Krishna

“ With tender thoughts—not Krishna, but brow and breast and lips
And form and mien a King, a great and godlike thing;
And then with bended head she asks grace from the Love Divine,
To keep thee discontented with the phantoms thou forswearest,
Till she may win her glory, and thou be raised to thine.
Softly now she sayeth,
"Krishna, Krishna, come!"
Lovingly she prayeth,
"Fair moon, light him home."
Yet if Hari helps not,
Moonlight cannot aid;
Ah! the woeful Radha!
Ah! the forest shade!
Ah! if Hari guide not,
Moonlight is as gloom;
Ah! if moonlight help not,
How shall Krishna come? ”

“ Krishna. Gaze, then, thou Son of Pritha! I manifest for thee
Those hundred thousand thousand shapes that clothe my Mystery:
I show thee all my semblances, infinite, rich, divine,
My changeful hues, my countless forms. See! in this face of mine,
Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Aswins, and Maruts; see
Wonders unnumbered, Indian Prince! revealed to none save thee.
Behold! this is the Universe! — Look! what is live and dead
I gather all in one — in Me! Gaze, as thy lips have said
On GOD, ETERNAL, VERY GOD! See ME! what thou prayest!
Thou canst not! — nor, with human eyes, Arjuna! ever mayest! ”

“ Krishna is there as in the forest; his heart forgets its home.
Krishna, made for heavenly things,
'Mid those woodland singers sings;
With those dancers dances featly,
Gives back soft embraces sweetly;
Smiles on that one, toys with this,
Glance for glance, and kiss for kiss;
Meets the merry damsels fairly,
Plays the round of folly rarely,
Lapped in milk-warm Spring-time weather,
He and those brown girls together. ”

“ The red light glared on the image of Krishna; to the terrified Sheo Deo it seemed almost as if the idol had life!
“Help me—save me! Oh! save thy worshipper, great Krishna!” he cried; while the heat around him grew more and more fearful, even as that of a furnace.
But the image stirred not, heard not. The sparks were kindling upon it.
Then, in the agony of his terror, the poor Hindu bethought him of the Christian’s powerful God. Even in the presence of his idol he clasped his hands and uttered the cry, “O Lord Jesus Christ, if Thou canst save me, oh! save me!” ”

“ O Krishna, Thou Child—or God, whatever Thou art, protect us from this death in this roaring flame. We care not for our lives, O Krishna, for they are thine by our love for Thee, but oh, the anguish the parting would mean—to die and not see Thy face again! Oh Thou, who by Thy strength dost slay the Asuras and drive from the land the serpent all powerful, save us from this, the parting with Thee and Thy loved companion Rāma, he that is most like Thee. ”

“ It was this Krishna, O king, who alone was able to keep the Rishi Durvasa of great energy as a guest for some time in his house. He is said to be the one ancient Rishi. He is the Creator of the universe. Indeed, He creates everything from His own nature. Superior to all the deities it is He who teaches all the deities. He scrupulously observes all ancient ordinances. Know, O king, that this Krishna, who is called Vishwaksena, is the fruit of all acts that relate to pleasure, of all acts that are founded on the Vedas, and of all acts that appertain to the world. ”

“ But it is Krishna alone who precisely knoweth what I am; and it is I alone who precisely know what Krishna (really) is. O thou endued with valour! O scion of Madhu’s race! as soon as he will perceive that the time is come for feats of bravery, then, O most valiant of Sini’s race, he also of beautiful hair (Krishna) will defeat Suyodhana. Let the brave men of the Dasarha race go back today. They are my patrons; and the foremost of human beings, they have visited me here. O ye of immeasurable strength! never fall off from the path of virtue. ”

“ Those birds are no worse than Rishis, for they sit high on trees whence they can have a full view of Krishna and with eyes closed they silently hear the sweet music of the flute. Even the rivers shew the love transformation of their hearts by their whirls and they stop their course to embrace the feet of Krishna with their raised billows serving as hands and offering lotus flowers at those feet. ”

“ Whether walking, eating, sitting, or sleeping his enmity was never at rest and Krishna was always present to his mind in his ordinary form, having eyes like lotus-petals, clad and bright yellow raiment, adorned with a garland, with bracelets on his arms and wrists and a diadem on his crown; having four stalwart arms bearing the conch, the discus, the mace and the lotus. Uttering his names always although in malediction Krishna was always present in his mind, and while inflicting his death Sisupāla saw him radiant with shining weapons and in his true Brahma form void of passion and enmity. ”

