Krishna and India

Health and Happiness - Dr Dwarakanath

Dr. Dwarakanath begins an introduction to Gita, the most respected Scripture in Hindu religious tradition.

Krishna, is a legend, reincarnation, God, teacher, friend, musician, dancer, master, lover, conspirer and much more in Indian History. Gita, widely known as Bhagvad Gita, is his teaching for humanity. Gita was preached some thousands of years back by Krishna and was written down by the poet and monk Veda Vyasa. The main analysis is to find its relevance to the present modern world. There are lots of treatises on Gita by numerous scholars like Shankara, Madhva, Ramanuja, etc. There are scores of poets and devotees of Krishna who wrote thousands of songs on Krishna. It is said that Gita when read, every time gives a new understanding to the reader on his own life and the perception on world in large.

Once my Guru said, ‘To understand Gita to our maximum possibility, we must understand Krishna’. Krishna was a realized person like Buddha & Mahavira. There is a big difference in their realization. Buddha & Mahavira attained partial realization and then lived in this world for decades. Once they attained complete Realization (Poorna Samadhi/ Maha Samadhi) they seized living in this world. In the case of Krishna, his life started with Samadhi. Krishna was a very difficult personality to understand at all. That is the reason; people take a shortcut in understanding Krishna. They choose one portion or aspect of his life and ignore all the other. For example, many of us will be surprised to realize that at the time of Kurukshetra (battle field) in Mahabharatha, While Krishna was teaching Gita, he was 80 years old. Due to our limitation in our thinking we see Krishna as a young warrior not an old man of knowledge.

Some authors were happy to write about his life in Mathura the adolescent Krishna. Some were not ready to move beyond his life at the age of 10, and wrote only about his childish pranks. Some others wrote about his life as a lover to Radha only. Few others took his time at Dwaraka, his kingdom as ruler. Most were happy analyzing only the Great War & Gita. These types of fragmentation certainly lead to distorted understanding of Gita. Those who understood Gita fully were so rejoiced that their explanations were even more confusing to simple minds like us. Krishna was a complete incarnation compared to all other incarnations prior to him. He lived his life to its fullest, was very bold and happy. His life is to be understood with an open mind or else we will miss the point itself. Krishna did not hesitate to contradict his own point, when it was needed. Krishna did not restrict his life with narrow doctrines. He did live his life with complete detachment from the fruits of action but with dedication to duties. Let us travel the coming days first analyzing and understanding Krishna then understanding Gita and its relevance to today’s world. My master guided me in the understanding of Gita in this way, it helped me and I hope it can be of help to all.

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