When a child is born, usually it cries. But 5200 and odd years ago when a child was born, he did not cry, he laughed! He was born in jail and from the very first day he was separated from his parents. When his father was taking him to Vrindavan, there was a flood. The river Yamuna rose so high that he almost drowned while crossing the river. Throughout his life, there were challenges after challenges for Lord Krishna, but he never lost his smile.
Lord Krishna’s personality is not very easy to comprehend
He enjoyed, at the same time he was dispassionate. He was a total vairagya, a saint, a celibate and still he had so many friends. On one side, he is a yogi – but if you see him as a yogi he will say, “No, I am the Divine (Paramaatma)”. A yogi is one who is trying to attain the Divine. He says, “I am the Divine, what do I have to do yoga for”.
If you consider him as a bhogi he will say, “No, I am a yogi”, and if you consider him as a yogi he will say, “I am the lord himself. I am the enjoyer of the whole creation”. So, if there is a personality that you cannot comprehend, that is Lord Krishna. He expressed the totality, i.e., the consciousness expressed in its totality.
Lord Krishna is the perfect teacher
He said to his students, “Be careful, don’t look here and there, look only towards me. Whatever you find charming anywhere, it is because of me being there. When I am here why do you have to go here and there”. In this way, he captured the imagination of his students – from a simpleton to a scientist.
Once, it so happened that Lord Krishna was standing in front of the mirror decorating himself. He was trying on different crowns on his head and putting on some fine jewelry while his charioteer waited outside with the chariot ready. His charioteer waited and waited and thought to himself – usually Krishna comes immediately, today he has still not come. So, out of curiosity he went inside to find out if the program was still on because Krishna was very unpredictable, anytime anything could change. So, the charioteer goes inside and he sees Lord Krishna standing in front of the mirror admiring himself.
He politely asked, “My dear Lord, tell me, why are you dressing up so much today. Where are we going?”
Lord Krishna said, “I am going to meet Duryodhana.”
The charioteer said, “You are dressing up so much to meet Duryodhana?”
Lord Krishna then said, “He cannot see my inside, he can only appreciate my outside. So how I am dressed will impress him because he cannot see my inside.”
Then the charioteer said, “You are going to Duryodhana? You should not go, he should come to you. This I cannot accept.” Many times, the drivers and assistants give you more advise than needed (laughter). He continued to say, “This is not fair. Look at your status and look at him! You are the Lord of the world. You should not go, let him come.”
Krishna turned back, looked at him, smiled and said, “Darkness does not come to light, light has to go to darkness.”
These few words silenced the charioteer.
Krishna went to make peace, not once, but three times (with the Kauravas), but it failed. It didn’t work out. So, on one side he is the epitome of success, and on the other side there were failures too. But for Krishna success or failure didn’t matter.
Once he even ran away from the war field and that is why he is called Ranchhodrai. Gujarat has many stories because that is where is lived. He eloped from Delhi and lodged himself in Gujarat. He created waves of joy, and chaos and confusion as well. As much as he gave inner peace and solace, he created that much turbulence as well. So, it is very difficult to comprehend the personality of Krishna.
A peace initiative this Janmashtami
Today, on this 5235th birthday of Lord Krishna we have very good news. We have a Gujarati teacher called Deepa Dave – we usually call her a terrorist because she is very determined, and if she takes up something she does not leave it. Deepa has been going to Manipur since the past 6 to 7 years, and today because of her efforts, 11 groups of terrorist organizations have laid down their arms. I just had a telephonic conversation with the chief minister of Manipur, Mr. Virendra Singh. He said that he is overjoyed that 68 leaders of 11 different terror outfits laid down their arms and are being rehabilitated.
Manipur has been tormented since the past 50 years with militancy – there has always been fear and uncertainty. Just imagine, there were around 12 to 15 groups of terrorist organizations and 11 out of them have laid down their arms on the day of Janmashtami. So, the efforts of peace from Gujarat has spread all the way to Manipur. This is a very good news for The Art of Living and more such peace initiatives will happen.
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5 Things
You Can Do To Make India Unstoppable
"You should be proud of your roots. If they are not proud of your roots
it will show up as a weakness in their personality. So, take pride in your roots and your self-esteem
will go up."
On the occasion of independence day - Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar shares 5 things you can do as an Indian to make India unstoppable: