Krishna

garry420

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In Hindutva, there are no rules or laws governing how an individual must behave. There are no dogmas which have to be followed. However, there is one general rule in the interpretation of Hindu texts and teachings, and this is that whatever it is which is being interpreted, there are always at least two ways of interpreting it - there is firstly a strictly literal, face-value, usually extremely obvious meaning, and then there is a deeper, more involved, and more complex significance. This is also the case in studying Sri Krishna.
There is firstly a method of study which says look at exactly what He did, and take that as the example, and thus, Sri Krishna's life is held as being the perfect example of how one should live one's life in Kali Yuga. However, this is only the first way of interpreting His life. The other way requires more thought. This is that we can look at His life, and what He did and said, and then think about what He actually was trying to show us. God does not just hand everything to us on a plate - some thought and effort must come from our side also. Here, I would like to pick up on just one example of this, and talk about the actual name of Krishna.

An oft-quoted saying is "Ram se bhadaa Ram ka naam" (Greater than Ram is the name of Ram). This principle holds true for Sri Krishna also, since I personally believe that in His name itself, we can find the whole meaning of His life, and the whole of the message He was trying to impart to us.

Many of you, I am sure, will already know the meaning of the word "Krishna" to be "dark" or "black", this name, according to legend, having been given to Krishna by virtue of his dark complexion. However, as I said at the start of this, there are always more than one ways of interpreting things in Hindutva, and Sri Krishna's name provides the perfect example of this. Firstly, there is this obvious, very literal translation of the word, which tells us something, but not really all that much. There is, however, a deeper meaning behind the name of Sri Krishna, which is the one I would like to speak about here.

Sri Krishna, throughout His life here on Earth, preached, by both word and demonstrative example, the value of action. He showed that in Kali Yuga, renouncing all and becoming a sadhu is not the only way one can become closer to God. He explained the merit in Karma Yoga - the yoga of action. One of the central themes running through the Bhagavad Gita (the Song of the Divine) was that we should perform our dharma, of which a major part is karma, because that we do have control over, and we should stop worrying about the fruit of our actions, since we don't have any control over that - we should just make sure that our karma is good, and if we do that, then God will take care of the result of the action. Thus he brought to us the light of knowledge through action.

This message is also seen in the actual name of Krishna. The word "Krishna", whilst it can be simply translated as "black", can also be translated in another way, thanks to the incredible versatility of the Sanskrit language, which allows great scope for such wordplay. Thus, the single word "Krishna" can be split into two parts, "Kr-", and "-rishna". The first part is formed from the root "Kriya", which is another word for "Karma", or "Action". The second part is the word "Rishna", meaning "To bring light through song". So, Sri Krishna is the one who brought to us light - i.e. the light of knowledge - by singing of action (note the parallel between the name here, "Rishna", and the Bhagavad Gita - "Song of the Divine").

Here, there is also a further example of Sanskrit's great versatility and flexibility in wordplay. The word "Rishna" also forms the root for the word "Rishnak", which means "One who brings light through song" - a perfect description of Sri Krishna. Now, quick repetition of the word "Rishnak" - i.e. "Rishnak, Rishnak, Rishnak" etc. - will sound like you are saying "Krishna, Krishna, Krishna"!

Sri Krishna embodied the very essence of all Vedic teaching and philosophy, which he imparted to us through His teaching and His example. Through study of Sri Krishna's life, and by fully understanding the message He sought to give, we can learn how to lead our lives in the right way. I hope this has been an interesting and inspiring start to the search for the light of this knowledge.

Via: Nation of Hindutva
 
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