Who is Lord Krishna? ( All misconceptions are cleared )

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Hare Krishna

Because Krishna's form, qualities, pastimes, etc are all on the absolute platform, material senses cannot therefore appreciate them.

(Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.2.234)

In the vedic literatures, including ramayana, puranas and mahabharata, from the very beginning to the end, as well as in the middle, only krsna, the supreme personality of godhead is explained.

(Sri Hari Vamsa)

All the demigods and all the philosophers who desire liberation bow down to the supreme personality of godhead.

(Narsimha tapani upanisad - Purva Khanda 2.4)

In Vedic literature Krsna is the central point of attraction, and His service is our activity. To attain the platform of love of Krsna is life's ultimate goal. Therefore Krsna, Krsna's service, and love of Krsna are the three great riches of life.

(Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu - Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 20.143)

Lord Krsna is the all-powerful, all-pervading Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he is the object of the prayers and worship of the demigods. Intelligent persons worship him as He resides in his own spiritual abode. They thus attain the eternal transcendental bliss that is not available for others.

(Gopala tapani Upanishad 1.21)

We wrongly look upon Krsna and Balarama as ordinary human beings, as whirling men see the whole world whirling around them.

(Sri Uddhava - Krsna ch-46)

Krsna is the supreme will in Himself, and He exercises His supreme power at His pleasure, which submits to no law, because all law has proceeded from His will and power.

(Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura - Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu: His Life and Precepts)

In the Gita, in plain and simple language, it is stated that Sri Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is none equal to or greater than Him. ... He is the root of the impersonal Brahman and Paramatma; the Supersoul in every entity is His plenary portion. He is the fountainhead of everything, and everyone is advised to surrender unto His lotus feet.

(His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada - Bhagavad-gita As It Is 7.15, Purport)

Krishna is the origin of Lord Vishnu. He should always be remembered and never forgotten at any time.

(Padma Purana)

 

Who is Lord Krishna?  The immediate answer is that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. How is that? Because He conforms in exact detail to descriptions of the Supreme Being, the Godhead. In other words, Krsna is the Godhead because He is all-attractive. Outside the principle of all-attraction, there is no meaning to the word Godhead. How is it one can be all-attractive? First of all, if one is very wealthy, if he has great riches, he becomes attractive to the people in general. Similarly, if someone is very powerful, he also becomes attractive, and if someone is very famous, he also becomes attractive, and if someone is very beautiful or wise or unattached to all kinds of possessions, he also becomes attractive. So from practical experience we can observe that one is attractive due to 1) wealth, 2) power, 3) fame, 4) beauty, 5) wisdom, and 6) renunciation. One who is in possession of all six of these opulences at the same time, who possesses them to an unlimited degree, is understood to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These opulences of the Godhead are delineated by Parasara Muni, a great Vedic authority.

 We have seen many rich persons, many powerful persons, many famous persons, many beautiful persons, many learned and scholarly persons, and persons in the renounced order of life unattached to material possessions. But we have never seen any one person who is unlimitedly and simultaneously wealthy, powerful, famous, beautiful, wise and unattached, like Krsna, in the history of humanity. Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is an historical person who appeared on this earth 5,000 years ago. He stayed on this earth for 125 years and played exactly like a human being, but His activities were unparalleled. From the very moment of His appearance to the moment of His disappearance, every one of His activities is unparalleled in the history of the world, and therefore anyone who knows what we mean by Godhead will accept Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No one is equal to the Godhead, and no one is greater than Him. That is the import of the familiar saying, " God is great. "

There are various classes of men in the world who speak of God in different ways, but according to Vedic literatures and according to the great acaryas, the authorized persons versed in the knowledge of God, in all ages, like acaryas Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Visnusvami, Lord Caitanya and all their followers by disciplic succession, all unanimously agree that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

 Krsna's knowledge is so perfect that He remembers all the incidents of His appearances some millions and billions of years in the past, but Arjuna's memory and knowledge are limited by time and space, for he is an ordinary human being. In the Fourth Chapter Krsna states that He can remember instructing the lessons of the Bhagavad-gita some millions of years ago to the sun-god, Vivasvan.

