Today, Lord Krishna is known and worshipped in two forms, as the Child Krishna (Baal Krishna) and as Yogeshwar Krishna (Krishna the God). The only person who truly knows the Lord Krishna is the GnaniPurush (The Knower of the Soul), for such a person has the same awareness as Lord Krishna did. Such Gnanis are extremely rare.
Many think that Lord Krishna fought wars, killed many people, had sixteen thousand queens and lived a leisurely, luxurious worldly life. So then:
Why is he considered a God? Why do people all around the world, worship him so devoutly?
In reality, God (i.e. the Soul) was fully manifested in Lord Krishna. In other words, he was a fully Self-Realized being. He had constant awareness of being the Pure Soul; the awareness of, “The body is separate and I am a Pure Soul”.
Despite his physical involvement in worldly affairs, he always had the awareness that ‘I am not the ‘doer’ of anything. Although he had so many queens and lived a rich and palatial life, he was in fact ‘Naishthik Brahmachari’ (one who is detached from all worldly passions and no inclination towards sexual passions.) He lived with the awareness that he could not escape his karmas and that he had no choice but to undergo the effects of his karma, with awareness. This is why people worship him as God, even today.
Who is the ‘I’ in the Gita?
Questioner: It is said in the ‘Gita’ that whenever the earth becomes heavily burdened with sin, ‘I’ will take rebirth. Who is this ‘I’?
Dadashri: That verily is what we call the soul; that ‘I’ is what we call the soul, not Lord Krishna. ‘I’ means the soul. It is the rule and a principle that whenever there is an increase of sins on the earth, some great being will inevitably take birth. Therefore with every yug (certain time span), a great human is born.
Questioner: It is said that Lord Krishna did raasleela (dance) with the Gopis (his cowherd women devotees), what was the reason for this?
Dadashri: The Lord has never played or indulged in raasleela. Who told you that He played raasleela? These are all stories. Lord Krishna was a great Yogeshwar (the best of the best). People have slandered and defamed His reputation by claiming He played raasleela.
You can revere Lord Krishna in two ways. Those in the kindergarten level will revere Lord Krishna in His childhood form, while those desirous of liberation should do darshan of Yogeshwar Krishna. What is the essence of the ‘Bhagavad Gita’? How can one attain the true realization of Lord Krishna?
What is the true meaning of ‘Shree Krishna Sharanam Ma Mah’?
In the Mahabharat war, when Arjun becomes discouraged and despondent, laying down his weapons at the thought of having to kill his relatives, Lord Krishna enlightens him with the Knowledge of the ‘True Self’ (i.e. Lord Krishna gives him Self-Realization); the Knowledge of his real identity.
The Universal Vision of Arjun
Questioner: What is the vishwa-darshan (the universal vision) that Lord Krishna gave to Arjun?
Dadashri: Vishwa-darshan is not the same as Atma Gnan. First, Lord Krishna showed Arjun a formidable vision. He said, “Arjun, people who are born will die and will be born again. In this way, everyone is caught up in the kaad-chakra (the cycle of life and death). Therefore, no one can take life nor can anyone give life. So Arjun, let go of your moha (illusion) that you have of killing.” Then Lord Krishna shows Arjun the virat (omnipresent) vision in which everyone is dead, a formidable (a scary, fearful) vision. For a moment, Arjun was shaken up, having seen this, but when Lord Krishna explained everything to him, he was ready to fight. Then Lord Krishna
showed him a peaceful and a gentle vision. In this way, Lord Krishna showed Arjun what He had seen in his own vision. That is the vishwa- darshan.
The essence of ‘The Gita’ is:
"Arjun, you have been with me for a long time, but still you haven't known me in the true sense. What you see in front of you is not the real me; what you see is the physical body. I am separate from this body. I am a Pure Soul. You too, are a Pure Soul. Your brothers, uncles, gurus and friends with whom you are about to fight, are also Pure Souls. This (fighting) is your destiny (karma) so you have to carry it out with this awareness of the Soul."
"And throughout this war if you remain in this awareness and fight, you will not bind any new karmas and your remaining ones will be completed. And that will lead you to ultimate salvation."
Thus, Arjun remained in the awareness Lord Krishna gave him. He killed many great men but still did not bind a single karma and achieved ultimate salvation in the same life.
“So if you remain in this awareness of the separation of the body and the Soul, only then are you truly surrendered to Lord Krishna,” – this is the meaning of "Shree Krishna Sharanam Ma Mah."
The Gyani PurushPujya Dadashri became fully enlightened in June of 1958. He used to give this knowledge of self-realization to people in just two hours. He graced Pujya Dr. Niruma with this knowledge of self-realization in 1968. He also graced Pujya Deepakbhai with the same knowledge. He blessed them both with special powers, so that they too could carry on the supreme task of granting this knowledge.
Pujya Niruma is no longer in this world. However, today you too can attain the same knowledge of self-realization by meeting with Pujya Deepakbhai, and through the Gnani’s grace, secure your own ultimate salvation.
