Vasudeva Krsna

[Guest guest]

Dear Toke Lindegaard Knudsen,

 

The connection between 'the Krsna born of Devaki' and 'the Krsna of other

epics' will become clear as soon as you abandon the non-bhakti literatures

and try to read bhakti sources. Krsna is only to be understood by bhakti,

bhakti literatures or bhakti-yogis. The Rg Veda is a non-bhakti scripture.

May I request you to first read my answer to Oroboros on the appearance of

Sri Krsna in bhakti literatures?

 

The truth behind the advent and appearance of Lord Krsna is much more

esoteric than I'm able to explain by email. However, there is always a first

step.

 

His parents in Mathura, Devaki and Vasudeva, conceived of Krsna as their

son. However, their spiritual mood towards the Lord was a different one than

that of his foster father and mother, Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda Ma in

Vrndavana.

 

At the day of Krsna's 'birth' He appeared in the presence of His parents in

Mathura in the form of the four-armed Visnu because Devaki and Vasudeva felt

so much reverence for Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He changed

His form in Krsna-baby as soon as Devaki requested Him. Krsna appeared as

their son, however, He was not born from Devaki's womb. Since Kamsa, Krsna's

maternal uncle, intended to kill Krsna, Vasudeva immediately transferred

Krsna to Vrndavana, the nearest village in the forest, where Krsna was

raised by his foster parents, Yasoda and Nanda Baba, as a refugee.

 

Why did Krsna take an apparent birth with Devaki and Vasudeva first and was

immediately transferred to Yasoda who had greater love for Him? Vasudeva was

connected to the royal throne of the Yadu dynasty. Therefore, Krsna is a

cousin of the Pandavas. Krsna intended to install the rightfull King on the

throne, Yuddhistira, instead of Drhtarastha, the blind king and his one

hundred demoniac sons.

 

Nevertheless, in His youth He lived in Vrndavana where He played with the

gopis and Radha until He was ten. At that age He and his elder brother

Balarama departed for Mathura where They were instructed by Their spiritual

master in 64 kinds of arts and where They killed Kamsa and many other magic

workers.

 

Later, Krsna moved to Dvaraka where He ruled His own Kingdom (He was born as

a prince in the Yadu dynasty). In Dvaraka He was called Vasudeva Krsna, the

son of Vasudeva. In the meantime He became involved in the Mahabharata in

Kuruksetra and spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna. After the battle was

fought Yuddhistira was installed on the throne according to Krsna's divine

arrangement. Krsna stayed on earth for 125 years.

 

Therefore, Devaki-Krsna is the same Krsna of the later epics in the

Mahabharata with the Pandavas, and the same Krsna Gopal in Vrndavana with

Radha. If you want to know more on the life history of Krsna you should read

Srimad Bhagavatam by A.C. Bhakti-vedanta Svami Prabhupada. This work is

available in many Universities also because it is bonafide literature.

 

The names Radha and Madhava might be also the names of a month in spring

and the constellation of Visakha, however, these objects have been named

after the personalities of Radha-Madhava, the Divine Couple, and not vice

versa. After all, Vishakha is an intimate friend of Radha in the spiritual

realm of Goloka.

 

Actually, the Rg Veda is not the source which is meant to learn more about

the topics of Bhagavan Sri Krsna personally. His features should be learned

from literatures in the category of bhakti, or devotion, like Srimad

Bhagavatam and the literatures of the Six Gosvamis of Vrndavana, like Srila

Rupa Gosvami, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami, Jiva Gosvami, etc.

If you need information about Krsna it's better to read Puranas. Reading Rg

Veda and Upanisads to research Krsna is useless. Please see also my answer

to Oroboros.

 

Why does Krsna appear 'only' in Hari-vamsa, because this is explicit bhakti

literature. Krsna can only be known by bhakti, there is no other means, no

other means, no other means. If Hari-vamsa appeared later in history than

the descent of Krsna, it doesn't mean that Krsna appeared at the time when

Hari-vamsa was written.

 

By the scientific aproach one will miss the true import of Bhagavan in

bhakti literatures. Science excludes knowledge of God and vice versa: Krsna

is beyond the senses, which means Krsna doesn't expose Himself to the

empiric philosopher, and He will not be encaged by the limited senses of the

scientist. Therefore, Bhagavan is on the highest platform beyond the senses

and the intelligence of historians and modern researchers. I can tell you

this because I've been a scientist before.

 

I hope I could serve you.

Kind regards,

 

I.d.

 

 

*******************************************************

 

-

Toke Lindegaard Knudsen <tlk

Oroboros Catilyne <catilyne; <vediculture >

Sunday, September 10, 2000 12:16 PM

[world-vedic] Re: The End of Indra's Worship

 

 

>

> On 9 Sep 00, at 23:14, Oroboros Catilyne wrote:

>

> > At 07:13 PM 9/8/00 +0200, Indira dasi wrote:

> >

> > >As you probably will know Sri Krsna descended on the earth at the end

of

> > >Dvapara-yuga, 5,000 years ago.

> >

> > Could you please be so kind as to cite your sources for this? In

studying

> > the Vedas, Aranyakas, Brahmanas, and Upanishadic materials I'm finding

no

> > mention of Krsna. I was under the impression that he really didn't make

> > an appearance in the corpus of materials until the Mahabarta/Bhagavad

> > Gita.

>

> Krsna, the son of Devaki, is mentioned in the Chandogya Upanisad

> (3.17.6). He is the disciple of Ghora Angirasa in that Upanisad.

> Although this Krsna has been identified as the Krsna of the later

> epics by some the connection must be said to be very doubtful.

>

> In the Ujjvala-nilamani by Rupa Gosvamin there is a reference to a

> passage in an appendix of the Rgveda (Rk-parisista) where the

> name Radha is mentioned in connection with the name Madhava

> (considered a name of Krsna). The passage where Rupa

> Gosvamin mentions this is Ujjavala-nilamani 4.4. However, Rupa

> Gosvamin seems to ignore the context in which this passage

> occurs in the Rk-parisista. This context dictates that Radha is the

> constellation Visakha, and Madhava is the month in spring (now

> known as Vaisakh) that coincides with that constellation.

>

>

> > I'm trying to ascertain whether your assertions are a matter of faith or

> > historical documentation. I must add that either is fine, but I'm just

> > trying to get the histories straight.

>

> If one accepts doubtful interpretations of isolated passages in the

> Sruti one may make a case that Krsna appears in these texts.

> However, such passages are rare and one has to offer real forced

> readings to get them to point to Krsna. So you are right, Krsna

> does not appear in these oldest texts. The Krsna legend first

> appears full-fledged in the literature in the Hari-vamsa, which as far

> as I recall is considered pre-500 C.E.

>

> Sincerely,

> Toke Lindegaard Knudsen

>

>

>

>

> This is an information resource and discussion group for people interested

in the World's Ancient Vedic Culture, with a focus on its historical,

archeological and scientific aspects. Also topics about India, Hinduism,

God, and other aspects of World Culture are welcome.

>

>