Draupadi was being humiliated , important men in the assembly hall were debating whether Duryodhana was right in humiliating or not.  Her husband’s were wondering if they had any rights to intervene or not.  Father Dhritarashtra was not sure if he needed to intervene or not.  They were all strong, important and powerful people.  Any one of them could have intervened, but did not. A public humiliations was on and nobody was willing to help.

It may seem obvious that it was wrong.  Why were they all silent.  It can never happen in modern times.  Or, can it happen even now.  I can tell you that it continues to happen even today.  There are many examples, but one that has been in Indian media discussions is the practice of triple talk and halala,  Men continue to debate, courts continue to deliberate and Parliament continues to discuss while women continue to live through this humiliating and  unfair practice.  There are many such examples that come up from time to time not only in India but around the entire world.

Women should embrace Draupadi, she questions when important decisions are taken about her without her consent and she is willing to take strong stand when the opportunity presents to her.  She deserves to be the role model for modern women.

Then: A Public humiliation and insult of Draupadi was on while men were debating and deliberating.
Now:  Unfair practice like triple talaq, halala and other women issues continue in the same land while men debate, courts deliberate and parliaments continue discussions.  Women should embrace Draupadi;  she questions when important decisions are taken about her without her consent and she is willing to take strong stand when the opportunity presents to her.  She deserves to be the role model for modern women.

We can Do it

The post Draupadi: Role model for modern women 2 appeared first on KrishnaUniverse.

Visit Gujrat state in India and you will often hear “Jai Shri Krishna”  or more appropriately in Gujrati “Jai Shri Krushna.”  This is in place of, Hi, Hello or a good morning salutations.  You may hear “Jai She Ram” in some places in India or “Bum Bum Bholey” in other parts of India.  How did this all come about?  What is the story or what’s the history?  How was this system created and what thought process supported it?

Before we get there, let’s recap our last article and podcast “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (VS).”  I mentioned there about fourth dimension of VS as divine but did not talk about it.  We talked about consciousness pool, and we also discussed our relationship with our surroundings apart from our chronological heritage.  All these three dimensions are visible or understandable, we know about our past, we know much about our surroundings and sooner or later we will learn more about consciousness.  All these are important but something is missing, it’s like earth without grass, water without flow and Mt. Everest without snow and chilling wind.  It’s like men, women, and children without love.

Before we go further in the Divine energy, let’s try to understand how some simple events happen around us and what kind of thought processes we foster in our current existence.  We think about who we are, how we relate with each other and what we do.  These are important to us and why should they not be?   We celebrate President’s day, father’s day, mother’s day, doctor’s day,  nurse’s day and so on.  All these are focussed around a us, our relations, and our work.  There is nothing wrong in it, but what we celebrate or pay respect to shows a lot about how we as society think.  It is a collective expression of collective social intelligence and thinking.

Now, let’s revisit India and talk about where the focus lay when they devised or put into the system, “Jai Shri Krishna” as salutations.  Krishna talked about 5 pillars of success in Gita; the fifth pillar being  “Divine.”  Krishna took Arjun to Devi Durga for her blessings before start of the Mahabharata war.  Ram worshipped Shiva before starting war with Ravan.  If you go to Leh, a predominantly Buddhist place, you will find prayer wheels and prayer flags everywhere you go.

What’s common to all these is the power of the Divine.  They knew something more than what we do today.  We may call their thinking primitive, but by doing so we will be missing something far more important than we can imagine.  Divine energy or divine forces may be what is pervading every cell and every atom in this world.  Shiva or Durga or the Buddhist prayer flags may just be different expressions of this all pervading divine entity.  This may be the explanation Einstein and other scientists have been looking for the theory of everything (TOE).

Look at Sun, how can it just be a physical structure hanging out there in universe simply with gravitational or some other physical law or force?  How can Ganga just be a river carrying water from Himalaya to the ocean?  These are not my questions.  These are questions that man must have asked when they first saw these entities.  Those men dived deep during meditation; they did the research on a different pathway and came up with certain conclusions.  The Rishis, the researchers of those times,  could see the divine energy in Sun, Ganga, rain, wind, and other items around us and  tried to establish communications with souls that we cannot see; they attempted contacts with entities in another existence.  who can falter them.  We have been trying to find life on another planet and we have fascination to aliens too.

