The beautiful pastime of the appearance of Shri Radha-Raman was narrated by Radhanath Swami on a trip to Vrindavan. Here are some excerpts: Shrila Gopal Bhatt Goswami was worshipping a Shaligram Shila in the forest of Nidhuvan in Vraja Bhoomi. Once it happened that a very wealthy person was giving nice paraphernalia to the Goswamis of Vrindavan to worship their deities. At that time, the beautiful form of Radha Govindaji was being elaborately worshipped by Rupa Goswami, of Shri Madanmohan by Sanatana Goswami and that of Shri Radha Gopinath by Madhu Pandit and others.
Shrila Gopal Bhatt Goswami also with great devotion was worshipping his Shaligram Shila but he very much longed to have the fortune of increasing his worship and services to the Lord. He wanted to serve the beautiful three fold bending form of Shyamsundar by offering nice dresses and other paraphernalia like the other Goswamis. So, on one Narsimha Chatudashi he was meditating that on this day the Lord had manifested His beautiful ferocious form from even a stone pillar. Thinking like this he prayed to Lord Shyamsunder that He may kindly allow him to serve His beautiful threefold bending form by revealing it through His Shaligram Shila. So on the very next morning when he returned from his bath in the River Yamuna, he found that his Shaligram Shila had manifested into the most beautiful form of Lord Shri Krishna standing with three curves in His body, playing upon His flute. The Pujaris of the temple explain that in the back of the deity a part of the original Shila is still present from which the deity grew out by His own sweet will. Hearing the enthralling news of the Lord’s special appearance from a Shaligram Shila all the Goswamis of Vrindavan gathered together at Gopal Bhatt Goswami’s place to congratulate him and to take darshan of the Lord. There was a great celebration to commemorate this wonderful appearance of the Lord. Rupa Goswami at that time, named the deity as “Radha-Raman” because the area of Vraja Bhoomi near Nidhuvan where He appeared is the place where Krishna gives pleasure to Shrimati Radharani. Radha-Raman means Krishna who is the giver of pleasure to Shrimati Radharani.
