Krishna on Perfection

In Gita chapter 10, Krishna declares himself to be the best among all things- of all seasons he is the spring, of all cows he is the Kamadenu, of all elephants he is the Airavata. And secondly- and this more significant- he finds his peers even among the creatures like cows and horses. Both things should be taken together. While he declares himself to be the best among different classes of creatures, he does not distinguish between one class and another. Even when he claims to be Airavata among elephants, he remains nonetheless an elephant. Similarly he is quiet at home among cows, snakes and reptiles. He does not exclude the meanest categories as we think. He chooses to be the best even among the meanest creatures of this universe. And there is a reason. But why does he declare himself to be the best and the greatest among us all? 

On the surface it seems to us to be an egoistic declaration, because we are so much involved with our egos that everything we see appears egoistic. But if we go deep into it we will know what a great message is enshrined in Krishna’s declaration. When he says he is Airavata among elephants, he means to say every elephant is destined to be Airavata, and if one fails to be Airavata he fails to actualize his best and highest potential. Similarly every season has the potential to grow as pleasant as spring, and if one fails to attain to the highest in its nature, it fails its nature. In all these declarations, Krishna says only one thing: that he is the culmination, the perfection of nature in everything. Whoever and whatever attains to the sublime reflects godliness. This is the central message of this declaration. We must understand this deepest significance. 

Krishna says he reflects the innate potentiality of each being come to its completion that each being can grow into Krishna-hood, godliness. Krishna symbolizes the actualized form at its best, the highest of each one’s potentiality. Every being, everything is capable of attaining to Krishna-hood. And if we fail to realize our self fully, it simply means that we have betrayed our innate nature, we have deviated from it. There is not even a trace of egoism in Krishna’s declaration. This is way of saying that we cannot attain to godliness unless we become like the Lion among animals, like spring among seasons, like the Ganges among rivers. We come to God only when we attain to our own fullest flowering, not otherwise. By way of these illustrations Krishna persuades Arjuna that if he flowers to maximum as a warrior- which is his innate nature- he will become a Krishna in his own right. 

It is important to understand Krishna to properly understand Gita. 

Wishing you all good health & happiness,

Dr. Dwarakanath, Director, Mitran foundation- the stress management people