5/18/2014 Krishna’s Avatar: A Source of Joyous Symbolism

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Krishna’s Avatar: A Source of Joyous SymbolismArticle of the Month - May 2014 by Nitin Kumar

The whole scenario of Krishna’s avatar on this earth is filled with a richsymbolism which not only fills one with ecstatic joy, but also presents in asimple and vivid language the most profound aspects of Indian philosophy.

For example, consider the moment when the gods,tormented as they were by the demons, went to therefuge of Lord Brahma, their creator. What didBrahma do after listening to their woes? He tookthem to Lord Shiva and together they all went to LordVishnu to request him for help. Now the question is:Why did Brahma Ji take Lord Shiva also with them toLord Vishnu?

The answer is that Lord Vishnu saves dharma in two ways. One is by protectinghis bhaktas, which requires sattva-guna and the other is by destroying villainswhich requires tamo-guna. Now, Vishnu is the presiding deity of sattva-gunaand hence he can indulge in the former action alone. However, the second act,that of killing the enemies of dharma, requires a presence of the destructivepower of tamo-guna, whose presiding deity is none other than Lord Shiva.

Another more abstract explanation is that in Indian philosophy it is anestablished principle that every individual has within himself all the threegunas. However, he can reach to the Supreme Lord only when the tamo-gunaand rajo-guna inside him follow the sattva-guna.

Next comes the birth of Lord Krishna. Prior to Krishna, His mother hadin her womb Balarama, who thus became Krishna’s elder brother.Balarama was the avatar of Shesha, the serpent who canopies overLord Vishnu’s head.

In Vishnu’s earlier avatar as Rama, the same Shesha hadincarnated as his younger brother Lakshmana. Now the questionis, why did Shesha took birth as the elder brother, even though hehad taken the role of the younger brother in the previous avatar?The answer to this lies in the extreme love Shesha had for hisLord. When he was Lakshmana, being the younger he couldn’t stopRama from going to the forest and thought that in thisincarnation, by becoming the elder brother, he would be betterable to serve his Lord.

According to the Shrimad Bhagavatam, the timing of Krishna’s manifestation onthis earth was extremely auspicious. All the directions became clear andpleasant, even though it was the rainy season. Why did the directions become

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pleasant, even though it was the rainy season. Why did the directions becomeso happy at the imminent arrival of the Supreme Lord? In the Indian tradition,the directions are all thought as different devis and the guardians of thesedirections as their husbands (digpati). Under the tyranny of the demon kingKamsa, their husbands had either been imprisoned or had vacated their postsand run away. Now with impending arrival of Lord Krishna they were sure tobe soon reunited with their loving husbands.

Not only the directions, even the five elements making up the physical worldwere extremely happy at the imminent arrival of Lord Krishna. These elementsare the earth, water, fire, wind and sky.

The Earth:

As the time of Krishna’s arrival approached, the Earth adornedherself by revealing forth the rich jewels situated in her mines.Why was the Earth delighted? Because at last she was going tobe united with her husband Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu has twowives Shridevi (Lakshmi) and Bhudevi (Earth).

The former is the presiding deity of movable wealth and the latter of theimmovable (like land). Actually, these two wealths belong to Lord Vishnu only.When the Earth heard that her husband was coming from Vaikuntha (where helived with Lakshmi) to be with her, she adorned herself for welcoming him,much like the wife whose husband comes home after a long stint abroad. TheEarth blossomed, thinking that very soon the Lord would be placing His lotus

feet on her bosom.

Actually, even though many avatars before had graced the Earth,none had given her the level of happiness that Krishna wasgoing to give. As Vamana, the Lord was a brahmachari.

As the great Parashurama He had given the Earth away to thebrahmins.

Actually, even though many avatars before had graced the Earth,none had given her the level of happiness that Krishna was goingto give. As Vamana, the Lord was a brahmachari.

As Rama he had married Sita Ji, the daughter of the Earth. At last, in theKrishna avatar, she was hoping to get the happiness denied to her in theprevious avatars.

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The waters of the rivers became crystal clear. Why? Because it is only in thepure heart that God is manifested.

