  Spiritual
This week: The Love of Lord Krishna Edited by: THANKFUL SONALI Library Class!  
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| Call him a naughty boy, call him a flirtatious lad, call him a thief of butter, call him a friend, call him the protector of the poor -- Lord Krishna is one of the most approachable, reachable Gods in the Hindu pantheon. |
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Dear Reader,
To be frank, at this point, I'm wondering if I've gone completely bonkers. I am no spiritual scholar -- I guess I would be a spiritual kindergartener, or something!  -- and here I am, attempting to talk about Lord Krishna in a newsletter. In my family, we greet each other 'Jai Shri Krishna' -- Glory to Lord Krishna; when faced with a difficulty we say 'Shri Krishna Sharanam Mamah' -- I seek your shelter, Lord Krishna, at your feet -- and now, I'm going to attempt to explain this devotion to you. I marvel at my own cheek.
However, I'm not as cheeky as it seems at first, because I'm not going to do this whole newsletter by myself. I'm going to ask my own aunt and my friend Buvana and her aunt for help.
Let me, then, just do a bit of an introduction.
Hinduism believes in a trinity of Gods: Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver), and Shiva (the destroyer).
Of these, Lord Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu, sent to Earth to destroy the evil king, Kansa. Lord Krishna was born while his parents Vasudev and Devki were in prison (there having been a prophecy that their son would kill Kansa). At Krishna's birth, Vasudev found himself free of his chains, the prison gates opened, the guards fell asleep, and he carried his infant son to the house of Nand and Yashoda, who brought him up as their own.
Upon hearing that his foretold-destroyer had escaped, Kansa tried to have him hunted down and killed, but the infant Krishna escaped each attempt at his life, and finally, the young Krishna fulfilled his destiny and killed Kansa.
Stories about Krishna -- the infant, the toddler, the youth, the man -- abound. How he saved his village from the evil seven-hooded serpent, Kaliya. How he held Mount Govardhan aloft on his little finger, protecting his people from the incessant rain. How he stole butter from the neighbours. How he flirted with the cow-girls. His love of the cow-girls, while depicted as romantic, is often interpreted as the divine love of God for all who are devoted to Him. It is believed that while all can love him and be loved by him, no one can possess him completely. Krishna's friendship with Sudama is legendary. Sudama came from a humble background, while Krishna was the foster son of a king -- but it was Krishna who washed Sudama's feet when the latter was tired from a journey.
Krishna is also an integral part of the epic, the Mahabharata. He protected Draupadi (the lead female protagonist of the epic) when enemies were trying to disrobe her, and he was charioteer to her husband, Arjun, during the famed Battle of Kurukshetra. It was in this role that Krishna preached the Hindu Holy Book, the Bhagvad Gita.
There are hundreds, probably thousands, of songs written in praise of Lord Krishna, in many Indian languages. Most of them are very human and endearing -- my favourite is in Gujarati and is called "Tari Vaki Re Pagaldi". Basically, it is Radha (Krishna's most famous lover) being unable to express her love directly due to shyness, and therefore telling him that she liked the tassel on his hat! ('I like the tassel on your hat' is to be interpreted by Krishna as 'I love you'!).
Here's one version of this song. The first half-minute or so is an introduction, and then the music begins and the lady starts singing. (This style of singing is meant for the outdoors -- the throw of voice during the introduction is a way of getting the audience's attention.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvJMW22QP38
Now, I let my elders take over.
Written by my aunt, Mrs. Purnima Toolsidass, for WDC's Spiritual Newsletter:
KRISHNA!
The very name conjures up an enchanting image of a beautiful young boy who plays a flute, flirts, steals, tells lies, and does everything every child wants to do! His image as Arjun’s charioteer is what we’d all want from a friend, for friends are also sympathetic philosophers who understand our weaknesses without being critical. They advise us and we are sanguine that their only intention is to do what is good for us.
In our heart of hearts, each one of us longs for a trustworthy friend, a companion full of fun, love, understanding and encouragement. One who will stop us from harming ourselves and show us what is right when we are confused. We all need a friend who has nothing but goodwill for us, and whose affection is untainted by any wish to get something in return. Some people build up a large circle of friends in the hope of having one or two sincere ones; some people stick to one or two, but find they have human failings.
Krishna is a friend we can trust, whatever our age, sex, status, background, difficulty or enterprise. He is with us in joy and sorrow. He never leaves us, even when we do things utterly wrong; nor does He love us the less for our failings. He grows with us as we pass from childhood to maturity, middle age, old age and the problems and trauma of facing death. He is never morose. He never lectures or chastises or condemns.
