Sometime last year, on August 18th 2022, to be precise, I started my new series of talks based on the ancient Indian scripture namely the Bhagavata. That day happened to be the birth day of Krishna who was the focus of my talks. That series went on for 33 weeks and finally concluded this year i.e. on March 30th 2023.
You remember the circumstances in which God agreed to appear on earth? We discussed that in the very beginning. It was to put an end to many tyrants who were wreaking havoc on earth and tormenting helpless people. With the killing of Kamsa, Chanura, Jarasandha, Duryodhana and so on, God’s purpose of coming to earth was successfully completed. Now it is time to lower the curtains and end this divine drama.
Having failed to convince Duryodhana about the futility of the war, Krishna set out on the next strategy namely Bheda or ‘divide and rule’. He wanted to weaken Duryodhana and force him to give up war.
We were discussing the plans of Krishna to go to Hastinapur as a peace maker. It was a strange situation. On one hand, Krishna very well knew how futile his attempts were. He also predicted the end game and assured Draupadi that war was going to happen and her revenge would be taken. On the other hand, Krishna wanted to play his role as a human being. He set off to Hastinapur as an envoy of Yudhishthira who wanted to avoid war at any cost. Yudhishthira was even prepared to give up his claim for the Kingdom.
The Pandavas finally completed their 13 years of exile. They went through lot of hardships both when they spent their 12 years in the forests as well as when they spent a year incognito. Especially the last year was quite tough.
We were discussing about Krishna’s stories from Bhagavata. Now all of a sudden, I seem to shift from Bhagavata to another Indian Epic namely Mahabharata. It is not without reason though.
In the previous episode, we saw 4 of those Gurus namely earth, air, sky, and water. We also saw what Avadhoota learnt from these Gurus. Let us continue with some more of his Gurus in this episode.
Guru is a Sanskrit word which means a teacher – someone who shows you the way. Many of us spend our lifetime searching for a Guru in our spiritual journey. We try to coverup our lazy lifestyle by saying that we have not yet found a proper Guru. And some of us hang on to fake Gurus who mislead more than lead us on the right path. Bhagavata talks of a strange man who claimed that he had not one but 24 Gurus! But most of them were not even human!
Students lived in such Gurukuls along with their teachers and their family, during the period of their study which could be as long as 12 years. During that period, these students not only studied various subjects but also took part in the day-to-day household activities of the teachers’ family. In a way, it used to be all-round-training.
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| Jara bringing child Jarasandha |
With
the dual intention of freeing the Kings imprisoned by Jarasandha and
also attending special Rajasuya ritual organized by Yudhishthira,
Krishna and his entourage reaches Indraprastha. It would have taken
several days for them to travel from western end of India to almost
Northern end.
Krishna has left behind his naughty childhood days. And also, the playful youthful days. He is a mature person now, married and also with several children. Though he was not the King, for all practical purposes, he worked like the representative of aging King Ugrasena – his maternal grand father.
Have you ever wondered how a King or Prime minister or President of a country spends his typical day? Here is a short snap shot that Vyasa provides.
While he was in Gokul, as a mischievous kid, Krishna was often accused of stealing butter. As he grew into a young man, people accused him of stealing the hearts of young girls. He was now an adult and the prince of Dwarika. But accusations of stealing never left Krishna. And now, he was faced with the accusation of stealing an expensive Gem. What is this new story?
Krishna was now in Dwarika. He was no more the boy of Mathura. He had grown into an adult. Naturally, like all human beings he too fell for the cupid’s arrows. That is, he too fell in love like a typical human being. But it was not a one-sided story. Nor was it a smooth love affair. Let us discuss this love story in this episode.
The book that I am going to announce today is not really a new book. I had started working on it 2 years ago, but I was not very comfortable giving a final shape to it. It is about a highly revered ancient Indian scripture, or shall I say the most controversial one. It is highly revered since it is supposed to put down in clear terms, everything about Brahma or God. I am terming it controversial since the same book has been used to justify diametrically opposite view points by many great Indian philosophers.
We were discussing events in Mathura after Kamsa was killed by Krishna. Kamsa’s father-in-law, namely Jarasandha was furious about the killing of Kamsa. He wanted to wipe out the entire Yadava clan to which Krishna belonged to avenge Kamsa’s death.
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| Uddhav meeting the cowherd girls |
After freeing Mathura from the clutches of the tyrant Kamsa, Krishna installed Ugrasena – Kamsa’s father, as the King of Mathura.
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| Krishna curing Trivarka |
There were some who were close admirers of Kamsa and loyal to him. They tried to slight Krishna in whatever way they could. But there was a vast silent majority who suffered a lot from the tyrant Kamsa. They were quite jubilated to see Krishna. They had heard so many heroic stories about Krishna that they were hoping that Krishna would free them from the oppressor Kamsa.
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| Akrura lands in Vrindavan with an invite from Kamsa |
Were you surprised?
The Kamsa, who was all along doing everything possible to kill Krishna, how could he think of inviting Krishna to Mathura? Was he repenting for whatever wrongs he did against Krishna? Was he thinking of patching up with Krishna to avoid his death in Krishna’s hands? Or was his wicked mind scheming for something very big?
The Krishna’s story that you have been listening to for the past few weeks is now in a book form – e-book, Paperback as well as audio. Each format has its own advantages.