There is not enough time or space to go into the details of all these.  It’s worth reading chapter 9 of Bhagavad-Gita and a book by Osho, the Hidden Mysteries to get a better grasp of these practices.  Osho mentions in the book about the importance of Varanasi and Mt. Kailash that I find fascinating, It’s also about time when science and science institutions devote resources and energy in research of these possibilities.

Krishna elaborates characteristics of this divine energy and existence in Chapter 9 of Gita.  He unravels the mysteries of existence in those beautiful verses.  We must understand that Krishna is talking about the Divine energy here in Chapter ( and is talking about Krishna the person.  He goes on to say:

मया ततमिदं सर्वं जगदव्यक्तमूर्तिना |
मत्स्थानि सर्वभूतानि न चाहं तेष्ववस्थित: || 4||

The entire universe and the whole existence
Is pervaded by my un-manifested form
All beings are in Me, yet, I am not in them
This is the true nature of my un-manifested Divine form

Now that people knew about existence if this Divine energy, how do you bring it down to a common man  Institutions were set up to study different dimensions or say different expressions of the Divine.  The rishis were the researchers and teachers.  Temples and Ashrams became the places of research and application.  Yoga, meditation and mantras became techniques to get there.  Certain common practices and systems were set up for its presence in the social structure.

I would, however, come back  on the topic we started with.  “Jai Shri Krishna” was one of the salutations floated out in the society as a way to bring divine in our common practice.  If we accept Krishna to be 5000 years ago, this salutation has lasted that many years.  When you say some one “Jai Shri Krishna” you are addressing the Divine in Krishna and the divine in that person.  A positive energy is bound to start with this salutation.  This is of the ways how a deep knowledge of the Divine can be brought down in common practice of a common man.  This journey is just the beginning, it’s not done yet.  We will continue these discussions together.

We live according to our intelligence and knowledge and create systems around us according to our thinking.  We think about us and what we do.  That is important to us.  We create father’s day, mother’s day, nurses day, doctors day and so on.  we look into other person’s eyes, smile and say, “hello” and expect a hi or hello in return.  If we saw divine all around and realize divine expressions in Krishna, Ram or Buddha, our day to day life changes accordingly.  We recognize the divine presence in Sun and have a day for Sun, we recognize Krishna as representing that Divine and say “Jai Shri Krishna” and so on.

The post Jai Shri Krishna| Hidden mysteries appeared first on KrishnaUniverse.

Sita, Radha and Draupadi represent earth, water and fire qualities respectively.  Sita became the role model; should Draupadi be the one now?

India has produced many a great men and many great women.  Sita became the role model that every father wants to see in his daughter and every husband wants to see in his wife.  Why did Draupadi not become a role model?  A better question might be if Draupadi should be the role model for the modern women?  I am not trying to make the point that Sita should not be the role model.  The point is should women have another role model to look up to.

While Sita is an ideal wife to an ideal husband who could the women of today, who do not have the perfect and ideal husband, look up to as a role model.  If we realize that fear is deep rooted in the female kind especially that of the Indian women, then we can understand why many of the atrocities are committed against these women by ordinary men.  If the women are ready to be tortured, if torture is accepted by the women kind, even the non torturing mind will get down to the torturing tricks.

This is not to say that the men are not responsible at all.  The point I am trying to emphasize here is that women need to look up to someone who took a firm stand in tough times.  This can then give women the courage to believe in themselves enough to say that sometimes it is o.k. to take a strong stand. Draupadi is one such woman who while doing all her rightful duties is willing and bold enough to take a stand when appropriate. Draupadi actually declared a war with the Kauravas long before it really happened in the battlefield of Kurukshetra.  J.F. Kennedy is known for saying that it is o.k. to dream; Draupadi here is saying it is sometimes o.k. for women to take a stand.

Duryodhana humiliated Draupadi in front of the five Pandava brothers and in front of many well-known dignitaries of those times on an open platform. Yudhisthir was challenged to play poker; he lost everything and in the end pawned Draupadi.  There may be a lot of controversy whether or not he should have done it or not, but what followed was beyond belief and any imagination.

