The glory of Krishna Avathaar

28 August 1994, Krishna Jayanthi, Brindavan

Published English.

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EMBODIMENTS of love! It was the middle of the . Unable to bear the atrocities committed on good people by demonic rulers, the Goddess of Earth prayed to the Lord in many ways. Offering solace to the grief-stricken Goddess, the Lord said; "! You may return to the earth. I shall do what needs to be done. You will be relieved of your Burden." Encouraging her in this way the Lord sent Mother Earth back to the world. Thereafter, the Lord summoned all the (denizens of the celestial world) and directed them to take birth as . The originator of the Yadhava clan is . His eldest son was known as . The descendants of came to be known in course of time as . Among the , there was a chief known as , who was a righteous person, wedded to truth. The characters figuring in the legend belong to 's lineage. had two sons and . was the son of . was the daughter of . had no sister of his own. He had great affection for his cousin , whom he treated as his own uterine sister.

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The warning to from the ethereal voice In the Yadhava clan, there was one , the son of . was one of the satraps in the Yadhava kingdom. He was known as one who stood by his plighted word. and , after a great deal of search, picked upon as a suitable bridegroom for . already had a wife by the name . In those rimes, there were no restrictions regarding polygamy. Because he had no child through , agreed to marry . After the marriage, got ready his chariot to take and to their home. drove the chariot himself with a heavy heart, overwhelmed by the prospect of separation from his beloved cousin. was as dear to as his life-breath. At the time of her leaving her paternal home, was presented with many precious gifts by , besides a retinue of elephants, horses and guardsmen. While the chariot was proceeding in a grand manner, all of a sudden a loud voice was heard from the sky: "You fool! You do not know what is in store for you. The one who will slay you for all your misdeeds will be born as the eighth child of your sister." After saying this, the ethereal spirit vanished.

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The moment heard these words, he flew into a rage. He jumped down from the chariot, seized by the hair, unsheathed his sword to cut off her head. , who was the very embodiment of peace, truth and righteousness, held 's hands and asked him why he was worried so much over the prospect of death. "Death is inevitable, whether today or in time to come. Whatever you may do to protect yourself, death will come in its own time even if you hide yourself in a forest. All beings that are born are destined to die. ! The ethereal voice declared that death will come to you from the hands of the eighth child (of ) and not immediately There are many years ahead before the eighth child. It is not proper that you should lose your temper. Release the girl whom you had loved as your sister. I shall hand over to you every child that is born to her." When gave his pledge, realised the truth of his words and released from his hold. returned to his palace without getting back into the chariot.

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Sage 's advice to and reached their home with heavy hearts. As days passed by and was immersed in worry about the prospect of death, Sage came to him one day. After talking about world affairs in general, before leaving, told -"You are verily a fool. You are not aware of your real plight. The ethereal voice said that ('s) eighth child will be your slayer. But you cannot know from which of her children death will come to you. You cannot rake a chance with any of them." From that moment 's distress and fear increased. He commanded to hand over to him every child. He killed six of the newborn children as they were handed over to him. When was enceinte for the seventh time, made all arrangements to carry out His promise to Mother Earth. To promote the welfare of the world, to establish among mankind, to uphold truth and to instill devotion to God in humanity, the Divine process had to be set in motion. The took birth as . summoned His allpervading (The Cosmic Energy), and said "Go forth immediately and enter the womb of ." Summoning (the Divine Serpent) the Lord directed him to go to and enter the womb of ('s elder wife). "I shall be entering the womb of ."

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's birth in prison In 's seventh pregnancy, the Lord had the foetus transferred to 's womb and was informed that had an abortion. made His advent in her eighth pregnancy Apprehending danger from , arranged to send to 's home. was a sister of . Expecting mortal danger to himself from the eighth child of , kept and in a heavily guarded prison. He kept the key of the' prison lock with himself. gave birth to a son on an (eighth day after the New Moon) in the asterism . The Child that was born was the Lord Himself with all His effulgence and all the insignia of . On the child's chest was the mole. The ornament shone brilliantly. and folded their hands in adoration, blinded by the effulgence of the Divine Child. They felt that their lives had been redeemed by the birth of the Lord, whom they saw with their own eyes. Approaching the baby and caressing his palms and feet, they prayed to the Lord: "Thanks to our good fortune, you have taken birth as our son. But we are not in a position to protect you. You must use your divine potency to get away from this prison by any means.

