The descent of Sri Kṛṣṇa

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, there is a beautiful description of Kṛṣṇa’s birth. In anticipation of the arrival of that supreme Nārāyaṇa, every single element of nature starts to rejoice and it is as if every being has paused for a moment – a picture as captivating as the form of Kṛṣṇa himself. What follows below is a paraphrased version of how I imagine the scene to have played out…
………………….
The star Rohini was in the ascendant with all the other planets and stars aligned in beneficent positions. Peaceful silence reigned across the quarters of the eternal universe, the stars seemed to shine brighter and sparkle like diamonds in the sky and the rivers seemed to have slowed down and become even more graceful in their meandering path to the ocean. Ponds and water-bodies were full of brilliant lotuses with their succulent and soft petals in full bloom. The woodlands and forests resonated with the chirping of the birds and the buzzing of the bees – they seemed to be talking to one another and saying “He is coming…” The wind that blew that night turned into a gentle breeze that went to each flower, picked up its scent and dispersed that fragrance across the world. Yogis sitting in meditation, saw a great peace descend into them and a smile involuntarily caressed their face as they knew deep within, in the heart of their hearts that, he who lived within their heart-caves was descending to earth. Divine and spontaneous music and the Nāda of Pranava filled the air. Kinnaras, Gandharvas, Apsaras, Siddhas, men and women started to sing and hum, dance and whirl, caught-up in the fervor of the moment. The Devās stood in readiness, their palms overflowing with beautiful flowers of various hues and the Ṛṣis nodded knowingly – for they knew that the Pūrṇāvatāra was coming to fulfill his promise:

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत |
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ||4-7||
yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ sṛijāmyaham

परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् |
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ||4-8||
paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśhāya cha duṣhkṛitām
dharma-sansthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge

And in the middle of the night, when darkness reigned across the world, was born that Pūrṇāṃsa of Viṣṇu – lotus-eyed and with all the signs of Viṣṇu – the conch and the Gada and the mark of Srivatsa, the brilliantly lustrous Kaustubha already shining on his dark chest piercing the darkness of that night and across that beautiful form was the streak of Pītāmbara, curly locks like a rain-filled cloud with dainty tendrils playing on his forehead, the kundala dangling in his ears – here was Hari come to redeem the world…

Akrura’s hymn to Krishna (10)

This will be the last post in this series on Krishna. This post draws from Chapter-40; Skandha-10 of the Bhagavata in which Akrura (who is actually an envoy of Kamsa) realizes Krishna’s true nature and then composes a hymn extempore, revealing to the world the true nature of Krishna. These verses clearly show that Krishna is that indwelling atman, spirit, soul within each individual – that which pervades and invades every sentient and insentient being in the Universe.

Below is a free translation of a few select verses (the operative word is “FREE”)

1. You are that primordial being, the Purusha from whom everything has evolved and into whom everything subsides
2. The elements – earth, water, fire, sky, air, and space are but parts of your being
3. You are pure and transcendent, not bound by even Prakriti and therefore unattainable through the intellect but easily grasped when the seeker submits to your will.
4. Those who have developed the highest spiritual insight realize “YOU” as “YOURSELF” as that one Lord and Universal being
5. Those who need the help of symbols worship you as that indweller in either the body, nature, or Devas
6. Those who see everything as manifestations of  your supreme Maya serve YOU through the SERVICE of fellow beings
7. Those devoted to the rituals of the Vedas see you in the fire of their yagnas
8. Those who attain you through a Quantum leap in Jnana (knowledge) drop everything and adore you as the all pervading Supreme
9. Just as all rivers fed by rain wander into the ocean, so also do all paths lead to YOU and YOU alone.
10. Each one has come from you and remain strung together like the beads of a necklace – separate yet interdependent; interdependent yet held together by you
11. Salutations to you, who are all of this but still remain a witness to this play, unattached and pristine…
12. Salutations to you who are Pure Consciousness beyond the grasp of Time, Karma, and Nature, infinite and inscrutable
13. Protect me for I have surrendered myself to thee…

Krishna’s Rasa-lila (9)

The word Rasa-lila, arrived at by the sandhi (meeting of two words) of “Rasa” meaning aesthetics and Lila meaning “Dance” can be loosely translated as “The Dance Divine“. It has also been a subject of much derision and mirth for Hindus themselves and a stick to beat the Hindu religion for people of other religions.

