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Who is Krishna?

Written by Cetanarahita dasa


Some say, "God has no name," but God has so many names that any one 
name is not God's only name. We cannot limit the Unlimited.


All-attractive


God has unlimited names according to His activities. He is called 
Devaki-nandana because He accepted Devaki as His mother. He is called 
Nanda-nandana and Yashoda-nandana in relationship with Nanda Maharaja 
and Yashoda, His foster father and mother. He is called Partha-
sarathi because He was the chariot driver of Arjuna. He is Bhakta-
vatsala, affectionate to His devotees. He is Gopinatha, the Lord of 
the gopis. He is Gopijana-vallabha, beloved of the inhabitants of 
Vrindavana. He is Bhava-grahi Janardana, who understands one's mental 
attitude. He is Varadaraja, the best of the givers of benedictions. 
He is Avatari, the source of all incarnations. He is Radha-ramana, 
the lover of Radharani. He is Govinda, who gives pleasure to the cows 
and to everyone's senses.


He is Krishna. If any transcendental name belongs to the Absolute 
Personality of Godhead, it must be the name indicated by the word 
Krishna, which means all-attractive. One is attractive if he is 
wealthy, powerful, famous, beautiful, wise, or renounced. The Supreme 
Person possesses in fullness all wealth, all power, all fame, all 
beauty, all wisdom, and all renunciation. Therefore He is Bhagavan. 
Bhaga means "opulence" and van means "one who possesses."


Lord Sri Krishna is mentioned on every page of the Bhagavad-gita as 
Bhagavan. The word Bhagavan denotes a great person or demigod, but 
all authorities of Vedic knowledge confirm that Krishna is the 
Supreme Person. The Lord Himself establishes this in the Bhagavad-
gita, and He is accepted as such in the Brahma-samhita and all the 
Puranas, especially Srimad-Bhagavatam.


Krishna's Unparalleled Activities


The Vedic history of the universe extends billions of years into the 
past. Throughout those years, it gives the histories of Krishna's 
appearances and disappearances. In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna tells 
Arjuna that both He and Arjuna had had many births before. Krishna 
could remember all of them but Arjuna could not. This is the 
difference between Krishna, God, and Arjuna, man. Krishna's knowledge 
and memory are boundless, but Arjuna's knowledge and memory are 
limited by time and space.


Krishna incarnates on one planet after another in infinite universes. 
He appeared on this earth in His original form as Krishna five 
thousand years ago. He stayed here for 125 years and played exactly 
like a human being, but His activities were unparalleled in the 
history of the world. Within the prison of His maternal uncle, Kamsa, 
where His father and mother were confined, Krishna appeared outside 
His mother's body as the four-handed Vishnu-Narayana. Then He turned 
Himself into a baby and told His father to carry Him to the house of 
Nanda Maharaja and his wife Yashoda. When Krishna was just a small 
baby the gigantic demoness Putana attempted to kill Him, but when He 
sucked her breast He pulled out her life.


God Is Always God


Krishna did not practice meditation to become God. He manifested 
Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead at every step, from 
infancy to childhood, from childhood to boyhood, and from boyhood to 
young manhood. Although Krishna plays like a human being, He always 
maintains His identity as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.


Krishna is the original person among all persons. Krishna expands 
Himself into innumerable forms, such as Baladeva, Rama, Nrisimha, and 
Varaha. All these forms are one and the same Personality of Godhead. 
They are not like our forms, which are fallible. His form is 
infallible. My form has a beginning, but His multiforms have no 
beginning or end. Krishna can be everywhere at once. He is in Goloka 
Vrindavana, and at the same time He is everywhere, all-pervading. He 
is original, the oldest, but whenever you look at a picture of 
Krishna you'll find a young boy fifteen or twenty years old. Krishna, 
God, never becomes old.


The Supreme Engineer


Krishna is the origin of all creations. Everything emanates from Him. 
In the beginning there was no Brahma, no Shiva, no Indra, no sun, no 
moon, no stars, no electricity. There was only Krishna. By the will 
of the Lord, everything emanates from Him, is maintained by Him, and 
enters into Him at the end. And yet He is so perfect that He doesn't 
manage everything personally. His inconceivable energies do all the 
work by His will. The chief engineer of a complicated construction 
does not personally take part in the construction, but he knows every 
nook and corner because everything is done under his direction. He 
knows everything about the construction, both directly and 
indirectly. Similarly, the Personality of Godhead, the supreme 
engineer of this cosmic creation, knows every nook and corner, 
although affairs are being carried out by His plenary expansions and 
demigods.


Krishna Is the Enjoyer


Krishna is compared to the root of a tree or the stomach in the body. 
When one waters the root of a tree, he automatically waters the 
branches, twigs, leaves and flowers; when one supplies food to the 
stomach through the mouth, he satisfies all the parts of the body. If 
we love Krishna, we will automatically realize universal love, unity, 
and tranquility.


When Krishna Plays His Flute


Krishna is the primeval Lord, Govinda, who has pastimes with the cows 
and the cowherd boys and girls in the spiritual earthly village of 
Gokula. When Krishna plays beautiful dancing notes on His flute, it 
attracts the hearts of all living beings. As the petal of the lotus 
flower is a pleasant sight, Krishna's eyes, the revelation of 
spiritual vision, expand the unlimited splendor of His moonlike face. 
His beauty is set off by the charming peacock feather that adorns His 
head. The hue of Krishna's body resembles a tranquil blue rain cloud. 
The loveliness of Krishna is far more enchanting than Cupid's 
multiplied billions of times.

For more reading:
Srimad-Bhagavatam: 1.1.1, 1.3.28, 2.9.33
Brahma-samhita: 5.1, 5.39, 5.46
Chaitanya-charitamrita: Adi-lila, 5.142
Bhagavad-gita: 7.7, 10.8, 10.12, 10.41, 14.4


 
 





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