Dushashana (Duryodhana’s brother) held Draupadi by her hair and dragged her in the hall in front of every one in the open house.  Duryodhana indicated Draupadi to sit in his lap.  And, more despicably, they tried to disrobe her to nudity.  Draupadi surrendered herself to Krishna for help and Krishna did help her such that the Kauravas failed in their misadventure.  And then Draupadi vows that she would not wash her hair until she first washes them with the blood of Dushashana and Duryodhana.  This is nothing short of declaring a war. Duryodhana is not going to cut his thigh himself to donate blood for Draupadi to wash her hairs.

This stand taken by Draupadi is so significant.  In the scene described above, Draupadi actually won.  She could have smiled at Duryodhana and said, “Well tried, try again.”  They had failed miserably in trying to disrobe her.  Kauravas had lost and Pandavas were full of shame.

What Draupadi did was not so much for herself, but more so for the whole women kind.  She is saying to the Kauravas not to mess with females as a whole.  She is saying to the entire female world to take an appropriate stand.  She did not go and confer with her husbands, or her brothers or even Krishna.  Draupadi knew exactly what had to be done,  took firm stand, and then pieces of the rest of the puzzle fell together later.  She must have thought that if Duryodhana can attempt such an insult and humiliation of Draupadi, what will he do to ordinary women.

It is interesting that Sita has become the role model of most Indian women. Draupadi is an interesting story but she never really becomes a role model.  People in India, especially men, have always been uncomfortable with Draupadi. They are quite comfortable with Sita. She is not a threat.  Sita sits in the garden of Ravana and waits for Rama to come.  She does not declare any war.  She utters no threat to Ravana.  Rama asks her to sit in fire, she goes in; he asks her to leave the house and she obliges. Everyone wants his wife to behave like Sita.  Draupadi does not give the same comfort zone.  She is married to five brothers.  She takes a stand when she is threatened and declares a one sided war.  She is not so predictable.  How can she really be a role model?

We should not compare great men or women, but there is a need to understand the three most powerful women in Indian history, Sita, Radha and Draupadi. Sita is a powerful woman; she comes in the family of an enlightened King, Janaka.  She actually is said to appear from the earth while some one was ploughing the field.  This may be true literally or may not be.  But, it definitely symbolizes what Sita’s temperament is going to be.  She is representing the properties of the mother earth, will be nourishing to every one and will not have complaints.  She has the strength to bear anything.  Sita in her youth had moved Shiva’s heavy bow by one hand while cleaning the room; Ravana could not move the same bow later in the story.  Ravana abducts her to Lanka but is scared to touch her.

Sita was no ordinary woman.  But, she did not need to do what Draupadi had to.  She did not need to take a stand.  This has to be understood deeply.  She is married to Rama, an avatar of Parmatma.  It is not an accident that Sita is married to Rama. She is totally surrendered to the Parmatma.  Once you surrender to the Parmatma, it is now Parmatma’s responsibility to see things through.  Who are you to take a stand?  Who are you to question his judgments?   In reality, once you surrender, there is no one to take a stand and there is no one to ask questions.

Krishna and Radha is a different story.  Radha is happy with her unconditional love to Krishna.  Krishna is a rebel.  He is willing to break rules; he helps Arjuna to take Subhadra against the wishes and accepted social norms of the time.  He has no problem dancing with Radha.  Krishna is also incomplete without Radha; and Radhe-Krishna is the complete entity.

Sita is wife of Rama and Radha is in love with Krishna.  Both are surrendered to Parmatma.  Now, it is Parmatma’s responsibility to take the life further. Draupadi is a different story. She is human and is dealing with human husbands, not one but five of them.  One husband can do several mistakes.  You can imagine what will happen if the mistakes are multiplied by five. Draupadi is also surrendered to Parmatma, and the Parmatma (Krishna) helps her as a sister every time she needs help.  But, she is married to five extra-ordinary yet human beings.  They have their weak and strong points too.

