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Posted on: Aug 28, 2013
The Grand Essence of Krishna's Advent
....in the Mellifluous Voice of Sai Krishna
Every major religion that lives in the world today is based on the life and teachings of a founder messiah, a prophet or a saint. And understandably, certain days that are earmarked to celebrate the lives of these great souls are celebrated with much gaiety and reverence.
Sanathana Dharma, however, as pointed out by Bhagawan on many occasions, has no founder. But it is believed that the Lord Himself incarnates from time to time to revitalise this ancient path to Divinity. And the days associated with these divine incarnations are considered highly auspicious. Lord Krishna is one such Avatar, and Janmashtami, the day the Lord chose to take this form is considered highly sacred.
This day is celebrated in many different ways across the land of Bharath, most of which are means of recreating events from the Krishnavatar. Young men come together, to form huge human pyramids and break pots of curd and butter. Or in homes, the tiny feet of Balakrishna are drawn from the entrance to the shrine, reminding all of the Lord's mischievous leelas. Some dress up little children as Lord Krishna and as Gopalas and Gopikas of Brindavan and make them dance the 'Raas' trying to relive the magical moments that they have only read or heard about.
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When it is indeed good to remember the Lord and His deeds on such festive occasions, one must also delve into the principle behind the actions of the Lord. Why does the infinite Lord take a finite physical form? Why does He perform certain actions, and were these meant only for His contemporaries? If not, what can we learn from these events?
What better way is there to celebrate Krishna Janmashtami than to try and understand the purpose behind this Avatar or for that matter any Avatar! And what can be more fulfilling than listening to our Lord explain these ethereal truths?
We bring to you excerpts from the Divine Discourse delivered by Bhagawan on the occasion of Janmashtami on 3 September 1988, where Baba explains the purpose for which the Lord takes a human form, and how He achieves that purpose. We strongly recommend that you listen to the discourse clips, for the English translation do little justice to the nectarous narration of Bhagawan.
When the Divine comes down as Avatar – be as Rama or as Krishna, Matsya (fish), Varaha (boar) or Vamana (dwarf) - it is only for one purpose. You recognise only the momentary results of the advent. But you should note that the Divine comes as Avatar only to teach mankind the truth about love. 'Oh man, it is because you lack love and are filled with selfishness that the world is plunging in so much conflict and chaos. It is only when you develop love and the spirit of sacrifice that you will realise the divinity that is in the human.' The man who has no spirit of thyaga (sacrifice) will be a prey to all ills.
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A man without love is a living corpse. It is love and sacrifice which make man divine. Love alone is the fruit of love. Love is its own witness. There is no trace of self-interest in it. Because love exists for its own sake, it has no fear. It is to teach humanity the way of love that Avatars come in the world. The world displays the diversity that has emanated from the One. The Divine demonstrates the unity that subsumes the diversity. Recognition of this 'Unity in Diversity' can be learnt only from the Divine.
The Krishna Avatar has been described in various ways: As a sport of the Divine in human form, as an ideal for the world, as a sacred ruler, as a manifestation of the Atma. The Divine comes as Avatar to proclaim the pure and unsullied love of devotees towards God. People may consider that the Avatar's activities include punishment of the wicked, protection of the good, weeding out of unrighteousness and restoration of righteousness. This is how they may look at the Avatar's doings. But that is not the way the Lord sees things. There is nothing bad in God's view. Hence there should be no hatred or ill-will towards any being. It is only when you love all, that you can be said to love God.
Sri Krishna once enacted a small drama to demonstrate how the devotion of the illiterate Gopikas of Brindavan was deeper and fuller than that of Rukmini or Sathyabhama nor even the sage Narada. He pretended that He was suffering from a severe headache and that only the application of the dust from the feet of a devotee would cure Him. Neither Rukmini, Sathyabhama or Jambavati were ready to do that as they felt it would be a sin for a wife to apply dust from her feet on the forehead of her husband. They felt they would be condemned to live in hell for eternity if they did such a blasphemous act. When the two consorts turned to Narada extolling him as the prime devotee of the lord and sought the dust from his feet, he too refused fearing the consequence of such an act.
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Krishna then directed Narada to seek the same from the Gopikas of Brindavan. When Narada approached the Gopikas, they had no hesitation in collecting the dust of their feet, because their only concern was to relieve their beloved Krishna of His pain instantly without caring about what happened to them as a consequence. Narada thought that being illiterates they did not realise the serious repercussions of their act. But even when they were warned by Narada about the dire consequences of their action, they told him that they were not concerned about the worst that might happen to them if only their Krishna would be relieved of pain. Krishna's pain was gone the moment the Gopikas offered the dust of their feet. Narada realised that the totally unselfish devotion exhibited by the Gopikas was Parama Bhakti (the highest form of devotion). Krishna then revealed this divine drama that was staged to bring to light the supreme devotion of the Gopikas. He declared, “Those feet are Mine, the dust on the feet is Me... I am everything.”
Can anyone comprehend Me? I reside in all the eighty-four lakh species. I am the greatest of all thieves, can anyone comprehend Me?
To impart the knowledge of this Unity to all, is the very purpose of an Avatar.
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The purpose of the Divine Principle's descent is to accept and shower Love. There is no joy without Love. That is why the Gopikas sang:
“Krishna, play a song on Your flute once, so that in the barren, love-bereft fields, the seeds of love are sown, watered with the showers of love, and the spring of love may flow.”
“Let the rain be love, land be love, the sapling be love, the act of cultivation and fostering be love, only then can we reach the essence of Krishna.” If holes were to be made in a vessel containing sweet Payasam (milk pudding), what flows through every hole will be the sweet payasam alone and not poison, isn’t it! Similarly when you fill your heart with love, what you see, hear and do will be only love. You are always trying to change the external but don't strive to change feelings, which are the very basis.
A king ordered his men to rid every part of his kingdom of thorns. An intelligent minister rebuked the king and advised him saying that the smarter thing to do would be to wear sandals. Another king who was suffering from an eye ailment was advised by the physician to constantly see the colour green as a remedy. Immediately, the demand for painters increased in that kingdom. The king ordered that every nook and corner of the kingdom must be painted green. A wise one who saw this act of foolishness came up to the king and told him that it would rather be a simpler idea to wear green coloured spectacles. In the same vein, if we were to fill our hearts with love, we would not hate, criticise or condemn the lack of love in others. So instead of filling you heart with ordinary thoughts endeavour to fill it with love.
One must feel, 'I belong to God' and not 'God belongs to me.' These are the two things that happened during the Krishnavatar. The Yadavas (the clansmen of Krishna) always considered Krishna as their own, as someone who belonged to them. This gave rise to ego, and as long as there is the ego, one cannot grasp the principle of the Atma and that is why the Yadavas perished. The Gopikas were not like them. They would always claim, “Krishna, we are Yours, we are Yours.” They dedicated themselves to Krishna thus. Because they said they belong to Krishna, the Lord remained eternally with them. The Gopikas would say, “If we say You are mine, then You are separate from me. But when we say, I am yours, then I become one with you and I cease to exist.”
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It is essential to always remember God, cultivate sacrifice and consider everyone as a spark of the Divine. Recognise the truth that God descends for this very purpose of teaching love. Man's love is narrow and filled with selfishness. This is not true love. We must develop that love, which will lead us to recognise and understand the love in everyone. We talk of differences based on religion, but who is practicing the true essence of one's own religion? Today the philosophy in words is growing but the philosophy in action is null. What is needed is spirituality in practice. Therefore develop love and experience the bliss in the name of God.
Bhagawan Sings Govinda Krishna Jai:
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