MantraOnNet.com: Text & Images Of Lord Krishna

Krishna was a dynamic incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He was an Avatar.

An Avatar is one who is attuned to the supreme Consciousness from his very

birth. Krishna’s incarnation brought about a profound and powerful influence

upon Indian thought and life. There is no aspect of Indian life, culture

and civilisation which does not receive his revitalising  touch. 

India’s  philosophy  and  religion, mysticism and poetry,

painting and sculpture, music and dance articulated Krishna’s theme and

thought. Every aspect of Krishna’s life and deeds has a mystic symbolism

indicating a sublime truth. Some of them are explained below. They should

set a direction to the reader for deeper study and discovery of the allegorical

significance of the entire story of Krishna

Krishna is blue in colour and wears yellow clothes. Blue colour

has been always associated with infinity. The sky appears blue. So does

the ocean. Yellow colour represents earth. When sand is introduced in a

colourless flame, the flame turns yellow. The blue form of Krishna clothed

in yellow therefore suggests the Infinite Reality reduced to a finite human

being. The incarnation of Krishna represents the descent of God on earth.

This idea of the limitless, formless Reality being constricted and restricted

to a limited, human form is again suggested by Krishna’s birth in a prison.

The divine child was however not confined to the prison. No sooner was

Krishna born than the prison doors miraculously flung open. The guards

could not hold the child back. The child’s father, Vasudeva, carried him

out of the prison in spite of the severe restrictions imposed on him. This

episode is meant to convey that the infinite being can never be really

restricted or limited to the human form. A Godman is ever free and liberated.

The Atman in man is limitless. Only his body, mind and intellect are limited,

finite. These material equipments have a beginning and an end. They cannot

restrict the Atman. The Atman is eternal, all-pervading, infinite. Krishna

represents that Atman

Krishna was born in Mathura. His uncle, Karnsa was a tyrant. Karnsa

imprisoned his father and usurped the throne of Mathura. He reigned over

Mathura. His minister Chanura was equally wicked and cruel. Under the rule

of these two tyrants Mathura suffered greatly from confusion and chaos.

Krishna destroyed them both and restored peace and order in that land.

The word “mudhwam” means sweetness. The land of Mathura represents the

personality of man. Man’s essential nature is his Atman. His real nature

is ever sweet, peaceful and blissful. But when the evil forces of ego and

egocentric desires usurp man’s personality he suffers from stress and strain,

worries and anxieties. He is agitated and sorrowful. He loses his blissful

nature. To regain the lost bliss man has to destroy his ego and ego-centric

desires and establish his identity with his supreme Self.

Krishna is often represented as playing a flute. The enchanting

music emanating from the flute of the Lord is the bliss of Godhood enjoyed

by the man of Realisation.

The flute is hollow but it can produce enchanting music. So too when

man empties himself of his vasanas and desires the Divinity within him

flows out with enchanting bliss. Man has to give up all his claims upon

his body, mind and intellect, give up all his egocentric connections, all

thoughts of ‘mine’ and ‘thine’, rise above them all and chant OM (Krishna),

remove all selfishness from the flute of his body and fill it with the

divine breath of OM.

 

In the Bhagavad Gita Arjun surrenders to Lord Krishna completely

and seeks his advice. Krishna gives him the entire philosophy of life in

the eighteen chapters of the Gita and towards the end of the last chapter

he declares to Arjun ?I have declared the highest wisdom to you reflect

upon it and act as you choose to?

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