On love - Bhagavatam

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Take a leaf from any page of his life and all that you see is struggle, work, fulfilling duties and responsibilities and above all – never doing or wanting anything for himself and from anyone. His life itself was a ‘sacrifice’ – so pure and divine and yet he was an epitome of bliss, satisfaction, patience, humility and light-heartedness.

When you read about him, talk about him or think about him, don’t brush aside ‘his greatness’ as the by-product of his Godliness. Instead read it as ‘the pre-requisite to regain our Divinity’.

Teenage is the age which knows only whiling away time with friends. Its’ all about fun and frolic. But that was the age (he was around 16 then) when his reality was told to him (that he was a prince born to Devaki Vasudeva) and he had to go to Mathura on the invitation of his evil minded uncle – Kamsa to meet him.  Everyone knew that it was certainly not an invite to celebrate. It was ‘the invitation of death’. Everyone knew the intention of Kamsa. It was not hidden from Krishna and Balarama. Kamsa being such a ‘powerful king’ and evil too, nobody could dare his design but wait and watch. Krishna and Balakrishna – the gentle, tender youngsters brought up as cowherds were to face the challenges thrown by Kamsa in his own place and palace. Yet, Krishna

didn’t cry like a sissy teenager. He saw the inevitable and decided to face it with grace. Each one of us has to face such evil-minded people and tough situations in life. What do we do then and how we face it decides if we are working towards our Divine Nature or demonic self. Both are within us. Salman, the actor has already told “dar ke aage jeet hai” meaning ‘there

is victory beyond fear’. Do we simply listen to it or live it? The difference between winners and losers is just that. They both face the same situations that give them fear. One faces it and comes out successful and the other chooses fear to stop him and remains a failure. If fear stops me, I am a failure. I have fear but don’t let that stop me, well then I am a winner.

Don’t let ‘fear’ make you a ‘quitter’. Remember that!

Was it mere luck or was it because he was God he won the most powerful wrestler in the court of Kama in the duel? Nothing of that sort was true! They both beat Kamsa’s wrestlers and finally ‘great warrior’ like Kamsa too in a duel because of years of practise of yoga and wrestling practise in Gokul. Yes, before taking cattle for grazing, Krishna and Balarama practised for couple of hours all forms of exercise – mind you they were very rigorous forms of exercise. Indian villages have ‘more rustic gyms’ than the urban ones called

‘Akhada’ where the practise even today is very tough, enduring and more effective. Our modern day world famous wrestler ‘Dear old Dara Singhji’ is the product of such ‘Akhada’ only. But the training here is especially given in the early mornings and Krishna would be up by 3am and practise. We sit back read or see this scene in a TV show and eating popcorn brush it aside as ‘oh, he was God, so he could do it.’ No one shows the hardwork he put in all those years and he doesn’t flaunt it too! Nothing comes easy. Even Rama practised for years to become ‘the greatest warrior’. We don’t see their hard work and brush aside their achievements as ‘acts of Divine’.

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