Additional Thoughts on Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead

[Guest guest]

ete chaamsha kalaaH pumsaH kR^iShNas tu bhagavaan svayam |

indraari vyaakulam lokam mR^idayanti yuge yuge || bhaa 1.3.28 ||

 

The Maadhvas try to argue that the subject of "mR^idayanti" is Krishna, or

svayam bhagavaan. They disagree with our straightforward understanding that

the subject is "ete" as in all of the previous avataaras. Why? The answer

suddenly struck me (i know, I'm slow...). The Maadhvas interpret the "ete"

as referring to the vibhuutis described in the previous shlokas (i.e. the

rishis, the Manus, the devatas, etc). Obviously, the "mR^idayanti yuge yuge"

part presents a problem with that interpretation, because it is not the

Manus/Devatas/Rishis etc who come down each Yuga when the enemies of Indra

cause trouble - it is Krishna! Thus, to support their (mis)interpretation

that the "ete" refers not to the other avataaras but instead to the

vibhuutis, they say that Krishna is the subject of "mR^idayanti."

 

I couldn't figure out why they were making such an obvious grammatical

mistake, since Krishna is singular and "mR^idayanti" is clearly plural. They

cite sannidhi and yogyata to justify this, but those rules cannot be used to

defy grammar. Their interpretationto me is even more unconvincing now than

it previously was.

 

 

S. HariKrishna

Cleveland, OH

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