Sita and Radha did not have to worry.  Rama would not stake Sita in a game; this is unimaginable.  He would not let Ravana touch Sita either.  The question does not arise.  Draupadi does not have this situation.  She is in the real world with real people.  Duryodhana is humiliating her and her husbands are watching silently. Not only are the husbands watching this but also are the so-called Gurus and even the Pitamah Bhishma.  A public humiliation is on and no body is doing anything.    She has to take the stand.

Draupadi is the one out of the three who is closer to the times of today. She deserves the attention of the modern women.  Draupadi was born out of the Vedi of a Yajna; from the sacred fire. This may not be true literally, but is significant.  It is symbolic of Draupadi’s temperament.  She is not going to be passive woman.  She will be fiery.  She is not going to tolerate injustice.  She will be brilliant and have the properties of purity and purification.  Moreover, anyone that touches fire gets burnt.  Fire is not that forgiving.  Every one who tried to touch Draupadi with ulterior motives got burnt.  This happened to Duryodhana, Dushashana and Jayadratha.

These properties are reflected in Draupadi’s character throughout her life with the Pandavas. She had a discussion with Yudhisthir when they were in the forest when she talks as if she does not believe in God. And, then Yudhisthir gives her this nice lecture on how not to reach to conclusions too soon about Parmatma. What follows from Draupadi is so beautiful.  She says very clearly that she does believe in Dharma and Parmatma completely, but she will continue to complain anyway.  She also talks about the importance of karma yoga.  It takes a very deep Shradha (Trust) to be able to say that.  I believe in Parmatma so completely that I can complain to him as well.  Her trust in Parmatma is obvious by the fact that Krishna appears every time she remembers him.

Again, Satyabhama once comes to Draupadi in the jungle and asks Draupadi the tricks, mantras and yantras that Draupadi might be using to keep the trust of her husbands. Again, what Draupadi says to Satyabhama,  should be read by every women of today.  She almost feels offended by the question and advises Satybhama to never use such tricks.  They never work; mostly they work against you and are matters of superstition. Draupadi then goes on to say how she stays away from jealousy, and does not do things merely to impress and so on. These are the gems of Mahabharata that should be the object of study by every man and women.

Draupadi is often criticized for her marriage to five brothers.  There are few things that should be understood about this point.

1. People who happen to have different social norms are frowning upon a thing that happened five thousand years ago and was accepted by the people of those times today.  For example even in the same times of today an Indian has different set of values when compared to those of Europeans or Americans.  Slowly and slowly values of one is being tolerated if not accepted by the other groups of people.  How can we really pass a judgement about the value systems which existed long time ago?
2.  Draupadi’s marriage:  It was not Draupadi’s choice to marry five brothers.  She had just come with the Pandava brothers.  Arjuna had won the championship and she had put the garland in his neck.  As far as she was concerned she was marrying one of the brothers, Arjuna. I would say that it was a great sacrifice on her part to accept the wishes of the mother Kunti and her sons to marry and carry the marriage faithfully up to the end.
3. Again, who really knows if Kunti was really sleepy when the Pandava brothers came back home with Draupadi.  It was not an ordinary event.  Draupadi was so beautiful and full of radiating energy.  I have a feeling that Kunti knew that if Arjuna alone married Draupadi there could be trouble in the family. Kunti might have asked for the marriage in her full senses and all the brothers not only agreed to it, but also were very happy with the decision.
4. In our current times we have a limited and narrow vision. We are limited by what we can see and what we can think.  Our thinking is not multidimensional.  We do not know if there is past lives or not, we do not know if devtas like Shiva exist.  We are totally unaware and ignorant about our surroundings beyond our sensory perceptions.  Suppose all the radio stations are gone and we loose the technology of capturing sound.  Would that mean that the sound does not travel?  Similarly, it may be that we have lost the esoteric existence and therefore cannot comprehend the esoteric history outlines in the Mahabharata.  If you read Mahabharata you will find that the story involves the devtas and Rishis.  The Rishis were aware of the past lives too.  In Draupadi’s past life, she had done tapasya and Shiva gave her the bardan that she will marry five brothers.  This is a more of a holistic approach, which we are unaware of today. Someone who does not want to believe in these possibilities might say that these are logics used to explain Draupadi’s polyandry.  But, I would agree that it is logic used precisely for that whether it is believed in or not.
5. Draupadi at the time of swargarohan falls first because she loved Arjuna more.  Who and why should any one blame her for that.  She was human and Arjuna was the one who had got the target in the Swayambara.  This is fairly acceptable to me and after all what is expected of Draupadi. She was human.
6. It was different times.  People had different values.  Krishna could dance with married women, he could steal clothes from girls who were bathing nude in yamuna, Arjuna could marry and so could Bhima again and again.  All these are simply described as is in the Mahabharata without saying that these were bad.  Mahabharata is very clear when boundaries of social norms were crossed. When Jayadratha makes advances against Draupadi, it has been condemned without reservations.

