New Year 2009 is for Bhagavan Krishna ! . His Unique Features .

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Hare Krishna ! Pranams to Bhagavan Krishna and Bhaktas,

Unique Features of Bhagavan Krishna

Shree Krishna was an absolute incarnation (paripurnavatar) of *Parabrahman* . An absolute incarnation is not actually an incarnation but the GOD of Gods Himself ; therefore, it possesses all the supreme characteristics. This truth is confirmed in *Viswarupa-darshan* ( see Bhagavad Gita , Chapter-10. )

Some special features and missions of Shree Krishna are enumerated below :

Childhood

Devaki and Vasudev were the parents of Krishna . On the command of Bhagavan MahaVishnu, the Great Illusion (Yogamaya) placed the seventh child of Devaki in the womb of Vasudev's second wife, Rohini and Herself entered the womb of Devaki . After birth when Kansa came to kill Her, She escaped from his clutches and left for Her abode . Krishna is Devaki's eighth child . After He was born, Vasudev took Him to the home of Nanda and Yashoda in Gokul . Vasudev also sent Rohini along with her son to Gokul. The Guru of the Yadu dynasty, Sage Garga at the request of Vasudev, secretly performed the naming ceremony of both the children . Rohini's son as Rama and Devaki's as Krishna . Later Rama came to be known as Balaram because of the tremendous strength that He possessed .

Childhood only for seven years : Krishna went to Mathura to slay Kansa at the age of seven years . It was then that His childhood ended .

Intelligent : After the slaying of Kansa and the thread ceremony, Balaram and Krishna went to the ashram of Guru Sandipani in the city of Avanti . There within a span of sixty-four days He learnt the fourteen types of sciences (vidyas) and the sixty-four arts (kalas). Generally to learn one science one requires two to two and a half years ! .

Elders heed His advice : He was close even to people who were much older than Him . At the age of just seven, Krishna did not allow the milkmaids to go to Mathura because He did not want the money that was procured by selling milk to evil Kansa . Since then, the elders began to heed His advice and He proved true to their faith .

Bestower of spiritual experiences

1. Once the Cowherds (Gopas) told Yashoda, "Krishna has swallowed mud." So, she asked Krishna to open His mouth . When He opened it, she got the vision of the entire universe in it . This example illustrates how Bhagavan carries out His mission even in childhood .

2. On a moonlit night in autumn (sharad rutu) He performed the *rasakrida* with the Gopis (Cowherd-women) in Gokul. This was *Jivatma* realizing *Paramatman* . The supreme faith of Gopis qualified them to attain * Brahmananda* (divine Bliss) with *Paramatman* .

Physical: Krishna's beauty was unparalleled. All would get enticed by it .

To capture Krishna, Jarasandha's millions-strong armies surrounded Mathura eighteen times. Nowhere in the world have so many attempts been made by such huge armies to capture an individual. Kansa ferried 280 elephants on wooden rafts across the Yamuna river. He surrounded Mathura for three months, but Krishna could not be captured because He would change His home everyday . Apart from this, the thousand children living in Mathura also wore peacock feathers in their hair to resemble Krishna . Kansa's soldiers assaulted them, yet they did not reveal `who the real Krishna was'.

His wives

1. Rukmini was Krishna's chief Queen . His seven other main Queens were Satyabhama, Jambavati, Kalindi, Mitravinda, Satya, Bhadra and lakshamana . These eight queens represent the eightfold basic natures of man (prakruti). The implied meaning is that the eight principles are within the control of Shree Krishna.

2. Krishna married the 16,000 princesses imprisoned by Narakasur after freeing them, so that they acquired social status . The 16,000 princesses represent the 16,000 spiritual energy flow channels (nadis) in the body. Marrying them means activating them.

