THE GLORY AND GRANDEUR
OF LORD SRI KRISHNA
V.SUNDARAM I.A.S.
Tomorrow (1-9-2010) is JANMASHTAMI DAY – the Birthday of Bhagwan Krishna.
BIRTH OF LORD KRISHNA
Sri Krishna is the Darling of Humanity. Hindu men, women and children in India and in all parts of the world are fascinated by His life, and teachings and soul-stirring stories of marvellous depth and sublime beauty have grown around him.
MATHURA and VRINDAVAN are closely associated with the birth and childhood of Bhagwan Krishna, the guide, philosopher, lover and spiritual Being Supreme. Also known as BRAJ BHUMI, Mathura and Vrindavan are still alive—agleam with the light and aglow with the fire – of the time-defying splendour and glory of timeless Krishna legends. Mathura, a small village on the bank of the River Yamuna, was transformed into a place of light and pilgrimage after Krishna was born there.
Keshav Dev Temple at Mathura (Krishna Janma Bhoomi Temple)
Vrindavan, some 15 km away from Mathura, is the sacred place where Krishna spent most of his childhood, serenading Gopis and showing miracles one moment, and killing demons the next.
SRI KRISHNA AT VRINDAVAN
The divine Incarnation of Lord Krishna as the child of Devaki and Vasudeva is one of the most important events in the whole of Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana. According to Melpattur Narayana Bhattatiri(1559-1632), the auspicious occurrences prior to and at the time of, the birth of Lord Krishna augured well for the grandeur of the occasion. Even nature rejoiced. In Dasakam 38, he sang as follows:
The meaning of the above verse is: “When the time of Your incarnation as Lord Krishna with a form comprising of Suddha Sattvam (Pure Sattva-Guna with out any admixture of Rajas and Tamas) approached, dark clouds covered the entire sky and the rainy season set in. The bright clouds looked as though they were rays of brilliance emanating from Your Divine Body embedded in Devaki’s womb.
Lord Krishna incarnated at midnight of the holy day on which were conjoined the Star Rohini and the Ashtami Tithi of the Krishna Paksha (on the Eighth day of the waning moon), in the month of Sravana. Virtuous people, who were eagerly awaiting the happy occasion of Lord Krishna’s incarnation on the Earth, to destroy all evil and to re-establish Righteousness, were overjoyed at the Fulfilment of their wishes. As a result, their minds had also cooled down. This message is given in Dasakam 39 of Narayaneeyam below.
Krishna is a deity worshiped in many traditions of Hinduism, marked by a vast spectrum of differing perspectives. And yet, no one can fail to notice the underlying spirit of cultural unity — the abiding message of Krishna Consciousness — that pervades the whole of India from Kashmir in the North to Kanya Kumari in the South, from Rann of Kuchch in the West to Lushai Hills bordering Burma in the East. While many Vaishnava groups recognize Krishna as an avatar of Vishnu, other traditions within Vaishnavism consider Krishna to be svayam bhagavan, or the Supreme Being.
Krishna is often depicted as an infant, as a young boy playing a flute as in the Bhagavata Purana, or as a youthful prince giving direction and guidance as in the Bhagavad Gita. The stories of Krishna appear across a broad spectrum of Hindu philosophical and theological traditions. They portray HIM in various dimensions: as a god-child, a prankster, a model lover, a divine hero and above all as the Supreme Being. The principal scriptures discussing Krishna’s story are the Mahâbhârata, the Harivamsa, the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana. Naraneeyam by Melpattur Narayana Bhattiri, of Kerala also belongs to this class.
LORD KRISHNA WITH HIS DIVINE FLUTE
The various traditions dedicated to different manifestations of Krishna, such as Vaasudeva, Bala Krishna and Gopala, existed as early as 4th century BC. The Krishna-bhakti Movement spread to southern India by the 9th century AD, while in northern India Krishna-bhakti schools were well established by 11th century AD. From the 10th century AD, with the growing Bhakti movement, Krishna became a favorite subject in performing arts and regional traditions of devotion for forms of Krishna developed such as Jagannatha in Orissa, Vithoba in Maharashtra and Shrinathji in Rajasthan. Devotion to Krishna is widely diffused and extends to Jains, Buddhists, and beyond India.
AS VITHOBA AT PANDARIPUR
AS SHRINATHJI IN RAJASTHAN
Since 1966, the Krishna-Bhakti Movement has spread extensively in the West, with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly known as the “Hare Krishna Movement”, growing into a global spiritual movement. The great Vaishnava Maharishi in the line of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who created this ISKON Movement was A. C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896–1977). His mission was to propagate the Gaudiya Vaishnavism form of Hinduism, that had been taught to him by his guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, throughout the world.Draupadi cried out in despair: “Oh! Lord Krishna! I have no other Saviour but YOU! Will you not rush and intervene like a heavenly lightning!” Her prayer was immediately answered. To the total astonishment of all present at the Royal Court, yards and yards of silk clothes appeared on the distraught Draupadi as if from no where. Each sari removed from her body was replaced by another, miraculously in an instant. Dushasana, overcome by fatigue arising from pulling the mysterious and seemingly endless stream of flowing saris appearing on Draupadi, fell back and collapsed. A tumult of joy and praise burst forth from the assemblage. A hundred throats cried out “GOVINDA! GOVINDA!” Govinda is the Protector of those in distress, the Aapat Baandava!
The Sanskrit word k[cGa has the literal meaning of “black”, “dark” or “dark hued” and is used as a name to describe someone with dark skin. Krishna is often depicted in moortis (images) as black, and is generally shown in paintings with a blue skin.