Even if we accept this criticism of Draupadi, we still have to give credit to Draupadi for putting up with five husbands and taking up a stand when honor of a woman was at stake.  I must point out that Draupadi did not leave the Pandava brothers after the insult by Duryodhana.  She continued her role as a wife and was with them through the hard times in the Jungle and every other place.  She maintained her stand all the time.

Making a role model of Draupadi is not without problems.  Men are too used to seeing the role of Sita in their wives. A questioning wife, an intelligent wife, and a wife who will take stand when needed may be incomprehensible by the men of India.  A balance may have to be re established.  But, that is a small price to pay for what has happened to women by having ideal Sita as a role model alone.  It is easy to expect a wife like Sita, much harder to be a husband like Rama.

Draupadi declared the war with Kauravas long before it actually happened.  She continued her role as a wife with the five brothers.  Her forces were working behind the scenes and one day the war did happen.  In some ways, she upheld the honor of women for all times. 

===================

Thanks – 
D1
D2
D3

The post Draupadi: Role model for modern women appeared first on KrishnaUniverse.

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam meanings expands from “All the world is one family” to “We are all part of the same consciousness pool.”

I have a friend in Trinidad and his name is Raviji Maharaj.  We were traveling together in a car from Jaipur to New Delhi after attending a meeting.  There was a lot of time and amongst many conversations we had, one of them was about his endeavor of finding his roots.  I come from Bihar and he had traced his ancestors to a village in my district of Bhojpur.  He ended up at the door of his ancestral home.  What happened next was not as wonderful and pleasant as he had anticipated.

There are many such people in Trinidad or in the USA who are looking for their roots.  If roots are traced deeper and longer, we all will end up at the homo novas, possibly somewhere in India or Africa.  And logically speaking, we may all have come from the same one origin, a mother and a father.  Is that what Vasudhaiva kutumbakam is talking about?   The entire world is one family,’ is a common translation of this verse, and in the least we can understand that we may all have a common origin.  

In my view, the verse means much more than that.   If you dig deeper in time you come to a point where all humans end up being related.  Just because we are all related does not answer any questions.  We can still hate each other and be ready to kill one another because we may like something more than our relations with each other. Pandavas and Kauravas were cousins and so is India and Pakistan.  India and Pakistan as a country have the same heritage and so are Indians and Pakistanis. That has not prevented them from having had three wars.  Having blood relation or having genetic connection does not appear to give us any higher understanding.  I am sure that it is good to know that we may all be related, but it does not necessarily produce any love for each other.

If we  explore sideways in space, we may find something interesting.  There appears to be a close relationship between our surrounding and us.  An event happening in one part of the world may have profound effects at another completely distant part of the world.  An airplane goes through the world trade center in the USA and then there are bombs falling on Afghanistan.  You destroy the rain forest and there may be draught in a completely remote area.  Just imagine if sun did not rise one day.  The whole world may disaapear.  Or, just imagine that all the polar snow and ice melts.  Soon all of us will be under water.  So, it is not hard to understand that we have close and vital relationship with our surroundings.  We are interrelated with and interdependent on the moon, the sun, the rivers and the whole lot.

