Today is the Appearance Day of Krishna. The festival is celebrated by hundreds of millions around the world. This festival is also called Sri Krishna Janmashtami or Gokulashtami.
Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna has many names.
But when someone learns that Krishna comes to this material realm via “birth”, that too in a prison cell, and then they learn that Krishna has parents… Vasudeva, Devaki, and foster parents Nanda and Yashoda… they are bewildered.
Are you sure, they ask, that this is God we are talking about? How can God have parents, and how can God have a form like you and me, how can God take birth?
But dear soul, please consider that if you and me, we have a form, then is God lesser than us to have no form? Krishna’s form, though, is not like ours. Krishna’s form is purely spiritual. Even in His deity form, Krishna’s form is purely spiritual.
Also consider that the “parents” of Krishna eternally love Him and want to serve Him in that way. Everyone knows that parents serve a child unceasingly! So why can God not grant that wish to His devotee?
But so many accept Krishna as a historical personality, famous, smart, strong, influential, but an ordinary person like you and me, a mortal with a material coil. Some accept Krishna as a soul on the way to spiritual perfection. Some go further and accept Krishna as a prophet, a messenger of God, one among many.
But of course, Krishna declares this in the Bhagavad Gita and the great spiritual masters like Shankaracharya, Ramanuja, and Madhva have accepted His words.
भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् ।
सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति ॥ २९ ॥bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchatiA person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/29/
So, then, why does the Supreme Personality of Godhead come here, to this nasty place where most people misunderstand Him, defame Him, insult Him, try to kill Him, ignore Him, or in the worst case, never even come across Krishna!
Krishna takes birth so we don’t have to take another birth ourselves.
जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यमेवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः ।
त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म नैति मामेति सोऽर्जुन ॥ ९ ॥janma karma ca me divyam
evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma
naiti mām eti so ’rjunaOne who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/9/
Krishna personally states some reasons as to why He comes
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥ ७ ॥yadā yadā hi dharmasya
glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya
tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy ahamWhenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion – at that time I descend Myself.
परित्राणाय साधुनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थानार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥ ८ ॥paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ
vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām
dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya
sambhavāmi yuge yugeTo deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/7/ and https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/8/
But to be honest, Krishna does not have to personally come to accomplish all this. He has many competent energies and empowered agents who can do this themselves.
So why does He come then?
No matter how you see God as, as God the Father, or God the Ultimate Master, or God the Best Friend, or God the Lover, or God Second to None… ultimately, Krishna is concerned about us, souls trapped in the material realm.
He comes to free us. How does he do that? In many ways.
We are here in the… material realm trying to enjoy. But what can we enjoy with these imperfect senses and decaying dying bodies? It is a mere reflection of enjoyment, a mere shadow of the real thing.
Krishna comes here and brings His eternal associates, places, paraphernalia, and pastimes, and with them, shows us the standard of real enjoyment.
Enjoyment that is:
- Ever increasing
- Never ending
- Unlimitedly variegated
Regardless of what our own standard of enjoyment is here in the material realm, it is fluctuating and temporary, and the more you try to enjoy, the more it is the same old same old… And time takes it all away! Take any sensory experience. Why is anyone dissatisfied in the world with material sense gratification? Because it is, immediately or eventually, boring. Materialists are always looking for something more, something different, but ever dissatisfied despite tremendous endeavour.
It is a fact that when presented with genuine pleasure, the materially entrapped soul cannot appreciate. However, the more the conditioned soul comes in contact with Krishna, the more they are purified.
When Krishna comes and shows the standard of His character, then we are all attracted to following such a wonderful magnanimous person.
Take the example of Putana. Putana was a witch. She specialized in killing. Not just anyone, but little babies and children. She had killed thousands. She enjoyed various ways of torturing and killing them, and sucking their blood. She developed this into a way of life. She was expert in all kinds of murder, from poison to weapons. She was commissioned to kill Krishna by Kamsa, the demoniac tyrant.
She carefully thought about her modus operandi, and dressed herself as a beautiful celestial woman. So exquisite did she look that no one stopped her. She approached Krishna as a wet nurse, to feed Him. Her disguise and manner was masterful. And in a village, mothers often feed each other’s children. No one stopped her, so trusting and simple were Krishna’s associates.