Krishna is also known by various other names, epithets and titles, which reflect his many associations and attributes. Among the most common names are Govinda, “finder of cows”, or Gopala, “protector of cows”, which refer to Krishna’s childhood in Vraja. Some of the distinct names may be regionally important; for instance, Jagannatha (literally “Lord of the Universe”), a popular deity of Puri in eastern India.
Krishna is easily recognized by his representations. Though his skin colour may be depicted as black or dark in some representations, particularly in murtis, in other images such as modern pictorial representations, Krishna is usually shown with blue skin. He is often shown wearing a yellow silk dhoti and peacock feather headgear. Common depictions show him as a little boy or as a young man in a characteristic relaxed pose, playing the flute. In this form, he usually stands with one leg bent in front of the other and raises a flute to his lips, accompanied by cows, emphasising his position as the divine herdsman, Govinda, or with the gopis (milkmaids).
The scene on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, notably where he addresses Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, is another common subject for representation. In these depictions, he is shown as a man, often shown with typical god-like characteristics of Hindu religious art, such as multiple arms or heads, denoting power, and with attributes of Vishnu, such as the chakra or in his two-armed form as a charioteer.
BHAGAVATH GITA--LORD KRISHNA'S MESSAGE TO ARJUNA
Often, Krishna is pictured with his gopi-consort Radha. Manipuri Vaishnavas do not worship Krishna alone, but as Radha Krishna, a combined image of Krishna and Radha. This Radha-Krishna tradition is also a characteristic of the schools of Rudra and Nimbarka sampradaya, as well as that of Swaminarayan faith.
RADHAKRISHNA
Justice A.S.P Iyer I.C.S (1899-1963) in his book, ‘Sri Krishna – The Darling of Humanity’, says: “Alexander the Great once asked a Brahmin scholar in the 4th century BC. “How can we know a man to be God?” and the scholar replied “When he does what no man can ever do.” To illustrate this divine point, I would refer to how Krishna saved the chastity, dignity and honour of Draupadi at the Royal Court of Hastinapura.
At that Court, Prince Duryodhana, egged on by Karna, ordered his younger brother Prince Dushasana to bring Draupadi, the Empress of Indraprasta and to disrobe her in front of all the assembled dignitaries. Dushasana dragged Draupadi by her hair and proceeded to remove her clothes. Humiliated, Draupadi wailed loudly appealing to the Pandavas and the Kuru elders to save her from dishonour. Draupadi, seeing no help forthcoming from the assembled dignitaries, now raised her fair dainty hands in complete surrender to Lord Krishna and implored HIM to save her from the clutches of the wicked Dushasana.
LORD KRISHNA SAVING THE HONOUR OF DRAUPADI
The Bhagawat Gita of Lord Krishna is one of the noblest scriptures of India, indeed one of the greatest scriptures of the world. It would be a tragic irony of fate if India were to throw away her spiritual heritage, at the altar of ‘Development’, at the very moment when in the rest of the world, there is more and more turning, towards her for spiritual help and a saving light.
Sage Maitreya, Bhishma, the Terrible, Grandsire of the rival clans, Pandavas as well as the Kauravas, and Guru Dronacharya, the military leader of the Kauravas, were united in their opinion:
“Yato Krishna, tato Dharma. Yato Dharma, tato Jaya.”
To conclude in the words of Sri Praveen Pillai, a great devotee of Lord Krishna: ‘Lord Krishna is the hope for the despairing, the teacher for the seekers of truth, protector of the righteous, the support in old age, the cure for terminal diseases, the journey as well as the destination, the greatest wealth, the object of desire for those who have renounced all desires. HE is the darling child for the childless couples. HE hears the quiet sobs and sees the tears of his true devotees being shed in solitude. HE is the Daridra-Naaraayan, the Lord of the destitute, the helpless and the defenceless. HE is LOVE Personified. HE is the Darling of the masses.’
DIVINE TAPESTRY OF LORD KRISHNA'S LIFE IN EXQUISITE PICTURES
I am not sure if this would be relevant. Here is a small write-up by me.
ReplyDeleteMind – The symbolism in GITA
Bhagavad Gita is the epic discourse given by Krishna to Arjuna in the battle field of Kurukshetra. This base could be very easily symbolized into the mind and the forces involved. The battle field of Kurukshetra could be associated to the mind or the intellect. The two warring forces, the Kauravas and the Pandavas needs no superior logic to conclude that the Kauravas represented the evil forces while the Pandavas represented the good, which in turn could be associated to the bad and good thoughts or the negative and positive emotions. The battle of Kurukshetra could be conceptualized to the constant war that takes place within the mind between the evil and good thoughts. Krishna who stands between the two armies is the conscience.
The concept on which the Bhagavad Gita has come to stay is the fact that Arjuna starts questioning all the actions that were going to take place on the battlefield and the resultant reactions, to which Krishna gives his response. So this is the basis on which, comes the conclusion, that one needs to question oneself within, of all the actions both good and bad and expect answers from ones conscience. The individual takes the role of Arjuna, Krishna acts as ones conscience, the mind is the battlefield of Kurukshetra and the actual war is the internal fight taking place within the mind between the negative and positive thoughts.
The result of the Kurukshetra war, in that the good won over the evil forces could be ascribed to the fact that Arjuna listened to Krishna and acted accordingly.
Act in accordance with the guidance of ones conscience (Krishna) and one is bound to succeed.