Do we really know that?  If you go to India, you may experience and appreciate this relationship a little bit. You may find yogis doing surya namaskar. People say Ganga mayya (mother ganga) and worship the Kailash Mountain.  They call the city of Varanasi holy and pronounce cow as sacred mother. Is this all insane?  May be in some one’s eyes, but sooner or later humanity is going to realize that this relationship is real.  Consumerism has created a big gap.  We need so many chopsticks that trees can be dispensed. We are prepared to kill whales and elephants for our so-called luxury.  Who needs to care about our relationship with our surroundings?  But, it is definitely vital to our very existence. But, is that what is the meaning of Vsudhaiva Kutumbakam.

Then there is the esoteric space where we all relate to different gods. And the gods are related to each other as well.  Shiva is related to Parvati.  Ganesh is there child.  Vishnu and Laxmi are related and they are all related to us through bhakti.  Shiva lives in Kailash while Varanasi is located on the trishul of Shiva.  But, is this the meaning of Vasudhaiva Kutubakam?

In my view, to understand the complete meaning of this formula of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, we have to dig inside of our consciousness.  We all know that our planet earth is connected all through and is round.  The miles of ocean are mere interruptions on the surface; a mile or two deeper there is still the presence of earth surface.  There may be peaks and valleys, but still they are all continuous.  The consciousness is one such continuum. 

The Rishis in their deep meditation could see this eternal truth.  This is important to understand.  The Upanishadic Rishi does not see individual human beings as we see them.  We see ourselves as islands of existence.  The Rishi knows that we are not islands.  All the consciousness is a unit and we are peaks and valleys.  Even a rock on the path has a little of consciousness in it; we may have a little more than those rocks.

This simple understanding is not a theory or a philosophy.  The Rishi knows this as a matter of fact.  He can see it and we can experience it too, if we want to.  This experience is potentially available to all of us.  And once this experience happens, it is impossible to do anything that may contaminate this consciousness.  When you are angry, you are pouring anger to this pool of consciousness.  And when you are happy you are pouring happiness to this pool.  When a man kills another being out of hatred, he is contaminating this vast ocean of existence, the consciousness itself.  And we in the east have called this Adharma.  Any act that contaminates this consciousness is Adharma and anything that purifies it is Dharma.

I think that the Rishi, when he proclaims this statement of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,’ is talking about the relationship that is happening at the level of this consciousness.  Knowing this, a man becomes Dharmic.  There is no possibility of performing any act that will contaminate this pool of consciousness, because this will ultimately contaminate the individual itself.  Any other kind of relationship will not really help.  We all know that we are blood relatives and we all know that our surroundings make a difference, at least to some extent.  This has not helped us in becoming happy and peaceful.  We continue to place emphasis on the relationships that we want and ignore the ones that we do not really care.

If we dig deep in time (our past), we end up knowing that we are all related to each other by blood.  If we explore in space, we find that we are related to the surrounding nature with environmental forces.  If we look around in the esoteric divine space of gods and goddesses, we find that we are related to them by devotion (bhakti).  And, if we dive deep inside ourselves we find that we are related to each other and to the whole Universe by consciousness.  In fact there is no two, there is just Consciousness itself. And knowing this, one can proclaim and say, “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.”

The post Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam appeared first on KrishnaUniverse.

Krishna is unique in that sense; he allows a friend relationship to develop with him.  Arjun lived with Krishna as friend (sakha).  you cannot imagine being a friend with Buddha, Mahavir, Nanak or Ram.  Friendship brings a different kind of closeness.  Knowing a friend like Krishna brings on the respect and devotion for him over time.  The more you know Krishna, the more you appreciate his vastness and depth.  One day he will open up his whole mystery to you or I as he did to his sakha (friend) Arjun.  Then and then only the true form of Krishna is realized.

Krishna lived in this universe and the universe lived inside him.  If there is something beyond universe, that also existed inside Krishna.  Krishna represents entire existence, he cares for the existence and he nurtures the existence.  All this is hard to understand intellectually.  Closeness to Krishna and Krishna’s help is essential in understanding him.  Let’s make him a friend as Arjun did.

सखेतिमत्वाप्रसभंयदुक्तं
हेकृष्णहेयादवहेसखेति|

Thinking of you as my friend, I presumptuously addressed you as, “O Krishna,” “O Yadav,” “O my dear mate.”