She had smeared a deadly poison on her breast. Her plan was simple. Baby Krishna sucks, end of story.
But Krishna, He is impossible to kill. Even the rest of us are impossible to kill, because the spirit soul is immortal.
अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयमक्लेद्योऽशोष्य एव च ।
नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातनः ॥ २४ ॥acchedyo ’yam adāhyo ’yam
akledyo ’śoṣya eva ca
nityaḥ sarva-gataḥ sthāṇur
acalo ’yaṁ sanātanaḥThis individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/24/
Indeed, the soul is completely indestructible!
नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः ।
न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः ॥ २३ ॥nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi
nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ
na cainaṁ kledayanty āpo
na śoṣayati mārutaḥThe soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/23/
While our material bodies can be killed in various ways, Krishna’s body is completely spiritual.
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇamKṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bs/5/1/
In fact, Krishna only appears to enter the material world, but actually He never enters or leaves! After all, what does it mean to enter or exit when Krishna is all-pervading, inside and outside of everything and everyone simultaneously?
स एव स्वप्रकृत्येदं सृष्ट्वाग्रे त्रिगुणात्मकम् ।
तदनु त्वं ह्यप्रविष्ट: प्रविष्ट इव भाव्यसे ॥ १४ ॥sa eva svaprakṛtyedaṁ
sṛṣṭvāgre tri-guṇātmakam
tad anu tvaṁ hy apraviṣṭaḥ
praviṣṭa iva bhāvyaseMy Lord, You are the same person who in the beginning created this material world by His personal external energy. After the creation of this world of three guṇas [sattva, rajas and tamas], You appear to have entered it, although in fact You have not.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/10/3/14/
Krishna sucked the poison, sucked the milk, and sucked out her very life!
Good riddance, someone might say. After all she was quite wicked.
Ah, but here is how Krishna is not only great but so sweet!
Krishna didn’t merely suck out the poison from her outside, Krishna sucked out the poison from Putana’s very heart! He washed her completely clean. Just by coming in contact with Krishna, Putana became spotless!
And because Putana approached him as a mother, even if with a heinous devious motive, still Krishna took the best of what she had to offer… she approached as a mother, and that position Krishna gave to Putana in the spiritual realm.
अहो बकी यं स्तनकालकूटं
जिघांसयापाययदप्यसाध्वी ।
लेभे गतिं धात्र्युचितां ततोऽन्यं
कं वा दयालुं शरणं व्रजेम ॥ २३ ॥aho bakī yaṁ stana-kāla-kūṭaṁ
jighāṁsayāpāyayad apy asādhvī
lebhe gatiṁ dhātry-ucitāṁ tato ’nyaṁ
kaṁ vā dayāluṁ śaraṇaṁ vrajemaAlas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He who granted the position of mother to a she-demon [Pūtanā] although she was unfaithful and she prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her breast?
https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/3/2/23/
Krishna chooses the highest and best of everyone to amplify, magnify, and enhance.
I got out on Sankirtan often. I sing Krishna’s names in public, and speak about Krishna, distribute spiritual literature, and try to get souls to serve Krishna in some way, according to their capacity.
Some take to it enthusiastically, singing along, dancing, taking books, making donations, having deep spiritual conversations. These are really the fortunate souls.
Some engage with Krishna, but not in such positive ways… they try to make fun, they tease, they try to insult or abuse. They are also fortunate souls.
Why is that?
If Krishna can give the highest position of “Mother of God” to a witch who came to poison Him, then what to speak of those who engage with Him?
Krishna is the Supreme Absolute Truth!
নাম চিন্তামণিঃ কৃষ্ণশ্চৈতন্যরসবিগ্রহঃ ।
পূর্ণঃ শুদ্ধো নিত্যমুক্তোঽভিন্নত্বান্নামনামিনোঃ ॥ ১৩৩ ॥nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś
caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ
pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto
’bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ“ ‘The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Kṛṣṇa Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Kṛṣṇa’s name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Kṛṣṇa Himself. Since Kṛṣṇa’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with māyā. Kṛṣṇa’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa Himself are identical.’
https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/madhya/17/133/
In other words, by associating with the name of Krishna, you get the same benefit as associating with Krishna personally. There is no difference betweeen Krishna and His Name!
