Swami Tejomayananda

Today, as we celebrate Janmashtami, let us take a look at who Krishna was. The first thing to keep in mind is that Krishna was God incarnate.
The Lord, in his absolute nature, is unborn and imperishable. Keeping maya in his control, that formless Lord assumes a form in the world. Why does he incarnate? To accomplish certain tasks. Of course, He could have accomplished all His tasks even without incarnating. But then how would countless devotees have worshipped Him, heard of His stories and glories, developed devotion and transformed their lives, crossed over maya and merged with Him? Were it not for His incarnation, we would no be having this satsang!
Krishna himself famously says in Gita, “I incarnate to protect and bless the good; discipline, punish and destroy the evil (thus blessing them also); and to establish dharma”. But behind all these reasons lies his love and compassion for all.
Krishna always wears a peacock feather tilted to one side. He is, therefore, called Pakshadhara, one who wears a feather. However, paksha also means “side”. The Lord leans towards the side of his devotees. That seems contrary to His nature of being same to all. But it is not so. He says, “I am willing to help all, but only those who come to me receive it, others don’t. Does that make me partial?”
Both Arjuna and Duryodhana went to Sri Krishna for help before the Mahabharata war. They were from opposite camps, so Bhagvan said, “I will remain on one side, but I will not fight, nor will I take up any weapons. I might advice if and when asked. On the other side will be one battalion of my Yadava army. Now choose”.
Duryodhana thought, “What is the use of a person who does not fight and only keeps on giving advice? In a battle action is needed. I would rather have his powerful army than a weaponless Krishna”. So he said, “I choose the army”. Arjuna was relieved because he only wanted Krishna with him. Both were happy! The Lord was same to both, the one who disliked Him as well as the one who loved Him dearly. One who chooses the Lord prospers, wins and is glorified.
What is devotion to God? Sage Narada says, “Devotion is to surrender all actions — physical, verbal and mental — to the Lord and to feel intense grief on forgetting Him even for a moment”. For this, Narada gives the example of the gopis of Vrindavan.
On the night of the sharada purnima, when Krishna played his flute, the gopis in utter ecstasy and longing, left whatever they were doing and ran into the forest of Vraja. Some were feeding their children, others were serving their husbands, some were tending their cows. They left everything and ran to Krishna, forgetting that it was dangerous for women to enter the forest at night. When Krishna told them to go back home, they said, “All duties are performed to attain you. Having come to you, we have no more duties left”.
Krishna accepted their love and there began the maharasa, the dance of pure love and ecstasy. The gopis were in bliss, but for a moment they forgot their Lord and started thinking of how fortunate they were. The Lord immediately disappeared from their midst, leaving them utterly distraught.
The song of separation that they sang is truly amazing. One gopi says, “We curse the Creator, Brahma, for making our eyes blink as we are watching your divine form, for seeing which we waited the whole day with longing”. Sukadeva describes the gopis as the very embodiment of thirst for Krishna.
The most wonderful thing about devotion is that you can establish any sort of relationship with the Lord. He is the father, mother, friend, grandfather, wife, husband, son, lover of all beings — because he is in the hearts of all. Yashoda and Nanda loved Krishna as their son, the gopis looked on Him as their beloved, the cowherd boys saw Him as their friend. Whatever be our feelings and relationship with the Lord, He responds accordingly. Thus, may we too, like the gopis, revel with Him and become one with Him and come to see this world as the play of the Lord.

— Swami Tejomayananda, head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide, is an orator, poet, singer, composer and storyteller. To find out more about Chinmaya Mission and Swamiji, visit www.chinmayamission.com.
© Central Chinmaya Mission Trust.