When the whole world was sleeping Krishna was born in a prison in Mathura. This was not like the birth of any king or wise man. Krishna was different from them. He was a god who did not always tell the truth. He was a warrior who ran away from a fight. He was a king who lived like a cowherd. He was a philosopher who taught people through jokes and tricks. Krishna, the rogue was born to break all the rules.
The story of Krishnas birth is really special. Rama was born in a palace with a lot of celebrations on an happy day. Buddha was born in a garden under a tree. Krishna chose to be born at the hour of the night. He was born in a prison when it was midnight and the moon was hidden. His parents were locked up in chains. His uncle Kansa wanted to kill him because he had already killed seven babies before him. The whole kingdom was scared. The night was silent. Soon as Krishna was born amazing things started to happen. The chains broke the prison doors opened by themselves. The guards fell into a sleep. The river Yamuna, which was overflowing with water became calm and peaceful. It parted to let Vasudeva carry the baby to safety in Gokul. The snake Sheshnaag came to protect the child from the rain. Krishna was born to break all the rules and change the world. Nature itself became his follower.
So what makes Krishna different from gods and heroes? The answer is that Krishna is complete. He is called the Purna Avatar, the incarnation. Rama was a man. He always followed the rules without questioning them. He never did anything when it hurt him. Krishnas greatness lies in his freedom. He does not always tell the truth. He takes things that do not belong to him. He breaks his promises. He does all these things for the reasons, not for himself. He lies to his mother Yashoda with butter on his face. He says, “Mother I did not eat the butter ” and we love him for it because his lie was not meant to hurt anyone. He takes the clothes of the gopis to teach them about surrender. That before God we should not have any ego or shame. He tells Yudhishthira to tell a truth in war to save what is right when Dronacharya becomes too powerful. Krishna breaks the rules to protect what is right not for his gain. That is the difference between a rogue and a charming rogue.
Krishna is a rogue because he does not do what we expect from God. We think God should be distant and serious sitting on a throne judging us. Krishna plays with children in the dust of Vrindavan. He plays the flute under the Kadamba tree and dances with the village during Raas. We think God should always be fair and neutral. Krishna takes sides openly in Kurukshetra. Says he is on the side of what is right even if it looks unfair. He laughs he teases he gets angry he cries with Draupadi when she is humiliated. Krishna is someone we can talk to argue with and even joke with. Arjuna questions him doubts him and even accuses him on the battlefield. Krishna does not punish him. Instead he answers with the Gita like a therapist who understands us. He helps us and that is why we still love Krishna after five thousand years because he never asked us to be perfect he just asked us to be honest.
Krishnas story is very important in mythology. Before Krishna India had gods like Indra and Agni who were powerful. You had to give them gifts to get what you wanted. It was like a business deal. Krishna changed all that. He came from a cowherd tribe in Vrindavan. Was a local deity of the Yadavas. Later he became a part of the tradition as an avatar of Vishnu. Krishna made God accessible to everyone, not the priests and scholars who knew Sanskrit. Meera could reach him through her songs, Surdas through his poetry and a poor man like Sudama through a gift of beaten rice. He broke the monopoly of rituals. He told the people of Braj to stop worshipping Indra and instead worship Govardhan hill, which represented nature, effort and community. When Indra sent floods in anger Krishna lifted the hill on his finger for seven days to show that God is not in rituals of fear but in protection and love.
The Mahabharata is different from the Ramayana. The Ramayana is a world of black and white right and wrong where Ravanas evil and Rama’s good. The Mahabharata is the world we live in, where everything is grey and complicated where your teacher can be on the enemy side and your vow can protect what is wrong. In this world Ramas rigid morality would not work. We need a Krishna, who can tell us that sometimes we have to bend the truth to do what is right. When Bhishma could not be defeated Krishna pointed to Shikhandi. When Drona could not be killed Krishna planned the truth about Ashwatthama. Krishna is Indias answer to complexity because he does not give us rules carved in stone. He gives us a compass to navigate the world when the map itself is changing.
Krishna is still very important in the world today. The Bhagavad Gita is studied in universities, management schools and army training academies over the world. Krishnas role as a charioteer is a metaphor for a leader, who does not fight the battle himself but holds the reins sees the whole battlefield and manages the warriors minds. When Arjuna had a breakdown before the war Krishna did not tell him to be strong and fight. He asked him questions listened to his fears and explained duty, action, detachment and the nature of the self. He cured Arjunas paralysis, not with orders. With perspective. Krishna is the counsellor who understood that all wars are first won in the mind and that lesson is more relevant today than ever.