Do you want proof that Krishna and His Name are nondifferent?
In what is modern-day Kannauj (ancient Kanyakubja) in Northern India, there was a very decent young man named Ajamila. Trained to be a Vaishnava priest, he once went to the forest to collect some ingredients for the worship of Krishna.
In the forest, he saw what is a very common sight today… he saw an uncouth man embracing a prostitute in a sensuous way. Such a sight is sure to agitate a young man.
Not a self controlled soul as Krishna describes, but anyone who is below this standard…
आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं
समुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत् ।
तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे
स शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी ॥ ७० ॥āpūryamāṇam acala-pratiṣṭhaṁ
samudram āpaḥ praviśanti yadvat
tadvat kāmā yaṁ praviśanti sarve
sa śāntim āpnoti na kāma-kāmīA person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires – that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still – can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/70/
Poor Ajamila was attracted to this uncultured woman, and became her keeper. The husband of a prostitute is most unfortunate. He cannot be happy, no matter how hard he may try to satisfy his wife. He gave up his wife and parents, and engaged in all sorts of abominable occupations like thieving, robbery, gambling, and murder, to maintain the prostitute and the 10 children he had with her.
Time flies, but like most of us, Ajamila didn’t notice.
Somehow or other, by inspiration from Krishna who sits in the heart as Paramatma, the Supersoul, he named his youngest son “Narayana”, which is another name of Krishna.
He was very attached to this little child, and would constantly call out “Narayana take your milk”, “Narayana wake up”, “Narayana, it is time for bed”, “Narayana careful that you don’t fall into that pond” and so on as a typical loving parent calls out to a small child.
Even thought he was 88 years of age, he didn’t notice that death was creeping up on him, so attached he was to this little child.
One day, the moment of his death arrived and he saw the Yamadutas, the servants of Yamaraja, the demigod in-charge of death. They were quite frightful looking. They engaged their tools in extracting Ajamila’s soul from the inner reaches of his heart.
In great pain and anxiety undergoing the process of death, he called out with tears to that which he was most attached to, his little child Narayana.
Hearing his plaintive cry, made in helplessness, the Vishnudutas, the servants of Lord Vishnu, appeared and forbade the servants of death from taking the soul.
Ajamila witnessed the conversation between the two sets of personalities, the Vishnudutas and the Yamadutas. The essence was that by that one cry of the name of Krishna, “Narayana”, his previous sinful activities were completely nullified.
Ajamila got a second chance to reform himself, and he took the second chance.
The key point to note here is that in recognition of some past spiritual service, Krishna inspired Ajamila to name his son after Himself. So he arranged for Ajamila’s deliverance.
Those of us who have already received the Holy Name of Krishna into our life, we should simply sincerely continue chanting.
When the Holy Name of Krishna appears, it means Lord Krishna Himself has appeared in our life.
And this is why we are saved by the Holy Name of Krishna.
अज्ञानादथवा ज्ञानादुत्तमश्लोकनाम यत् ।
सङ्कीर्तितमघं पुंसो दहेदेधो यथानल: ॥ १८ ॥ajñānād athavā jñānād
uttamaśloka-nāma yat
saṅkīrtitam aghaṁ puṁso
dahed edho yathānalaḥAs a fire burns dry grass to ashes, so the holy name of the Lord, whether chanted knowingly or unknowingly, burns to ashes, without fail, all the reactions of one’s sinful activities.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/6/2/18/
Dear reader, my dear Jivatma. Please chant the name of Krishna incessantly.
Krishna says that for a materially entangled spirit soul, the only way out of suffering is to surrender unto Him completely, abandoning all other attachments…
सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।
अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुच: ॥ ६६ ॥sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥAbandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/66/
It may feel very difficult to unconditionally surrender, but, if you simply chant the names of Krishna, such surrender will be yours very soon.
You will feel unlimited ecstatic joy, if not immediately, then in due course of time, but very soon.
If someone like myself, a sinful former atheist can recover and feel ever increasing joy by chanting Hare Krishna, then what to speak of you, who are surely much better than me in every respect?
Freedom through Genuine Spiritual Progress 