Krishna

Published on 29th January, 2022, in Times of India. Five hundred years ago, when the Mughals ruled north India, there was an explosion of Bhakti poetry across India. From north to south, people expressed their devotion to different forms of god using emotionally charged language. One of these forms of God was that of Krishna. The songs dedicated to Krishna are composed in local languages. They are connected to particular temples where Krishna is known by different names. This makes the songs unique. So, although we speak of Krishna Bhakti as a pan Indian phenomena, the reality is he has many local manifestations. People from ..

Published on 2nd October, 2021, in Economic Times. Mahatma Gandhi famously argued that Bhagavad Gita needs to be seen as a metaphor of internal war, and has nothing to do with violence. Western scholars argue that the book does the very opposite - it actually promotes violence, and is therefore favoured by Hindutva. To understand this contradictory views, we must revisit the 19th Century, when a poetic retelling of the Bhagavad Gita became very popular in Europe. Edwin Arnold had composed ‘The Song Celestial’ based on Bhagavad Gita after the success of his book ‘The Light of Asia’, that explained the life of Buddha. Suddenly, ..

Who is a Hindu? Does Krishna take the Viratrupa in the Gita to intimidate? Published on 9th May, 2021, in Bangalore Mirror. A friend, who works in human resources, once shared his understanding of the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna was trying to motivate Arjuna to do a job as a warrior. But Arjuna was hesitating. So Krishna used ethical arguments, then emotional arguments and even metaphysical arguments, but nothing worked. Finally, he showed Arjuna his awe-inspiring cosmic form, the Viratrupa or Vishwarupa, frightening Arjuna into submission and obedience. The idea of the Bhagavad Gita as a motivational speech meant to get people to do their job, ..

Published on 31st January, 2021, in Mid-day. We live in times where many people cannot handle the idea of adult women choosing their own husbands. Perhaps it is time to revisit the eloping women in sacred Krishna lore. Krishna is famous for playing the flute at night. On hearing this, the milkmaids of Vrindavan would leave their houses to dance around him in the middle of the forest. This union took place at night in the forest, outside of the village, with women, some of whom were married. This description, found in Harivamsa, Gita Govinda, and Tamil Sangam poetry, is a rather radical idea. It ..

Published on 27th June, 2020, in the Economic Times. Krishna was raised by cowherds and then he moved from Vrindavan to Mathura and thence to Dwarka, where he married many women, often princesses from surrounding kingdoms. But his status in the Yadava clan was ensured by his marriage to Satyabhama, daughter of the richest Yadava clan lord, Satrajit. Her stories often give us insights into financial prudery. Satyabhama was the daughter of a Yadava chieftain, Satrajit. He had a sacred jewel called Syamantaka. This jewel gave him a lot of prosperity. Krishna felt this jewel should belong to the entire tribe. He believed everyone should ..

Published on 5th April, 2020, in Mid-day Between the 5th and 10th century C.E., we find the development of Puranic literature. Many stories explained the relationships of Vishnu's many avatars. One story that merits attention is the story of Pradyumna, the son of Krishna and Rukmini. The story is told very differently in the Hindu tradition and in the Jain tradition. In the Hindu narrative from Bhagavata Purana, we are told that soon after his birth, Pradyumna is abducted by a demon called Shambara, who throws him into the sea. He is swallowed by a fish. The fish is caught by fisherfolk and it finds ..

Who is a Hindu? Published on 4th August, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror Once upon a time, there were two friends in a school. They were the best of friends and they promised to share everything with each other. After they graduated, one became rich and one remained poor. The poor friend went to the rich friend and asked for help. The way the friend behaved led to two endings. In one retelling of this story, the poor friend reminds the rich friend of their childhood friendship and demands help, in the name of this friendship. The rich friend mocks his poor friend and says that ..

Published on 23rd June, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror Indians are obsessed with their mothers. An overview of Bollywood films reveals that. Mothers can do no wrong. They always sacrifice their life for their children. Good sons always choose mother over wife. By contrast, fathers are considered absent, leaving the mother to take care of the child. Or they are tyrannical, demanding obedience from sons. This is often Hindu mythology. But such conclusions are reductive, a classic case of cherry-picking, because Hindu mythology has all kinds of fathers, and mothers — from good to bad, from loving to indifferent. In the Ramayana, for example, we can ..

Published on 3rd March, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror. The two ideas may shape our understanding of conflicts, but Hinduism, which is based on karma, is more complex. Whenever we are deeply hurt, a question comes to our mind: do we seek justice through retribution, or do we let go? Justice and forgiveness are two concepts that really come to us from the Bible. In the Judeo-Christian-Islamic framework based on Abrahamic mythology, God is the judge. The Old Testament speaks of ‘an eye for an eye’, which is about justice and vengeance. The New Testament speaks about ‘turning the other cheek’, if slapped on one, which ..