And then the devotion:

भक्त्यात्वनन्ययाशक्यअहमेवंविधोऽर्जुन|

O Arjun, by unalloyed devotion alone can I be known as I am, standing before you.

==================

Thanks
Bhagavad Gita, The Song of God

The post Krishna: A friend and more appeared first on KrishnaUniverse.

Bhakti or Devotion is a positive phenomenon.  The literal meaning of devotion or Bhakti sounds like a loss.  You lose yourself, your existence and of course your ego.  What do you really gain.  How can loosing yourself be a positive phenomenon?

A common example given is merger of a drop into the ocean, the drop loses its identity, but becomes one with the ocean.  This happens when you surrender to Parmatma, Krishna or God.  Krishna refers it in Gita:

सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्यमामेकंशरणंव्रज।अहंत्वासर्वपापेभ्योमोक्षयिष्यामिमाशुचः॥

But, that’s not where bhakti or devotion ends. Krishna is not interested in Arjun disappearing.  He wants Arjun to achieve the ultimate; he wants the drop to maintain its identity and uniqueness.  This can only happen if Arjun drops all the knowledge and beliefs that he had collected thus far.  Then and then only can Krishna impart fresh knowledge to him.  It’s not a bookish knowledge that Krishna is willing to offer Arjun.  He is offering much much more.

It is easy to understand and comprehend merging of a drop in the ocean, it’s harder to imagine the ocean merging into a drop.  That’s what Krishna is offering Arjun here.  The whole ocean quantitatively and qualitatively enters into a drop and still the entire ocean remains complete in itself.  Ishvasya Upanishad has explained this in its first verse:

Om Purnamadah Purnamidam Purnat Purnamudachyate

THAT is infinite, THIS is infinite; From That, This comes. THIS added or removed from THAT, the Infinite remains as Infinite. Om, peace, peace, peace.

Its a common saying in India, “you take one step towards Parmatma (God), Parmatma takes a thousand steps towards you.”  That’s the power of devotion.  Parmatma is ready to fill you with his presence and power, are you ready?

The post When ocean enters a drop appeared first on KrishnaUniverse.

 We talked about ocean in a drop earlier on in our discussions.  The discussion there was a little abstract and brief.  Let’s talk a little more about that here.

A drop of water merging in the ocean is simple, we see it and get it.  Water vaporizing and becoming a drop is easily understood and within our grasp.  The drop is qualitatively the same as ocean without the salt component.  We might even say that it is basic knowledge.  However, the next equation of saying that the whole ocean qualitatively enters the drop becomes mathematically and intellectually difficult to accept.

We all know that a man is usually larger than his physical limits.  That’s how we had kings and queens in the past and have presidents and prime ministers in today’s times.  We have big names in business like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates while we have others who are famous in sports or movies.  They all appear very normal people but carry a larger than life images, they have big contributions in the world and sometimes have to manifest their powers too.  The power of a President is not always that evident.  But, it becomes apparent when their country is challenged or threatened and a Hiroshima or a Nagasaki happens.

However, some individuals are completely at a different level.  They also appear normal like any one of us.  Buddha, Ram, Guru Nanka, Krishna, and Mahavir are some examples for that.  I mentioned before about an  equation given to us by Ishavasya upanishad.  The upanishad did not talk about ocean and a drop but had the same idea.  It gave a formula for all times.  Krishna is one living example of the formula.  He personifies the drop in above example that contains the universe (ocean) within.  We can say the same about some of other names above, but Krishna was one who manifested both forms during his life time.

Krishna was extra-ordinary child, yet, he lived as an ordinary one.  He played with others and did mischievous like any other friend in his age group.  His friends were comfortable complaining about Krishna to his mother and Krishna even put up fake defenses for mischievous acts he had commited.

One day, while playing in the fields, little Krishna secretly ate mud. His friends witnessed it and his  told mother Yashoda about this. When Krishna returned home, Yashoda caught him by his ears and scolded him for putting dirt in his mouth. Krishna promptly replied that he had had a fight with his friends in the morning and to take revenge they were all lying and that Yashoda shouldn’t believe them. He said that she was being unfair as she believed them instead of believing her son. Yashoda knew her son too well. She ordered, “If you have not taken any mud, then open your mouth. I shall see for myself.”