As a figure Krishna is Indias thread. He is celebrated in forms in every state yet remains the same at heart. He is Jagannath in Odisha, Shrinathji in Rajasthan, Guruvayurappan in Kerala, Udupi Krishna in Karnataka and Banke Bihari in Uttar Pradesh. From Dahi Handi in Maharashtra to Raas Leela in Manipur his stories adapt to culture. His essence of love and playfulness remains unchanged. For entrepreneurs Krishna is the founder, who broke the monopoly of Kansa, a tyrant who controlled Mathuras market. He built a city Dwaraka, from the sea with strategy and design. He used alliances from the Sudama to the mighty Pandavas and taught us that we can be playful and powerful that charm is an advantage and that purpose is more important than process.
People often ask questions about Krishna because he is not easy to understand. One question is about his 16,108 wives. Was he a womanizer? The mythology is nuanced. He had eight queens, with Rukmini being the first and chief. The other 16,100 were princesses held captive by the demon Narakasura. After Krishna killed him society would not accept these women back due to stigma. To give them dignity, home and social status Krishna married them. It was an act of rehabilitation not desire. The number also symbolizes that God can have a relationship with thousands of devotees at once. Another question is about the episode where he stole the clothes of the gopis. Judged by todays standards it looks wrong. In the theology of Bhakti, the gopis were praying to have Krishna as their husband. They left their clothes on the bank as a symbol of ego. Krishnas act was to say, “if you want union with me come without any cover without any ego without anything to hide.” It was a lesson in surrender, not mischief.
People also ask, “if Krishna was God why did he not stop the war?” The answer is, in his words he went to Hastinapur as a messenger of peace and asked for five villages for the Pandavas to avoid bloodshed. Duryodhana tried to imprison Krishna. Krishna then showed his form. Walked away. Peace cannot be forced and Krishnas philosophy is clear: he will show us the path explain what is right warn us of consequences but he will not walk for us. Free will is supreme. He ensures that what is wins but he does not take away human agency. That is why he does not pick up weapons himself in the war. He drives the chariot manages the horses and the choice to shoot the arrow must be Arjunas. Responsibility cannot be outsourced to God.
Another question is why Krishna is blue. The color is Shyam, like a rain cloud before it pours. Blue is like the sky and the ocean it is infinity that which has no end. Krishnas blue color also shows that he drank the worlds poison, when the demoness Putana tried to kill him with poisoned breast milk. The infant Krishna sucked out her life and kept the poison in his body so his skin turned dark. This means Krishna takes in the worlds negativity, betrayal and hatred and still gives love, music and the Gita. He absorbs poison gives nectar.
People often wonder if it is sensible to do your duty without caring about the results. The Gitas verse, “Karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana ” is frequently misinterpreted. It does not imply that you should not have any ambitions or goals. It means you should be aware of what you can control and what you cannot control. You have control over how you try how you prepare and how you behave. However you cannot control what other people think what the judges decide or what happens by chance.
For instance an athlete has control over their training, diet and mindset. They cannot control whether their opponent has a day or if rain stops play. If you worry much about winning you will become anxious. Your training will suffer. So you should focus on what you can control, which’s your actions, your karma. You should do it with focus and detachment, from the outcome. The results will take care of themselves.
Krishna was born at midnight which is a cool thing. It just goes to show that when things seem really dark something good can still happen. He was born in a prison, which’s a weird place to be born but it shows us that we do not have to think like everyone else. We can be free even when we are stuck in a situation.
Krishna was a bit of a troublemaker because he knew that people do not always listen to serious talks and rules. Sometimes people need something to surprise them and make them think. Like a joke or a happy song that makes them feel something. We do not need some God who’s far away from us right now. We need a friend who can help us when we are struggling. We need someone who will sit with us when we feel like giving up.
We need someone like Krishna who can think about things like the universe but also have fun and dance in the moonlight. We need someone who can remind us that rules are made for people, not the way around. Krishna can remind us that sometimes we have to break the rules a bit to do what is right. Like when we need to protect someone who is being hurt or when we need to choose love of following some law. That is why Krishna is still important today.
Krishna is not someone we read about in old books or visit in temples. Krishna is what happens when someone decides to be brave or to laugh of being scared. Krishna is what happens when someone chooses to love of hate and to be free instead of trapped. The midnight child, Krishna is still helping people in India and around the world to be free one note at a time, on his flute.
By: Aditi Thakur
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