“ Again he dipped his head 'neath the waves of the water and again he saw Rāma and Krishna, and knew that his senses were not deluded,
Krishna, though seemingly a youth with all a youth's sportiveness and play, yet was the Lord Incarnate.
And near the cart, Akrura looked in the eyes of Krishna where the wisdom that created the universe lay, and answered the questioning gaze thus: "Lord! None is there as wonderful as Thou art! All hast Thou created and in Thee is all Creation. ”

“ We live for your love. Where are we to go?' 'If you really love me,' Krishna answers 'Dance and sing with me.' His words fill the cowgirls with delight and surrounding Krishna 'like golden creepers growing on a dark-coloured hill,' they go with him to the banks of the Jumna. Here Krishna has conjured up a golden circular terrace ornamented with pearls and diamonds and cooled by sprouting plantains. The moon pours down, saturating the forest. The cowgirls' joy increases. They beautify their bodies and then, wild with love, join with Krishna in singing and dancing. ”

“ Since, Krishna! none save thou can clear the doubt.
Krishna.
He is not lost, thou Son of Pritha! No!
Nor earth, nor heaven is forfeit, even for him,
Because no heart that holds one right desire
Treadeth the road of loss! He who should fail,
Desiring righteousness, cometh at death
Unto the Region of the Just; dwells there
Measureless years, and being born anew,
Beginneth life again in some fair home
Amid the mild and happy. It may chance
He doth descend into a Yogin house
On Virtue's breast; but that is rare! Such birth
Is hard to be obtained on this earth, Chief! ”

“ The devotee who wants to be the Friend and Companion of Krishna must have his all-forgetting Love of Krishna pervaded by an uninterrupted sense of equality with Him. He may serve Him as a slave, but it is the service of a friend who is more than a slave to his friend. The devotee who wants to love Krishna as a Father or Mother must have unwavering sincerity of such paternal love and affection. He or she must always consider himself or herself superior to Krishna whom they must regard as a helpless child in their charge. ”

“ An idyllic phase in Krishna's life now starts. 'At this time Krishna and Balarama, accompanied by the cow-boys, traversed the forests, that echoed with the hum of bees and the peacock's cry. Sometimes they sang in chorus or danced together; sometimes they sought shelter from the cold beneath the trees; sometimes they decorated themselves with flowery garlands, sometimes with peacocks' feathers; sometimes they stained themselves of various hues with the minerals of the mountain; sometimes weary they reposed on beds of leaves, and sometimes imitated in mirth the muttering of the thundercloud ”

“ What man of sense, again, would encounter the lotus-eyed Krishna, who, as regards the measure of his energy and power, surpasseth the three worlds? As regards Krishna, his wives, kinsmen, relatives, his own soul and the whole earth, put on one scale, weigheth with Dhananjaya on the other. That Vasudeva, upon whom Arjuna relieth, is irresistible, and that host where Kesava is, becometh irresistible everywhere. Listen, therefore, O child, to the counsels of those well-wishers of thine whose words are always for thy good. Accept thou thy aged grandsire, Bhishma, the son of Santanu, as thy guide. ”

“ SARGA THE FIRST. SAMODADAMODARO. THE SPORTS OF KRISHNA.
Beautiful Radha, jasmine-bosomed Radha,
All in the Spring-time waited by the wood
For Krishna fair, Krishna the all-forgetful,—
Krishna with earthly love's false fire consuming—
And some one of her maidens sang this song:—
(What follows is to the Music Vasanta and the Mode Yati.)
I know where Krishna tarries in these early days of Spring,
When every wind from warm Malay brings fragrance on its wing;
[10] Brings fragrance stolen far away from thickets of the clove,
In jungles where the bees hum and the Koil flutes her love ”

“ The Will of Krishna, therefore, is the cause of all Karma the entire Creation as well as of ours, because we are but parts of that Creation. This makes it clear that, since Krishna is the cause all Karma of the Universe, He is the Actor of all actions. This being so, the cause of our sufferings from bondage to Karma lies in our mistaken conception that we ourselves are the doer of our actions. This cannot be, because all our actions proceed from our past Karma, the roots of which are embedded in the Will of Krishna. It is Krishna that is the whole Universe, as well as its laws and actions. ”

