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Lord
Krishna — The Supreme Lord
“Salutations to Lord
Krishna, the Supreme Lord, who is the Indweller of our hearts, who is
Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, Bliss Absolute, who is the Soul
of this universe, who bestows Immortality on His devotees, who is the
source for everything and who took a human form for the benefit of the
gods and His devotees, to destroy wickedness and to establish
righteousness.
I bow to that Para
Brahman, the Supreme Self, from whom is born this mysterious universe,
by whom alone it is upheld, and in whom alone it is dissolved, who is
Lord Krishna Himself.
Lord Krishna was the
highest incarnation of the great Vishnu. He was the unique and crowning
incarnation of all. He was the Purna Avatara, the Perfect Incarnation.
He had sixteen Kalas or rays. He was a noble scion of the illustrious
Yadava dynasty. He was a world-teacher. He was the one Lord of love. He
was a lover of men. His divine form holds the heart of India captive in
chains even today.
The Bhagavata, the
Mahabharata, the Vishnu Purana—all proclaim with one voice that there
was none to match Sri Krishna in beauty and elegance of form in all the
three worlds.
His enchanting form
with flute in hand is worshipped in the myriad homes of India. It is a
form to which is poured out devotion and supreme love from the hearts of
countless devotees not only in India but also in the West.
He was a noble
embodiment of all the great qualities of head and heart. He was the
towering genius of His age. He was a great historical figure. His sports
of childhood contain countless object-lessons for all thinking men. He
was a glorious and extraordinary personality.
Every word of Lord
Krishna’s teachings and every act of His is full of sublime and grand
object-lessons of momentous import to humanity in a variety of ways.
Worship of Sri
Krishna has been practised in India from the very commencement of the
world’s culture. It is a part of the Veda itself. It is not a new cult.
Sri Krishna has become the most common object of worship in the whole of
India. Even in Latvia (Europe) hundreds of ladies worship Sri Krishna
and repeat His Mantra—OM NAMO BHAGAVATE VASUDEVAYA.
Lord Krishna was
great in knowledge, great in emotion, great in action, altogether. The
scriptures have not recorded any life more full, more intense, more
sublime, more grand than His.
Though Lord Krishna
appeared in human form, He had an Aprakritika, divine body. He did not
take any birth. He did not die. He appeared and disappeared through His
Yoga Maya. This is a secret, known only to His devotees, Yogis and
sages.
Lord Krishna has
played various parts during His stay in the world. He drove the chariot
of Arjuna. He was an unparalleled statesman. He was a master musician.
He gave lessons to Narada in the art of playing the Vina. The music of
His flute thrilled the hearts of the Gopis and of all. He was a cowherd
in Nandagaon and Gokul. He exhibited miracles even when he was a child
and a boy. He killed many Rakshasas. He showed Visvaroopa to His mother.
He did Rasalila, the secrets of which can only be understood by devotees
like Narada, Radha, the Gopis and Sri Gouranga. He taught the supreme
truths of Yoga, Bhakti and Vedanta to Arjuna and Uddhava. He had mastery
over the sixty-four arts. That is why He is regarded as an Avatara with
sixteen Kalas or powers.
Avatara
Avataras appear for
special reasons in special circumstances. Whenever there is much
unrighteousness, whenever confusion and disorder set in on account of
unrighteousness and baffle the well-ordered progress of people, whenever
the balance of human society is upset by selfish, ruthless and cruel
beings, whenever irreligion and Adharma prevail, whenever the
foundations of social organisations are undermined, Avataras appear to
establish Dharma and to restore peace.
Avatara is a descent
of God for the ascent of man. A ray from the Hiranyagarbha descends on
earth with mighty powers to keep up the harmony of the universe. The
work done by the Avataras and their teachings produce a benign spiritual
influence on human beings and help them in their upward divine
unfoldment and Self-realisation.
The Avatara comes to
reveal the divine nature in man and makes him rise above the petty
materialistic life of passion and egoism.
