Understanding Lord Krishna is difficult. He was multidimensional. His life’s journey was full of challenges, but he faced them with his effervescent smile. Shri Krishna was clutched by sufferings as soon as He was born. He was born in an emergency and was surrounded by anguish soon after. He took birth in jail from the womb of Maa Devaki and was taken away to Maa Yashoda in Gokul to keep him safe. Further, when He grew up a little, enemies came after Him. Later, not only he had to save himself from the enemies, but also had to save and protect others.
This was a sense of responsibility within Lord Krishna, which is one of the biggest lessons that should be learnt by all. His commitment level was extremely high and it could be seen through how he jumped into the battlefield to save others. First, He fought in Gokul against the evils sent, then when he turned 11.5 years old, he went to Mathura to fight against Kans. After this, He went to Dwarka and established it with 18,000 people, ran a federal rule there, brought changes in the political system, and sacrificed Himself for the welfare of the people. But the people didn’t value Him or His teachings.
As told to Rishi Narad by Lord Krishna, the people who He settled in Dwarka, the ones for whom He provided food and facilities, the ones who he fiercely protected, the same people criticised Him. This saddened Him no end because it was easy to fight the enemy from the front, but when those people who stood nowhere in front of Shri Krishna criticised Him, those who were like Shri Krishna’s children criticised Him, those who He helped when they were in problems criticised Him, it became difficult to bear. The Lord gave them His spiritual powers, yet received criticism in return. Still, he kept on smiling. He accepted the pain; it could not disturb His balance or personality.
When Shishupal came out openly and hurled hundreds of abuses towards Lord Krishna, He didn’t react because Shishupal was an outsider. Here, another factor needs to be understood; among those abuses, Shishupal did not once talk about Shri Krishna’s character. If there would have been even a bit of a flaw in Shri Krishna’s character, Shishupal wouldn’t have spared it. Yet, today, we are making fun of our gods, concocting stories about their characters, and creating fake relationships and incidents about them.
The Shri Krishna that we know is the one who dances, sings and enjoys. We aren’t told about the Shri Krishna who sacrificed Himself for others. During the Mahabharata war, He had to face the arrows, and during His rule, he faced complaints and abuse from His own people. This is, again, an important lesson to learn because, for a leader, it is imperative to lead from the front.
At first, a leader fights alone and then the crowd follows. Even during the war, Shri Krishna is making Arjun fight to establish Dharma. There again, He leads from the front and faces the arrows of the Kauravas’ army. In the evening, when after applying ointment on the bodies of all the soldiers, even including the enemies, Shri Krishna takes off His armour; he has deep wounds, blood clots and cuts from the arrows on His body.
We forget this part of Shri Krishna’s personality. He said to Arjun, “Go and fight. I am standing behind you.” He put His own life in danger to save others and to establish righteousness and Dharma. He was a great strategist who planned things; there were no miracles in His life; He lived His life on His own terms, in His own way and on His own capabilities. However, some of us can never understand the depth of our gods and their work. Instead, we make fun of them and ridicule them. On the other hand, the West has started valuing our scriptures and our gods.