Phulera Dooj: The Divine Wedding of Radha and Krishna

Radha and Krishna's Marriage 

Radha Krishna got married on the tithi of Phulera Dooj, which is the Dwitiya of Shukla paksha in the month of Phalgun in the Hindu calendar. Lord Brahma solemnised this celestial marriage at Bhandirvan (located near Mawat in the present-day state of Uttar Pradesh).

Radha Krishna's marriage

Radha and Krishna's love is the ultimate symbol of devotion, transcending time and space, and they were eternally united as husband and wife on Phulera Dooj in the Dwapar Yuga.

This celestial wedding of Radha and Krishna happened in the absence of society. According to the Garga Samhita, around 10 million confidential associates of the couple, which included Radha’s primary Ashta Sakhis, a few Gopis of Krishna, Gandharvas, Apsaras and Demi Gods, and peacocks, parrots, cows, rabbits, a variety of birds and monkeys participated in this marriage.

Radha Krishna’s marriage gives more importance to "Parakiya rasa" (love without any social foundation) over "Svakiya rasa" (married relationship), hence this marriage was kept hidden.

According to the Brahma Vaivarta Purana and the Garga Samhita, the story of Radha and Krishna's Vivaha is mentioned as follows –

One day, Nanda Baba tended the cows in a banyan grove of Bhandirvan forest.

He drank the sweet water of a lake, holding little Krishna to his chest, then he sat under a banyan tree, keeping an eye on his cows grazing in the forest.

Then Lord Krishna, employed His Yogamaya potency and suddenly covered the sky with grey thunderous clouds. Seeing the dark clouds, the darkened forest, howling winds, ferocious thunder, and a rainstorm, with trees shaking and falling branches, Nanda Baba became afraid.

Nanda Baba thought, how can I go home now and leave the cows behind? If I do not go home, what will become of my little Krishna?

As Nanda Baba was lost in thoughts, little Krishna, pretending to be afraid, cried and clutched His father’s neck.

Goddess Radha

Suddenly, at that moment, Radha, walking more gracefully than the khanjana birds and the rajahamsa swans, her beautiful face glorious as the autumn moon, her glistening eyes robbing the midday autumn lotuses of their beauty, Her beautiful eyelashes wonderfully splendid with black kajjala, Her beautiful nose crushing the beauty of the bird-king’s beak, Her nose decorated with a great and precious pearl, Her earrings robbing the midday summer sun of its splendour, Her lips robbing the ripe bimba fruits of their beauty, Her splendid teeth eclipsing rows of pearls, Her smile destroying the splendour of jasmine flowers just beginning to bloom, gracefully decorated with musk and sindura dots, Her beautiful cheeks graceful with curly locks of hair, the hairs of Her boy erect with joy, Her neck decorated with necklaces of the kings of jewels, her knitted eyebrows Kamadeva’s weapons to bewilder the minds of the kings of the yogis, Her feet robbing the land-growing lotuses of their splendour, Her feet anointed with red lac and decorated with jewel pasakas, Her lac-anointed toenails robbing the regal jewels of their splendour, decorated with tinkling anklets of precious jewels, decorated with jewel bracelets and armlets, beautiful conchshell ornaments, and many finger rings, splendid with garments pure as fire, Her fair complexion robbing beautiful campaka flowers of their glory, and holding a splendid pastime-lotus and a jewel mirror to see the beauty of Her face, approached the little Krishna.

Nanda Baba was very surprised to see Radha, illuminating the ten directions with a splendour greater than ten million suns, and suddenly coming to that secluded place.

Nanda Baba bowed, and his eyes filled with tears, he said to Radha, “From Garga Muni’s mouth I have learned that to the Supreme Personality of Godhead You are dearest. And I also know that my little Krishna is the infallible Supreme Personality of Godhead, beyond the modes of nature. Still, I am just an ordinary human being, bewildered by His maya.”

Nanda Baba further said, “O beautiful one, now You may take my son and enjoy with Him as You like. When your desires are all fulfilled, you will return Him to me.”

After speaking these words, Nanda Baba gave Krishna to Radha, and she accepted Him with a sweet and happy smile.

Radha said to Nanda Baba, “Take care that this secret is not revealed. How many births of pious deeds have made you able to see Me? Garga Muni told you, and therefore you know the secret of why Krishna and I have come to Gokula and Vraja. Please ask for whatever your heart desires. I will give it to you what even the demigods cannot attain.”

Hearing Radha’s words, Nanda Baba said to Radha, “Please give me devotion to the feet of Lord Krishna and Yourself. I do not desire anything but that. O supreme goddess, O mother of the universes, please grant the rare boon that Yasoda and I will always stay near You and Krishna.”