His divine Teachings

Bhagavan Krishna was the embodiment of an ideal friend . For example, Krishna affectionately welcomed His poverty-stricken childhood friend Sudama even when He became the ruler of Dvarka . As a result of His friendship with the Pandavas, He constantly rushed to their aid. The Pandavas worshipped Krishna as a friend (sakhyabhakti), one of the rarest forms of devotion .

Spiritually ignorant people criticize Krishna's behavior. However, all that He did was for others' welfare. At times, He even broke norms to save His devotees . For instance, when slaying Jarasandha, during the abduction of Subhadra so that she could marry Arjuna, marrying the 16,000 women, etc. During the Bharatiya war He had pledged that `He would not wield a weapon'. Yet to fulfill Bhishmacharya's vow that `I will make Krishna fight , Krishna broke His vow and attempted attack Bhishmacharya with the wheel of chariot .

`Protection of society was His objective and He had realized that it was necessary to annihilate the troublemakers and evildoers to achieve this end. Destruction of lawless evil doers is never possible by giving them the benefits of Dharma. To protect truth and purity the evil doers have to be curbed in worldly interactions . If that is not done, then in this lawless world, cruel demons triumph, society deteriorates and the subjects are destroyed. This was the firm decision of His intellect . It is because of this that Krishna advised His devotee-warriors to finish off the enemy at the first opportunity itself . "Forget Righteousness (Dharma) and fight", "Bhima will not be successful if he fights righteously, it is essential to fight by any means", etc. is the advice that He preached to His devotee-warriors. ( Note : Non-vedic Indian administrators ignored this key advice of Bhagavan . Otherwise, they could have easily nipped in the bud itself the Kashmir-problem . They gave the benefit of *ahimsa* to the demonic enemies to grant them supremacy . More than 60, 000 innocent lives have been lost there till now ! ) .

Bhagavan Krishna embodied humility and servitude. For example, He slew Kansa and several other kings, established the golden city of Dvarka, yet did not ascend the throne. Despite this, undoubtedly He was the uncrowned emperor of His times. In another incident, during the *Rajasuya sacrificial fire (yajna) of the Pandavas, Shree Krishna washed the feet of the Brahmans and even cleared up leftovers of food in others' plates ! .

The philosophy preached by Krishna is given in the Bhagavat Gita. `In His philosophy Krishna has shown the appropriate admixture of attachment and detachment . He has accepted the Path of Action (Karmayoga) according to the Vedas, Path of Knowledge according to the Sankhya philosophy, suppression of the tendencies of the subconscious mind according to the Path of Yoga and renunciation (sannyas) according to the Vedanta, but has opposed the view that each one of them is the ultimate by itself as proposed by them. He balanced the appropriate significant part of each one harmoniously and created a new doctrine based on actions devoid of expectations or results. In the Bhagavat Gita He has mainly preached how one should carry out one's duty . The scriptures decide what one's duties should be, but He has explained excellently how to execute them well . In the Bhagavat Gita He has narrated to Arjuna how to convert attachment to detachment and vice versa and how man should execute his duties.'

Shree Krishna eliminated Arjuna's doubts by narrating the Gita to him verbally and imparting him with spiritual experiences, which are beyond words. During the Bharatiya war Krishna had adopted the dnyanmudra (mudra of knowledge).

Effects of His special features

The following examples will illustrate the effects of His special features on others :

1. In the Kurukshetra war (Mahabharata battle), no one ventured to attack Krishna. The other charioteers were attacked.

2. After the war, there was a conversation between a vulture and a fox about the deceased . In it, they have discussed the faults of all men, including those of Yudhishthira (king Dharma); but not a single one of Shree Krishna .

Assurance to His Devotees

Shree Krishna says to His Devotees in Bhagavad Gita :

" Fix your mind on Me, become My devotee, offer service to Me, bow down to Me, and you shall certainly reach Me. Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me completely with faith and devotion. I shall liberate you from all sinful reactions. Do not grieve."

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya !!!!

SriKrishnaDasa Rajeev