Look Within To Understand The Actions Of An Avatar

The Avatar of Krishna is one of the most beautiful descents ever. Nevertheless it is the most misunderstood. But the problem lies in the way we look at the personality of Krishna. The lessons that He taught were cryptically wrapped in His actions and words, and they would appear trivial, unreasonable or downright unacceptable for a common man. Bhagawan in a discourse delivered on 4 Sep 1996, on the occasion of Krishna Janmashtami spoke of this very predicament many find themselves in and taught us how we must look at the life and actions of Lord Krishna. Through this, Swami also explains how we must accept and apply the message of the scriptures in general. We now present you a few excerpts from that beautiful discourse.

EMBODIMENTS of love! It is easy to criticize or belittle the Leelas or infinite potencies of God. But it is very difficult to comprehend the true essence of Divinity. The omnipresent Divine is present both in truth and untruth. He is present both in Dharma (righteousness) and Adharma (unrighteousness). He is present in good and evil. With regard to such an all-pervading divine, how can anyone determine His actions as good and bad? From time immemorial people have been experimenting and investigating about spirituality and spiritual experiences. On the basis of that they have tried to proclaim to the world the nature of the Divine. They concluded and explained that Divine has such and such a form, and possesses innumerable auspicious qualities and so forth.

You may point out to someone, the Dhruva Nakshathra (Pole Star) saying it is just above the branch of a particular tree. In reality, the star is not near the branch. But we can recognise the star that is crores of miles away, through the reference of the branch. Likewise, though the Vedas, shastras and itihasas do not directly prove the presence and nature of the Divine Principle, they reveal the path that can lead you to the Divine.

Krishna smiled and replied in a manner that would reveal the essence of Vedanta: “Mother, am I a mere child, or a silly brat, or a crazy fool to eat mud?” In this way Krishna, even though He was a child, was affirming His Divinity indirectly. God teaches profound lessons to mankind in this indirect manner. When God instructs man directly, man doesn’t understand these things, as his thoughts and thinking are restricted to the worldly pleasures and worldly way of thinking. Hence man cannot understand the transcendental. God’s actions are always related to the inner realm (nivrithi). Moreover, many transformations in the ordinary ways of living are necessary to understand the inner significance of the ways of God.