Greatest
manifestations are called Avataras proper. Avesha, Amsa (partial) and
Kala Avataras, Rishis, Munis, Prophets, Messiahs, Sons of God,
messengers of God are minor manifestations.
The Avataras usually
come with their particular favourite groups or companions. Lord Rama
came with Lakshmana, Bharata and Satrughna. Lord Krishna came with
Balarama, the Devas and Rishis. Sanaka came with Sanandana, Sanat Kumara
and Sanatana.
Some like Sri Sankara,
Ramanuja, come as teachers and spiritual leaders. Some, like Chaitanya,
are born to instil devotion in the hearts of people and turn their minds
towards God. Avataras proper like Krishna come only when there is wide
spread catastrophe in the land.
Many Avataras have
discharged one function, but Krishna’s activities were many-sided. Hence
He is styled as Purnavatara, or the Complete Incarnation.
Krishna in the
Puranas
Agni, Brahma, Padma,
Brahma-Vaivarta, Vishnu and Bhagavata Puranas treat of the life of
Krishna. The Brahma and Padma Puranas have devoted several chapters to
this subject. Brahma-Vaivarta, Vishnu, and Bhagavata Puranas have
devoted whole sections and books to the description of Krishna-Charita.
Radha plays an
important part in the growth of later Vaishnavism. No mention of Radha
is made in the Vishnu and the Bhagavata Puranas. It is in the Padma as
well as in the Brahma-Vaivarta that a detailed account of the Radha
cult, the real nature of Radha and Her companions, their names, their
mystical significance, their relation with Sri Krishna in the Rasa Lila
is given. In the Brahma-Vaivarta Purana great importance to the Radha
element in the Krishna worship is given. In the Vishnu and the Bhagavata
Puranas the philosophical aspects of Sri Krishna and His worship are
dealt with.
His Life
Lord Krishna was
Lila-Purushothama, the sportive form of God. He was a Yogeshvara. He was
a Prema-Murti. Lord Rama was a Maryada Purushothama. He was an ideal
son, an ideal brother, an ideal husband, an ideal friend and an ideal
king. He can be taken to embody all the highest ideals of man. He led
the ideal life of a householder in order to teach humanity.
Krishna was a man of
action. He was a history-maker and righter of wrongs. He stood for
justice and righteousness. His policy was to defend the oppressed from
the oppressor. He was a master of superphysical powers. He was a man of
knowledge and a world-teacher. He was a divine musician. He was the Lord
of Yogis. He was the friend of Arjuna and Uddhava. His immortal
teachings to Arjuna and Uddhava on Yoga, Bhakti and Jnana are unique.
Even now they stir the hearts of the readers and goad them on the
spiritual path and instil peace into their hearts.
Lord Krishna was the
greatest Karma Yogin of all time. He held up the torch of wisdom. He was
an embodiment of wisdom and selfless action. He combined in his life all
that is best, highest, purest and the most beautiful, sublime and grand
in heaven and earth. He was all love for the cowherd-boys, cows, and the
Gopis. He was the friend and benefactor of the poor and the helpless. He
was a versatile genius.
Krishna was a
thunderbolt to the wrestlers assembled in the arena of Kamsa and yet he
had the softest heart among men. He was Yama, Deathcome, unto Kamsa,
Cupid unto the Gopis, the object of constant meditation for Yogins and
devotees, the form of bliss and beatitude to the sages, and a child to
his parents. He was Cupid unto Cupid himself (Sakshat
Manmatha-Manmatha).
Lord Krishna was an
embodiment of humility, though He was the Lord of the universe. He
became the charioteer of Arjuna. He took upon Himself the duty of
washing the feet of the visitors, voluntarily, at the time of the
Rajasuya Yajna performed by Yudhishthira.
The Bhagavata Purana
says that Sri Krishna lived for 125 years on earth (XI-vi. 25).”
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