A reading of the section from the “Rasa Lila episode of the Srimad Bhagavata under “The Gopis plea” (verses 31-41), should clarify the true purport of this “play” of the divine:

…”Lord, we have abandoned our all to serve thy feet. Accept us as the Supreme Being accepts all who go to him seeking liberation”Abandon us not, O Thou of mysterious ways! who art the source of all codes, the Lord of all, the topic of instruction for all scriptures and teachers – For art Thou not the closest relative, the dearest object of Love for all Jivas, being the soul of their souls? The really wise man entertains love only to Thee – the ever lovable Soul of one’s soul…”

Sanatana Dharma talks about the 9 modes of Bhakthi or devotion – Shravana (listening to the glories of the lord), Kirtana (Singing), Smarana (Constant remembrance), Archana (Worship),  Paadasevana (Service of the needy) , Vandana (Prayer and Prostration),  Dasyatva (Lord-servant relationship), Sakhya (The lord is my friend), Atmanivedan (Surrender, Sharanagathi)

The Rasa-Lila of the Gopis would fall under the category of Atmanivedana, complete surrender to the Supreme being the indwelling atman where all body-consciousness is lost, and sex is sublimated in the divine essence of the lord of love within.

Mira Bai the 16th century mystic was a living example of this. She was in every sense a Gopi, she thought of herself as Radha and her Giridhar was all that mattered to he:

“Friends, I am completely dyed in this (i.e. Krishna’s) colour. I drank the cup of immortal bliss, and became drunk. My inebriation never goes away, however many crores of ways I try “*

“Mira danced with ankle-bells on her feet. People called Mira mad; my mother-in-law said I ruined the family reputation. Rana sent me a cup of poison and Mira drank it laughing. I have dedicated my body and soul at the feet of Hari. I thirst for the nectar of the sight of him. Mira’s lord is Giridhar Nagar; I come for refuge to him…“*

The last word on this has to be left to the inimitable Osho (Rajneesh):

“Rasalila is dance of Cosmic Consciousness with individualised Consciousness, It is a State of Mind were bliss manifests. One can experience this the way Sufis experienced. This (Rasalila) is Maharaas where Krishna represents the whole of the male element in creation known in sanskrit as the Purusha. The Gopis represent the entire female principle of Prakriti and this Maharaas represents the combine dance of Prakriti and Purusha… ” – Krishna, the man and his Philosophy by Osho; Chapter 9: The Cosmos is a dance of Opposites.

*Poison to Nectar The Life and Work of Mirabai by Madhu Kishwar and Ruth Vanita. Available at: http://www.manushi-india.org/pdfs_issues/pdf_files-50-51-52/poison_to_nectar.pdf.

Krishna dances on Kaliya’s hood (8)

This is one of the most popular stories from the Srimad Bhagavata. Paintings and Sculptures have immortalized this story. The question however is do we take this story at face value? How do we answer sceptics who laugh at the fact that someone could dance on the hood/head of a snake? That is what this post intends to do. As with all stories in the Bhagavata, this story too has a deep allegorical significance and comes with a message for each one of us.

In the Kalindi (Yamuna) river, within a deep cavern lived a black, large, and vicious serpent – Kaliya. He had 5 hoods and 5 mouths and from each mouth the most vicious poison spurted continuously and seeped into the clear waters of the Yamuna. Slowly the water turned so poisonous that first the fishes that lived there and then the animals and birds that frequented this river to quench their thirst started dying. Soon the fumes of the poison rose high above the waters and even birds that flew over this part of the Kalindi dropped dead. Then the wind that blew over the Kalindi carried the poison into the homes of the inhabitants of Vraja and a few of them choked to death.

Krishna who saw this, knew he had to act immediately. He jumped into the waters of the Kalindi and with powerful strokes reached the cavern where Kaliya lived and challenged him to a fight. The fight was long and brutal. Initially the powerful Kaliya coiled around Krishna and almost choked him, frightening the inhabitants of Vraja for whom Krishna was their only refuge and last hope. Krishna however, fought back and soon gained the upperhand. Pummelling Kaliya into submission, he climbed onto his hood and started his divine dance – the dance of the Universe.

Kaliya’s hoods once proud and erect, soon started drooping in submission and humility. Kaliya’s wives too came out and begged Krishna to spare Kaliya. Krishna agreed but on the condition that Kaliya would go away from Vraja and Kalinda forever. Thus was Vraja and its people saved by the divine Krishna.

