Krishna Leela: Divine Import of Krishna Leela

By SHRI ASHUTOSH JI MAHARAJ

Divine Import of Krishna Leela

It was the darkest hour of the era. The brutalities perpetrated by despot king Kansa had become unbearable. In such a period of crisis, during the Dwapar Yuga, the Divine Power descended on earth in human form as Krishna. He is Raagi as well as Vairaagi; Nar and Narayan; Chakradhar and Murlidhar - all blending into one incarnation, Krishna.

Even the pranks and adventure Balakrishna and his friends engaged in had subtle transcendental messages. Stealing butter from homes, Krishna as makhanchor (stealer of butter) points out the dualistic nature of the world. This world is an amalgamation of the essential (butter) and the non- essential (butter-milk). By relishing butter Krishna inspires us to abstract the Supreme Essence, mayapati , and enjoy pure bliss.

Likewise, the sport of trampling over the poisonous hoods of the serpent Kalia is also quite figurative. A similar kind of venomous snake is hissing within us. It is our conceited mind. The mind, through its attachment to sensuous desires, incessantly poisons the inner-self. Krishna's feat on the banks of the Yamuna symbolises the initiation of Brahma-Jnana within us. Experiencing the Divine through this knowledge will help us overcome vice. Such a pure heart then proves out to be a perfect platform for Krishna's dance of victory.

Krishna Leela is both divine and transcendental. But many fail to understand the real import of the Lord's leela. This failure, in turn, gives rise to innumerable doubts and even lead to vehement protests objecting to Krishna's leela s - like the rasleela between Krishna and the gopi s. Krishna then was hardly 7-8 years old and the gopika s were much older.

Moreover, rasleela was in reality bhavleela, completely devoid of corporeal sensations. It was the celestial, atmik form of a gopi that used to participate in ras. Far above the carnal plane, it was a divine communion between souls ( gopi s) and the Supreme Soul (Krishna). Krishna Leela is Eko Aham Bahusyama, One manifested as Many.

Critics also condemn Krishna's role in the battle of Kurukshetra. They argue that Krishna with his divine powers could have prevented the war from taking place. Moreover, they point out, Krishna adopted unrighteous means to slay many great warriors of the Kauravas. But the Mahabharata war cannot be analysed like this in isolation - one has to take note of the larger picture. When a limb gets infected and is beyond repair, and there is danger of the patient losing his life because of this, the surgeon has no other option left to save his life than to amputate the infected limb.

Similarly, the Kauravas posed a real threat to society. They, in fact, had turned murderous - they did not hesitate to set aflame the Lakshagriha where the Pandavas were staying; they aided and abetted the disrobing of Draupadi; they rejected all peace-proposals by Krishna and were reluctant to offer even five villages to resolve the dispute. They preferred to go to battle.

To infer and gain know-ledge from the divine actions of incarnations, we need divine vision. This is what Krishna revealed to a confounded Arjuna: "What thou hast to see, this thy human eye cannot grasp; but there is a divine eye and that I now give to thee. Behold Me in my Divine Yoga." On attaining the divine eye, Arjuna could see the cosmic form of Krishna. Then only, He could know the divine nature of Krishna and His leela s.

Janmashtami merely celebrates the spirit of Krishna, and reiterates the need to cultivate Krishna consciousness and to make efforts to realise Krishna in His elemental form through Brahma-Jnana.