From Murali Rangaswamy Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 15:41:04 -0400 (EDT) To: mani@be.com ------------------------------------------------ Today is Sri Krishna Jayanti. Thinking of this day, I am reminded of several enchanting memories of the blue-bodied young boy of Brindavan. Great indeed are his many Leelas and the way in which he charms one and all. Several sages and seers have paid homage to him. Narada, Sri Kulashekara Azhwar, Andal, Tirumangai Azhawar, Nammazhwar have sung glorious verses in praise of Lord Krishna who embodies Shudda Satvam. The Bhagavad Gita coming from the Lord is the absolute truth which has withstood the test of time and has formed the basis and inspiration for many Acharyas and Azhwars. The commentaries on the Gita by Sri Ramanujacharya and Swami Desikan are simply brilliant. Lord Krishna is a personal favorite of mine because of the Soulabhyam aspect (easy accessibilty) of his Avataram. The Gopis of Brindavan saw "Para Vasudeva" as their young "tormentor" who stole their butter, milk and clothes (Gopi Vastra paharakAya Namah is one of the names of Krishna used while performing Pushpa Archana to Lord Krishna). The cowherds of Brindavan saw him as their companion and always felt secure in his company. Due to the maya of the Lord they could not see him in any other form except for brief glimpses where he performed extraordinary feats (killing of Kamsa, Aghasura, Dhenukasura, Putana, holding the Govardhana hill on his little finger, subduing of Kaliya etc). To Yahsoda he was her darling child. She could experience the love of the Lord through "Vatsalya" (unmitigated, untainted love like the love of a cow for its calf) for Krishna. To Sudama, and Arjuna, Krishna was their dear friend. They were able to see and experience the Vaibhavam of the Lord through Sakhya Bhava. To the Pandavas, he was their friend Philosopher and guide. To Bhishma, he was the one who granted Mukti. One of the names of the Lord that appears in his Shata Divya Namavali is "Bhishma Mukti Pradayakaya Namaha" The sukshmam here is that during the Mahabharata war, Bhishma was tired of fighting and at the end of the 8th day of the war, he promised Duryodhana that he would fight at his very best the next day (9th day). The reason Bhishma was upset was because he worshipped Krishna every morning but since he was fighting the war, he could not worship the Lord everyday by reciting the Lord's names. Therefore, he promised Duryodhana that he will make Krishna break his vow of not taking up weapons in the war (by making the Lord appear before him with Chakram in hand) On the 9th day of the war, Bhishma promptly began mowing down the Pandava army so that he could confront Arjuna and get a Darshan of the Lord. Since Bhishma could not offer flowers to the Lord, he resolved to use his arrows as flowers and chant the name of the Lord while aiming each arrow at the Lord. In this manner Bhishma, shot 108 arrows at the Lord while uttering the Lord's name before shooting each arrow. Sri Veda Vyasa portrays the Lord as being extremely beautiful when each arrow frm Bhishma drew his blood. When the last arrow had been shot, the Lord Madhava was pleased with his devotion and decided to appear before his devotee. Feigning anger on Arjuna (for apparently being soft in his methods of fighting against Bhishma), the Lord set out with Chakram in hand to appear before Bhishma and bless him. Thus, just uttering the name of Lord Krishna is sufficient to destroy one's sins entirely and pave the way for Moksham. A reference from the Narayanopanishad says that "Brahmanyo Devaki Putro Brahmanyo MadhusudanOm". The Lord is glorified elsewhere as the embodiment of the four vedas (Chatur Vedatmakaaya Namaha). Another reason for my reverence for Lord Krishna is because the saptaswarams of music originated from his flute (reference, the Kriti Ganamoorthae in the Ragam Ganamurthy). The easiest path to practice is Eka Mantram: OmithyekAksharam Eka Nama: Devaki PutronAmam Eka Seva: Devaki Putro Seva In conclusion, I would like to salute the Lord with the following Shlokams: SarvopaniShado Gavo Doghda Gopalanandanaha I Partho Vatsa Sudhir Bhokta Dugdham Geetamrutamahath II (In this Shlokam, all the Upanishads are likened to a Cow, Krishna performs the task of a milk-man milking the cow [Upanishads], Arjuna is the calf that is thirsty for the milk from the Upanishads which is denoted by Geetamrutam) Vasudevasutam Devam Kamsa Chanura Mardhanam I Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum II (Salutations to Lord Krishna, the son of Vasudeva who killed Kamsa, Chanura, who brought greatest joy to Devaki and who is the teacher of the three worlds). Shankha Chakra GadApaNe Dwaraka Nilayachyuta Govinda PundarikAksha RakshamAm SharaNagatam (O Govinda, who holds in his hands, the Conch, Discus and mace and who is the Achyuta living in Dwaraka, lotus eyed one, please protect me who has surrendered to you) Sri Venugopalaswamy Parabrahmane Namaha, Muralidhar Rangaswamy