ePub How the Brahmins Won: From Alexander to the Guptas (Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 2 South Asia) by Johannes Bronkhorst in History

Description

Radha occupies a space which moves from the aesthetics of shringara rasa to the theology of shringara bhakti; from the madhurya of Pushtimarg Vaishnavism to the prema of Gaudiya Vaishnavism; taking in its stride the philosophies of Advaita and Dvaita; the traditions of Shakti and Shakta; she takes us from the devotional poetry of Bhaktikal to the courtly poetry of Ritikal and even beyond to the modern poetry of Adhunikkal. Radha is both kamini and ramani; desirable and beautiful; she is both a gopi and a nayika and through her we feel the presence of Krishna in Vrindavana and the opulence of the Vaishnava Rajput courts; she is a devi in the temples of the Gaudiyas and through her we are able to worship Krishna; and finally she is even a kalankini or the defiled one and through her we are privy to the folk literature of Bengal and modern middle class psychology of the bhadralok.