krsna Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 A: This question can be answered either very simply or very elaborately. When you say "god of" I guess you have on your mind the general understanding of "Hindu gods", i.e. each (demi)god ruling over some affair: Indra rules over the rain, Varuna over the oceans, Vayu over the winds etc. In this sense Krsna is not a god of anything. Neither is He "Hindu" - as if every religious tradition had a different God. There are many persons in this (and other) world(s) and God is the Supreme Person. This is a simple understanding. Krsna means "the all-attractive one". He is the most attractive person of all and has other attributes which define Him as the Supreme. The Vedas describe Krsna as such and all the demigods as His empowered servants managing the material world. God is like a king and each demigod (in Sanskrit "deva") like a government minister. King has no particular function. He simply sets the rules and oversees their following through other people. He himself doesn't have to do anything. If we would still like to define Krsna somehow, then as the Supreme Enjoyer. He has good time eternally and His associates too. There are unlimited of His names pertaining to His playful activities (lila). He plays His flute (Muralidhara), protects the cows (Govinda, Gopala etc.), kills many demons (Kesi-nisudana, Madhusudana etc.), is the darling son of His parents (Yasoda-nandana, Nanda-dulala etc.), enjoys with His cowherd girlfriends (Gopijana-vallabha), especially with Radha (Radha-ramana), He is the charioteer of His friend Arjuna during the battle of Kuruksetra (Partha-sarathi) etc. etc. The goal of bhakti-yoga is to enable us to awaken our eternal position as His associates and participate with Him in His lila. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krsna Posted June 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 "Krsna is completely spiritual, and He is also absolute. Therefore His name, form, qualities, and paraphernalia are also spiritual. Due to material conditioning, or material bondage, we cannot presently understand what is spiritual, but this ignorance can be removed by chanting Hare Krsna. If a man is sleeping, he can be awakened by sound vibration. You can call him, 'Come on, it's time to get up!' Although the person is unconscious, hearing is so prominent that even a sleeping man can be awakened by sound vibration. Similarly, overpowered by this material conditioning, our spiritual consciousness is presently sleeping, but it can be revived by this transcendental vibration of Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. As stated before, Hare refers to the energy of the Lord, and Krsna and Rama refer to the Lord Himself. Therefore, when we chant Hare Krsna, we are praying, 'O Lord, O energy of the Lord, please accept me.' Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught us that we should simply cry and pray that the Lord accept us. As Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself prayed, 'O Krsna, son of Nanda, somehow or other I have fallen into this ocean of nescience and ignorance. Please pick me up and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.'" (The Path of Perfection, Chapter 10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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