of Ambudhārā, Rishabhadeva, a partial incarnation of the Supreme Lord, take birth and of him will Adbhuta enjoy all opulence of the three worlds (8.13: 20).
Rishi (rshi): ('seer') sage, vedic scholar, a saint (see also muni, vipra, sādhu, mahā rishi).
- From B rahmā were born the sons Marīci, Atri, Angirā, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhrigu, Vasishthha, Daksha and the tenth son, Nārada (3.12: 22). Not counting Daksha, N ārada and Bhrigu one speaks also sometimes about the seven sages, who for each manvantara have different names (see also 8.13).
- Kas'yapa, Atri, Vasishthha, Vis'vāmitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Bharadvāja are the names of the seven sages under the present Manu Vaivasvata also known as S'raddadeva (8.13: 5).
Rita: (proper, right, fit, apt, suitable, able, brave, honest; settled order, law, rule; divine law, faith, divine truth) term used in contrast with anrita to indicate the true and the false, the real and the unreal (see also sat-asat, 8.7: 25, 11.28).
- Rita is the living on leftovers one says (7.11: 18).
- A decendant of Mithila: Vijaya's son was named Rita (9.13: 25).
- Cākshusha Manu the sixth Manu gave free from passion via his queen Nadvalā the world the son, Rita, one out of twelve sons (4.13: 15-16).
Ritvik: the state of being a ritvij or priest; there are four of them:
- the hotā priest (the one offering oblations and singing the Rig Veda verses),- the brahma priest (supervising the proceedings),
- the adhvaryu priest (who chant the yayur-mantras and prepares the sacrifice by arranging the sacrificial ground, the altar, etc.)
- and the udgātā priest (singing the Sāma-veda hymns) (see 9.11: 2).
- The three forms of sacrifice are constituted by the three Vedas which provide for the verses used by the offerings of the hotā, the advaryu and the udgātā priest.
Rohinī: the mother of Balarāma, Krishna's elder brother. Another wife of Vasudeva.
- The name of a wife of Krishna, who supposedly was the one heading the 16.000 queens held by Bhaumāsura.
Romaharshana: a pupil of Vyāsa deva, a pratiloma, leading the great sacrifice of the sages in the Naimisha forest, where Balarāma, being on a pilgrimage with Kurukshetra at hand, beated him 'to death' with a blade of grass because he impudently did not stand up on His arrival. His son Sūtadeva Gosvāmī took over the vedic responsibility for the purāna (see 10: 78).
Rūpa: form, appearance (see also vigraha, see e.g. 12.11: 14-15).
Rūpa Gosvāmī: author of the Bhakti-rasāmrita-sindhu. Translated and revised by Swami Prabhupāda as the 'Nectar of Devotion'.
- One of the so-called six gosvāmīs of Vrindāvana; the most important followers of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They wrote his teachings down and are recognized as intimate pupils and great sages (see: Nāma-sankīrtana, Sadgosvāmī Āshthaka, and Je Anilo).
Rudra: the dreadful one; another name for S'īva, or for his eleven inferior expansions who rose from his male half as the Rudras.
- In the Vāyu-purāna are the Rudras named: Ajaikapad, Ahir-budhnya, Hara, Nirrita, Īs'vara, Bhuvana, Ańgāraka, Ardha-ketu, Mrityu, Sarp and Kapālin.
Rukmī (from rukma: 'golden, what is bright and brilliant'): son of Bhīshmaka and the brother of Rukminī, an ally of Jarāsandha and S'is'upāla conspiring against Krishna who was defeated by Krishna but not killed (see 10.54).
Rukminī: the daughter of the king of Vidarbha or Bhīshmaka: Rukminī, the first wife of Krishna (see also Vaidarbhī). She was abducted just before she had to marry to S'is'upāla.
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