The Love Stories Of Vishnu: Love Everlasting...

After sending Sita into exile by herself, I didn’t know if I was ever going to get a second chance to love someone like that again. Today, I am going to tell you about the love that gave me a chance to experience a happily-ever-after kind of love. I, as Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu, will tell you about the eternal love that I found in Radha’s heart…

I am Vishnu, as Krishna…

            It was a beautiful day that day, just like every day in Vrindavana. I had woken up at five in the morning and was returning from the river. On my way back home, I was playing on my flute and noticed all the girls in my village quickly running out of their homes. I usually walked with my eyes on my path but that day I was distracted. My eyes were trying to make out the image I saw far off down the path. “It was beautiful; she was beautiful,” I thought. I noticed you were peeking at me from the corner of your eyes as your duppatta (scarf) covered half of your face. I froze still and my eyes would not flinch. For a moment I thought, "Why am I breathless? Why is my heart beating out of control?" It was only you. It was only the Radha whom I spent my entire childhood with. She was one of the gopis (cowherds) whom I saw every day. I was so excited to go near the river that day with the cows. I knew you would be there with the rest of the gopis. When I saw you again by the river, near the tree where your swing hung, I knew that I had fallen in love. I came to understand your devotion for me and the extent to which you loved me too as the years passed with your hands in mine. I was so very happy with you and I wanted to make you mine for ever.

            My strategies to make you mine for ever worked really well when I took you again to the same spot where we used to play. On that swing near the river, I proposed and you became my first wife. Although I had many wives later in my life, I have always loved you the most. You were my soul mate and my best friend since the beginning.  You never filled your heart with jealousy when I married many others. Even though Rukmini bore me sons, and gave me a family that I was truly proud of, you never filled your heart with sorrow. You took my children with Rukmini as your own. You were my first wife and woman behind the strong man that I had become. You were always so loyal to me and took care of all my wishes. You gave me happiness in ways I cannot define and catered to my every need. From you, Radha, I experienced a love that stuck within us until the end of our lives. You gave me the happily-ever-after that I had never experienced before.  

            I remember the day when I had come back from a long familial war: you gave me a huge hug and after dinner gave me this letter that you had written for me. Once again, I had fallen in love with you that day as I read the letter with you in my arms…

To my Krishna,

            I sit here in our palace awaiting your return from the war. My heart aches, not because I am scared that you might not come back, but because I haven’t seen you since the war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas started. I know that the gods have been watching over you, and keeping you safe as you fight for what is right and just.

            Ah! Let us leave the war...and fill our minds with the beautiful memories that we have made together. Like the time when you proposed! Oh, it was just absolutely beautiful that day. All the flowers had freshly bloomed and the sun shone bright that day. The swing near the river, right where we had left it the day before, was ever so comforting in its beauty. The ropes that held the swing up were covered in flowers as well. I knew that it was a special day because even the water in the river was humming a beautiful song as it flowed down its path. I walked towards the swing and when I turned and sat, I noticed you down on one knee. My heart began to thump loudly and I had goose bumps lifting the hairs on my skin in excitement. I remember that you took one of my legs as you knelt and put a colorful silver payal (anklet) on it. When I asked you what you were doing, you said, “I am tying you to my heart for ever, and hoping that you would accept this gift as a token of my love. I have spent my entire childhood with you but that is still not enough for me. Would you, my dearest Radha, like to spend the rest of your life with me in marriage? I promise to love and cherish you forever and give you all the happiness in the world.”

            Tears had begun to flow down my eyes and I was speechless. All I could do was to nod as you wiped my tears off and kissed me on my forehead. That day marked the best day of my life, and the beginning of the best days to come. In our marriage, you showed me how to be a good wife and gave me more love then I had ever imagined. You became my support and showed me that there was no Krishna without his Radha. I always knew that you had a big heart as you began to marry many others, but you showed me that no one could take the place that I had made for our love in your heart.

            My purpose for writing this letter was to show you how important that day was for me and our love. Just as there is no Krishna without his Radha, there is no Radha without her Krishna. We have become each other’s strength and courage through our Love Everlasting…

Yours forever,

Radha

Author's Note:
Most of what I learned about Radha and Krishna came from Wikipedia. I learned that Krishna was born in a jail and was raised by his foster mother, Yashoda. He grew up loving the cowherds that he spent the majority of his time with. He was hated by his uncle Kamsa because a prophecy said that Kamsa's nephew will kill him and take his kingdom. Kamsa sent many of his servants to Vrindavana, where Krishna lived his earlier life, and had all the young boys in his kingdom killed, but Krishna survived. Although he was hunted many times by his uncle's servants, many of them demons, he always survived. As Krishna was growing up, he often hung out with the gopis (cowherds) and fell in love with one of them. Therefore, in this story I decided to write about Krishna falling in love with Radha. I made up a place where Krishna might have proposed to his first wife, Radha, and made it similar to the picture that I used in this story. In this story, Vishnu learns about the "let's grow old together" kind of love. This love story starts during Krishna's childhood with his gopi (cowherd), Radha, and lasts forever. 

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Introduction

• "Radha" from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 
• "Radha Krishna" from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.