ଶ୍ରୀ ରାଧା କଵଚମ୍

An armour of Rādhā from the Jñānāmṛtasāra of the Nārada Pañcarātra, asked for by Pārvatī and given by Śiva. Her request has an urgency the form does not require — if there is compassion in you, lord, save me from sorrow and from fear; you alone are the refuge, holder of the trident and the Pināka — and his answer names what the armour does before giving it: it makes every protection, takes away every killing, gives devotion to Hari directly, accomplishes both enjoyment and release, draws the three worlds, and brings about nearness to Hari. That last is the one that matters in this tradition, where proximity rather than liberation is the thing wanted. Its closing verse restricts transmission sharply: it is to be given to a Vaiṣṇava who is pure and possessed of dispassion, and otherwise the giver comes to ruin.