Previous NextLord Krśńaʼs Unique Approach 22 October 1967, Ranchi Published in: Discourses on the Mahábhárata Notes: official source: Discourses on the Mahábhárata this version: is the printed Discourses on the Mahábhárata, 2nd edition, version (obvious spelling, punctuation and typographical mistakes only may have been corrected). I.e., this is the most up-to-date version as of the present Electronic Edition. Words in double square brackets [[   ]] are corrections that did not appear in the printed version. (1) Now about Lord Krśńaʼs approach. All the characters in the Mahábhárata, from beginning to end, were simply puppets on the stage. They were made to dance by the tricks of Lord Krśńa alone. The life of Lord Krśńa justifies His practical approaches. However, I shall put forth a few out of many examples. (2) The first and foremost thing is that Lord Krśńa was Táraka Brahma. The advent of Táraka Brahma is known as “Mahásambhúti.” (3) What is Mahásambhúti? According to natural law, the movement of the world from crude to subtle is accompanied by clash between good (Shubha) and evil (ashubha), between kśema and akśema. During this period, good people sometimes get exhausted by the dominance of the dishonest (pápii). If this period were to continue some time more, the honest (sádhu) would be extinguished. If such a state of affairs exists in the world, a special force (visheśa shakti samprayoga) from Paramátman becomes a necessity. (4) To give a blow to the sinners (pápii) at this hour becomes an essentiality. Giving this blow is not possible for human beings (Jiiva) as they do not have the power to deal it. During this state of affairs, to deal a strong blow, a special manifestation known as Mahásambhuti becomes inevitable. (5) Every unit is doing the work of Paramátman; everyone is the expression of God; this is Paramátmáʼs sambhúti. But to do great work which is not possible through the physical structure (adhara) of human beings, a special manifestation of God takes place (Ávirbháva) which is known as “Mahásambhúti.” (6) This is different from an incarnation (avatára). “Avatára” means “descending,” to come in the form of a unit. Every person is an avatara of Paramátman. You can say that the avatára is the sambhuti of Mahásambhúti. (7) There are also so many degrees (kot́i) of consciousness in the Jiivas that are the descendants of Paramátman. One is jiivakot́i. Paramátman has come in the form of jiivas. Special force can also be expressed through these media. Another is Iishvarakot́i. Paramátman has come in the form of a Jiiva, but it has some special force. It has special dominance, has the special power to do and get things done. They say, power of Iishvarakot́i is a hundred times more than that of jiivakot́i. (8) In this Iishvarakot́i also there are so many degrees. The lowest Iishvarakot́i is kalávatára. This kalávatára has the lowest power. “Kalá” means one-sixteenth. Kalávatára means that manifestation of Iishvarakot́i which has one sixteenth the power of Iishvarakot́i. In Iishvarakoti there is also aḿshávatara, which possesses more power that kalávatára, Khańd́avatára is still more developed. These are the different stages of Iishvarakot́i, according to their powers. (9) And where there is expression of the whole power, that is known as Púrńávatára, which is the same as Brahmakot́i. Jiivakot́i, Iishvarakot́i and Brahmakot́i are expressions of Paramátman, i.e., all are manifestations of Paramátman. All are His sambhúti. All jiivas are sambhúti and this Brahmakot́i is Púrńávatára. (10) Aḿshávatára, kalávatára, khańd́ávatára do work in a particular place, at a particular time and space, and leave the world. Such mahapuruśas have come to the world in good number. It is not possible to name them all. But this Mahásambhúti stirs the entire world because of His special force. Iishvarakot́i people advance due to their sádhaná. The realizations of their sádhaná, the knowledge obtained by sádhaná, have contributed to the progress of the world. But Mahásambhúti, of the same order as Brahmakot́i, comes to the world to educate people, to create a Cosmic vibration in the world – and that vibration continues to guide society as long as it exists. (11) For example, Sadáshiva came some 7000 years ago, and His vibration continues to this day. Similarly, some 3500 years ago Lord Krśńa came to the world. He was also a Mahásambhúti. He came to create a vibration in the world, to give a new direction to it. Had He not come, society would have been destroyed. So Mahásambhúti is born to guide the world. (12) Mahásambhúti will behave like a human being, but Mahásambhútiʼs every action will be a superhuman action so that people may take lessons (lokashikśá) from it. (13) Let us give an example. Kansa was a most