Thought of the week: Knowing Krishna

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Hare Krishna !!

 

There are three stages of spiritual advancement. The first, sambanda, is

understanding that one has a relationship with Krishna. The second,

abhideya, is working to establish this relationship and the third,

prayojana, is relishing this relationship. Sambanda, in turn, is based on

three understandings. They are, knowing Sri Krishna as the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, realizing that we are all spirit souls and

acknowledging that there exists an eternal relationship between the

Krishna and each and every spirit soul.

 

Thus the very foundation of our spiritual progress lies in knowing

Krishna. One of the first realizations of Lord Brahma at the time of

creation of the material universe is about the position of Sri Krishna.

Lord Brahma, purified by severe austerities and by the mercy of Sri

Krishna, eloquently describes this in the fifth chapter of the Brahma

Samhita.

 

Who is Krishna

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God is described as the ‘param isvara’ or the supreme controller. There

are many controllers or isvaras in the universe, like Vayu who controls

the air, Indra who controls the rain and Surya who controls the Sun. But

all these controllers are in turn controlled by some one else and if go up

the chain we finally reach the supreme controller, one who directly or

indirectly controls every one, but has no controller.

 

This supreme controller is ultimate origin of everyone and everything. He

has no other origin and He is the cause of all causes. Lord Brahma states

that this supreme controller, is Krishna, also known as Govinda.

 

What does Krishna look like

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Krishna is a person, an individual, with a transcendental body full of the

most dazzling splendor. Even though Krishna is the oldest, the most

ancient and primeval, He looks ever youthful. His eyes are like the petals

of a blooming lotus flower. His head is decorated with a peacock feather.

His complexion is bluish, like the hue of rain clouds. Around His neck

swings a garland of flowers decorated by the moon-locket and He is adorned

by many jewels. In His hands he holds a flute and He manifests a graceful,

threefold bending form. In the material world, Cupid or Kamadeva is

considered to be most attractive. But the beauty of Krishna surpasses that

of a million Cupids.

 

The body of Krishna is completely spiritual and qualitatively composed of

truth, bliss and eternality. His body is not subject to decay. and each of

His limbs posses the full functionality of all the other limbs.

 

Where does Krishna live

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The material world which we live in is called Devi dhama, for it is

controlled by the Goddess Durga devi. Above this world is Mahesh dhama,

the abode of Lord Shiva. Above the abode of Lord Shiva is Hari dhama, the

abode of Lord Vishnu, also known as Vaikuntha. Above Hari dhama, is the

highest of all abodes, Goloka where Krishna lives.

 

Goloka is made of cintamani (touchstones). The trees there are

kalpa-vrksas that fulfill all desires. The cows are Surabhi cows that emit

oceans of milk. The water is nectar, every word is a song and every step

is a dance. In Goloka there is no past, present or future and every moment

is fully saturated with transcendental bliss.

 

What does Krishna do

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Krishna lives in Goloka with Srimati Radharani, the embodiment of His

personal pleasure potency in the company of Her expansions, the gopis. He

is served with great love and affection by millions of goddess of good

fortune (Lakshmi devis). Here Krishna plays His flute, tends to the

Surabhi cows and enjoys the pastimes of love. Krishna is the adi-purusa,

the original enjoyer. He has no other business than to enjoy with His

devotees. The spiritual world, the material world, the living entities are

all maintained by the expansions or the plenary portions of His

expansions.

 

What is the position of Krishna

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In the Brahma Samhita, Lord Brahma not only describes the position of

Krishna in an absolute sense but also relative to the five principal gods:

Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva, Durga and Ganesa.

 

Lord Vishnu: When a candle lights several candles, the quality of light in

all the candles is identical. Similarly Krishna expands Himself into many

Vishnu forms, which though separate are still identical to Him.

 

Lord Brahma: Just as the effulgence of the gems is actually a reflection

of the light of the Sun, Lord Brahma receives His power of creation from

Krishna. The life of Lord Brahma (and the material universe) by our

perspective extends for a fantastically long time of several trillion

years, yet it is only the duration of one breath of Maha Vishnu Who is a

plenary portion of a plenary portion of Krishna.

 

Lord Shiva: The relationship of Krishna with Lord Shiva is compared to the

process of transformation of milk to yogurt. Milk and yogurt is the same,

yet there is a difference. Milk can become yogurt, but yogurt cannot

become milk. Similarly Krishna assumes the form of Lord Shiva for the

purpose of destruction. Krishna never comes in direct contact with the

modes of material nature, but as Lord Shiva He very kindly takes charge of

those in the mode of ignorance.

 

Goddess Durga: The internal spiritual potency of Krishna is reflected in

the material world as Maya devi or Durga devi. She is the proprietor of

the mundane worlds, the agency through which the worlds are created,

maintained and destroyed and she conducts herself according to the will of

Krishna.

 

Lord Ganesa: The lotus feet of Krishna are always held with great respect

by Lord Ganesa on the pair of tumuli (tusks) that protrude from his

elephant head. It is from Krishna that Ganesa receives his power to remove

all obstacles in the path of progress in the three worlds.

 

Krishna is inconceivable

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All the creations, material and spiritual are inside Krishna, yet He is

present in His complete form within each and every atom. He is

non-different from His potencies and by these potencies He creates,

maintains and destroys. The effulgence of His body is the impersonal, non

differentiated Brahman glorified in the Upanishads. His external potency

embodies the three modes of material nature, goodness, passion and

ignorance, but He is never touched by these modes. The wheel of time moves

under His direction yet He is never affected by it. He lies on Ananta

Sesa, His own plenary portion, in yoga-nidra (creative sleep) and creates

millions of universes from the pores of His hair that last only the

duration of His exhalation, yet in each of these universes He descends as

His own avatar. All virtues, all vices, the Vedas, all forms of austerity,

all living entities, the nine elements of the material worlds, the

spiritual worlds, the cycle of karma, all enjoyment and suffering, all

devotional service, everything that is to be known comes from Krishna. He

is the cause of all causes.

 

How to approach Krishna

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Krishna is inconceivable and inaccessible by the Vedas. Powerful yogis who

perform the pranayama by controlling their breaths or great jnanis who try

and understand Him by mental speculation may approach the tip of His toe

after practicing for thousands of millions of years.

 

However Krishna is easily obtained by pure unalloyed devotion. He is seen

by His pure devotees with eyes of devotion, tinged with the salve of love.

His devotees meditate upon Him under the sway of love, parental affection,

friendship, service or reverence and thus establish their eternal

relationship with Him.

 

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