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The ways of the Divine are marvellous and mysterious sat beside the child and started praying. Immediately a basket appeared before him. Placing the Divine child in the basket he looked at the prison door. He saw that it was open. The ways of the Divine are marvellous and mysterious, felt . He stepped out of the prison. He found all the guards sound asleep. As he came out, there was a heavy downpour. The was in spate. He prayed to to see that there was no impediment in the way of his mission to protect the Divine child. The gave him passage. He reached 's house.

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The same day had given birth to a child. was unconscious. The child was none other than . When she was born, both and were in a state of trance. Leaving the infant by the side of , returned to with the other child. When left 's house, the child left beside uttered a cry. and did not know whether the newborn was a boy or girl. On hearing the child's cry, looked at it and found that it was a boy. rook the female child back to his prison. There the child starred crying. On hearing the cry, all the guards woke up. They rotund the prison gates closed. They informed about the birth of the child. , who had been anxiously waiting for the news, rushed to the prison. Seizing the new-born child from 's hands, he flung it up in the air to slay it with his sword. The child, , spoke from above, "You fool! The boy who is going to slay you is already born. He is growing up in a certain place. You cannot escape your destined end." Saying this, vanished.

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's nightmare about his killer From that moment, was engaged in finding out the whereabouts of the child that was to be his slayer. He released and from prison. Once, and , as satraps in 's kingdom, came to to pay their annual tribute to him. While they were returning, and were lamenting over their plight. observed that in ('s place) some inauspicious events seemed to be impending. "In also some untoward events are likely to happen. , do not stay in for long. Leave the place immediately:" On hearing this warning, immediately returned to . In , demoniac elements were all the time moving about actively. The first of them was . She lost her life while giving suck to . This in a previous life was , the daughter of Emperor . The Lord as appeared as an extremely handsome young lad at the sacrifice being performed by . was charmed by the beauty of and felt how much she would have enjoyed rearing him if he had been her son. As she was having these thoughts, she found that had placed his foot on 's head (after he had measured two footsteps).

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Enraged at this sight, she was filled with desire to kill him. Because she desired at first to fondle as a child and later to kill him, she was born as and came to to feed him and kill him. In the end, she lost her life. The Lord has His own ways of fulfilling the desires of people. Hence, it is essential to have good thoughts and good desires.

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Child proves that He is Divine When was three years old he saw an old lady carrying a basket of fruits from the jungle. told her he would like to have some fruits. The old woman said he could get them only if he paid the price innocently asked the meaning of the word price. The woman said that something should be given in return for the fruit. went in and brought a palmful of rice. The woman placed the rice in her basket and gave some fruits. She was charmed by the beauty of the child. As she was returning to her cottage, she felt that the basket was getting heavier. When she placed it down in her hut, she was amazed to find that all the rice grains had turned into precious gems! She thought the child must be divine. Otherwise how could the rice turn into gems? Considering herself supremely lucky, she invited her neighbours to see the miracle.

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was pleading with that he should be allowed to go to the forest with other cowherd boys. Thinking that if he was put to sleep he would forget his desire to go to the forest, gave him milk. was no ordinary child. While drinking the milk, he pretended as if he was sleepy. He made a pretence of yawning to indicate his drowsiness. In that wide open mouth of , saw all kinds of things - all the worlds in motion and many deities. She could not make out what it meant. "Is it a dream or 's (illustrious power)? Or is it some fantasy of mine? Or is it real? Am I ? Have I gone somewhere?" These thoughts racked her mind. "My son is an infant. How can all the worlds appear in his tiny mouth? It must be my imagination." Such doubts arise in the minds of those who are caught up in the delusions of the body complex.