Now let’s look at the allegorical significance:

Kaliya with his five hoods is representative of our 5 sense organs (More details in this post here) that are constantly turned outward. The Kalindi (Yamuna) signifies the mind – tranquil and clear when under control; but turbid, viscous, and vicious when under the influence of the senses. The poison seeping into the Kalindi is the uncontrolled actions of the senses. The deep caverns of the Kalindi represent the deepest, unreached areas of the mind. Krishna is the indwelling atman, the soul. It is with the power of our own soul that we will be able to go to war against our own senses, defeat them and attain tranquility – It is in tranquility that the mind realizes that the dance within and without of the atman and the Universe is one and the same…

Krishna the householder (7)

This story is connected to the story of the liberation of Narakasura and Krishna marrying the 16,000 women imprisoned in his castle. You can read that post here where the allegorical significance of the 16,000 wives was discussed. There is one more reference to this story of 16,000 wives of Krishna in the Bhagavata involving the intrepid Deva-Rishi (Sage of the gods) Narada. This episode appears under the same name that I have used for this post “Krishna the householder” (Skandha:10; Chapter:69)

When Sage Narada heard the story of Narakasura’s liberation and Krishna’s marriage to the 16,000 damsels, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing and his curiosity was piqued. “How could one man simultaneously marry 16,000 women and how could one man manage such a large number of wives and  household? Surely there must be more to this than what I hear…” So thinking the curious Narada traveled to Dwaraka to find out the truth.

Even as he entered the city of Dwaraka, Narada heard the sweet chirping of birds and the buzzing of bees, he saw great Sarus cranes swimming gracefully on lakes covered with lotuses and lilies of various hues. The houses leading up to the mansion of Krishna were all bedecked with flowers and precious stones. He finally entered the private chambers of Krishna and saw with his own eyes the 16,000 chambers!

He entered one and saw Krishna talking to his beloved wife Rukmini. He quickly went to the next chamber and saw there too Krishna playing dice with Satya and Uddhava. He walked into another chamber and saw Krishna playing with little children. In yet another chamber there was no Krishna, but then he looked out of the window and there was Krishna tending to the agricultural fields himself. In another house he saw Krishna doing his Sandhya rituals, in another he saw Krishna and Balarama engaged in a wrestling bout. He walked out into the garden and saw Krishna engaged in watersports with beautiful damsels. He walked into the magnificent court and saw there Krishna in deep deliberation with his ministers. In another chamber he saw Krishna in deep meditation…

It was Krishna, Krishna, Krishna everywhere. Narada walked out in a daze and then realization hit him…

He knew then that all this was the play of the supreme being, who is all pervasive and at the same time is also the indwelling spirit within each being. It is that very same soul, the atman that is present in each animate and inanimate being – this is the UNIVERSALITY OF THE CONCEPT OF GODHEAD unique to Sanatana Dharma, the concept of:

एकं सद्विप्रा बहुधा वदन्ति
Ekam Sat; Vipra Bahuda Vadanthi

“That which exists, that truth is but one; the sages and the knowers call it by different names”

The one atman pervades, envelops, invades, and animates everything… To paraphrase Swami Vivekananda “I am but an exaggeration of the amoeba…”

 

 

Krishna steals the Gopis’ clothes (6)

This is yet another aspect of Krishna’s life that is ridiculed and often questioned. The question of Krishna’s 16,000 wives and its allegorical significance was discussed in an earlier post. (Click here to read). This question of why a “God” would indulge in such dalliances is uppermost in most people’s minds and is often a source of embarrassment for Hindus and mirth for people of other religious denominations.

A proper reading of the Srimad Bhagavata should put this in the proper perspective, but unfortunately a lack of Sanskrit knowledge and poorly rendered translations along with fanciful storytelling have done little justice to the underlying meaning and purport of the puranas.

In this story, the Gopis or Gopikas (literally cowherd wives) go to the banks of the Kalindi (Yamuna) river during the “Vasanta” (Spring) season, make an idol of Goddess Katyayani using the soil from the banks of the Kalindi and worship her everyday. Their  one-point prayer to mother Katyayani is “Mother, please make the son of Nanda (Krishna) our goal. We would like to attain to that divine personage, Krishna who is the embodiment of supreme bliss…“

This went on for more than a month – The Gopis would wake up early and walk to the banks of Kalindi, singing Krishna’s glories, bathe in the cold waters of the river, worship Katyayani and go back to their homes. As the days passed by the Gopis became more and more desperate to get a glimpse of the supreme being – Krishna.