Radha smiled on hearing the Nanda Baba’s words full of devotion.

Goddess Radha blessed him and said, “I will give you devotional service that has no equal. Day and night, You and Yasoda will always remember Lord Krishna and Me in the blossoming flower of your hearts. This memory of Us is very difficult to attain. I am blessing you and Yashoda that the illusory potency will not cover both of you. At the end, leaving your human forms behind, you two will come to us in Goloka.”

Goddess Radha blessing Nanda baba

 After blessing Nanda Baba, Radha held little Krishna to her chest, to her heart’s content, embracing Him for a long time with both arms.

Then suddenly she saw a jewel palace with a hundred jewel domes, opulent with many wonders, beautiful with wonderful gardens, splendid with ruby pillars, splendid with great doors made of the kings of jewels, decorated with cloth, ornaments and beautiful pennants.

Seeing this, Goddess Radha happily entered the palace. There she saw betelnuts scented with camphor and spices. And saw the handsome, youthful, and dark Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was anointed with sandal paste, who was splendid and playful like ten million Kamadevas, dressed in yellow garments, smiling, charming, and His face and eyes happy, was reclining on a flower couch. He wore tinkling anklets made of the king's jewels and bracelets and ornaments made of the best of jewels. His cheeks were splendid with earrings made of the king's jewels, whose chest was splendid with the regal Kaustubha jewel. His face robbed the autumn moon of its splendour, whose eyes eclipsed the splendour of the autumn lotuses, and was embraced by a jasmine garland, who wore a triple crown of peacock feathers.

Lord Krishna

Radha gazed at Him with unblinking eyes. She smiled. Tormented with amorous desires, she yearned to embrace Him.

As passionate Radha, her lotus face smiling, gazed at Him, Lord Krishna spoke to her.

Krishna said, “O Radha, you must remember what happened in Goloka. O beloved, now I will fulfil the promise I made to You. O Radha, I love You more than anyone. You are identical to Me. We are not different. As whiteness is always present in milk, as heat is always present in fire, and as fragrance is always present in earth, so I am always present in You. As without clay a potter cannot make a pot and without gold a goldsmith cannot make golden earrings, so without You I cannot create the world. You are the place where the world rests, and I am the perfect seed from which it sprouts. O saintly one, recline on this couch. Become the splendour decorating my chest. As an ornament is the body’s splendour, so You are My splendour. When you do not stand by My side, the people call Me Krishna. When You do stand by My side, the people call Me splendid Krishna (Shri Krishna). You are splendid. You are opulence, you are the resting place of everything. For everyone, and for me, you are my power. I am not an ordinary man, and you are not an ordinary woman. That is the conclusion of the Vedas. O infallible one, you have the power to assume any form you wish, and I have that power also. When I choose to appear as the Brahman effulgence, you also appear as the Brahman effulgence. When I choose not to manifest a form, you also do not manifest a form. O beautiful one, when I choose to become the seed that begets everything, then by Your mystic powers You become the most beautiful of all women. You are half of my body. You are the Supreme Goddess, the root of all nature. In power, intelligence, knowledge, and glory, you are My equal. One who thinks we are different is the lowest of men. He stays in the hell called Kalasutra for as long as the sun and moon shine in the sky. He makes seven generations of ancestors and seven generations of descendants fall. The piety he earned in ten million births is destroyed. When one, suddenly frightened, calls out, “Ra!” I give him transcendental devotional service. When one adds the syllable “dha”, I, eager to hear his chanting, visit him. O Radha, they who present to Me the sixteen offerings and devotedly serve Me during their entire lifetime are very dear to Me, but one who chants the name “Radha” is even more dear.”

After speaking these words, Lord Krishna reclined on the beautiful couch. Her head humbly bowed, Radha spoke to her Lord.

Sri Radha said, “I know this. I remember everything. Lord, how could I forget? By the mercy of Your lotus feet, I am all that You have said of Me. O master of illusion, why do you put devotees like me into illusion? Many devotees like me are bewildered by Your maya potency. By one devotee’s curse, I have become a Gopi on the earth, and You and I will be separated for a hundred years. Why are some dear to the Supreme Lord and some not dear to Him? As they render service to Him, He grants His mercy to them accordingly. You have the power to transform a blade of grass into a mountain and a mountain into a blade of grass. Therefore, you are equally kind to the competent and the incompetent, to the husband and to the wife. O Lord, You are reclining on this couch, and I am standing before You. This moment of our conversation is like a hundred yugas. I cannot measure the time we have now spent together. Please place Your lotus feet on My head. Please extinguish the fire of separation that burns in My heart. My glance at once fell on Your lotus feet. Only with a great effort am I able to pull my eyes from Your lotus feet and gaze at the rest of Your transcendental form. Gazing, one by one, on each limb, my eyes finally rest on Your lotus face. I have no power to pull them to any other place.”