“ Parāçara said:—The high-souled Krishna, cognisant of the prowess and strength of the son of Rohini, opened his mouth, smiling and said—"O thou the soul of all, the cause of cause and all that is alone when the world the destroyed, why art thou assuming clearly the character of a man? Dost thou not know that you and are alike the origin of the world and have come to relieve it of its load? The sky is thy head; the waters are thy person; earth is thy feet; eternal fire is thy mouth; the moon is thy mind; the wind is thy breath; the four regions are thy arms and hands. ”

“ We worship the images of the attribute-manifestations of the ONE God, of the ONE Deity, of the ONE Supreme Being, who pervades the universe, who originally is with Form and Formless at the same time. We worship Krishna, above all, in His Image as He manifested Himself and walked on earth among men 5,000 years ago; Krishna, whose miraculous deeds of love, power and valor no incarnation, either in the West or in the East, ever could enact or even imitate, before His time or even after His ascension to Heaven, up to to-day. ”

“ This scene with its crescendos of excitement, its delight in physical passion and ecstatic exploration of sexual desire is, in many ways, the climax of Krishna's pastoral career. It expresses the devotion felt for him by the cowgirls. It stresses his loving delight in their company. It suggests the blissful character of the ultimate union. No further revelation, in fact, is necessary for this is the crux of Krishna's life. None the less the ostensible reason for his birth remains—to rid the earth of the vicious tyrant Kansa—and to this the Purana now returns. ”

“ In fact, we have only to ask some basic questions to realize how slender is general understanding. What, for example, were the circumstances in which Krishna was born and why did he enter the world? Of which Indian god is he an incarnation? Who were his parents and how did he come to live among cowherds? Who were Radha and Rukmini? In what ways did he love the milkmaids and why has this aspect of his story assumed such big proportions in Indian religion? Why, in fact, is God a romantic lover? ”

“ This one (meaning Krishna) here, of undefiled glory, deserveth to be worshipped not by ourselves alone, but being of mighty arms, he deserveth to be worshipped by the three worlds also. Innumerable warriors among Kshatriyas have been vanquished in battle by Krishna. The whole universe without limit is established in him of the Vrishni race. Therefore do we worship Krishna amongst the best and the oldest, and not others. It behoveth thee not to say so. Let thy understanding be never so. I have, O king, waited upon many persons that are old in knowledge. ”

“ It is a Form which, the moment you produce some likeness of it in imagination thrills you with ecstasy, for it is Ecstasy condensed.
Krishna is best worshipped with the heart. Prayers and incantations and offerings, without sincere feeling, do not reach Him. He responds to the call of love alone. Call Him from the innermost depth of your heart with pure love—love unmixed with motive—with sincere, artless love of a fond baby for its mother, and He will appear to you and do whatever you want Him to do. ”

“ Being much pleased with him, Krishna gave him the blessing—"Fortune, O good friend, who depends on me, shall never forsake thee. Thou shalt never lose strength or wealth and thy family shall never be extinct. Enjoying many things, thou shalt, in the end, remembering me, attain to the region of the celestials. O good friend, thy mind shall always be in virtue and those, who shall be born in thy race, shall be long-lived. O great one, as long as the sun shall exist, none, in thy race, shall be disturbed with famine or other troubles". ”

“ It is Krishna that suffers and enjoys in so many shapes and forms which make up His moving Will, called Nature. All our troubles are born of our usurping His place, the place of the Real Actor. Hence Karma clings, by natural law, to whoever claims it. We claim the doership of actions which manifest themselves through us, but the real Doer is the spring of primeval action—Krishna Himself. ”

“ Even as a cowherd Krishna shows an elegance and poise which betrays his different origin. And in the Rasika Priya it is once again his courtly aura which determines his new role. A blend of prince and cowherd, Krishna ousts from poetry the courtly lovers who previously had seemed the acme of romance. Adoration of God acquires the grace and charm of courtly loving, passionate sensuality all the refinement and nobility of a spiritual religion. It is out of all these varied texts that the Krishna of Indian painting now emerges.
[64] ”