wicked king. And wicked-minded people always unite to save their position. There was one speciality in the reign of Kansa, and it was the profusion of male and female spies. In each and every village he had his spies. The women spies were then known as “viśa kanyá” and the male spies as “gaha puruśa.” (14) To save the world from the evil forces (pápashakti), Maharshi Garga, the greatest mahátmá, realized soul (pańd́ita), virtuous (dhármika) and wonderful Personality of his time, was doing penance for the advent of Mahásambhúti. A wise man, while praying for the advent of Mahásambhúti from within, also utilizes properly the physical and mental capacity bestowed on him by the Lord. If the power given by the Lord in the physical body and mental body is not utilized, the Lord will not give spiritual power even if asked. Only those who utilize their physical and mental power have the right to ask spiritual power from the Lord. (15) Suppose a wicked man is fighting against you, you should fight vigorously against him. [[You will earn the right to ask Iishvara for more power only when you have completely exhausted the power that He had already given you.]] If you donʼt fight, like a coward, and ask for more power, the Lord will not give you any. (16) This sort of cowardliness entered into the Indians of that time and still does today. Suppose the enemy attacks and you begin squatting in groups and start Rámdhuna (repeating the name of Rama). This sort of approach will not do at all. Pick up your weapons, go and fight and say to yourselves “Victory to the Lord” – this alone is the practical approach. (17) Garga Muni had just this practical sense. He was praying to the Lord and also utilizing his energy and wisdom. He also had his own group to fight against vices (Pápa). Everything about the activities of Kansa was crystal-clear to him. And Kansa wanted to kill him. But he was not able to kill a famous maharśi like Garga as people might go against him. (18) You know Garga Muni was the brother of Vasudeva, i.e., he was uncle to Lord Krśńa. When Krśńa was born, Maharshi Garga knew in his meditation that the work would be done now, and hence he named the child Krśńa. It was he who named the child Krśńa – Krśńa has so many names but the name Krśńa was given by Garga himself. With the help of Garga, Krśńa killed Kansa. If Krśńa had not killed Kansa, it would not have been possible for Him to materialize His future programme of mending the world and forming Great India. (19) Here is one more example of Lord Krśńaʼs practical approach, though there are so many like it. The Kuru kingdom was not then the biggest kingdom in India, nor was the Panchala kingdom. These kingdoms formed the present Haryana area, the area around Delhi. The biggest kingdom was Magadha. And the people of Magadha were against the Kuru and Panchala kingdoms, and even against the Vedas. “Maga” means a person who does not accept the Vedas. All the priests who did not accept the Vedas were known as “maga” And the “dhá” root plus “d́a” makes “dha,” which means “believers”; i.e., the land of the people who accept maga is known as Magadha. In other words, the people of Magadha were opposed to the Aryan code of conduct. (20) The King of Magadha then was Jarasandha. As described earlier, the child Jarasandha was born in pieces and was joined by a lady doctor, a rákśasii (aboriginal), by operating and stitching the body of the child. Hence he was known as Jarasandha, as the joining (sandhi) was done by Jara. The relationship of Krśńa with Jarasandha was the relationship of cousins. Though cousins, they were enemies. Jarasandha was against dharmarájya (the rule of the righteous). Lord Krśńa had a scheme to make a great India, to join all the scattered kingdoms into one, but Jarasandha wanted his own kingdom. (21) Jarasandha would usually attack the Shurasena [[kingdom]], whose king was Lord Krśńa after He killed Kansa. The capital of Shurasena was Mathura. There also Lord Krśńa presented an example of His practical approach. He shifted His capital from Mathura to Dwaraka, as the righteous people, then, were not united and it was not possible to fight against Jarasandha. Dwaraka was across the desert of Rajasthan and the hillocks and the jungles of Madhya Pradesh. Magadha soldiers remaining in the plains were not able to cross the desert or jungle or fight in them. Hence, the capital was shifted to Dwaraka of Gujarat. So, this was a great practical approach by Lord Krśńa, and Jarasandha stopped attacking. (22) After that, Lord Krśńa united the kings in the name of dharmarájya, and attacked Magadha unitedly and killed Jarasandha. While at Mathura, it was difficult for Him to do this from a diplomatic point of view. When power is gained sufficiently, the enemy