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How child fought with the demons Yielding to his entreaties allowed to go to the forest with the cowherd boys. Almost every day encountered some ogre or ogress and slayed them. His playmates used to describe to their elders these exploits of , how he fought with the demons and finished them off.

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, however, used to say: "God is taking care of my child. Otherwise how could he overcome these encounters?" The cowherd boys observed: "When he himself is God, why does he need anybody's protection, oh mother!" felt that the boys were naive in their judgment. "Will God come to one's rescue so easily? It is only because of my prayers, my child is protected." With this belief, used to perform various rites, when. returned from the forest, to express her gratitude to Providence for saving him from the evil eye and other dangers.

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There was great rejoicing among the (celestial beings) when they heard about the slaying of many demons on earth by Lord in His incarnation as . On hearing these stories, wanted to verify the truth about 's prowess red the miracles attributed to him.

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verifies 's prowess That same night gave a directive to his mares. "Today do not rake the cows for grazing. Let us rake the calves. Come with the calves together with your respective musical instruments. We must spend the day with music." Most of them came with flutes on which they could play well, holding a stick in one hand and a flute in the other. Only two boys brought two mud-pots to be used as drums. Playing on the mud-pot is known today as . This art is as ancient as the . The cowherd boys gathered on the bank of the with calves. Some of them played on their flutes, some drummed their mud-pots while danced to the music. When stopped dancing, others started dancing. After sometime, , one of the two intimate friends of (the other being ), told that he was feeling hungry and would like to have some palm-fruits from palm trees a little far away. , who was close by, said he would fetch the fruits. went near the trees and shook them. All the fruits dropped brown. At the time of the naming ceremony of the child , the sage referred to the strength of the baby and said that the name would be appropriate for him. At that time, a huge donkey appeared there. All were frightened. The donkey was getting bigger and bigger. seized the donkey by the forelegs and dashed it to the ground. It died on the spot. The cowherd boys hailed as a hero and danced in joy. Biding his time, created at that moment a huge cave. He took into the cave all the calves, while the cowherd boys were immersed in merriment. Missing the calves, the boys started searching for them, shouting "! !" knew what was 'afoot and directed his mates to search for the calves in the cave nearby They all went into the cave. Immediately the mouth of the cave closed in. The boys and the calves were caught inside. They were there for a whole year.

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realises the inscrutable ways of the Lord wanted to teach a lesson. He took the form of all the calves and all the imprisoned in the cave. In the evening and took the calves and the boys back to their homes. This went on day after day for a whole year. The elders assumed that the calves and the boys were their own. wondered what was happening? Had managed to free the boys and the calves from the cave? When he went into the cave he found all of them inside. He was amazed to find that the same boys and calves were inside as well as outside. He then realised the inscrutable way of the Lord. "How can anyone know you, oh You are subtler than the atom and vaster than the vaste in creation. You dwell in all the myriad species in all the world, how can anyone know you?" He prayed to to forgive him and released the calves and the boys from the cave. This episode reveals that the Supreme Lord can assume countless forms. He can assume the form of the entire cosmos. That is why the declared- "The entire cosmos is dwelt in by God." All are forms of the Divine. How is this possible? By the power of the Will of God. If a man, while asleep, experiences all kinds of things in the dream, including his own movements, while in fact he is motionless on his bed, what is it that is beyond the power of the Supreme Lord? Seeing the Divine in-human form people can have doubts whether the incarnation can have such miraculous powers when he has the same body as themselves. They do not perceive the oneness of the . It is difficult to recognise the Divine in the human form.

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's were intended to reveal His Divinity Not recognizing His Divinity many people reviled calling him a philanderer and a thief. These accusations do not detract from His greatness. They are born of delusion. Men make the same mistake about themselves, forgetting their inherent divinity and identifying themselves with their bodies. appeared in human form to teach mankind to transcend their body consciousness.

