Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum! Lord Krishna!
Lord Krishna, his life, his message, and what he stood for has influenced thousands of generations. We do not see many personalities who have influenced mankind so much, so deep and still influencing in the same way. Krishna has all dimensions possible in a human existence. And at the same time, Krishna lived as another human being.
Life is as it happens every moment.
Krishna gave a very valuable lesson there. This is why we call him Jagat-Guru.
Another incident:
After the Mahabharata war, the Pandavas won. They defeated the huge army of Kauravas and became victorious. Krishna was the charioteer of Arjuna. Arjuna was excited. He was elated because he was a successful warrior; he was instrumental in defeating the opponents. He was very happy, and he was fully charged. He felt great, like anybody who succeeded, or who won a match would feel.
Krishna took him to his camp. He took the chariot to the camp and Arjuna was in the chariot. Usually what happens is that the chariot is stopped, the charioteer gets off, opens the door for the passenger to come out. During this time, Krishna was still sitting on that seat of the charioteer. He did not come out of the chariot. Arjuna waited, expecting Krishna to come out and open the door, so Arjuna could come out. But he did not, he stayed put. He told Arjuna. “Please, alight!” Arjuna thought it a bit weird – because first of all, they won the war, he was victorious, and he deserved to be escorted out. But Krishna was not moving. And Arjuna waited again. Krishna said, “Please, alight!”
Still, Arjuna waited. Maybe Krishna did not think. But Krishna for the third time, said, “Please, alight!” Arjuna opened the door himself and came out.
Krishna unfastened the reins of the horses, and he jumped out. The horses went away, and he jumped out. When he jumped out – at that moment, the chariot caught fire. Then Arjuna understood: If Krishna had got out of the chariot before Arjuna came out, Arjuna would be dead now, because he would have been caught in the fire.
So, what a Master does, may not be really understood at the time when it’s happening, people may feel it’s inconsistent with the usual social norms.
We have seen that in the lives of various Masters. So here, you can see a Master, a Jagat-Guru, a Master of the Universe like Krishna – extremely clear in his mind. He knew very well, that once the purpose was done, the chariot would dissolve. He knew very well. Arjuna was a person, an ordinary man – whose mind gets excited when he becomes victorious and depressed when he loses a war. A normal human being, a human mind, did not understand that situation or the reality of that time, of that situation. He expected the Master to come and open the door.
At that point in time, he did not even think of Krishna as a Master. He thought of Krishna as his charioteer, so he expected him to do the honors. But Krishna knew very well that if he comes out of the chariot, the whole chariot will burn, including the horses. So everybody will be affected if he comes out.
So what he did was – He did everything properly. He asked Arjuna to come out. Everything is released, only the chariot is remaining, and from there he came out, and the chariot got burnt.
This was a big lesson, and this is a big lesson for us also – what a Master does may have much higher dimensions, many varied dimensions than what we understand.
So we may tend to criticize, judge or be angry like Arjuna was upset with Krishna for not opening the door, but eventually, you will understand that the Master did something for a much higher purpose, because of much higher reasons. This is again a clear sign of which realm, which frequency, the Master is operating. And also a warning to all of us: not to judge a Master.
What the Master does is for a greater, higher purpose.
We may not understand. We should know that in every detail of Krishna’s story, we will see some pearls and gems, great truths, which can transform us. In the life of a great Master, every moment is valuable. It is a lesson for the world.
Likewise, in the story of Krishna – born in extremely adverse situations, his parents were in prison, and he was taken from his own mother to a foster mother, and he lived most of his childhood there. He was constantly hunted by the people sent by his uncle.
In this whole context, you can see a tremendously challenging childhood and totally abnormal situations of life. But you still see the stability in Krishna. Nothing affected him. His purpose was clear. Establishing dharma was his purpose and that purpose he fulfilled every moment, in every level, in every situation. Whether he was a lover, or as a husband to his wives, or as a ruler, as a politician, in every situation, he proved equanimity. He was steady. He was balanced and unperturbed.
There are so many different stories which we can talk about. Each story of Krishna, every aspect of his life is really meaningful. You can see the depth of yourself, your situations, your life, through his life. It clarifies. His life gives clarity to our life.
Transcribed by Nada Raković
Proofread by Shyama Jeyaseelan