Once someone asked me- Why Krishna is significant for us and why m I giving so much importance to Krishna? I thought and replied Krishna is simply incomparable, he is so unique. Firstly his uniqueness lies in the fact that although Krishna existed in the history but he and his ideology belongs to the future, is really the man of the future. Human has yet to develop to the level where he can be a contemporary of Krishna’s.

The Idea:

He still remains beyond the normal understanding of human; he continues to drift, puzzle and battle us. Only somewhere in future, will we be able to understand him and appreciate his virtues. And there are good reasons for it. The most important reason is that Krishna the only sole great man in our whole history, who reached the absolute height and depth of religion, and yet is not at all serious and sad, not in tears. By and large, the chief characteristics of the religious person is that he is somber, serious and sad looking- like on vanquished in the battle of life, like a renegade from life.

In the long line of such sages it is Krishna alone who comes dancing, singing and laughing. Religions of the past were all life denying and masochistic, extolling sorrow and suffering as great virtues. If you set aside Krishna’s vision of religion then every religion of the past presented a sad and sorrowful face. A laughing religion, a religion that accepts life in its totality is yet to be born.

And it is good that the old religion are dead, along with them that the old god, the God of our old concepts is dead too. People say that Jesus never laughed. It was perhaps his sad look and the picture of his physical form on the cross that became the focal point of attraction for people, most of whom are themselves unhappy and miserable. In a deep sense, Mahavira and Buddha are against life too. They are in favor of some other life in some other world; they support a kind of liberation(Moksha) from this life.

Purport:

People say Krishna is the most unreliable subject or entity ever born; it’s a childish like behavior.  He took oath that he won’t pick weapons in the war of Mahabharata, but he does pick up the weapon. He is never sticking to his word attitude. People ask me what I see in this behavior, I find it as the simplest approach. He had taken oath in some moment, now that moment has passed. New moment have arrived, this new moment bring new situation , new conditions and new circumstances. Had someone been tied to old oaths it would have been modesty or dignity Maryaada), Krishna is beyond Maryaada or dignity and modesty. With new moment, Krishna becomes a new existence.

Explanation:

Every religion up to now has been divided into two parts and while they accept one part they deny the other, Krishna accepts the whole of life. Acceptance of life in its totality has attained full fruition in Krishna.Krishna is beyond Maryaada or dignity and modesty. With new moment Krishna becomes new existence.  Krishna is difficult to understand unlike Rama who is simple and straight to understand. Rama has nothing specific in him. He is full of glory but nothing specific, he is mahatma but not a saint. And when it comes to eternity then we don’t mention Rama as eternal. Krishna is eternal and complete, hence he is beyond dignity and modesty. Rama is “Maryaada Purrushottam “,the modest of human or the dignified of human  but Krishna is beyond all believes.

That is why India held him to be a perfect and complete incarnation of God, while all other incarnations were assessed as imperfect and incomplete. Even Rama is described as an incomplete incarnation of God. But Krishna is described as whole of God or God itself. And there is reason in saying so. The reason is that Krishna has accepted and absorbed everything that life is.

For someone who wants to understand Krishna have to believe whatever is happening is divine. Even bad is needed and its needed to glorify the good, if everything is good then all the charm of goodness is lost. Bad is needed to glorify the good. Like thorns are needed to signify the beauty of flower, as if you have only flowers then the significance of flowers is lost. We need Sansara to glorify Moksha, if there is no Sansara and only Moksha then the importance of Moksha is lost.  Same ways both good and bad are equally needed.

The Leelas:

The Acts of Krishna are known Ras-Leela and not Krishna-Leela(like acts of Rama are called Rama-Leela) as there is no Krishna involve, but there is an involvement of eternity. The character of Krishna is the character of Eternity and hence it’s difficult to accept Krishna as it is difficult to accept eternity. Hence there have been various gods in various forms as it becomes difficult to accept the eternal and complete fully. If you understand Raavana then you understand the life of bad people, If you understand the life of Rama then you understand life of good people, but when you understand the life of Krishna you understand the life of the Divine, the Eternal. You will find both good and bad in his life. Hence His life is complete and accepted the way it is.

But it is unfortunate that we did not allow Krishna to influence our life in a broad way. He remain a lonely dancing island in this vast ocean of sorrow and misery that is our life….

Akshay Kothari…Silence Spoken