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's (sportive miracles) were intended in one way or another to reveal His divinity. Once teased by declaring: "You are not 's son. You may ask why I say so. This is because and are of fair complexion and your are dark. You are not their child. You must have been born somewhere else." What said was true and knew it. But assuming an air of innocence, went to and complained "Mother! is saying that I am not your son. Tell me the truth." replied: "! What does know? He is an innocent boy. You are very cute. You are highly intelligent. Don't pay any heed to his words. You are truly my son. The colour given by God is permanent. Colour as such is not important. Many people paint themselves in different ways to conceal their identity. All these are momentary. The colour given by God cannot be changed by anyone. God likes the dark complexion. You have got the colour of the Divine."

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' spiritual love for The used to describe in many ways. Their love for was entirely spiritual. Their feelings were absolutely pure. While was listening to 's narration of 's , many doubts occurred to him. resolved all the doubts. "! You are viewing things from a worldly point of view and missing the truth. No one can determine the form of the Divine. He can assume any form at any time. But, when he has to demonstrate the nature of Divinity to mankind, He has to come in human form. But man, because of his polluted mind is unable to recognise the Divine in human form." Even , despite many occasions in which demonstrated His divinity, continued to regard him as a human child and frequently thanked the Lord for saving her child from many dangers. But tried to change her view by the words He used on different occasions. Once when asked whether it was true, as alleged by , that he was in the habit of eating mud, replied: "Mother, am I a child, or a naughty boy or madcap to ear mud? People are mad about me. I am here to cure the world of its madness." From these words began to realise that was no ordinary Child but a manifestation of the Divine.

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The ways of the There are many subtle truths relating to an incarnation which cannot be easily understood. Merely to describe the various sports and exploits of as a child is only a pastime. God's ways are infinite and inscrutable. No one can determine or dictate to God how He should act. He can transform anything in a moment. It must be clearly understood that was such a manifestation of the Divine. The name has to be properly understood. "" + "" = . This means that He is one who cultivates () the heart. "" + "" is another derivation, which indicates that is one who attracts - . attracts people not only by the matchless beauty of His form. He attracts people by his music, his dance, his sports and his words. , by His winsome ways, could turn the anger of the towards him because of his pranks, into an enjoyable joke.

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Not was that all. , in fulfilling the pledge He had given to Mother Earth, rid the world of many wicked rulers and sought to establish the reign of Righteousness for the protection of the good.

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The Divine incarnates from age to age for the purpose of protecting the virtuous, punishing the wicked and establishing . is said to have destroyed many wicked persons. But this is not quire correct. It is their own wickedness which destroyed these evil persons. Today if the Divine wants to punish the wicked and protect the righteous, there will not be even one wholly righteous person. All will qualify for punishment. It is .not a question of destroying the wicked. The task today is to transform (unrighteousness) into (righteousness). How is this to be done? Through love alone.

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Men's thoughts determine their destiny also changed the hearts of many people through love. It may be asked: "Is it not who killed ?" Not at all. This is the text-book version. In truth, it was 's own heated (delusion) which killed him. He was always haunted by the fear of . His death was a result and a reaction of that fear. Men's thoughts determine their destiny. Hence, men should cultivate good thoughts and eschew all bad feelings.

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God has no dislike for anyone. He envies no one. He has no ill-will towards anyone. Not does He have favourites. The grace one gets is the result of one's own feelings. "" (The Divine is beyond feelings and attributes). He is "" (the One, Truth, Pure, Immovable). He is "" (Eternal Witness in all minds). When devotees complain now-a-days why they are being punished by the Lord in various ways, they do not realise that it is not God who is punishing them. Their own fears and fancies are the cause of their troubles. He alone is a true devotee who recognises that his sufferings are the consequence of his own bad thoughts and actions. One such devotee was , sister of (and mother of the ). She was 's maternal aunt.