One day the Gopis as usual discarded their clothes on the banks of the Kalindi and entered the cold waters for their ritual bath. When they finished their bath, all the while singing and chanting the names and glories of Krishna and looked to the river bank, they saw that their clothes had disappeared! Soon, they heard the lilting tunes of the flute… divine music floating through the air – they looked up at the large tree on the edge of the river bank and there was the smiling visage of the supreme personality – Krishna playing the divine music of the Universe…

Even as they were joyous that they had neared their goal, they were embarrassed and ashamed to step out of the water naked. They beseeched Krishna to hand over their clothes but he was adamant. He told them…

“Step out of the water, approach me, and raise your hands and you shall
receive what you want“

“After much hesitation they did and they experienced the supreme bliss of merger with Krishna, that indwelling, all pervading universal spirit – the Atman”

This story highlights the concept of Saranagathi – complete, total, unquestioned surrender to the all knowing spirit of the Universe giving up all inhibitions, expectations, beliefs, worries, and all the other myriad emotions that cloud our understanding of our true identity.

Nakedness in both the literal, metaphorical, and allegorical sense is a concept deeply embedded in Sanatana Dharma. Many of our greatest saints and mystics have often found the trappings of not just wealth but also clothes unnecessary (new age Gurus seem to be an exception to this rule) – Ramana Maharishi wore nothing more than a loin cloth, Akka Mahadevi was covered only in her tresses, Sadasiva Brahmendra was a naked avadhuta. So also Trailanga Swami (the walking Shiva of Varanasi).

Their surrender in the sense of “Naked you came; naked you shall go” is epitomized in this story of Krishna and the Gopis.

Krishna is tied to the mortar (5)

This particular story has two stories rolled into one. Once Kubera’s twin sons Nalakubara and Manigriva were cursed by Sage Narada (they must have done something really vile for the normally sweet tempered Narada to lose it, but that’s a different story) to be born as two Arjuna (Terminalia Arjuna) trees and spend 100 years before they would be liberated from their curse. These two incarnated as twin Arjuna trees in the region of Vraja (Gokula) close to where Krishna lived with his foster parents – Yashoda and Nanda.

Little Krishna was a restless and naughty child. He simply couldn’t and wouldn’t stay at one place. He would not allow his mother Yashoda to concentrate on her daily duties. He was always up to some mischief.

One day little Krishna was particularly naughty and mischievous. Yashoda at her wits end tied him up with a rope to a large stone mortar so that he would stay at one place and she could get back to churning curds for butter.

Krishna as soon as he saw his mother was out of sight, started walking towards the Arjuna trees with the large stone mortar trailing behind him. These twin trees had rooted themselves close to one another with only a small interspace between them. Little Krishna squeezed himself through the interspace but the stone mortar got stuck crosswise between the twin Arjuna trees.

Little Krishna pulled the mortar with all his strength and with such force that the two great trees cracked in the middle, their roots were uprooted and they fell to the ground with a loud crash. Nalakubara and Manigriva were liberated and they went back to their heavenly abode.

Although a simple story, as with all puranic stories it contains a symbolic expression of a profound truth:

The two trees symbolize the apparent duality of existence between the real and the unreal – the jeeva/atman (individual) and the paramatman (Supreme). The mortar crashing against the trees is the sudden shattering of the illusion of duality. The uprooted trees and liberation of the twins of Kubera are symbolic of the liberation of the atman from its attachment to the gross world and realization of the supreme indwelling principle within…

Also symbolic is the use of the “Arjuna” trees to tell this story. It could have been any other tree but then wasn’t the Bhagavad Gita recited to the warrior “Arjuna” by Sri Krishna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra?

Krishna reveals the Universe (4)

There is a story in the Srimad Bhagavata about Krishna eating mud. One day while little Krishna was playing with Balarama and the other cowherd boys, he picked up a little bit of soil from the wet earth under his feet and put it into his mouth. Balarama and the other boys ran to Yashoda and complained about this.