Nowadays it is the fashion of the atheistic class of men to try to become God by following some mystic process. Generally the atheists claim to be God by dint of their imagination or their meditational prowess. Krsna is not that kind of God. He does not become God by manufacturing some mystic process of meditation, nor does He become God by undergoing the severe austerities of the mystic yogic exercises. Properly speaking, He never becomes God because He is the Godhead in all circumstances.

Within the prison of His maternal uncle Kamsa, where His father and mother were confined, Krsna appeared outside His mother's body as the four-handed Visnu-Narayana. Then He turned Himself into a baby and told His father to carry Him to the house of Nanda Maharaja and his wife Yasoda. When Krsna was just a small baby the gigantic demoness Putana attempted to kill Him, but when He sucked her breast He pulled out her life. That is the difference between the real Godhead and a God manufactured in the mystic factory. Krsna had no chance to practice the mystic yoga process, yet He manifested Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead at every step, from infancy to childhood, from childhood to boyhood, and from boyhood to young manhood. Although Krsna plays like a human being, He always maintains His identity as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Since Krsna is all-attractive, one should know that all his desires should be focused on Krsna. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said that the individual person is the proprietor or master of the body but Krsna, who is the Supersoul present in everyone's heart, is the supreme proprietor and supreme master of each and every individual body. As such, if we concentrate our loving propensities upon Krsna only, then immediately universal love, unity and tranquillity will be automatically realized. When one waters the root of a tree, he automatically waters the branches, twigs, leaves and flowers; when one supplies food to the stomach through the mouth, he satisfies all the various parts of the body.

The art of focusing one's attention on the Supreme and giving one's love to Him is called Krsna consciousness. We have inaugurated the Krsna consciousness movement so that everyone can satisfy his propensity for loving others simply by directing his love towards Krsna. The whole world is very much anxious to satisfy the dormant propensity of love for others, but the inventions of various methods like socialism, communism, altruism, humanitarianism, nationalism, and whatever else may be manufactured for the peace and prosperity of the world, are all useless and frustrating because of our gross ignorance of the art of loving Krsna. Generally people think that by advancing the cause of moral principles and religious rites, they will be happy. Others may think that happiness can be achieved by economic development, and yet others think that simply by sense gratification they will be happy. But the real fact is that people can only be happy by loving Krsna.

Krsna can perfectly reciprocate one's loving propensities in different relationships called mellows or rasas. Basically there are twelve loving relationships. One can love Krsna as the supreme unknown, as the supreme master, the supreme friend, the supreme child, the supreme lover. These are the five basic love rasas. One can also love Krsna indirectly in seven different relationships, which are apparently different from the five primary relationships. All in all, however, if one simply reposes his dormant loving propensity in Krsna, then his life becomes successful. This is not a fiction but is a fact that can be realized by practical application. One can directly perceive the effects that love for Krsna has on his life.

It is said that although one executes severe austerities, penances and sacrifices in his life, if he fails to awaken his dormant love for Krsna, then all his penances are to be considered useless. On the other hand, if one has awakened his dormant love for Krsna, then what is the use in executing austerities and penances unnecessarily?

The Krsna consciousness movement is the unique gift of Lord Caitanya to the fallen souls of this age. It is a very simple method which has actually been carried out during the last four years in the Western countries, and there is no doubt that this movement can satisfy the dormant loving propensities of humanity. People love to read various kinds of fiction to spend their time and energy. Now this tendency can be directed to Krsna. The result will be the imperishable satisfaction of the soul, both individually and collectively.

It is said in the Bhagavad-gita that even a little effort expended on the path of Krsna consciousness can save one from the greatest danger. Hundreds of thousands of examples can be cited of people who have escaped the greatest dangers of life due to a slight advancement in Krsna consciousness. We therefore request everyone to take advantage of this great transcendental literature.

 

Take advantage of this rare opportunity of this human form of life.  There are 8,400,000 different species of life through which we are rotating lifetime after lifetime. So getting a human body is not an every day affair. This most auspicious opportunity only comes after many millions of lifetimes in the lower species. Anyone who does not utilize their human life for self-realization is making the greatest mistake. When this happens it is the greatest tragedy, and unfortunately today this neglect of the human form has become the standard behavior for the entire human society. What can be done? We must first ourselves become solidly situated in Krishna consciousness and then do the highest welfare activity of spreading to everyone else all over the world.

Chant:Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare HareHare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare