Forgiveness - one of Mahabharata's central themes

Forgiveness is a crucial step to be mastered, if anyone aspires for spiritual progress or lasting peace. When we are subjected to abuse, victimization, unjust oppression or bullying, the natural recourse for our pent up reactions, which may be unexpressed owing to the situations, is to harbor vicious thoughts of vengeance or get oppressed by the brutal pressure outside that gets internalized. In a variant form it may be our own mistakes, omissions, regrets, failures or past baggage that can turn into guilt and shame about us. In either forms of internalization, the individual harbors the poison inside. The longer one harbors, the more toxic it gets. Any expression of this toxic mindset is bound to be explosive, yet at the same time it is easy to understand that most damage is caused to the vessel that harbors. Forgiveness is the internal rebalancing of this inner rage or guilt, need for seeking external justice and arrive at a more stable state.

This is often misunderstood as pardoning the guilty as we conflate the idea of forgiveness, inside the victim’s mind, with the necessity for society to provide justice and retribution and also protection from the aggressor. Society and Courts can provide pardon, not forgiveness, which must be done by the individual(s). Many times, society fails to punish the guilty, thereby creating an ecosystem for more adharma to flourish. This is not the excuse to redirect our inner indignation to effect a change. One may do so as long as one has mastered forgiveness, before effecting the changes without violating dharma. 

Storytime: Let us not get into the metaphorical or other aspects and focus only on our key question on how forgiveness (or its lack) and its dimensions. We will use Mahabharata incidents to understand how lack of forgiveness perpetuates more violence. 
 

Spite continues through Janmas: Bhishma is the embodiment of impeccable character in Mahabharata. In an ancient practice, he represented his step-brother, Vichitravirya in a Swayamwara. He brings the three princesses of Kashi - Amba, Ambika and Ambalika. Since Amba pleaded her pre-existing love for Salwa, King of Saubala, Bhishma sends her honorably to him, who spurns her for being a reject. Unable to inspire Vichitravirya, she asks Bhishma to marry her, who was bound by Brahmacharya vow. Burning with rage due to rejection, she convinced Parasurama, one of the gurus of Bhishma to wage war with him for 23 days, after which Bhishma showed his edge. 

            Due to her intense anger, she did a long penance to become the reason for Bhishma’s death. She was later born as a princess/eunuch to Drupada, eventually got his gender changed to become prince Shikandi. Bhishma, the unstoppable in Mahabharata, knew he was the reason why both sides were in a stalemate and Pandavas were staring at an impossibility to establish Dharma, gave his secret to his elimination. Keeping Shikandi in his chariot, Arjuna attacked Bhishma on Day 10. Bhishma did not counter him effectively as he could never to attack a woman as a warrior. 

Our take away: Hate and lack of forgiveness is so strong that it will go across many janmas. If Amba had used her tapas, her contacts with Parasurama and other mahatmas, she could have easily attained any Purushartha. Instead she wasted it on mere vengeance. Secondly due to the intensity of desire and multiple rejections, she refused to see that Bhishma was guilty though in her mind, she was convinced of it. Lack of forgiveness color our understanding and cast long dark shadows even across Janmas.

Darkness doesn’t learn even in death: Tamasic people hold their grudge longer. Since there is no opportunity for their education or reformation, the best option is never to cross paths with such characters. Duryodhana was already burning with jealousy at the riches of the newly built empire in Indraprastha. During his stay, he got tricked by the various illusory contraptions. Draupadi laughed at his folly, but the inferno of jealousy raging in Duryodhana’s heart got an upgrade and a reason. He plotted their fall through deception and evil, abused Draupadi in the presence of all the elders in the Sabha and got the Pandavas banished.

            Tamas knows no limits. He refused to hold his end of the bargain and caused Mahabharata war to kill millions. Even after lecturing Krishna and the Pandavas that their victory was built on Adharmic means, he resorts to the ultimate disgrace of authorizing a night time attack on the sleeping survivors of the Pandava army under the leadership of Aswattama. Only the five Pandavas survive with Krishna and Satyaki, along with the lone Kaurava survivor, Yuyutsu.

Our take away: Deep Tamas doesn’t change with even death. When dealing with such characters, the law must be firmly dealt as they show no remorse in their actions. One must be clear to differentiate pardon and forgiveness in these cases of extremes and note pardoning may not be the option for extremely tamasic people. We see modern day equivalence in pardoning terrorists does no change of heart and they are back to their old destructive evil ways in no time.

Lack of forgiveness can be inter-generational: Lack of forgiveness wipes out compassion and buddhi. Drupada, the King of Panchala and Drona were friends while studying in Parasurama’s ashrama. Due to extreme poverty, Drona eager to make Drupada’s childhood words of wanting to share the Kingdom true, sought half the Kingdom. This definitely was unrealistic as Drona did not need a Kingdom for his needs. Drupada scorned and sent him disgraced. Burning with this insult, Drona began to teach both the Pandavas and Kauravas about weapon use. For Gurudakshina, he sought Drupada captured alive. The Pandavas under Arjuna achieved this, after the failed mission of the Kauravas. Drona instead of acting mature, kept half the kingdom to rub insult to injury.

            Drupada got a son, Dhrishtadyumna, who was born to kill Drona and a daughter, Draupadi, who will marry Arjuna, through a Yajna. On the 15^th day of Mahabharata war, Drona crossed all moral limits in war, not even heeding to the pleas of Rishis. Krishna resorted to spreading a rumor that Ashwattama was killed. A dejected Drona sat in Yoga to give up his life voluntarily, even as Dhrishtadyumna decapitated the lifeless body.

            Ashwattama now was stung by the same internal rage that Drona and Drupada carried for decades. He convinced Duryodhana to make him the commander in chief of the side that was already defeated. Along with Kripa and Kritavarma, they attacked and destroyed the unsuspecting victorious Pandava side, wiping out all the survivors. Only the Pandavas, Krishna and Satyaki survived. Even after the battle to avenge for this horror with Pandavas ended in his defeat, he launched apandavastra and directed it to wipe out an unborn child, Parikshit, in the womb of Uttara. Lack of forgiveness knows no depths. This cycle of madness was stopped due to the curse of Krishna and Vyasa who pushed him to live a long life, until the Yuga is not over, in repentance.

Our take away: Repentance and Prayaschita will have to be in proportion to the actions done by an unforgiving heart. Lack of forgiveness kills empathy, thereby effectively making one insensitive to one’s own actions. It is a mad poison that can be infectious. Just like crusades or even prophecies of some desert religions to wipe out all others from the face of the earth, it blunts the next generation from developing a heart or brain.

Inside inferno can last long: After establishing Indraprastha, Krishna and Arjuna found themselves in a predicament. Agni sought their help to consume Khandavavana in the guise of a Brahmana, which they agreed. He gave them many celestial weapons and a chariot for this effort. Indra had a friend Takshaka, a naga who lived in this forest. In order to protect him, Indra led a valiant attack in vain. The only survivors of the conflagration were Aswasena, son of Takshaka, Maya (through surrender to Arjuna), and four sarngka birds.

            Aswasena though he escaped death, saw his mother perish in it, trying to protect him. Years of harboring hatred, he secretly entered Karna’s quiver. Due to its modified form, Arjuna is not able to counter it time, as Krishna saves him by pressing his toe to sink the chariot a little. The angry Aswasena reveals his intentions and pleads Karna for one more shot only to be rejected. 

Our take away: Internalized unforgiveness keeps its embers alive, waiting for a proper time to erupt. Due to this, the normal buddhi gets blunted and our colored perception alters our actions. Let us look within and forgive ourselves by cleansing, giving up those spiteful or guilty thoughts which hold us back.

Yudhishtra - the right example: Since his birth, he saw his brothers and mother being oppressed and bullied. Despite many attempts on life, he remained true to higher values. It was not due to fear that he suppressed his indignation, but due to superior buddhi and compassion. Even after the lakshagraha incident, he laid low and only the marriage of Draupadi exposed their cover. Though Duryodhana piled so many obscene acts of horror in their lives, he guided the Pandavas to safety. He kept his inner cove free from anger, hate and guilt. Whenever his mind was tormented by the past and the burden of the future very heavy, he surrendered to the feet of countless sages to guide him like Dhaumya, Markandeya and others. 

            Even when Duryodhana was caught by Chitrasena, he orders Bhima and Arjuna to save him with no ill feeling towards him. When Jayadratha abducted Draupadi, he forgives him by sparing his life for the sake of his cousin sister, Dussala, Dhritarashtra and Gandhari’s only daughter married to Jayadratha. He tried to the lone voice that pleads to stop the carnage by seeking Krishna to go on a peace mission that ends in vain. His heart is so rooted in dharma that he grants Yuyutsu, Dhritarashtra’s son from his vysya wife, permission to fight on his side. 

            Yet there is a moment of total dejection, as his mind can only blame itself for the carnage. Luckily, Krishna sends him to fetch the best medicine from Bhishma, who through Shanti Parva transforms his guilt to rise above with his wisdom.

Our take away: Satsanga is the best solution to cleanse our mind from this almost incurable malaise. If a highly dharmic Yudhishtra will need a constant dose of Satsanga to avoid slipping into guilt and shame and temper his anger, it is needless to say that we need more.

Points to ponder:

• Forgiveness unhinges our adamant adherence to the past, which may be due to guilt or vengeance. It gives us the freedom to explore the possibilities in the NOW and thereby decouple our future from the dark past. Else, we get bound to the past heaviness and drown ourselves.

• Forgiveness is an inner rearrangement of one’s own mind. This has no connection to the past or current events or other’s actions. One has to take responsibility for one’s own life and progress.

• Forgiveness is by the individual. Pardon is by the society. Forgiveness is not about the crime or other person(s), but about one’s own mind.

• Justice for the society/individual(s) must not be conflated with pardoning the criminals and forgiveness in the heart. If proper punishment or prayaschita is not done by the perpetrator, it comes back to haunt the society.

• Forgivenesss eliminates the internal toxins associated with the memories of certain past event(s). Decoupling the vice grip of these memories’ over our present helps our buddhi to act more clear and unbiased.

• Forgiveness is an important step in developing Titiksha. Without forgiving, forbearance is impossible; without forbearance having spiritual growth is stagnated.

• If we want our past not to control our potential actions we can do today for better results in the future, we must be willing to renounce our deep hooks to the past by developing forgiveness.

            May we develop the right minds to study and understand the itihasapuranas, Upanishads and other scriptures. A constant commitment to Satsanga at every opportunity will help us heal our hearts and develop the right attitude to others and ourselves. Get dharmic roots will go a long way to helping our cause. Forgiveness will help us scrub the dark stains of our heart. In itself this alone may not be enough to aid our spiritual journey, but it has all the potential to arrest our movement by tying ourselves to some past memories. May we develop genuine love for the real SELF, our Atman and realize lasting inner peace.

ॐ तत् सत

Krishna's life - a saga of problem solving

            The human mind is naturally inclined to chase suka (pleasure) and run away from dukka (pain/sorrow/misery). Despite its best attempts to enjoy suka longer, we find it fleeting. Worse yet, it finds itself mired in dukka. A calm wise mind can clearly perceive that they are two sides of the same coin. Even in the best unadulterated worldly pleasure has a tinge of sorrow is at its core, as it comes to an end. Navigating this samsara requires the use of another coin. It has shanti (peace/contentment) on one side and the other is ananda (ecstasy/bliss).  Many great examples of mahatmas have showed us the art of living peaceful, blissful life. But, none come close to Sri Krishna, who lived an exemplary life demonstrating the art of solving problems.

            The problems, most of us are used to, come from outside – other people, situations arising from our choices or lack thereof. But all these problems have a root in our own mind. In certain situations we are definitely handicapped or have our hands tied behind, but most times it is our inability to address the problem with the right attitude that pins us down. The best way one can identify and fix our inner inconsistencies is to learn from others. So we are going to take a concise biography of Krishna and study it with the sole intention of applying it in our lives.

How to emulate Krishna?

            It is important to keep this short preface in mind, prior to studying his life through Bhagavatam and Mahabharatam. Any Avatara like Rama or Krishna must be studied in at least a fourfold mechanism, as they simultaneously exhibit all these qualities. They are the Paramatma, so one cannot understand this dimension, and all we can do is merely meditate on the Brahman aspect. Secondly, they exhibit the Ishwara aspect, where there is an element of their lordliness, yet shrouded in some mystery, Maya. This aspect we can only pray.  The third dimension of their actions can be understood as avatara. The aspect of marrying many or dancing on Kaliya can only be done by an avatara and way beyond the grasp of our minds. This dimension can help us cleanse our mind and develop bhakti. Lastly Krishna exhibits many qualities as an exalted human being, something we must strive to stretch and emulate. In our study we will purely look at Krishna’s human attributes and have the sole purpose of profiting ourselves from the easy ones we can copy him.

            Though his life was filled with impossible problems of humongous magnitudes, we remember him only about how he solved. The key here is focus on solutions, not bury one by only by the hard aspects of the problems that affect us or people around us. We will sample a few. In time we will focus on each episode in depth.

Identity crisis: Krishna begins his life with an identity crisis. He had a death threat even before his actual birth. This led to him being switched at birth; give up his real parents Vasudeva and Devaki. Though Nanda and Yashoda gave more than extraordinary love, a time came when the truth had to come out. Again he gets switched back, giving up his carefree rural loving to a cultured urban life. 

Our take away: Our real identity comes from not our environment, but mostly from our actions. Strength comes from tying our actions to dharma. Krishna adapted to blend into the environment and acted according to the dharma of the situation. He respected Vasudeva-Devaki and retracted his four arm nature and played out the drama of escaping to satisfy his parents’ wishes. But once in Gokula, he was perhaps the most free-spirited child ever, keeping the innocent gopas and gopis wrapped in amazement. 

Do not let others define who you are by constantly being rooted in your own true nature.

Stolen identity: Years later, Paundraka called himself as the real Vasudeva, though he was not even remotely related. He drummed up propaganda and even challenged Krishna to a war to settle the dispute. Needless to say Krishna accepted it and killed him.

Our take away: When our real identity gets questioned, stand your ground. Do not let others or even your own misguided mind steal your real self. Our real nature is Sat-Chit-Ananda, but our avarana, veil of ignorance, is so thick that it mistakes itself as the body or mind or even the intellect. Worse yet, it extends the circle to the objects it is so attached as family, status, objects of possession, money, fame as its identity. We must treat our inner Paundraka, the same way Krishna dealt with the external one.

Defamation: Krishna handled defamation differently under different circumstances. To avenge Mathura, Kamsa’s father-in-law, Jarasandha attacked it seventeen times with 23 akshounis each time, enraged by the killing of Kamsa, at the hands of his nephew, Krishna. Despite the seventeen victories, Krishna chose to evade the attack the 18^th time by evacuating the residents to go far away to Dwaraka. He got crowned a thorny title of ranchor, the one who ran from the battlefield. Many enemies addressed him condescendingly as Gopala, cowherd. Duryodhana and Shishupala specialized in these taunts. Deliberate rumors were spread by the owner of Syamantaka, when it went missing under mysterious circumstances along with the death of his brother.

Our take away: Krishna ignored the baits and taunts of most like Jarasanda or Duryodhana. Though he could have handled either of them easily, knowing others destiny to eliminate them made him show the extra grace of kindness towards them. If we realize that we may be many times stronger than our bullies or enemies, ignoring them work in quite a few situations. This can be a stance only when we have a complete understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and ours.

In the case of Shishupala, he let him exhaust all the grace before dealing a deathblow, but even there was a bigger demonstration of his grace. Be graceful when showing aggression.

When false accusations are spread through rumor mongering, it is better to address the problem, head on, rather than let it take a life of its own. This also implies that we nip it in the bud. The way Krishna handled very similar problems so differently implies that we cannot approach life with one cookie cutter solution. We must not hesitate to have radically opposite approaches as solutions. We may draw from our past or others experiences, but each solution has to be grounded in the reality of NOW.

Seemingly endless problems: Imagine being at the epicenter of others attack. Jarasandha’s tenacity to turn every defeat, despite leading 23 akshounis of army, 17 times against Mathura will faze anyone. To add to everyone’s mystery, Krishna even lets him back each time from the death grip of Balarama, who is now completely confused by Krishna’s action. The wave of attacks never cease till Krishna resettles the entire population to a remote island, Dwaraka.

Our take away: What Balarama failed to grasp was Krishna was using Jarasandha’s own abilities to do his work as avatara. Jarasandha in his rage raised numerous waves of huge armies only to be destroyed. Tap the problem to strengthen yourself. What good times fail to teach will be done when we solve some impossible problems.  Solving problems by facing them head-on, grows us not only to stronger, but prepares for even tougher challenges ahead. The never ending problems will challenge us to think outside the box, we are comfortable in hiding ourselves, as long as we have the right intentions, attitude backed with right actions.

 Life is not easy: Krishna’s life is cherished by anyone who has the faintest trace of bhakti or jnana. Yet, if we were to put ourselves in the shoes of Nanda or Yashoda, despite the joy of being with Krishna, they were worried with waves of rakshasa attack on the child. Putana vada was followed by Sakatasura, Trinavatra, Vatasura, Bakasura, Aghasura, Dhenuka, Pralamba and ended with meeting the evil uncle Kamsa. We would definitely not face a fraction of it, especially when we are so dependent on others.

Our take away: Attitude is everything. We do not have to daydream of hope, but instead stay focused on our actions with a right mind. This will be possible only if we have a fierce determination to be rooted in dharma at all costs. If strive hard to protect dharma even under treacherous conditions, it will turn around to protect us. We definitely will not be able to perform the miracles as an avatara, but we can take a leaf from Krishna’s life and be eternally grounded in dharma.

Special circumstance: Rukmini was the chief and first queen, but on the eve of her proposed marriage to Shishupala, she sends an emergency letter professing her love for Krishna and pleaded him to abduct and marry her. Even today, this distance is not a day by train, but she expected Krishna to be there overnight. Krishna went there defeated the Kings assembled and carried her away to her delight. (Read more in depth in the Secrets of Rukmini vivaha) Balarama understood Krishna’s hasty exit as a message and followed him with a huge army to do some rearguard action.

Our take away: When our loved ones are counting on us, it is the time to take our eyes off our shortcoming or inconvenience. When the only object is serving others, we achieve more as we can tap into powers deeper than with our selfish goals. 

Be prepared when challenging larger problems or complicated mission. Though Krishna did not ask or need Balarama to assist, the lesson for us is having a strong team to be ever ready will aid in achieving bigger goals. 

Sometimes it is the people closest to us that might present a challenge, which we may not be able to avoid or postpone, like Rukmini did. This is neither the time to complain or be weary, but stay focused on deeper emotions like love or even bigger ideas like dharma.

More family problems: Krishna’s close family presented a series of challenges. In case of Balarama he killed Rukmi, Rukmini’s eldest brother in the presence of Krishna, landing him in a tight spot. Balarama also wanted to give away their sister, Subadra, in a political wedding to his favorite pupil, Duryodhana. But Krishna made it go the other way by getting her married to Arjuna. Balarama also wanted to join Duryodhana’s side in the Mahabharata war, but due to Krishna’s prior stance could not go against him.

            Narakasura presented a different challenge, which ended by Krishna using his wife Satyabhama as his charioteer. Samba, Krishna’s son through Jambavati was the problem child. He married Lakshmanaa, daughter of Duryodhana to complicate the family affairs. He also drew the curse of the destruction of Yadavas by trying to mock the visiting rishis.

            Aniruddha was the son of Pradyumna, the son of Krishna and Rukmini. He got abducted by Banasura’s daughter, Usha and comfortably started living in her quarters. Krishna had to mount a rescue mission where he had to face the entire forces of Shiva, who had come to the aid of Bana.

Our take away: The toughest of challenges come from the ones closest to us. Since they are close to our heart, there is an in built bias when we approach them either with love or anger. Hence, it becomes more important for keeping the dharmic lens at all times coupled with deep love and compassion. The gravest danger lies in the fact that our own desire, due to its intensity and our attachment, morphs and can hurt the same people we love. (Read more on how desire can morph into other things in detail)

Develop a bigger taste for dharma, through periodic study of scriptures. This helps us insulate and protect us from the darker aspects of desire modification. Desire without such a grounding can short circuit and destroy our own desired objects.

Pandavas – the most troubling bhaktas: Krishna states this numerous times in Mahabharata that his love for Pandavas is only due to their fierce determination to uphold dharma at all costs. This makes Krishna ever involved in their lives as they seek out his grace to tide over their numerous problems. Perhaps, they rival Krishna in the number of problems they have to overcome in their lives. He is available to their as a friend, philosopher and guide, even their primary support in the Mahabharata war. 

Our take away: When someone is deeply rooted in dharma, in our sphere of influence, then we must strive harder, like Krishna, to support. We must always remember that dharma is a fragile ecosystem. It is crucial for us to keep our eyes on protecting it. It may be a small trivial act or a real Mahabharata war, we must do our part.

