Who is Krishna?

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Who is Krishna?

 

Written by Cetanarahita dasa

 

 

Some say, "God has no name," but God has so many names that any one

name is not God's only name. We cannot limit the Unlimited.

 

 

All-attractive

 

 

God has unlimited names according to His activities. He is called

Devaki-nandana because He accepted Devaki as His mother. He is called

Nanda-nandana and Yashoda-nandana in relationship with Nanda Maharaja

and Yashoda, His foster father and mother. He is called Partha-

sarathi because He was the chariot driver of Arjuna. He is Bhakta-

vatsala, affectionate to His devotees. He is Gopinatha, the Lord of

the gopis. He is Gopijana-vallabha, beloved of the inhabitants of

Vrindavana. He is Bhava-grahi Janardana, who understands one's mental

attitude. He is Varadaraja, the best of the givers of benedictions.

He is Avatari, the source of all incarnations. He is Radha-ramana,

the lover of Radharani. He is Govinda, who gives pleasure to the cows

and to everyone's senses.

 

 

He is Krishna. If any transcendental name belongs to the Absolute

Personality of Godhead, it must be the name indicated by the word

Krishna, which means all-attractive. One is attractive if he is

wealthy, powerful, famous, beautiful, wise, or renounced. The Supreme

Person possesses in fullness all wealth, all power, all fame, all

beauty, all wisdom, and all renunciation. Therefore He is Bhagavan.

Bhaga means "opulence" and van means "one who possesses."

 

 

Lord Sri Krishna is mentioned on every page of the Bhagavad-gita as

Bhagavan. The word Bhagavan denotes a great person or demigod, but

all authorities of Vedic knowledge confirm that Krishna is the

Supreme Person. The Lord Himself establishes this in the Bhagavad-

gita, and He is accepted as such in the Brahma-samhita and all the

Puranas, especially Srimad-Bhagavatam.

 

 

Krishna's Unparalleled Activities

 

 

The Vedic history of the universe extends billions of years into the

past. Throughout those years, it gives the histories of Krishna's

appearances and disappearances. In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna tells

Arjuna that both He and Arjuna had had many births before. Krishna

could remember all of them but Arjuna could not. This is the

difference between Krishna, God, and Arjuna, man. Krishna's knowledge

and memory are boundless, but Arjuna's knowledge and memory are

limited by time and space.

 

 

Krishna incarnates on one planet after another in infinite universes.

He appeared on this earth in His original form as Krishna five

thousand years ago. He stayed here for 125 years and played exactly

like a human being, but His activities were unparalleled in the

history of the world. Within the prison of His maternal uncle, Kamsa,

where His father and mother were confined, Krishna appeared outside

His mother's body as the four-handed Vishnu-Narayana. Then He turned

Himself into a baby and told His father to carry Him to the house of

Nanda Maharaja and his wife Yashoda. When Krishna was just a small

baby the gigantic demoness Putana attempted to kill Him, but when He

sucked her breast He pulled out her life.

 

 

God Is Always God

 

 

Krishna did not practice meditation to become God. He manifested

Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead at every step, from

infancy to childhood, from childhood to boyhood, and from boyhood to

young manhood. Although Krishna plays like a human being, He always

maintains His identity as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

 

 

Krishna is the original person among all persons. Krishna expands

Himself into innumerable forms, such as Baladeva, Rama, Nrisimha, and

Varaha. All these forms are one and the same Personality of Godhead.

They are not like our forms, which are fallible. His form is

infallible. My form has a beginning, but His multiforms have no

beginning or end. Krishna can be everywhere at once. He is in Goloka

Vrindavana, and at the same time He is everywhere, all-pervading. He

is original, the oldest, but whenever you look at a picture of

Krishna you'll find a young boy fifteen or twenty years old. Krishna,

God, never becomes old.

 

 

The Supreme Engineer

 

 

Krishna is the origin of all creations. Everything emanates from Him.

In the beginning there was no Brahma, no Shiva, no Indra, no sun, no

moon, no stars, no electricity. There was only Krishna. By the will

of the Lord, everything emanates from Him, is maintained by Him, and

enters into Him at the end. And yet He is so perfect that He doesn't

manage everything personally. His inconceivable energies do all the

work by His will. The chief engineer of a complicated construction

does not personally take part in the construction, but he knows every

nook and corner because everything is done under his direction. He

knows everything about the construction, both directly and

indirectly. Similarly, the Personality of Godhead, the supreme

engineer of this cosmic creation, knows every nook and corner,

although affairs are being carried out by His plenary expansions and

demigods.

 

 

Krishna Is the Enjoyer

 

 

Krishna is compared to the root of a tree or the stomach in the body.

When one waters the root of a tree, he automatically waters the

branches, twigs, leaves and flowers; when one supplies food to the

stomach through the mouth, he satisfies all the parts of the body. If

we love Krishna, we will automatically realize universal love, unity,

and tranquility.

 

 

When Krishna Plays His Flute

 

 

Krishna is the primeval Lord, Govinda, who has pastimes with the cows

and the cowherd boys and girls in the spiritual earthly village of

Gokula. When Krishna plays beautiful dancing notes on His flute, it

attracts the hearts of all living beings. As the petal of the lotus

flower is a pleasant sight, Krishna's eyes, the revelation of

spiritual vision, expand the unlimited splendor of His moonlike face.

His beauty is set off by the charming peacock feather that adorns His

head. The hue of Krishna's body resembles a tranquil blue rain cloud.

The loveliness of Krishna is far more enchanting than Cupid's

multiplied billions of times.

 

For more reading:

Srimad-Bhagavatam: 1.1.1, 1.3.28, 2.9.33

Brahma-samhita: 5.1, 5.39, 5.46

Chaitanya-charitamrita: Adi-lila, 5.142

Bhagavad-gita: 7.7, 10.8, 10.12, 10.41, 14.4