The Vedas state that the non-dual Creator without form or attributes is the substratum of all that exists. What can we do with such an elusive almighty, who seems quite unreal? Maybe that is why the Supreme decided that He’d better come to us in an Avatar (incarnation) that people can see and remember and talk about! Of the many Avatars described in our ancient books, Ram and Krishna are the most popular. Ram, another incarnation of Vishnu, is the ideal but it is difficult for us, common people, to live up to his standards. Krishna, on the other hand, behaves just like one of us. It is easy to consider him our own friend, our love, our guide, our protector, our child, our unfailing well-wisher who understands and does not condemn.
Krishna’s life is filled with sorrow but his face is serene. He smiles and his eyes shower love. His love is not limited to the pious – it spreads over one and all, the good and the naughty, the simple and the learned, the young and the old, friends, lovers, relatives and even birds and animals. He goes through life, facing problems undaunted and fearless, joyfully, treating every setback as a challenge. His enchanting smile beckons, his loving glance allures, his mystic Raas-leela (dance) fills the heart with a feeling that life can be danced through joyfully, if we understand and follow the great wisdom of the ‘Song Celestial’ (Bhagvad Gita) that he told Arjun in the battlefield of the war between the righteous and injustice – a battle we face daily as soon as we become old enough to think for ourselves!
Inputs from Mrs. Padmini Natarajan
Pujya Swami Dayananda used to say, "Look at the body language of dancers when they depict Ram and Krishna."
Ram is always rigidly personified, always the hunter, the soldier, the ever alert predator. Ram is not approachable directly...he is the King and we talk to him only through Hanuman.
Krishna on the other hand can be approached directly in any form....baby, child, toddler, young lad, the romantic hero, the statesman, friend, philosopher, guide, refuge....and yet he acts swiftly and surely to put down evil.
Every aspect of Krishna's life can be interpreted symbolically. For example, the way he stole butter. Here, butter can be said to represent negative feelings that are churned up by human beings. Krishna took them away. He is depicted as being blue in colour, indicating his infinite presence. His posture, like a triangle, represents the ease with which he dealt with adverse circumstances and situations.
Above all, Krishna is always happy, smiling and confident.
Inputs from my friend Buvana
I was reading this newsletter that Sonali has written about Krishna and a lot of things came rushing in at once like the ebb and flow of the ocean waves that dallies with the sand, so is my dalliance with Krishna, the elusive, elf like, notorious prankster. I refuse to call him Lord and put him on a pedestal because that would make him unapproachable and be counterproductive to the ‘Avatar” (incarnation) he donned.
There came a time when principles were fine but followers were disappearing and disillusioned. The core concepts were being diluted and the fringes taking precedence, that’s when Krishna waltzes in bringing with him a spiritualistic (as against ritualistic) experience. Spiritualism is multi-dimensional, layered, individual driven perspective/experience that we seek and of which we are the pivots and origin points. This is what Krishna truly embodies..
• You have to seek Spirituality: there is a situation in Mahabharata where Krishna explains that he would have changed the outcome of the Dice game had only one of the Pandavas soulfully and mentally requested his help!
• Love is unconditional: Devoid of tags, Love is unconditional. Love is not based on a relationship title or societal constraints …Meera Bai and his cows and many such. His own growth, he had two sets of parents who loved him, now come on how many of us can have it so good.
• Invariable values: The intangibility of values and cosmic truths. He was to different people different things but in the end a universal good and even there love prevailed. It gave everyone a unique individual experience. The good became better and even his so called enemies had good ends. (Jarasandha, Shishupala).He – Krishna -- pushed the envelope everywhere with the outcome being for universal good.
Well, Jai Shri Krishna, my readers!
Thanks for reading this far!
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Thank you for the responses to "Spirituality and Religion"
HWinB.C.  Thank you for sharing this piece. I feel like it was well written as I too believe in a difference between spiritual and religious.
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Gloria Doan Seems like you can impose religion and its rules on someone but you can't impose spirituality.
Sara Bushway They are different, but they do go hand-in-hand. Religion is mostly about like whatever it is you worship and the rules and such. Spirituality sort of fills in the gaps and explains day-to-day stuff. Like shintoism is a variation of spirituality, not a religion, so one could be a shintoist Hindu/Jew/Christian/Muslim/etc.
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Spiritual: March 28, 2018 Issue [#8821]
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