A few days ago, we celebrated Janmashtami, the birth of Sri Krishna. Of all the manifestations of Bhagavan, Sri Krishna is the most fascinating. In many ways, he defies description, just like the limitless reality. Born in a prison, but meant to rule the world; shifted in the dead of night across the river to Gokul, where assassins came to kill him on a regular basis, but he survived all that and continued to be playful; To read about his childhood pranks in Vrindavan is to fall in love with the mischievous boy he was. His escapades as a teenager are legendary. He left Vrindavan before he was 16. By then, he had already destroyed the tyrant, Kamsa and his brother, along with his henchmen, and liberated the kingdom. Sri Krishna as the young man in the Mahabharata, strode across the country. He was not a typical king, but he uprooted kingdoms, established kingdoms and brought in the rule of dharma everywhere he went. In Srimad Bhagavatam, which deals with Sri Krishna’s life, the focus is on his childhood days and his growing up years in Vrindavan, while Mahabharata amplifies him as an all-inspiring and legendary figure.
His greatest glory lies in meeting him as the Gita Acharya in the Bhagavad Gita, where he reveals his true nature to everyone, to Arjuna, and through Arjuna to everyone else. I invoke Sri Krishna’s blessings so that everyone in India can learn what a phenomenal figure he was. Even if you don’t take him as an avatar, we can still learn to live the life of dharma which he exemplified. Whether he followed the law or broke the law, all of it was for the sake of Dharma. And finally, to meet him face to face in the Gita where he teaches the real nature of Ishwara and the individual, is extraordinary. Only when we do this and recognize Krishna as the Vishvaguru, the guru of the world, can Indian culture and Sanatana Dharma thrive and India become a great civilization as it once was!
The writer is the founder of Aarsha Vidya Foundation. You can write to him at aarshavidyaf@gmail.com
