लोकपाटी न्यूज-Ashok Shrestha
“Krishna was never born, but it is unique to celebrate the birth of unborn.”
-Gurudev ShriRavi Shankar
Every yearwe celebrate Janmashtami, the birth of lord Krishna. Some people offer him prayers and some people worship his statues and idols. Actually, this man has influenced the whole world with his significant pedagogy through Geeta.Through his complete awareness of what he did and said took him to that transcendentalstate where one touches godliness and becomes God. In that sense, we revere him as God. But he has become the subject of controversies to many scholars and religious people.
The heated debate about him is whether he is a mythical figure or historical figure. Was there a person named Krishna who really existed sometimes five thousand years ago? Was he a divine person? Are all those miraculous feats mentioned in the scriptures wereperformed by him? Was it same Krishna who was a cowherd later became an astute statesman or the propagator of Geeta? There are several questions which still baffle us. Despite several hard efforts, no one has been able to find out the concrete answer of those questions.
To understand Krishna in totality isn’t everybody’s access. He has multifaceted nature.Hismultifaceted nature has made him the most controversial. He is the same person playing every role perfectly to different people. We know that he is a terrible prankster, a mischievous child, an irresistible lover,an enchanting flute player, a graceful dancer, a vanquisher of his foes but at the same time a runaway from the battlefield, an obedient son, a great guru and disciple, a yogi of highest order and true friend. There is no ground where he hasn’t stepped. And it is a wonder that he performs every roleperfectly. It is this reason he has become a complete human being and perhaps the complete incarnation of God, too.
Till this date, every person who wants to connect oneself with Krishna has loved only one of the dimensions of him. For Mira, he is an adolescent Krishna whom she loves to utmost and finally merges with him. ForSurdas, he is a playful child who steals butter. For Arjuna, he is a benevolent guide and true friend. For Radha, he is a lover who is with her every moment no matter wherever he is and whoever he is with. Hence, his total dimension has always been ignored. The day when mankind understands his full dimension, theywill be able tocreate a better world with peace, stability and harmony.
Truth is always contradictory. So is Krishna. If truth isn’t contradictory, it isn’t truth in real sense and same thing works with Krishna, too. What he does and says doesn’t match with each other. He is theworshipper ofnon- violence, but he asks his friend,Arjuna to fight. Actually this doesn’t make him the hawk of the war. What time and circumstances demand, one has to act. And that’s what he does. He gives important teachings of action, yoga, devotion and knowledge in Geeta. When he talks about yoga, it seems nothing is better than yoga. The moment he shifts to the next, the former loses its relevancy and the current one becomes relevant. The fact is Krishna lives in present and what he does and says in present has the highest validity. He promises that he won’t raise the weapons in the war but when grandsire Bhisma destroys several armies of Pandavas, he raises his discusand becomes ready to kill Bhisma.The validity of promises or whatsoever loses significance in front of Krishna when one has to work for thehighest purpose.
It is Krishna in the whole history who came with religion of bliss. That is the religion of laughter. He has nothing to do with seriousness. He always puts his smile despite all sorts of hardship. He accepts whatsoever comes in his life. Actually, he sees both ends of existence with equivalence and transcends the dichotomy. What general people crave is always goodness. They choose one aspect over the next. They are dialectical and there is always loophole when you are dialectical as you become quite judgemental. But Krishna goes to the extreme of each end and again comes back in mediocre position and imbibes both the ends to feel the real existence. It is quite obvious that the person who succeeds to master the dualities that occur in life can contribute something good for the world. From the hand of such person only, great tasks can happen and Krishna is that role model in this regard.
Now, it is quite irrelevant to talk whether there was a person named Krishna or not.Krishna himself says we are not the doer but just the medium. One who thinks that and acknowledgesinto their life can become a real yogi. Therefore, you are just an actor. Like Krishna’s life, you should makeyour life aleela. You should be playful. Life becomes a kind of celebration and bliss is blossomed out ofthis grand celebration.Once you achieve this, all the dualities disappear and you see the things being in a mediocre state. You go through every hardship without getting entangled into it. You work through every paradox being stable without letting your suffering overcome you. In this regard Gurudev Shri Ravi Shankar has rightly said, ” The world is full of paradoxes; the life is full of opposites; and it is an art to embrace the opposites, accommodate the paradoxes and live with smile.”
Hence, Krishna is in everyone. You need to search him inside not outside in the temples or statues or idols. That awareness or consciousness which is inherent can make you Krishna. Actually that consciousness is Krishna Consciousness. Krishna as a person doesn’t have much significance here but what we learn from him and internalizethrough his deeds and teachings matter most. Therefore, everyone can raise and reach that awareness which is the blend of truth, bliss and consciousness. Again Gurudev Shri Ravi Shankar says in this connection, ” Krishna was never born but Krishna happens.”
