Ardhanarishwara

Sham S. Misri

Lord Krishna praises Shiva's form of Ardhanarishwara while experiencing separation from His beloved Radha, as follows: "Just see! Lord Shiva lives happily with half of his body united with Parvati, whereas I am far from united with Radha—I don't even know where she is."

[Ref:In Jayadeva Goswami's twelfth-century text, the Sri Gita Govinda (3.11)]

In Vedic narratives Sri Arjuna manifests all three genders—male, female, and hermaphrodite. He is most popularly known in his male form as the heroic warrior of the Mahabharata, the disciple of Sri Krishna in Bhagavad Gita and the husband of Draupadi. He is very, very dear to Lord Krishna. It is said that when Krishna first met Arjuna tears came to His eyes and He embraced Arjuna wholeheartedly—this was because Arjuna reminded Krishna of His intimate cowherd friend in Vraja of the same name. Krishna and Arjuna became instant companions and spent many years together in deep friendship. In the Mahabharata (Sauptika Parva, XII), Krishna states, "I have no dearer friend on earth than Arjuna, and there is nothing that I cannot give to him including my wives and children." In the Drona Parva of the same text, Krishna reiterates, "O Daruka, I shall not be able to cast my eyes, even for a single moment, on the earth bereft of Arjuna…Know that Arjuna is half of my body." Once, when Krishna had to leave Hastinapura for Dwarika, He quickly hurried to the apartments of Arjuna and spent the entire night with him in happy slumber, even at the risk of upsetting His temperamental wife, Satyabhama.

As inseparable friends, Arjuna and Krishna are said to be non-different from the two Vedic sages of the Himalayas, Nara and Narayana. Nara-Narayana is the twin-brother incarnation of the preserver-god Vishnu on earth, working for the preservation of dharma or righteousness. In the concept of Nara-Narayana, the human soul 'Nara' is the eternal companion of the Divine 'Narayana'. The epic, Mahabharata identifies Lord Krishna with Narayana and Arjuna - the chief hero of the epic - with Nara. The legend of Nara-Narayana is also told in the scripture Bhagavata Purana. Hindus believe that the pair dwells at Badrinath, where their most important temple stands. According to the Monier-Williams dictionary, 'Nara' is "the primeval Man or eternal Spirit pervading the universe (always associated with 'Narayana', "son of the primeval man"; both are considered either as gods or sages and accordingly called. In epic poetry, they are the sons, of Dharma by Murti or Ahimsa and emanations of Vishnu, Arjuna being identified with Nara, and Krishna with Narayana.- Mahabharata, Harivamsa and Purana".

Sri Harihara is a form in which the two male deities of Vishnu and Shiva are fused together, similar to the Ardhanarisvara form.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is described in post-medieval Bengali texts as the combination of Sri Radha and Sri Krishna. He is also secretly alluded to throughout the Puranas and other Vedic texts as the incarnation for this age of Kali (the Kali Yuga)—the golden avatara, who descends to expand the chanting of the holy names of God. In the Chaitanya Charitamrita (of Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami), two more confidential reasons are given for Lord Krishna's descent as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu: He wanted to taste the ecstatic love experienced by Sri Radha for Him, and He wanted to propagate this confidential knowledge to anyone eager to receive it. Thus, while appearing in a male form, Lord Caitanya's inner mood and emotions were that of a female, His divine consort Sri Radha, i.e., in the mood of Radharani.

Vedic texts, especially the Bhagavata Purana, describe Sri Krishna as the fountainhead and original source of Vishnu and all incarnations. Because Sri Krishna is 'adi-purusa'—the supreme and original male—all other beings are regarded as female in relation to Him. In the Padma Purana it is said that during the advent of Lord Rama, the sages of Dandakaranya Forest became so attracted to the Lord they developed conjugal affection for Him. Since Rama could accept only one wife, Sita, He blessed the sages to become cowherd maidens in Krishna's pastimes, thus fulfilling their desires.

Sri Krishna's pastimes are very playful and sportive; narratives from the Puranas as well as post-medieval texts often portray Krishna and His friends (both male and female) cross dressing for fun and delivering messages in disguise. Krishna has many male attendants who meticulously dress and care for Him and His intimate friends arrange rendezvous for Him to meet with the gopis. These intimate friends are said to have nearly the same emotions for Krishna that the gopis do and are always completely overwhelmed by Krishna's beauty and the love they feel for Him. Krishna is most famous for His loving pastimes with the gopis and His rasa-lila dances with them (rasa means 'emotion' or 'performance' and lila is a concept from Hinduism, which roughly translates to "play [lila] of the dance [rasa]," or more broadly as "Dance of Divine Love"). His chief consort is Sri Radha, the original source of all Shaktis and Goddess of the spiritual energy. Radha is Krishna's life and soul; in His incarnation of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He combines with her to experience the ecstatic love she feels for Him. Krishna's natural complexion is bluish but when He combines with Radha He takes on a golden complexion and is thus known as Lord Gauranga. In another popular pastime, the svayam Bhagavan Sri Krishna disguises Himself as the beautiful maiden, Syamali, just to pacify the jealous anger of Radha.