Krishna pardons His devotee's lapses

October 12, 2004

Hare Krishna,

Scriptural texts describe how Lord Krishna the Supreme Being, who is birthless, incarnates in the world by assuming different forms from time to time. The term ``avatara'' connotes that He descends from a higher to a lower level. This is to enable His devotees to ascend to the level of the Divine. The Bhagavata Purana mentions 22 manifestations of the Lord among which 10 are major ones. The instance when He assumed the form Krishna, is held as complete (Purna) manifestation.

Lord Krishna Himself has revealed the timing and purpose of His incarnations in the Bhagavad Gita, ``Whenever righteousness is on the decline and unrighteousness is in the ascendant, then I manifest. For the protection of the virtuous, for the extirpation of evil-doers and for establishing Dharma on a firm footing, I am born from age to age.'' Though mankind has benefited from all the incarnations of the Lord, the Rama and Krishna avataras are very significant for humanity. Among these two, in Ramavatara the Lord's divine nature is relegated to the background in the incarnation. It is His human nature which is emphasized in the Ramayana and in fact, the opening verse which is in a form of a question raised by Valmiki to Narada projects the hero of the epic as the ideal human being.

In the case of Krishnavatara, every incident compels attention on Krishna's superhuman feats and his compassion toward His devotees . The perusal of the texts on Lord Krishna enhances devotion to Him and also blesses one with spiritual power. The Bhagavatham highlights the virtuous traits of Lord Krishna . Saints have confirmed that the quality of compassion is the most important of all of them. Devotee elicits Krishna’s divine grace only because of the Lord's compassion and not because he merits His grace. It is His compassionate nature which enables Lord Krishna to pardon a devotee's lapses.

Joys and sorrows are intrinsic to worldly life and every human being has to face both in his life. Human nature is such that joys are accepted as one's right whereas the moment one is confronted with setbacks the person bemoans his lot but he also tries to alleviate his condition by turning to God. There are exceptions to this general human behaviour like in the case of devotees who accept vagaries of life with equanimity. In fact they bear tragedies and misfortunes with a smiling face as can be seen in the lives of saints and their hardships only increase their faith in Krishna’s divine dispensation.

Joy and sorrow are only states of mind and what may appear as suffering to the worldly may not affect a devotee whose faith in Krishna enables him to bear it.

In the life of an average worldly person it can be seen that his worldly achievements are responsible for distancing him from the Lord. Wealth, position and power, for instance, make a person very proud and licentious as he is able to command what he wants. Likewise, learning can make one arrogant if it is not tempered with humility. A person blessed with fortune in life must constantly remember that he owes everything he enjoys to Krishna .

In the Bhagavata Purana in one of the opening episodes highlighted the truth that it was only in adversity that man remembered Krishna. After the Mahabharata war Lord Krishna once again graced the Pandava clan by protecting Uttara's unborn child when Ashwatthama discharged a missile to wipe out the Pandava lineage. When Krishna visited the Pandavas to take leave of them, Kunti recalled with gratitude the innumerable instances when the Lord had saved them during great calamities and also His

reassuring presence during the war.

Kunti's prayer to Lord Krishna is an eye-opener, as this lady who had known nothing but suffering all her life prayed to Him, ``May calamities befall us at every step through eternity for it is in adversity alone that we are blessed with Your sight, which eliminates the possibility of our seeing another birth. A man whose birth, power, learning and affluence only serve to swell his pride is unable even to utter Your name, You being open to the perception of only those who have nothing to call their own. You are the only wealth of those who have no sense of possession.''

The scriptures remind at every juncture that human birth is intended for realising the goal of liberation and hence one must not fritter it away in materialistic pursuits. What is essential is to keep one’s mind focused on Lord Krishna .

Let us chant the mahamantra “ Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare Hare”.

SriKrishnaya Namah!

Bhaktasevak

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