Sri Krishna's easy accessibility

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Hare Krishna ,

The divine pastimes of Sri Krishna which has captivated the hearts of one and all. The reason for this is due to the quality of easy accessibility (Saulabhya) He displayed as is evident in the choice and circumstances of His birth. Born to Devaki and Vasudeva as their eighth son to fulfill His promise to Mother Earth to redeem her from suffering when atrocities increased in the world, He was transferred to Gokul and brought up by His foster parents Yashoda and Nandagopa.

He became the cynosure of all eyes in the cowherd community of Gokul, simple folks as they were who had no pretension to any sophistication leave alone scholarship. He tended the cows along with the other children of the community and as though this menial task was not enough to endear Him to them, after He grew up He assumed the role of a messenger to His devotees, the Pandavas, to mediate between them and their cousins, the Kauravas. When the talks did not lead to an amicable solution, Sri Krishna became Arjuna's charioteer during the Mahabharata war which ensued.

More than all these acts it was His role as teacher to Arjuna in the battlefield when He taught the sublime truth for the benefit of the entire humanity using Arjuna as a pretext, which has come down to us as the Bhagavad Gita, that was the raison d'etre of this supreme incarnation. The Gita continues to instil hope in the heart of every spiritual aspirant, the laity and the Jnani alike.

In an oft-quoted analogy, the Upanishads are compared to the cows and Arjuna to the calf for whose sake the cows yielded milk (the Gita) but it is humanity which stood to benefit. This analogy also underscores the fact that the teachings of the Gita are the quintessence of the Upanishads.

According to the Gita the Lord manifests in the world whenever there is degeneration of Dharma and true to His word He incarnated as Sri Krishna when atrocities perpetrated by the Daityas had reached such proportions that even Mother Earth, who is supposed to be the very personification of forbearance, was unable to bear them and she assumed the form of a cow and sought the creator, Brahma, as refuge.

Realising the import of her distress immediately, Brahma along with all the celestials escorted her to Lord Vishnu and they all invoked Him by chanting the Purusha Sukta hymn. An ethereal voice instructed that the celestials should take birth among the Yadus when the Lord would manifest as the son of Vasudeva and Devaki to relieve the Earth of her distress.

During His advent as Sri Krishna the Lord's divine nature was apparent right from the moment of His birth. Extolling Him after beholding His supernatural form which He granted to His parents as soon as He was born, Devaki's maternal concern blinded her immediately and she beseeched Him, ``Pray do not reveal to the ignorant this divine form, the object of meditation for the seekers of liberation. Let not that wicked one know of Your birth through me. I am terribly afraid, for Your sake, of Kamsa and feel much agitated at heart. Withdraw this four-armed transcendent form...''

It was not only Devaki who received the Lord's benevolent grace as she was fortunate to beget Him as her son, but also His foster mother, Yashoda, who had the singular fortune of lavishing her motherly love on Him and enjoying His innumerable pranks and divine deeds which an ordinary human child could not have done. Krishna's acts like sucking the life out of the ogress Putana when He was only an infant bespeak of the nature and purpose of this incarnation, but the simple folks of the cowherd community did not suspect His divinity because of His power of Maya.

This episode is described in different scriptural texts. While the Bhagavata Purana describes this Lila (divine deed) in a matter of fact fashion, the Harivamsa goes a step further stating that the Lord pre-empted her design to kill Him by finishing her off and also granted her salvation. Vedanta Desika in his Yadavabhyudaya says that the Lord even granted liberation to all those who recapitulate this divine deed by remembering or listening to its exposition.

Another deed which is of perennial inspiration to devotees is the episode from which He came to be called Damodara when Krishna allowed Yashoda to bind Him with a rope out of compassion seeing her getting exhausted in her efforts to punish Him for a prank. This proves that the Lord is beyond the reach of only the worldly but He can be bound with the chord of devotion by His devotees.

It is through His Krishna images that the Supreme Being becomes most accessible to human beings. They are able to comprehend His nature and qualities in these forms as His transcendental form is beyond the reach of the human senses and intellect . The manifestations in which He assumed the human form especially (Krishna) are very important from the standpoint of humanity as the epics and the Puranas which describe His advents and teachings continue to instill hope in the hearts of those striving for liberation.

Please Chant:Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare HareHare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare HareAnd Be Happy.

Sri Krishna Dasa

 

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