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Rādhā
(4,050 words)

Rādhā (other names/epithets: Śrī Rādhikā Rāṇī, Śyāmā, Lārilī, Nāgarī, Svāminī, Kiśorī, Kuñjabihārinī, Vṛṣabhānunandinī, Vṛṇḍāvaneśvarī) is Kṛṣṇa’s consort and foremost of the gopīs or milkmaids of Braj, the area between Delhi and Agra, where Kṛṣṇa is said to have grown up incognito. Rādhā is considered to be Kṛṣṇa’s teenage and/or childhood sweetheart (kiśorī), whose innocent love moved him to t…

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Pauwels, Heidi, “Rādhā”, in: Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online, Editor-in-Chief Associate Editors Knut A. Jacobsen, Helene Basu, Angelika Malinar, Vasudha Narayanan. Consulted online on 22 March 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_1030130>
First published online: 2018



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