Krishna: Expert dancer, uninhibited lover
CHAITANYA CHARAN DAS
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"I
would believe in a God who could dance", said German philosopher Friedrich
Nietzsche. During his time, God was generally portrayed as a frozen perfection,
remote, static, and wholly unsociable. No wonder he was disillusioned by this
stereotypical idea of God.
Nietzsche would have been
pleasantly surprised had he heard of Krishna, who danced expertly on the hood of
the venomous serpent Kaliya. He also danced to the tune of his mother just to
get butter, and he danced with gopis in celebration of divine love, in rasalila.
He is Vrindavananatabara, dancer par excellence in the pastoral paradise of
Vrindavana.
All theistic
traditions assert that God is great. In Krishna, that greatness is graphically
demonstrated. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna gives a glimpse of his awe-inspiring
greatness through his vishva-rupa darshana, which is one of the greatest
mystical visions in world literature. Arjuna saw within the Universal Form -
within Krishna - everything and everyone in existence. He saw all the planets,
stars and universes as well as all living beings: celestial, terrestrial and
subterranean. Krishna also exhibited his omnipotence by effortlessly
overpowering numerous demons, who were the scourges of the universe.
Most endearingly, Krishna delights,
not in the magnificence of godhood, but in the sweetness of uninhibited love.
Krishna expresses his sweetness in His lila as a prankster who steals butter
from the homes of elderly gopis. Krishna as God is self-satisfied and doesn't
need anything for his enjoyment. Moreover, when everything belongs to him, where
is the question of his stealing anything? Yet just to reciprocate love with
those devotees who love Him in a parental mood (vatsalya-bhava ), Krishna plays
the role of their darling child and speaks and behaves mischievously. The
disarming hospitality that Krishna extended to Sudama and the subsequent
generous benedictions that he bestowed upon his poor gurukula-friend are also
eloquent testimony to Krishna's personal warmth and sweetness.
For the demoniac, Krishna's
sweetness gives way to his greatness. Krishna went as a shantiduta (peace
messenger) to dissuade Duryodhana from war with sweet words. But when the
arrogant prince tried to arrest him instead, Krishna foiled the attempt by
manifesting the gigantic universal form. But for devotees, Krishna is sweetness.
During the rasa-lila, Krishna disappeared and reappeared as the majestic
four-armed Vishnu. When his most beloved consort Radha offered him obeisance and
asked him where Krishna had gone, He tried to point in a false direction. But
seeing her selfless love and her intense anxiety caused by separation, Krishna
could no longer maintain his guise. His two extra hands disappeared and Radha
beheld before her the sweet Lord of her heart.
The laws of karma impartially
and unerringly deliver everyone of their karmic dues sooner or later. But if we
turn to Krishna with devotional love, He manifests his sweetness as a forgiving
father: "Abandon all varieties of religion and surrender unto me. I will free
you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear".
We can easily surrender to
Krishna by chanting his holy names, which manifest both his greatness and
sweetness. The holy name has the great power that even nuclear weapons don't
have: the power to destroy all our negative habits and tendencies. Janmashtami
is a reminder that our right to enjoy divine sweetness is beckoning us. Krishna
is ready for us. Are we ready for him?
The writer
is a spiritual mentor at ISKCON, Pune.
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