Friday, September 4, 2015

UNDERSTANDING KRISHNAVATAR



                                                    
After saving mother Earth from the clutches of the  cruel  asura  Hiranyaksha, Lord  Vishnu, as Narasimha ,kills his vicious brother Hiranyakasipu and showers his grace on the great child devotee Prahlada! That was in Krutha Yuga and the first part of the boon granted to his dwarapalakas Jaya and Vijaya who attained salvation. In their second birth as Ravana and Kumbhakarna the Lord descended as Sri Rama and saved the Devas  by  Killing them. That was in Tretha Yuga  The last and final birth of the dwarapalakas was that of Sisupala and Dantavaktra the personification of evil and terror!
      Lord Krishna’s  avatar, thus comes in Dwapara Yuga that became notorious for the evil and unrighteous acts of kings like Kamsa, Jarasandha and Sisupala. True to the saying ‘ yadayadahi dharmasya glanirbhavathi Bharatha  abhyutthana madharmasya thadatmanam srujamyaham’ the Lord took avatar as Krishna in the Yadava community. Sri Rama chose Kausalya as his mother while Krishna chose Devaki and Vasdeva as his parents. While Sri Rams totally compressed his divinity and exhibited the qualities of an ordinary mortal and suffered all the vicissitudes of royal and family life, it was not so with Krishna. Adi kavi Valmiki praises Sri Rama  as  “Ramo vigrahavan dhamaha”.
       Krishna was born in the prison to Devaki in his original resplendent form with four hands, the conch and the disc! The parents were overwhelmed with excitement and indescribable joy. Soon the child transformed  itself  into an ordinary baby! From the beginning Krishna exhibited his divinity and celestial powers! The prison doors open by themselves, the Yamuna cleaves to allow Vasudeva to take the child to Gokulam and in the terrible downpour Adisesha becomes the umbrella to protect the child!
        The word Krishna means black. Krishna is black in color! Black has its own beauty. ‘ karshati iti Krishnaha’—one who attracts others is Krishna. Krishna’s life at Gokulam  is full of divine leelas or sports significant among them being the killing of Putana sent by Kamsa. Krishna destroys other demons like Sakatasura, Bakasura! Kaliya mardana and  lifting  the  Govardhana giri proclaim his divinity beyond doubt! The romantic aspect of his life with the mystic Radha is often misrepresented. Her pure and unsullied Love for Krishna is that of the  Jivatma  or the individual soul  for the Absolute soul or Paramatma. The love of the  gopikas who leave their homes to see Krishna is also of the same kind. The Bhagavatha Purana describes in detail the ‘ Rasa Leela’  where Krishna assumes myriad forms to play with individual gopikas. Krishnavataris considered as “ PURNAVATAR”.
           The greatest and the most difficult part of the avatar is ‘dharma samsthapana’-establishing righteousness. Krishna is called ‘Pandava pakshapati’—biased towards the Pandavas. He is the constant companion, friend,  philosopher, and guide to Arjuna  and the Pandavas. The greatest contribution of the avatar to the universe is his ‘ Bhagavadgita’ which Swami Vivekananda calls “ Universal Scripture”. It is the discourse to Arjuna on the battle field of Kurukshetra. When Arjuna vacillates and becomes despondent and refuses to wage war and kill his teachers and kin, Krishna disabuses his mind and eggs him on to action.” Do your duty”, says he, “Don’t expect any reward. You are only an instrument in my hands. “Nimttamatram bhava savyasachin” He counsels the path of total surrender to God and with faith. Karma leads to bhakti or devotion to God which later flowers into Jnana or Knowledge. As the Pandavas stood for dharma Lord Krishna stood by them and saved them from every critical situation!
            Thus Krishnavatar is a clarion call for humanity to tread the path of Karma and dharma! This means right conduct, patience, tolerance, devotion to God and duty, love and compassion for all creatures and service without self to society at large. We do not find many of these qualities in this Kali Yuga Let us try to cultivate at least a few of these traits!

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