window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause]  Akrura lands in Vrindavan with an invite from Kamsa           Wereyou surprised? The Kamsa, who was all along doing everything possible to kill Krishna, how could he think of inviting Krishna to Mathura? Was he repenting for whatever wrongs he did against Krishna? Was he thinking of patching up with Krishna to avoid his death in Krishna’s hands? Or was his wicked mind scheming for something very big? p { margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.cjk { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-IN }p.ctl { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 14pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause]             TheKrishna’s story that you have been listening to for the past few weeks is now in a book form – e-book, Paperback as well as audio. Each format has its own advantages. p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt }p.cjk { font-size: 12pt }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause]            Inthe previous episode, we saw how Vyasa apparently portrayed Krishna as a flirtatious boy. More than getting into the historicity of the incident narrated in the previous episode, I am more curious as to why Vyasa included such an incident in the Bhagavata. Did Vyasa really want to portray Krishna as a flirtatious boy? p { margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.cjk { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-IN }p.ctl { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 14pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause]            Krishnais often portrayed as a ‘lover boy’! Probably, in any other religion, thinking about God as a lover boy is blasphemous! But not so for most Indians. They enjoy looking at Krishna as a very flirtatious, and even sometimes as a person who goes beyond all socially accepted norms when it comes to ‘love’. p { margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.cjk { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-IN }p.ctl { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 14pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause]  Krishna in Vrindavan   Child Krishna seemed to be always getting into problems. When he was a small kid, the cruel ogress Putana tried to kill him. When he survived that attempt, a cart almost fell on the cradle in which he was sleeping. But he escaped unhurt. As Krishna grew up, there were more such calamities which seemed as if planned by someone to kill him.

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause]   Allmothers complain about the naughtiness of their children. But which mother does not want her child to be naughty? In fact, all mothers just enjoy it. More tantrums the child throws, more the mother likes it! Imagine a child very serious like an adult. He is no longer a kid 😉 p { margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.cjk { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-IN }p.ctl { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 14pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause] We were discussing how God arrived on earth in human form. He took birth as the eighth son of Devaki and Vasudeva in a prison cell, where they were imprisoned by the wicked Kamsa. As it turned out, Vasudeva shifted the newborn to Gokul, where his friend Nandagopa’s wife had just given birth to a female child. He exchanged that kid with his own and returned back to the prison.

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause] Thatwas the dark fortnight of the rainy month of Sravana. It was almost middle of the night. The moon had not yet risen. The sky was pitch dark. There were lightning and thunder storms, followed by torrential rains. The river Yamunahad flooded. Kamsa was taking rest in his palace, unable to fall asleep. He knew very well that any moment Devaki was going to give birth to her eighth child. The taunting tone of the ‘voice from skies’ was still reverberating in his ears. Will it really happen? He kept thinking. He tried to fall asleep, reassuring himself that nothing of that sort could happen since both Vasudeva and Devaki were imprisoned in a high security prison guarded by his trusted soldiers.But... p { margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Calibri", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.cjk { font-family: ; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.ctl { font-family: ; font-size: 14pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause] In response to request from many of my readers/listeners I have added share buttons on each of my blog pages to share the page on whatsappor telegramin addition to other channels. These buttons appear either on the left margin – in the case of desktop viewing, or page bottom – in the case of mobile viewing. p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Arial", serif; font-size: 14pt }p.cjk { font-size: 14pt }p.ctl { font-size: 14pt }a.western:visited { so-language: en-US }a.cjk:visited { so-language: en-US }a.ctl:visited { so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause]   The Bhagavata contains lot of stories about incarnations of God. One of them, namely that of incarnation as Krishna is what I am going to narrate in this series. Bhagavata depicts quite a dramatic prelude to the ‘God coming to earth’.