Krishna obediently opened his mouth.  But when Yashoda looked into his mouth, she was wonderstruck. She saw the entire universe: the mountains the oceans, the planets, air, fire, moon and the stars in his small mouth. Yashoda was stunned and began to wonder whether she were dreaming or actually seeing something extraordinary. She fell on the ground, unconscious. When she recovered, she realized what had happened. She took Krishna in her lap and hugged him tightly and fondly.

There is a description of two instances in the Mahabharat where Krishna reveals his divinity.

Krishna revealed the Vishwaroop form when went to Hastinapur to negotiate terms with Dhritarashtra and Duryodhana refused to give any land to the Pandavas. Duryodhana ordered his guards to capture Krishna, and then Krishna revealed what is known as his Vishwaroop form, which supposedly the people of the court were unable to behold, except Vidur and Bheeshma (and in some versions, Dhritarashtra himself).

Krishna revealed the Vishwaroop (universal form)  form again in the Bhagavad Gita, revealing his immortal, all-encompassing self to Arjun. The form is described in great detail by the narrator Sanjay. An example is verse 11:19

अनादिमध्यान्तमनन्तवीर्य-
मनन्तबाहुं शशिसूर्यनेत्रम् |
पश्यामि त्वां दीप्तहुताशवक्त्रं-
स्वतेजसा विश्वमिदं तपन्तम् || 19||

You are without beginning, middle, or end; your power has no limits. Your arms are infinite; the sun and the moon are like your eyes, and fire is like your mouth. I see you warming the entire creation by your radiance.

Eventually Arjun is filled with great awe and wonder and asks Krishna to take his pleasant four armed form again.

किरीटिनंगदिनंचक्रहस्त–
मिच्छामित्वांद्रष्टुमहंतथैव|
तेनैवरूपेणचतुर्भुजेन
सहस्रबाहोभवविश्वमूर्ते|| 11:46||

O thousand-armed one, though you are the embodiment of all creation, I wish to see you in your four-armed form, carrying the mace and disc, and wearing the crown.

Krishna is unique in that sense; he allows a friend relationship to develop with him.  Arjun lived with Krishna as friend (sakha).  you cannot imagine being a friend with Buddha, Mahavir, Nanak or Ram.  Friendship brings a different kind of closeness.  Knowing a friend like Krishna brings on the respect and devotion for him over time.  The more you know Krishna, the more you appreciate his vastness and depth.  One day he will open up his whole mystery to you or I as he did to his sakha (friend) Arjun.  Then and then only the true form of Krishna is realized.

Krishna lived in this universe and the universe lived inside him.  If there is something beyond universe, that also existed inside Krishna.  Krishna represents entire existence, he cares for the existence and he nurtures the existence.  All this is hard to understand intellectually.  Closeness to Krishna and Krishna’s help is essential in understanding him.  Let’s make him a friend as Arjun did.

सखेतिमत्वाप्रसभंयदुक्तं
हेकृष्णहेयादवहेसखेति|

Thinking of you as my friend, I presumptuously addressed you as, “O Krishna,” “O Yadav,” “O my dear mate.”

And then the devotion:

भक्त्यात्वनन्ययाशक्यअहमेवंविधोऽर्जुन|

O Arjun, by unalloyed devotion alone can I be known as I am, standing before you.

==================

Thanks
Bhagavad Gita, The Song of God

The post Krishna in Universe: Universe in Krishna appeared first on KrishnaUniverse.

Yoga in Gita carries a totally different meaning and significance when compared to that of yoga in Patanjali’s yogasutra.  Patanjali is teaching yoga to students of yoga from the beginning.  They must have the discipline before they will be allowed in the class.  Krishna is talking about how a yogi lives his life.  Krishna talks about how a yogi lives, how he manages his actions and how he makes decisions.  Krishna lives the life of a yogi and tells Arjuna the characteristics of a a yogi when Arjun asks the question to Krishna

The post Krishna Yoga vs Patanjali Yoga: International Yoga Day 2018 appeared first on KrishnaUniverse.