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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

The Lord's quality of easy accessibility

 

CHENNAI, NOV. 21. Among the incarnations of the Almighty it is

His advent as Krishna which has captivated the hearts of one and

all. The reason for this is due to the quality of easy

accessibility (Saulabhya) He displayed as is evident in the

choice and circumstances of His birth. Born to Devaki and

Vasudeva as their eighth son to fulfill His promise to Mother

Earth to redeem her from suffering when atrocities increased in

the world, He was transferred to Gokul and brought up by His

foster parents Yashoda and Nandagopa.

 

He became the cynosure of all eyes in the cowherd community of

Gokul, simple folks as they were who had no pretension to any

sophistication leave alone scholarship. He tended the cows along

with the other children of the community and as though this

menial task was not enough to endear Him to them, after He grew

up He assumed the role of a messenger to His cousins, the

Pandavas, to mediate between them and their cousins, the

Kauravas. When the talks did not lead to an amicable solution,

Krishna became Arjuna's charioteer during the Mahabharata war

which ensued.

 

In his Harikatha, Kalyanapuram Sri R. Aravamudan said that more

than all these acts it was His role as teacher to Arjuna in the

battlefield when He taught the sublime truth for the benefit of

the entire humanity using Arjuna as a pretext, which has come

down to us as the Bhagavad Gita, that was the raison d'etre of

this incarnation. The Gita continues to instil hope in the heart

of every spiritual aspirant, the laity and the Jnani alike.

 

In an oft-quoted analogy, the Upanishads are compared to the cows

and Arjuna to the calf for whose sake the cows yielded milk (the

Gita) but it is humanity which stood to benefit. This analogy

also underscores the fact that the teachings of the Gita are the

quintessence of the Upanishads.

 

According to the Gita the Lord manifests in the world whenever

there is degeneration of Dharma and true to His word He

incarnated as Krishna when atrocities perpetrated by the Daityas

had reached such proportions that even Mother Earth, who is

supposed to be the very personification of forbearance, was

unable to bear them and she assumed the form of a cow and sought

the creator, Brahma, as refuge.

 

Realising the import of her distress immediately, Brahma along

with all the celestials escorted her to Lord Vishnu and they all

invoked Him by chanting the Purusha Sukta hymn. An ethereal voice

instructed that the celestials should take birth among the Yadus

when the Lord would manifest as the son of Vasudeva and Devaki to

relieve the Earth of her distress.

 

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