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's strange prayer to was leaving for . He was bidding farewell to all his kinsfolk and taking leave of and others. Everyone silently accepted his decision. The chariot was ready for 's departure. But the Divine can change his mind at any moment. After raking leave of all others he went to . told him- "! All the troubles we experienced were due to our delusions. If had not been lured by the game of dice, would we have been subject to exile in the forest and all the troubles we went through? Hence my children were the root cause of all our troubles. You are always our protector. During all our troubles I always remembered you. In the world people remember God only in times of trouble and not when they are happy Therefore, , as long as I have a body, give me always difficulties. However, having had you with us all these years, we are deeply distressed to see you part from us. I have no power to change your mind. I only pray do not forget this aunt of yours." After that, went to ('s wife). Hearing that was leaving for , ran towards and fell at his feet. "Lord! Since 's death, I have been trying hard to bear the pain that is gnawing at my bosom. There is a fire burning in my womb. I cannot divine the reason. You should not leave at all for now. You must stay You have been the protector of my forebears for many generations. You were the saviour of the . The child in my womb is the only hope of the Pandava clan. If anything untoward happens to that child, the Pandava dynasty will be extinguished. Therefore, you must not leave." So saying, firmly clung to 's feet. was immediately moved by 's deep devotion. The journey to was given up. made a promise to . "I will not leave for till your child is born," assured . At that moment, and his brothers, and praised 's devotion to the Lord. Though young in years, was pre-eminent in her devotion. This was because when she was enceinte, entered her womb to protect the foetus from the (a terrible missile) of . She had a vision in a dream of entering her womb. From that moment she was ceaselessly chanting the name of and seeing in every person and every object. Because of this, when the child was born, named him as he rested everyone till he recognized .

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Divine madness of has a lesson for all It is clear that the (miracles) of God are inexplicable and infinite. It is ludicrous to seek the whereabouts of the Divine, who is omnipresent. was one who recognised the omnipresence of God. Recognising her supreme devotion was prepared to change His plans. People should realise that God responds only to deep and genuine devotion. Verbal supplications will not suffice. The devotee must acquire the yearning that will melt the heart of God. Even butter which is so soft melts only when heat is applied. Likewise, the warmth of (love of the Lord) has to be applied to the butter of the human heart to make it melt. It was their intense devotion which made dwell in the hearts of . They became God-intoxicate. Once when disappeared from their midst they started searching for him everywhere, among the trees and the bushes of , oblivious to everything else. Their appeals to the creepers to tell them whether their was hiding amongst them night seem hysterical. But it would be a good thing if such hysterical love of God filled people's hearts today. The world will be a calmer and better place.

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Craze for God removes the craze for wealth Some people talk caustically to devotees saying: "You have gone crazy over ." This craziness is sublime madness. There are all kinds of lunatics in the mental hospital, many of whom pose difficult problems for the doctors. If some God-mad devotee sits in a corner chanting God's name, what a relief he would be to doctors! If you develop this kind of sublime madness, you will be supremely fortunate indeed! Everyone should be crazy about God. Only then they will get rid of the mad craving for wealth and the things of the world. The craze for money is the cause of all the ills in the world. With the result that the desire for God declines. Because of the craze for riches, all other evil qualities like pride, greed, envy and hatred have grown among mankind. Wealth is, indeed, needed, but it is the wealth of Divine Grace and the treasure of Divine Love. That alone is lasting. All other things are transient. Once appealingly asked why he was going to the Gopika's houses to steal their butter when there was so much butter in their own house. The Child replied: "Mother, I am not stealing butter but the hearts of the ." ( sang a beautiful song relating to this episode). "Their hearts are pure and full of devotion," said . "Their butter is filled with the devotion with which they churn the buttermilk. Their bangles keep time as they sing 's name while churning. The butter that is got contains the essence of the ." asked whether this kind of churning was taking place in her house.

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is hailed as In this manner, every word of was replete with spiritual significance. The is hailed as , compared to all previous . could obtain peace of mind only when, on the advice of Sage , he began to write about the glorious incarnations of the Lord (described in the ). All his earlier writings, including the codification of the and the writing of the , could not confer peace on him.

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