Chapter 3 - Love's Emissary: Krishna

Love never intended to establish religious institutions on earth, but many emissaries were sent to earth to guide Love’s children out of the quagmire they had created for themselves. One of the first and best-remembered of these emissaries was Krishna, born in India, thousands of years ago. As with all ambassadors of Love, Krishna was a human being who had total awareness of his connection with Divine Oneness, and demonstrated this awareness in the way he lived. Krishna was the eighth child born to Devaki, sister of the Kamsa, ruthless king of Mathura, who had already killed Devaki´s first six children, just to be certain that none of them would attempt to steal the throne that he had stolen from his father.  Kamsa kept Devaki and her husband locked up in a prison cell, from where they finally managed to smuggle off their seventh and eighth babies to be raised by foster parents.

       Krishna grew up in a cowherd’s family and deeply loved his foster-mother, Yashoda, who also loved him dearly. She taught him to play the flute, which he never tired of. He enjoyed playing his flute for the other cowherds, the milkmaids, and for the cows, too, because he recognized their part in the whole of Divine Creation.  Krishna was a mischievous child. He encouraged his friends to steal milk and butter from the neighbors, and together they would sit under a banyan tree to drink the frothy milk and delight in the creamy butter as it slid down their throats.   Then, just for fun, Krishna might let the cows loose when it was time to milk them, and hide the milkmaid’s clothes while they were bathing.  When he was feeling especially naughty, he broke the water pots the milkmaids carried on their heads.

       As much as she loved him, Yashoda would get very angry over these antics and punish little Krishna by tying him to a grinding stone. Krishna revealed to her that he was an incarnation of Vishnu, divine preserver and protector of creation, and explained that he teased her and the milkmaids in order to teach them not to be attached to material things, but to focus on the spiritual aspects of life. If they would learn from his divine nature, they would learn about their own inner connection to the All-in-All.

       When Krishna grew up, he returned to the place of his birth where he killed his evil uncle in order to release his parents from prison and reinstate his grandfather, Ugrasena, as king. While it may seem that murder was not a loving act for one who became known as a god of love and a messenger of peace, Krishna knew that he had to rid the country of its evil ruler so that the people of Mathura could live without fear.  None of the people of Earth had advanced to a level of wisdom where they could understand forgiveness for one as evil as Kamsa, and it was important at this point in time for the Mathurans to learn how to live with Love as their guide.

       When Ugrasena died, Krishna became king, as well as a spiritual leader. He encouraged his people to follow the way of Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of pure spiritual devotion. Bhakti Yoga is just one of many branches of Yoga philosophy, but Krishna taught that it was the most direct path to union with divine consciousness. Bhakti Yoga is based on the doctrine that “Love is God and God is Love.” The worship of God as Love, and having a personal relationship with the knowable aspects of Brahman, spirit of Love and All-That-Is, are the only things needed for a devotee to attain enlightenment.

The divine messengers sent by Love to India became known as gods and goddesses, and there were a great many of them! There have always been vast differences between the many inhabitants of India: how they understand their purpose in life, how they relate to Brahman, which gods and goddesses appeal to their individual personalities. So the Hindu religion spawned many schools and branches, and several sacred texts were written on different levels to provide understanding for all devotees, no matter how educated they were. The result was a religion of tolerance toward all possible paths, and the ability of followers to accept Brahman in multiple manifestations. Love was pleased with the Hindu view that "All paths lead to the one Truth, though many sages [and religions] call upon it by different names."        The one deep sorrow that entered the world in the name of Hinduism is the caste system that has allowed discrimination against certain divisions of the population. Those Indians who had fallen the furthest away from Love, the ones who relied on the concept of separateness to gain power and privilege in society, established this system to prevent the masses from gaining the wisdom that would set them free. These oppressors found ways to slip ideas about the caste system into religious philosophy, so the Hindus would believe it was a divinely sanctioned practice. They divided society into four varnas, which were: the Brahmins (teachers, scholars and priests), the Kshatriyas (kings, warriors and administrators), the Vaishyas (agriculturists and traders), and Shudras (service providers, laborers). The untouchables were not mentioned in the original structure, but as some of the Hindus grew further away from Krishna’s teachings about love, they found it convenient to relegate a large group of people to the bottom rung of society where they had few if any rights, and were grossly mistreated.        The Hindu gods and goddesses watched as the caste system formed, and talked among themselves about this misappropriation of their messages. They enlisted the help of many saints, who taught that the caste system was not part of the divine plan for humanity’s return to oneness, but only a small percentage of devotees listened with open minds and hearts. Many feared that to reject this widely-accepted system would label them untouchable, and so the power of fear prevented them from upholding the way of love as the highest path to enlightenment.