The INDIAN TAROTS

Radha and Krishna are inseparable. That’s why RadhaKrishna is a single god. Radha-Krishna’s love story is nothing less than the love story of Shiva-Parvati.

Krishna is probably the biggest thief ever and also the greatest thief. He stole not only butter, but steals also our sins. If we chant the Hare-Krishna mahamantra, our sins get taken away. Most of the vaishnabs live a frugal lifestyle as Krishna steals their lust for materialism.

Before talking about RadhaKrishna’s love, I want to mention Ma Yashoda’s love for Kanha. Yashoda loves her son more than anything, that’s why she pampered him even when he was an adult. In SrimadBhagabad, there is a chapter where Yashoda is giving instructions to Krishna while he is going with Balaram and other cowboys to attend cows. Yashoda tells Balaram to walk before everyone and other boys will be around Krishna. Krishna will remain in the middle of everyone. She also tells Krishna to play his flute so that she can hear it and be sure that he is fine as he walks away. This motherly love shows that mothers love their motherhood while taking the child as a medium. Mothers actually love that they are mothers. In any serious relationship, there is a certain amount of possessiveness. Whenever a lover tells the other person that ‘You are only mine’, that portrays a certain amount of authority but it is justified because those who take the responsibility to love, attend and adore, should take the possession as well.

Krishna is one of the most misunderstood entities. He had a very sad life. Just after his birth, he was separated from his mother. He could not marry the girl he loved. He had to leave his dear ones to dictate possibly the biggest war in mankind where he saw so many deaths of his dear ones. He was insulted multiple times throughout the war. After he won the war, he was cursed by the mother of the lost party. Later he had to see his whole clan getting destroyed. He experienced all these with a smile on his face. And today people judge him because he had multiple wives!! Before judging Krishna, we should ask ourselves, do we have the personality of Krishna and do we have the ability to be like Krishna. If we can keep our ego aside, we will see that whatever Krishna did, he did so from a perspective of love and responsibility. The world respects and desires those who are responsible and successful.

Now, let’s look into Krishna’s relationship with Radha. Radha is the divine feminine force and Krishna is the divine masculinity. This is why their love is not earthly love and they are inseparable. Many people shame Radha and Krishna saying that they were having affair. This is a fool’s narrative because their love is eternal and beyond human rules. Radha loved Krishna as a divine force. On the other hand, Krishna’s wife Rukmini’s love was a humanly love and she loved him as the ruler of Dwarka. So, we can’t compare these two due to difference in their nature. Another misconception is that, Krishna married 16108 princesses, hence he must be a playboy. This was also an act of responsibility by the lord. Those princesses were abducted by demon Narakasur. After Krishna defeated the demon, the princesses asked him to marry them because no one else would consider marrying abducted women. Krishna did not marry them just for the sake of marriage, he performed all duties of a husband and kept all of them happy. Before judging him, we should ask ourselves, can we keep even one partner fully happy all the time!! Also, those who judge Krishna because of his relationship status, is actually dissatisfied in his/her own relationship and jealous of the lord.

We humans don’t know much about love. We are usually delusional that we love another person but actually we act in selfish way and expect a lot. I am not saying that it is wrong, but it is also true that divine love is selfless. Humans love themselves the most, that’s why their love cannot be fully selfless. Saying ‘I love you’ is not equal to loving someone. These are just words and words are inferior to actions. Actions tell whether someone actually loves someone. Also, that actions need not be something very big; if someone simply prays for his dear one, if someone cooks something for her beloved, if someone becomes restless when the other person is away for too long – these small things indicate genuine love. Also, if the small things matter, are they really ‘small’?? We should not focus on falling in love because true love is always about rising together. In a human relationship, there is no 50-50. One party has to be more submissive than the other party. Some people might get triggered at this point of ‘submissiveness’. But actually, submissiveness means being wilfully cooperative and having faith in the other person’s decision. This is the element of trust that whatever decision one is taking, should be for wellbeing for both parties. A long-term relationship cannot sustain without compromise. Compromise, faith and tolerance are three things that are more important than love in relationships. Also, here, one party has to compromise more than the other party; because there is no equality in actual relationships. Equality not in the sense that both parties doing same things and acting similarly. Each party should have its own nature different than the other party. Think about yourself, will you like your partner if that person is exactly similar to you?? This way, equality in relationship does not work. In relationship, there will be a masculine person who usually takes decision and a feminine person who follows the lead. If both are masculine, then there will be ego-clash; if both are feminine, then there will be lack of decision-making. Therefore, while searching for partner, you should look for different, not equal. This is how the other person can fulfil your lacking when you both are together. This is why when a girl asks me if I can cook, I respond by saying that question is irrelevant. As a busy man, I consider cooking as a waste of my time. It does not matter if I ‘can’ cook or not, it is just not my priority. Therefore, I adore someone who likes to cook for her family and does not feel oppressed by that.

