[world-vedic] Vasudeva Krsna

[Guest guest]

Dear Ms. Dasi,

 

> 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?

 

Thank you for your letter. I have read the reply you sent to Ms.

Oroboros also and commented on that elsewhere. I am well aware

of the views you present and have read most of the texts you

mention.

 

You suggestion about neglecting texts like Rgveda and only study

bhakt texts is unreasonable. The bhakti traditions evolved from the

Vedic religion, so the Vedas and later non-bhakti texts help in

disclosing the development of the bhakti traditions and to

understand them better. If we do not look outside the bhakti

traditions themselves we end up with a very narrow and sectarian

picture.

 

 

> 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.

 

Indeed it is available at my university. However, Bhaktivedanta

Swami does not presents the Bhagavatapurana as it is, rather he

interprets it through his own tradition and cultural background. I

think there are better translations available.

 

 

> 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.

 

"It is the moon alone who has first claim to virgin girls. Along with

him, his wives, the stars, who unlike him are spotless in character,

were amazed to see the spotless moon, Krsnacandra, dancing so

with the star-like gopis. It was as if the supreme heaven had

appeared on earth, causing the ordinary heavenly constellation to

look in awe. One wonders if the moon and stars' perpetual

movements is but a reaction to the ultimate heaven they

experienced on earth that autumn night. It is common knowledge

that the gopis are named after the constellations, yet uncommon

knowledge suggests just the opposite."

(From "Aesthetic Vedanta: The Sacred Path of Passionate Love"

by Swami B. V. Tripurari, pp. 150-151.)

 

I do not deny that if one has feeling for the stories of Radha and

Krsna then one may perceive that the constellations are named

after Krsna and his associates, but objectively we see that the

bhakti scriptures are later than the texts in question that name the

constellations. Hence it is not reasonable to argue objectively that

the constellations are named after the gopis. Objectively we have

to conclude that later bhakti writers named the gopis after the

constellations.

 

 

Sincerely,

Toke Lindegaard Knudsen