has to be attacked and killed. As long as there is no power, one has to accept the dictates of the enemy, but the moment it is gained, he has to be attacked and killed. Such was the practical approach of Lord Krśńa. When Jarasandha was defeated, he begged pardon, but Lord Krśńa did not forgive him, as his nature was not reformed. In the ensuing battle, Jarasandha was killed. After that, Lord Krśńa attacked Aḿgadesha (the [[modern-day]] Bhagalpur area). This was also His practical approach. (23) In that period in the Delhi area, there was an Aryan population, i.e., that is where the Indian people first accepted Aryan culture. The Aryans of that time in the Delhi area were called Játrii Kśatriya, Jat in the present language. The Saḿskrta name was Játrii Kśatriya. The Kaoravas and Pandavas were the same, the present Jat people. The other group of people living in that area usually fought against the Jat people. This group of people was known as Ábhiira. These were the two main Aryan groups. The Játrii Kśatriyas were mainly agriculturists, and the Ábhiiras were mainly dependent on cattle breeding. These were the two main branches of the Aryans. The Ábhiira became “Áhira” in the present language – they lived in Meerut, Haryana and near Delhi. (24) Of course, there was no caste [[discrimination]]. One belonged to a particular caste according to oneʼs livelihood. As mentioned earlier, Garga, the uncle of Krśńa, was a Vipra, and Krśńaʼs father, Vasudeva, was a warlike Kśatriya, and the guardians of Krśńa, Nanda, Upananda and others, were Ábhiira Kśatriyas because they tamed cattle. These two, Játrii Kśatriya and Ábhiira Kśatriya, frequently fought each other. Both were good people, but because of some misunderstanding, they were fighting. Krśńa thought, if He united these two, it would be very easy for Him to bring about Great India. He applied His practical approach. He got His elder sister, Subhadra, an Ábhiira Kśatriya, to marry Arjuna. This He did with a view to make the Játrii Kśatriyas and the Ábhiira Kśatriyas stop fighting. (25) Letʼs take yet another instance of Lord Krśńaʼs practical approach. Krśńa asked Yudhisthira on the battlefield to say, “Ashvatthama hatah,” i.e., “Ashvatthama has been killed.” The literal words were not correct, but the spirit was correct. Krśńa did it to save morality. “Ashvatthama hatah” was uttered very loudly, and Dronacarya heard it, became senseless and was killed. “Naro vá kuiṋjarah,” i.e., “this may be Ashvatthama the man or may be Ashvatthama the elephant” was uttered very softly, and at the same time people began to beat drums very loudly, due to which no one could hear it, and Drona was killed. You may take it to be something against morality, as Lord Krśńa had the intention of getting Dronacarya killed. That is a fact, but the main idea of Lord Krśńa was to save morality. So that His main moral objective could be fulfilled, He did all these things. (26) You know that if the soldiers of two countries fight, the civilian population will also be killed, but the intention is not to kill them. This happens in the interest of the greater cause. Here, also, the greater cause was a very proper approach by Lord Krśńa. As I told you, He never went against the main principles of morality. When at last the Yaduvaḿshii were destroyed in Prabhasa Tiirtha, Krśńa did not help them; rather He said that they were immoral and He could not support them. (27) After the Yadavas, including Balarama, had finally been destroyed, Lord Krśńa sat quietly under a tree in Prabhasa Tiirtha in lalita mudrá. He had become an octogenarian. He had grown old. At the end of His life, He again showed His practical approach and His understanding of the purpose of life. He was sitting in lalita mudrá on a stone just below a tree. The lower portion of His feet was reddish. A vyádha (hunter), Jara by name, saw something reddish under the tree and took it to be a bird or the like. He shot a poisonous arrow that struck Lord Krśńaʼs feet. He came in search of his prey and found Lord Krśńa instead. The body of Lord Krśńa was getting bluish because of the working of the poison. The hunter confessed his serious mistake. Lord Krśńa consoled him and said, “Such mistakes are committed by human beings. Had I been you, I might have committed the same mistake. You have not committed this mistake intentionally. Never mind it. In the world such mistakes are committed by people. You did not know beforehand that I was here. You should not be punished either legally or morally, as such mistakes are committed by people. I forgive you.” Saying this, Lord Krśńa left His body. 22 October 1967, Ranchi -- Source: Lord Krśńa's Unique Approach Published in: Discourses on the Mahábhárata Release: Electronic edition version 9.0.19