As we are talking about love, it is necessary to talk about sex. Any type of physical relationship, where love is missing, should be considered cheating. Moreover, sex is an important act in relationship. The act of sex itself is not much interesting, but the ancillary things related to sex, makes it interesting. Ancillary things mean the thoughts of sex, intimacy, foreplay etc. I am not a supporter of hook-ups, because it affects women negatively. But I would encourage married couples to have sex not just to have children, but to be happy. If the purpose of sex was to just have kids, then Vatsyan would not have depicted different positions. In India, a lot of married couples have sexless lives, which is sad. Sexual intimacy is one of the most important things that upholds marriages. Sex is the highest form of spiritual energy, that’s why it is an integral part of tantra practices as well. The rate of divorce these days are higher than ever and we can’t negate the influence of corporate life and digital media (including social media) for that. Not having sex with partner, whether it is a husband or a wife, is against the dharma of Pati/Patni. It can be considered as cheating as well because the partner is not performing dharma. Shiv himself once told that he loves Kali as a yogini, when he is a yogi and he loves Kali as lover when he is a lover. If told today, feminists would have filed marital rape cases on Shiv. But it is reality, men love women who don’t push them away. On the other hand, it is also understandable that a woman night not want to be intimate whenever a man wants; in such cases only proper communication and planning would result in satisfaction of both parties. We are happy to say that we are working on a card-based adult game, that will consist of different sex positions, foreplay techniques from the ancient texts of Kamasutra and Rati Shashtra. The deck will be sold to only married couples with the purpose of enhancing their bonding.

The worshippers of Krishna are called Kashnavs, worshippers of Vishnu are called Vaishnavs and worshippers of Radha are called Gaudiya Vaishnav. Gaudiya Vaishnavs are also Shakta because Radha is also the Adya Shakti like Parvati or Kali. Even Krishna does not know the depth of Radha’s love for him. To realise the true nature of Radha, RadhaKrishna took the form of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Krishna is like body and Radha is like mind, so Radha has the ability to control Krishna. This is why, Krishna keeps Radha before him. The ‘Hare Krishna’ Mahamantra is like this –

हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण

कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे

हरे राम हरे राम

राम राम हरे हरे॥

[Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Raam Hare Raam Raam Raam Hare Hare]

– Here, ‘Hare’ actually indicates Radha, who steals (haran) Krishna’s heart. Radha is also more loving than Krishna. The easiest way to get Krishna’s blessing is to ask Radha to ask Krishna to bless us. If you want to be like Krishna, you have to follow all his lessons or teachings and become responsible and intelligent like him. Having 3-5 sexual partners or having some affairs is nothing like Krishna. If you want to have a partner like Krishna, you need to become caring and loving and loyal like Radha; self-entitlement won’t help.

I have kept RadhaKrishna as ‘the Lovers’ because they portray harmony in relationship. Also, they make choices for each other’s happiness.

Upright meaning

In tarot, the Lovers card is often associated with love, relationships, and harmony. When the card is upright, it generally signifies positive traits such as unity, harmony, and the power of love. The upright Lovers may represent a person who is in a loving relationship or who is about to enter into one, or it can indicate a need to make a choice based on love and harmony.

Reverse meaning

On the other hand, when the Lovers card is reversed, it may indicate negative traits such as disharmony, conflict, or a lack of choice. The reversed Lovers may represent a person who is experiencing conflict or disharmony in their relationships, or who is facing a difficult choice related to love. It could also suggest a need to make a decision based on personal values rather than external influences.

Sources:

Lectures of Amogh Leela Prabhu

Lectures of Amarendra Das

Lectures of Dino Krishna Thakur