LISTENING TO THE MELODY OF LOVE

Many believe that Krishna lived a full life of a 125 years and was 89 years old when the battle of Kurukshetra was fought. The Mausala Parva, one of the shortest books in the Mahabharata, describes the demise of Lord Krishna in the 36^th year after the Great War had ended. It also mentions how the city of Dwarka got submerged when the sea broke its boundaries and rushed into it covering everything in it. It was only in a matter of a few moments before it all got over. There are many debates regarding Krishna’s existence as a reality or a myth. Some scholars believe that it was the Europeans who in the 19^th century began questioning the beliefs the Hindus had held for millennia, because they wanted to spread Christianity. However, without getting into the intricacies of history and without bothering to get involved in the jargon of the historians, we could allow ourselves to profit from the life or story of Krishna as an analogy of living.

The story of Krishna tells us that he was born in a dark cell where his parents had been imprisoned and yet when he was born, the guards waiting at the cell fell asleep and the locked doors miraculously opened. Despite the turmoil regarding the actuality or the nonexistence of krishna, if we were to take his image as a symbol of Awareness, we could be benefited tremendously. In spite of all the darkness of man’s heart and the darkness of the world created by man’s selfish and destructive nature, if he were to allow Krishna- AWARENESS, to be born in his heart, he would be able to destroy the darkness of negative thought processes in which he has confined himself like in a prison cell. It would definitely not be an easy task because he would have to break open the door of Ego which had successfully imprisoned him for long; always thinking about himself and about the people or things which concerned him. The Chains which had kept him locked up were never gentle. They had the locks of pride of his belonging to particular Caste, Religion or even his Profession. These were old and unused locks which had collected rust from generations of ignorance and could only be opened with the Key of Knowledge which would need the oil of Understanding to wash off the rust and also hammer out their stubbornness with the help of Awareness.

Krishna is often depicted dancing with beautiful women; the Gopis who leave all their duties the moment they hear the music of his flute which never fails to invite the melody of love in their hearts. Today our ears have got accustomed to the sounds of war which often are the cause of lust, greed and anger; here we once again need awareness as the need of the hour, which is to shut our ears to sounds of hate and open them to the music of love. And like Krishna, we too don’t need to be young or strong in body to fight a battle with the wrong because it is not our age that determines whether we must fight or not, or can fight or not; it is our principles which give us the strength to face the conflicts of life bravely. If we could help ourselves to develop this Krishna consciousness and build the Krishna strength, we too would continue to live in the minds and hearts of people long after many Dwarkas were drowned in time.

HAPPY JANMASHTAMI. MAY ALL EARS LISTEN TO THE MELODY OF LOVE.

Picture Credits: Google