On hearing Radha’s words, Lord Krishna smiled and spoke to her the truthful and auspicious philosophy of the Sruti and Smrti sastras.

Krishna expresses his love to Radha

Shri Krishna said, “Beloved, for whatever happens to anyone in any place or any lifetime, there is nothing to lament. I have already explained this to you. O beautiful one, please wait for a moment. When the proper time comes, I will fulfil Your desire and make You happy. O Radha, I will not erase what fate has written. How can Brahma erase it? What fate has written for Brahma and the demigods and for the lesser creatures also is not to be broken.”

At that moment, carrying a garland and a kamandalu in his hands and his four faces gently smiling, Lord Brahma came before Lord Krishna. He bowed down before Lord Krishna and praised Him in many prayers, and then he approached Shri Radha. 

With great respect, Lord Brahma washed Sri Radha’s feet with water from his kamandalu and then dried them with the towel of his hair. Then, folding his hands, he spoke many prayers.

Lord Brahma said, “O mother, by Lord Krishna’s mercy, I can now see Your lotus feet, which are rarely seen by the people of the earth and other places. In ancient times, I performed austerities for sixty thousand years in Puskara-tirtha on the earth. After that, Lord Krishna gave me a boon that when the right time comes, I’ll be able to see your lotus feet. O Sri Radha, as the living beings in all material universes are part and parcel of Lord Krishna, so You are the powers and abilities that reside within all living beings. All males are part and parcel of Lord Krishna, and all females are part and parcel of You. Lord Krishna is the Supersoul present in the bodies of all conditioned souls. You are the resting place of Him.”

After speaking these words, Brahma, the creator of the universe, bowed down before Shri Radha-Krishna. Then Brahma respectfully stood before the divine couple.

After hearing Brahma’s prayers, Shri Radha said to him, “O creator Brahma, you may ask a boon, whatever your heart desires."

Brahma said to Her, “Please give me devotion for the feet of You both.”

Then, sitting between them, Brahma ignited a sacred fire and meditated on Lord Krishna.

Then Lord Krishna rose from His couch, sat by the fire, and, as Brahma recited the mantras, properly offered oblations.

Then Brahma bowed down before Shri Radha-Krishna. Then he had Radha circumambulate Lord Krishna seven times. And after that, he had Radha circumambulate the sacred fire. Then he bowed down before Lord Krishna. Then he offered a sitting place to Shri Radha.

Then Lord Brahma requested Lord Krishna to take Radha’s hand and recite seven Vedic mantras.

Then Lord Brahma placed Radha’s hand on Lord Krishna’s chest, and Lord Krishna’s hand on Radha’s back. Then he had Radha recite the mantras.

Radha and Krishna's marriage

Then he had Radha happily place a knee-length parijata garland around Lord Krishna’s neck. Then Radha bowed before Lord Krishna, and then he had Lord Krishna place a beautiful garland around Radha’s neck.

Lord Krishna sat down with Radha on his left with folded hands and recited five Vedic mantras.

Then the demigods celebrated Radha and Krishna's marriage with joy, sounded many dundubhis, anakas, murajuras, and other kinds of drums. They showered parijata flowers, the gandharvas sand, and the apsaras danced.

Smiling, Lord Brahma asked for Dakshina. Lord Krishna said to him, “You will have very firm devotion for My lotus feet. Now go to your own abode. All will be auspicious for you.”

Then, in the forest groves, Lord Krishna ate four kinds of delicious divine foods Sri Radha offered, and Sri Radha chewed betelnuts offered by Krishna.

Radha and Krishna are having a divine feast

As Shri Radha was enjoying her time, Lord Krishna suddenly turned into a little child, crying, frightened, whom Nanda Baba gave to her. Radha sighed. Her heart was shaken.

Overcome with the grief of separation, Radha fell to the ground and wept.

Then a disembodied voice said, “O Radha, why do you weep? Remember Krishna’s lotus feet. Until the time of pastimes in the rasa-dance circle, every evening, you will leave a shadow of Your form at home, and You will come here and enjoy amorous pastimes with Lord Krishna to Your heart’s content. Please don’t weep.”

Hearing these words, Goddess Radha held Krishna in her arms. She gazed at the jewel palace, the flower garden, and the forest, and then she suddenly left Bhandirvan forest and, travelling as fast as the mind, arrived at Nanda Baba’s palace.

Radha handed over Krishna to Maiya Yasoda, and said, “Dear mother, please take your boy, please feed him, and make Him happy. I have been gone from home for a long time. I must return at once.”

From that time on, every evening Radha would leave her household duties at home, go to that place in the Vrindavan forest, and enjoy amorous pastimes with Lord Krishna.

It’s said that Sins will never touch those who hear, read silently, or recite aloud this auspicious and confidential narration of the wedding of Radha and Krishna. 

Radha Krishna raas leela

Phulera Dooj Celebration and Pooja

Phulera Dooj festival is celebrated with great grandeur and enthusiasm in Vrindavan, Mathura and the Vraj region. The festival has spiritual reverence as it marks the beginning of the Holi preparation.

Worshipping Lord Krishna and Radha Rani on Phulera Dooj brings light, love and prosperity to life. It also brings glorious and rejuvenating energies into the life of devotees.

Devotees worship Radha and Krishna, decorating their homes and temples with vibrant flowers. Popular offerings include Mishri, pedas, malpua, and kheer.

The blessings of Radha Krishna on Phulera Dooj increase the love between husband and wife and lead to the attainment of a desired life partner.

Those facing difficulties and delays in marriage should offer cosmetics to Radha Ji on this day and then keep one of the items with themselves. This helps in facilitating marriage.

Astrologically, this day holds great spiritual importance, as it is considered ideal for any auspicious work because it is blessed and free from any dosha. A dosha is an inauspicious time due to unfavourable planetary alignments. Since Phulera Dooj doesn't have an astrological dosha, it's spiritually clean. The day has a positive energy that instils success and prosperity for all endeavours. 

🙏 FAQs – Radha Krishna Marriage on Phulera Dooj

1. What is Phulera Dooj?

Phulera Dooj is a sacred Hindu festival celebrated on the second day (Dooj) of Shukla Paksha in the month of Phalguna. It marks the divine floral celebration of love between Radha and Krishna and is considered highly auspicious for new beginnings.

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2. Did Radha and Krishna really get married on Phulera Dooj?

According to devotional traditions, especially in Braj and certain Vaishnava sampradayas, Radha and Krishna’s divine symbolic marriage (Gandharva Vivah) is believed to have taken place on Phulera Dooj. This spiritual union represents the eternal connection between the soul (Radha) and the Supreme (Krishna).

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3. Which scriptures mention Radha Krishna’s marriage?

While the main Puranas like the Bhagavata Purana focus more on their divine love (Rasa Lila), some regional texts and devotional traditions, including references in the Garga Samhita and Brahma Vaivarta Purana, describe their sacred marriage in a mystical sense.

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4. Where is Radha Krishna’s Phulera Dooj marriage celebrated?

The celebration is especially grand in Vrindavan, Barsana, and in temples like Banke Bihari Temple and Radha Vallabh Temple, where devotees decorate the deities with flowers and reenact the divine wedding ceremony.

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5. Why is Radha Krishna’s marriage considered spiritual and symbolic?

Radha and Krishna’s marriage is not merely a worldly event but represents the eternal union of divine feminine energy (Shakti) and Supreme Consciousness (Purusha). Their bond transcends social norms and symbolizes pure, unconditional devotion (Bhakti).

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6. What rituals are performed on Phulera Dooj?

Devotees offer flowers, perform special aartis, sing kirtans, and decorate temples with floral mandaps. Some devotees also observe fasting and pray for divine love, harmony, and spiritual union.

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7. Is Phulera Dooj related to Holi?

Yes. Phulera Dooj marks the beginning of the Holi festivities in Braj. It symbolizes the blossoming of divine love before the vibrant celebration of colors associated with Radha and Krishna.

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8. What is the spiritual significance of Radha Krishna’s marriage?

Spiritually, their marriage teaches that true love is selfless, eternal, and rooted in devotion. It represents the soul’s longing to unite with the Divine.

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9. Can unmarried devotees pray for marriage on Phulera Dooj?

Yes. Phulera Dooj is considered extremely auspicious for seeking blessings for marriage, love, and harmony. Many devotees pray to Radha Krishna for a spiritually aligned life partner.

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10. Why is Radha considered Krishna’s eternal consort despite no formal marriage in mainstream texts?

In many devotional traditions, Radha is revered as Krishna’s Hladini Shakti (internal pleasure energy). Their union is eternal and transcendental, beyond societal rituals, making their love higher than material marriage.