Yashoda ran up to little Krishna and scolded him saying “Why did you do this? Why do you eat mud stealthily?” Krishna stood with tears rolling down his cheeks and told her “They are lying. I did not eat mud, mother. If you think I am lying and they are telling the truth, please look into my mouth” When he opened his mouth, the story goes that Yashoda saw within Krishna’s mouth the entire Universe – a microcosm of the macrocosm… the moving and the unmoving entities – the galaxies, the planets, stars, suns, cycle of constant creation and destruction, birth and death, the arrows of time, the individual, primeval, and supreme consciousness pervading, impregnating, and invading all sentient and insentient beings…

For a moment, Yashoda was stunned and too shaken to say anything –

Many of us have had these moments when a little bit of the spirit descends on us – the sudden tearing-up of the eyes, an involuntary shudder, a “disquieting quietness”  that cannot be explained… 

Sri Aurobindo captures this evocatively in the first few lines of his “The Hour of God“

“There are moments when the Spirit moves among men and the breath of the Lord is abroad on the waters of our being; there are others when it retires and men are left to act in the strength or weakness of their own egoism…“

Even before she could register what was happening, Krishna closed his mouth and the moment was gone she was his mother again and he her dear son…

There are four (4) Mahavakyas (Great Statements) from each of the 4 vedas that occur in each of their associated Upanishads that define and summarize the quintessence of vedantic thought and are relevant to this story. These four statements indicate the unity between the individual (consciousness) and the universal (consciousness) as experienced by Yashoda:

1. प्रज्ञानम् ब्रह्म “Pragnyanam Brahma” – “Conscious-Intelligence is Brahman” [Aitareya Upanishad; 3.3 of Rig Veda]

2. अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि “Aham Brahm-asmi – “I am that Brahman. Atman / Conscious-Intelligence / integrated part of that universal consciousness” [Brihadaranyaka Upanishad; 1.4.10 of Yajur Veda]

3. तत् त्वम् असि “Tat-tvam Asi” – “You are that (Brahman)” [Chandogya Upanishad; 6.8.7 of Sama Veda]

4. अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म “Ayam Aatma Brahma” – This self, this atman is that Brahman / Supreme Consciousness [Mandukya Upanishad; 1.2 of the Atharva Veda]

These four statements could be examined or understood individually or as a graduated progression of the inner realization – I prefer the latter:

First the understanding that there is an Omniscient consciousness that pervades everything in the universe. Second a fragment of this consciousness is present in each sentient and insentient being and is Omnipresent. Finally, the realization that this omnipresent being is the atman which is a part of the supreme paramatman.

Krishna tames the 7 bulls (3)

The Paramacharya of Kanchi Shri Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi while discussing the differences amongst the Vedas, Vedantas (Upanishads), and Puranas called the Puranas “Bootha-Kannadi” a Tamizh word for “Magnifying Glass” His point being that while the Vedas to a certain extent are ritualistic the Upanishads (also called Vedantas because they occur at the “anta” or end of the Vedas) are metaphysical, spiritual, philosophical and therefore may appeal to only a few sections of the society and to that extent they may be considered elitist. The Puranas on the other hand teach these very same spiritual and philosophical truths through myths, allegories, and stories – the heroes and villains here are larger than life, the demons and Asuras are huge, pot-bellied, with bulbous noses, and of gargantuan proportions. The heroes are mythical, handsome, pristine in character, and no matter what the difficulties always emerge victorious in the end. However, the underlying truths and morals these stories teach are closely related to and/or are similar to that expounded in the Vedas and Vedantas.

While in the Mahabharata, Krishna is portrayed more as a human being with shades of grey along with occasional hints at his divinity, in the Bhagavata he is elevated to the status of the supreme indwelling divinity, the supreme personality of Godhead – it is this dichotomy in characterization that has led to the clash of ideologies between the Rational-Secularists who can’t accept the Krishna of Mahabharata as divine versus the Bhakta (devotee) for whom the supreme personality of Krishna floats like an untainted leaf above the murky waters of the universe…

In all of this, the take home message is this: It all depends on what path you want to take to approach the divinity within – If it is Karma or the path of action, then it is the Vedas. If it is Jnana or the path of the discriminating-intellect and Spirituality then it is Vedanta (Upanishads). If it is Bhakti or devotion then it is the Bhagavata/Puranas. A combination of any of these or all of these is also par for the course.

In this particular story, Krishna travels to the city of Kosala to ask Raja Nagnajit to give his daughter Satya* (also known as Nagnajiti) to him in marriage. Raja Nagnajit however lays a condition that whoever wants to marry his daughter Satya must first tame 7 unruly bulls – these bulls were wild, nasty, uncontrollable beasts that had gored and badly wounded or killed many a brave kshatriya warrior. Krishna agrees without a moment’s hesitation, girds his loins and jumps into the arena. He easily tames the bulls, passes a rope through each of their noses and literally leads them by their noses around the arena and ties them to a large post in the middle of the arena and wins Satya’s hand.