No one listens: Perhaps we may relate to this one the best. Krishna was understood as avatara by many in his own lifetime. Yet, most around him failed to listen to him. It is understandable that Duryodhana or Dhritarashtra would ignore his advice due to their vasanas. Karna declined his advice due to his twin bindings – his desire to payback Duryodana’s friendship and his ego to duel Arjuna successfully. 

            The saddest one, who did not fully grasp Krishna despite numerous blessings, was Arjuna. Despite the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna falls into the pit of misery due to Abhimanyu’s death and makes a promise to kill Jayadratta before sunset or die in a blazing fire. He goes on to pick a fight and was about to kill Yudhishtra himself during Karna Parva. The best part of Arjuna’s folly is when he returns to Dwarka, many moons latter to seek Krishna to give him the essence of Bhagavad Gita as he had forgotten it completely. This is Arjuna who through intense meditation was able to focus and please even Shiva to bless him Pasupatastra. Krishna then out of compassion gives Anu Gita.

Our take away: Understand that every Jivatman is in its own journey. If Krishna could not help Arjuna retain Bhagavad Gita, despite his Vishwaroopa darshan, then we must realize that the vasana pressure on each of the jivas is so great. We must understand that our interactions with others are more complex than we trying to communicate. Just like our perception and reaction is based on a complicated dance of our gunas, vasanas and the situation we are getting dealt with, so it others. That is why it is critical to understand our role in each situation, so we can play to the perfection. 

            To summarize few of the salient take-away from Krishna’s biography:

• Live in the now: The present is the only reality. The heaviness or greatness of the past is mere memories, while the aspirations of the future are a mere fantasy. This doesn’t mean don’t plan for the future, but the future has its roots in the NOW, if we do not want the past to cast its shadow even longer than the present.

• Try lateral thinking: Instead of confining oneself to a rigid thought pattern, having an open mind and having a fresh start enables other possibilities; just like Krishna’s move to Dwarka.

• Achieve more: It may be possible to solve multiple problems in one go, rather than solving them serially. Being aware of the possibilities provide better options. When Jarasandha attacked the 18^th time, Kalayavana also arrived to attack. Krishna resolved the latter by introducing him to Muchukunda.  As also while fighting with the invading Salwa, he still provided an option for Draupadi to be protected.

• Do not let the problem grow: During the Syamantaka mani episode, he ensured there was a record of his efforts and ensured that resolved the mystery, cleared his bad name.

• Don’t have a cookie cutter approach: Problems come in different sizes. Having one formula to resolve make them ineffective. With Kamsa, he waited to eliminate all his strong rakshasas from Gokula and Vraja, before finishing off his uncle in Mathura. He used the 17 invasions of Jarasandha to perform his avatara work. On the 18^th he relocated to a far away Dwarka to shield his citizens from the incessant fighting. Have a fresh open mind for every instance, even if the pattern is almost the same.

• Grow your strengths: Krishna waited for the right time to strike Kamsa. It is during that interim, when we get the most delightful stories of Krishna’s eventful childhood. Not every problem has to be tackled head on.

• Understand your actions’ reactions: While it is easier to get why Kamsa was obsessed with killing Krishna, it is not easier to switch and anticipate, Jarasandha’s waves of attack. Sometimes when we solve a problem, we end up creating few more due to our solution. It is critical to give deeper thought to our actions’ potential reactions. When the false Vasudeva, Paundraka was killed along with his friend, the Raja of Kasi, his son Sudakshina launched a counter attack using black magic. This is another example of fallout due to the actions.

• Focus on relationships: As soon as Krishna got comfortable with the affairs of Mathura, after eliminating Kamsa, he sent Akrura on a special mission to Hastinapur to do a fact finding mission about the Pandavas. He also sent Uddhava to Vrindavan to console the Gopikas. He continuously monitored and protected the Pandavas, even for that matter the way he was concerned about Rukmini whom he had never met.

            May we strive to study Krishna in his human dimension. Let us not brush aside that Krishna is Bhagwan / Avatara and see him only in a superhuman prism. Nor should we be stupid enough to ignore everything like a Hinduphobe or atheist. May our study of Krishna raise our Saatvic qualities and eventually open our minds to understanding his other dimensions.

ॐ तत् सत