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Fire:

Due to the fear of the demons, brahmins had stopped tending to the sacredfires and were not performing yajnas any more. Thus no offerings were beingpoured into the fires and Agni devata was hungry. Now with the advent of LordKrishna, his hunger was sure to be satisfied.

Wind:

The wind started blowing in a cool and pleasantmanner, delighting and comforting in its touch. What was thespecial reason for the wind’s happiness? The wind god Vayuwas extremely happy at the service his son Hanuman hadprovided to Rama in the previous avatar of the Lord.

Now he was supremely glad that he himself was getting a chance to serve Him.When the Lord Krishna would lie down tired after playing with his friends, thisis how the cool in wind would blow, lulling Krishna to restful sleep. This washow the wind practised and perfected itself for the future service of the Lord.

The Sky:

The sky was all the more delighted. The books of Vedanta hadalways compared it with God, with reference to the sky’s onenessand vastness. However, Vedanta had always negated the sky’sblueness, calling it to be false. But now that the Krishna wasincarnating with a body coloured like that of the sky (blue), eventhis remaining characteristic of the sky would be accepted by theLord as his attribute.

The Birth of Krishna:

Krishna was born in the prison where his parentswere imprisoned. At the time of his birth his fatherVasudeva was bound in chains. However, no soonerhad he taken up the baby Krishna in his hands thanall chains fell off. There is nothing miraculous aboutthis. By merely uttering Krishna’s divine name one isfreed of all the knots binding us to the materialworld. Then what surprise is there in the fact thatwhen he picked up Krishna, all chains bindingVasudeva fell off and he became free.

Vasudeva’s immediate action after Krishna’s birth wasto shift Him to the town of Vrindavana, where He wouldbe safe from Kamsa who had imprisoned Vasudeva andhis wife in the first place. For this purpose, he placedthe infant Krishna in a basket and set out towardsVrindavana. The clouds, lightly rumbling, showeredKrishna with their drops. The serpent Shesha thenappeared on the scene and protected Krishna from thedrizzle by spreading out its hood over Him like anumbrella. Shesha knew, that even though he was theelder brother (Balarama) in the present incarnation, hisprimary duty was to serve the Lord.

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Soon Vasudeva reached the river Yamuna. The river, even though overflowingand turbulent due to the rains, first rose up and then finally afforded passageto Krishna, much like the sea, which had given Him way when as Rama He hadset out to conquer Lanka.

Why did the river Yamuna act the way it did? There are many reasons. Firstly,she realised that the great Lord Himself, whose lotus feet is difficult to attainfor even the greatest of saints would play with those very feet on its banks.This realisation enraptured her to no end and she wept with joy. Her eyes shedso many tears that the river was flooded.

Additionally, Yamuna is the sister of Yama, the lord of death. Lest the Lordthink that she, being the sister of death, was lifeless, she made special effortsto display that she was full of life.

Why did Yamuna suddenly recede her waters? She realised that thebaby Krishna, thinking that her waters were too deep and wide, mightnot enter her waters to play. Therefore, she immediately reduced herwaters to three levels: Till His throat, navel and knees. Anotherreason why Yamuna opened herself like never before in front of theLord was that she was being tormented by the hot fumes issuing fromthe mouth of the snake Kaliya, who was living within her waters.Displaying her vast expanse of waters was her way of opening up herpainful heart to Krishna. Eventually the Lord did vanquish Kaliya andfree Yamuna.

Of course, the ultimate source of joy for Yamuna was the fact that in Hisavatar as Krishna, the Lord would marry her, granting her the most specialprivilege of all, that if being His wife.

References & Further Reading:

G. P. Bhatt & J. L. Shastri (tr). The Bhagavata Purana (5 Volumes): Delhi,2002Saraswati, Swami Akhandananda. Bhagavata Darshan (Collection ofDiscourses in Two Volumes): Mumbai, 2003.Saraswati, Swami Akhandananda (tr). Shrimad Bhagavata Purana (2Volumes): Gorakhpur, 2004.

We hope you have enjoyed reading the article. Any comments or feedback that you may have willbe greatly appreciated. Please send your feedback to feedback@exoticindia.co.in.

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