Let’s now see if we can draw some allegorical lesson and/or moral from this story:

Seven (7) is a magic number in religion and spirituality across all religions/sects. In Hinduism / Sanatana Dharma, the number 7 is almost ubiquitous (found almost everywhere) – the 7 worlds or planes of existence (Bhu to Satya that appears before the Gayathri Mantra and during Sankalpa), 7 chakras, 7 notes of music, Saptha-padhi (7 steps in marriage), 7 Maha-Nadhis (rivers) and so on. Although several lessons can be drawn from this story, I prefer the following interpretation:

The 7 unruly bulls are symbolic of:

1. The 5 sense organs / Pancha Jnanendriyas (Shotra = Ears; Chakshu = Eyes; Grahna = Nose; Jihva = Tongue; Tvak = Skin)
2. The 5 sense perceptions (The corresponding sensory centers in the brain that perceive what the above 5 sense organs gather during their interactions)
3. The 5 organs of action / Pancha Karmendriyas (Paada = Feet/Legs; Pani = Hands; Payu = Anus/Rectum; Upastha = Genitals; Vak = Mouth/Speech)
4. Avidya (Ignorance)
5. Kama-Krodha (Desire-Anger)
6. Karma (Fruits of action / Expectation)
7. Vaasanas (Tendencies / Habits)

Control and sublimation of all of the above leads to the revelation of
TRUTH (SATYA) – the ultimate reality

Note: In the South Indian Azhwar (Alwar) tradition, Satya becomes Nappinnai.

Photo Credit/Attribution: http://www.eegai.com/gallery/krishna-64/page-5 (Copyright if any belongs to the owner of the image. Image is not used for any commercial purpose)

Krishna the enigma

I am going to be writing a series of posts on Krishna the enigma who has defied all conventional efforts at definition and description. Who was he? Was he a real person? How could one man be so many people?

Lover, Husband, Brother, Father, Son, Yogi, King, Politician, Wrestler par excellence, Flautist extraordinaire, Prophet, Guru, Charioteer, Wielder of the Sudarshana-Chakra (Discus), Milkman, Cowherd, Philosopher, Alchemist, God, Atman/Soul… the list is endless.

The word कृष्ण (Krishna / kRSNa) means “Black” “Dark” “Dark-blue” For example, the dark half of a lunar month (from Full Moon to New Moon – waning phase) is called the Krishna Paksha. The word is also sometimes used to refer to the Kali Yuga. The end of the Krishna avatar/life is also the beginning of the age of Kali or Kali Yuga (432,000 years) – We are in the Prathama Pada (first quarter) of Kali Yuga now.

It is extremely distressing to see some people like Zakir Naik for example, talk disparagingly about Krishna and his 16,000 wives and what is even more discouraging and disappointing is to see Hindus squirm and struggle to come up with a logical/rational explanation for this – I will attempt to answer this and several other questions by making an interpretative, allegorical, and contextual examination of the facts, myths, and stories scattered across the vast landscape of Sanatana Dharma literature.

There is also the question of why Krishna and so many of our Gods are blue in colour. Sri Ramakrishna answered this question that was posed by a Britisher in the most simple but profound way possible – He said:

“Look at the sea, it is blue in colour. Take the water in your cupped-palms and it shall be colourless. The sea is formless but there are places where the water is solidified into ice – so also our Gods are both colourless and with colour, formless and also with form. God comes to the seeker in whatever form the seeker imagines him/her to be…”

Then there is also the question of his androgynous (part-male/part-female; of indeterminate sex) form as depicted in most paintings – be it the long slender arms, the “peak-shift-effect” (exaggerated) of the waist/hips, the diadem of peacock feathers, the gossamer fabric of his dress, the smooth, hairlessness of his skin, and then the contradictory broadness of his shoulders, the muscular arms… Why is he shown like this? Are the scriptures/artists referring to the universal truth that the souls is sexless, neither male or female?

The book that details Krishna’s tumultuous life, The Srimad Bhagavata is by far the most popular of the 18 Mahapuranas. Krishna dominates this purana and strides across it like a colossus. Most of the stories will be taken from here and interpreted with the caveat that there shall be no distortion of the original.

More in the subsequent posts.