Krishna's Secret

by Devdutt Pattanaik

The story of Krishna is spread across two epics: the Bhagavata and the Mahabharata. Bhagavata refers to Krishna as the flute-playing, playful, lovable, mischievous, romantic cowherd who loves butter. Mahabharata refers to Krishna as the conch-blowing city-builder, warrior, leader, philosopher, statesman and charioteer covered with the grime of war.

His name literally translates as ‘black’, challenging the traditional Indian discomfort with the dark complexion. He is visualised as either cowherd or charioteer, never as priest or king, a deliberate association with the lower strata of society. His mother is not his real mother, his beloved is not his wife, and the women he rescues are neither his subjects nor members of his family. His lovemaking is not really lovemaking; his war is not really war. There is always more than meets the eye.

WHILE RAM IS CALLED MARYADA Purushottam, he who upholds rules of society at any cost, Krishna is called Leela Purushottam, he who enjoys the game of life.

What seems a good thing in Ram’s yuga becomes a bad thing in Krishna’s yuga. Ram’s unquestioning obedience of his father transforms him into God. But Puru’s unquestioning obedience results in the collapse of society. Dashratha requests Ram’s obedience so that he can uphold his word. Yayati, however, demands the obedience of his children for his own pleasure. Yayati exploits the rule for his own benefit whereas Dashratha enforces the rule so that royal integrity is never questioned. The rule (obey the father) evokes dharma in Dashratha’s case, but not so in Yayati’s.

Yayati’s conduct results in a society where the letter of the law becomes more important than the spirit of the law. This is the world of Krishna, a world where what matters more than the deed is the thought behind the deed.

We are all a combination of what we are born with as well as what we are raised to be. Our natural disposition is known as varna while the cultural indoctrination is jati.

Our behaviour towards others is based on what we see and how we process our observation. But not all things can be seen. Jati can be seen but not varna.

One can see behaviour but one has no access to beliefs. A man can dress as a cowherd and talk like a cowherd, but he may at heart be a prince. We will never know unless we open our eyes to this possibility.

in the language of symbols, clothes represent our public face. Krishna notices the sensitive hearts hiding behind each and every public face. This heart is sensitive, yearning to give affection and receive it.

WHEN THE HEART IS OPENED up, when love flows into it and from it, a sense of security prevails. With security comes freedom. There is no need to pretend. We can be ourselves. There is no desire to force our wills on anyone. We accept and embrace everyone, we include people, we allow them to be themselves, because we are accepted and embraced by God.

The killing of Kamsa is unique because it is the only story in Hindu mythology where a father-figure is killed. Unlike Ram who submits to Dashratha, and Yadu who submits to Yayati, Krishna refuses to submit to Kamsa. This tale marks a shift in thinking where the younger generation refuses to suffer the tyranny of the older generation. This makes Krishna a radical hero in the Hindu spiritual landscape.

Radha is said to be the wife of Yashoda’s brother and she is older than Krishna. Theirs thus is a relationship that transcends custom and law. In their pure love, unbound by expectations, unanchored by conventions, there is music. It inspires Krishna to play the flute. But when Krishna leaves Vrindavan, he enters a world of customs and laws, where no relationship is pure, where everything is fettered by expectations. The music stops. He gives up his flute and instead takes up the conch-shell of warriors. He goes about marrying women — not for love, but out of a sense of duty.

dharma is about outgrowing the animal instinct of territoriality and discovering the human ability to share and care.

war is not about property or vengeance. It is about restoring dharma and dharma is about sharing; about giving, not taking. The war is not about conquering material reality; that is a delusion for material reality can never be conquered. It is about realising spiritual reality through material reality. It is about questioning the very notions of property and identifying where from come greed, envy, rage and hate. It is about realising that in every human being is a frightened beast, seeking survival and significance, and knowing very well that humans can outgrow this beast as they empathise with others. This process of outgrowing the beast is the process of discovering God. This discourse of Krishna before the war is called the Bhagavad Gita, song of God.