Krishna was an absolute incarnation
(paripurnavatar). His special features are given in ‘Science
of Spirituality : Vol. 7 - Supreme God, God, Incarnations and Deities’.
An absolute incarnation is not actually an incarnation but The Lord
Himself; hence it possesses all the characteristics of The Lord. Some
special features and missions of Lord Krishna are enumerated below.
Childhood
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Devaki and Vasudev were the parents of Krishna. On the
command of Lord Vishnu, the Great Illusion (Yogamaya) placed the
seventh child of Devaki in the womb of Vasudev’s second wife,
Rohini and Herself entered the womb of Devaki. After birth when Kansa
came to kill Her, She escaped from his clutches and left for Her
abode. Krishna is Devaki’s eighth child. After He was born,
Vasudev took Him to the home of Nanda and Yashoda in Gokul. Vasudev
also sent Rohini along with her son to Gokul. The priest of the Yadu
dynasty, Sage Garga at the request of Vasudev, secretly performed
the naming ceremony of both the children, Rohini’s son as Rama
and Devaki’s as Krishna. Later Rama came to be known as Balaram
because of the tremendous strength that He possessed.
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Childhood only for seven years: Krishna went
to Mathura to slay Kansa at the age of seven years. It was then that
His childhood ended.
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Intelligent: After the slaying of Kansa and the
thread ceremony, Balaram and Krishna went to the ashram of Guru Sandipani
in the city of Avanti. There within a span of sixty-four days He
learnt the fourteen types of sciences (vidyas) and the sixty-four
arts (kalas). Generally to learn one science one requires two to
two and a half years.
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Elders heed His advice: He was close even to
people who were much older than Him. At the age of just seven, Krishna
did not allow the milkmaids to go to Mathura because He did not want
the money that was procured by selling milk to evil Kansa. Since
then, the elders began to heed His advice and He proved true to their
faith.
Bestower of spiritual experiences
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Once the cowherds (gopas) told Yashoda, “Krishna
has swallowed mud.” So, she asked Krishna to open His mouth. When
He opened it, she got the vision of the entire universe in it.
This example illustrates how an incarnation carries out its mission
even in childhood.
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On a moonlit night in autumn (sharad rutu) He performed
the rasakrida with the gopis (wives of the cowherds) in Gokul.
At that time they experienced Bliss (Brahmanand).
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Physical: Krishna’s beauty was unparalleled.
All would get enticed by it.
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To capture Krishna, Jarasandha’s armies surrounded
Mathura eighteen times. Nowhere in the world have so many attempts
been made to capture an individual. Kansa ferried 280 elephants on
wooden rafts across the Yamuna river. He surrounded Mathura for three
months, but Krishna could not be captured because He would change
His home everyday. Apart from this, the thousand children living
in Mathura also wore peacock feathers in their hair to resemble Krishna.
Kansa’s soldiers assaulted them, yet they did not reveal ‘who
the real Krishna was’.
His wives
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Rukmini was Krishna’s chief queen. His seven other
main queens were Satyabhama, Jambavati, Kalindi, Mitravinda, Satya,
Bhadra and Kakshamana. These eight queens represent the eightfold
basic natures of man (prakruti). The implied meaning is that the
eight principles are within the control of Krishna.
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Krishna married the 16,000 princesses imprisoned
by Narakasur after freeing them, so that they acquired social
status. The 16,000 princesses represent the 16,000 spiritual energy
flow channels (nadis) in the body. Marrying them means activating
them.
Lord Krishna was the embodiment of an ideal friend.
For example, Krishna affectionately welcomed His poverty-stricken
childhood friend Sudama even when He became the ruler of Dvarka.
As a result of His friendship with the Pandavas, He constantly rushed
to their aid. The Pandavas worshipped Krishna as a friend (sakhyabhakti),
one of the rarest forms of devotion.
Some people criticize Krishna’s behavior. However,
all that He did was for others’ welfare. At times, He even broke
norms, for instance, when slaying Jarasandha, during the abduction
of Subhadra so that she could marry Arjuna, marrying the 16,000 women,
etc. During the Bharatiya war He had pledged that ‘He would
not wield a weapon’. Yet to fulfill Bhishmacharya’s vow
that ‘I will make Krishna wield a weapon’, Krishna broke
His vow and attacked Bhishmacharya with a weapon (a wheel). ‘Protection of society was His objective and He
had realized that it was necessary to annihilate the troublemakers
and evildoers to achieve this end. Destruction of evildoers is never
possible by remaining steadfast unto truth and purity alone. Realizing
this sad shortcoming in the history of mankind, to protect truth and
purity they have to be curbed in worldly interactions. If that is
not done, then in this lawless world, cruel demons triumph, society
deteriorates and the subjects are destroyed. This was the firm decision
of His intellect. It is because of this that many times “Often
the untruth seems superior to the truth”, “One has to
give up Righteousness (Dharma) and fight”, “Bhimsen will
not be successful if he fights righteously, it is essential to fight
unrighteously”, etc. is the advice that He often preached.’
- Bharatiya Sanskrutikosh.
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Lord Krishna embodied humility and servitude. For example,
He slew Kansa and several other kings, established the golden city
of Dvarka, yet did not ascend the throne. Despite this, undoubtedly
He was the uncrowned emperor of His times. In another incident, during
the rajasuya sacrificial fire (yadnya) of the Pandavas, Krishna washed
the feet of the Brahmans and even cleared up leftovers of food in others’ plates.
The philosophy preached by Krishna is given in the Bhagavat
Gita. ‘In His philosophy Krishna has shown the appropriate admixture
of attachment and detachment. He has accepted the Path of Action (Karmayoga)
according to the Vedas, Path of Knowledge according to the Sankhya
philosophy, suppression of the tendencies of the subconscious mind
according to the Path of Yoga and renunciation (sannyas) according
to the Vedanta, but has opposed the view that each one of them is
the ultimate by itself as proposed by them. He balanced the appropriate
significant part of each one harmoniously and created a new doctrine
based on actions devoid of expectations or results. In the Bhagavat
Gita He has mainly preached how one should carry out one’s duty.
The scriptures decide what one’s duties should be, but He has
explained excellently how to execute them well. In the Bhagavat Gita
He has narrated to Arjuna how to convert attachment to detachment
and vice versa and how man should execute his duties.’
- Bharatiya Sanskrutikosh.
Lord Krishna eliminated Arjuna’s doubts by narrating
the Gita to him verbally and imparting him with spiritual experiences,
which are beyond words. During the Bharatiya war Krishna had adopted
the dnyanmudra (mudra of knowledge).
Effects of His special features
The following examples will illustrate the effects of His special features
on others.
In the Bharatiya war (Mahabharata battle), no one ventured to attack
Krishna. The other charioteers were attacked. After the war, there was a conversation between a vulture and a
fox about the deceased. In it, they have discussed the faults of all
men, including those of Yudhishthira (king Dharma); but not a single
one of Krishna. |
