Krishna, the eighth and the most popular incarnation of Vishnu, was brought up by the cowherd family of Yashoda and Nanda. His childhood playmates were gopas (cowherd boys) and gopis (cowherd girls), who were greatly devoted to him. Of all gopis, Radha loved Krishna the most. In the forests of Vrindavan, Krishna often played his flute and gopis danced with him in ecstasy (which reminds us of Greek god Dionysus). The Gopis represent the individual souls trapped in physical bodies. Radha symbolizes the individual soul that is awakened to the love of God and is absorbed in such love. The sound of Krishna's flute represents the call of the divine for the individual souls. The gopis' love for Krishna signifies the eternal bond between the individual soul and God. The dance of the gopis and Krishna (Rasa Lila) signifies the union of the human and Divine, the dance of the souls. In the forest, the gopis dance with Krishna and are absorbed in their love for him. This illustrates that when an individual soul responds to the call of the Divine, the soul enjoys union with the Lord and becomes absorbed in the divine ecstasy. Of all the incarnations, Krishna is revered as a full and complete incamation (purna avatara) of Vishnu. He commands love, respect, and adoration from all Hindus of all walks of life.

Radha, daughter of Vrishabhanu, was the favorite mistress of Krishna during that period of his life when he lived among the cowherds of Vrindavan. Since childhood they were close to each other - they played, they danced, they fought, and grew up together. One day, Radha's father asked Krishna to accompany her on a trip through the forest. On their way, Krishna seduced Radha, who was willing deep inside, and made love to her, and they became lovers. But the world pulled them apart. He departed to safeguard the virtues of truth, and she waited for him. He vanquished his enemies, became the king, and came to be worshipped as a lord of the universe. She waited for him. He married Rukmini and Satyabhama, raised a family, fought the great war of Ayodhya, and she still waited. So great was Radha's love for Krishna that even today her name is uttered whenever Krishna is refered to, and Krishna worship is though to be incomplete without the deification of Radha. One day the two most talked about lovers come together for a final single meeting. Suradasa in his Radha-Krishna lyrics relates the various amorous delights of the union of Radha and Krishna in this ceremonious 'Gandharva' form of their wedding in front of five hundred and sixty million people of Vraj and all the gods and goddesses of heaven. The sage Vyasa refers to this as the 'Rasa'. Age after age, this evergreen love theme has engrossed poets, painters, musicians and all Krishna devotees alike.

The Radha-Krishna amour is a love legend of all times. It's indeed hard to miss the many legends and paintings illustrating Krishna's love affairs, of which the Radha-Krishna affair is the most memorable. Krishna's relationship with Radha has served as a model for male and female love in a variety of art forms, and since the sixteenth century appears prominently as a motif in North Indian paintings. The story is recorded in Gita Govinda by Jayadeva, a 12th-century dramatic lyrical poem expressed as a cycle of songs telling the love story of the god Krishna and the mortal Radha.