Love for Krishna
Love for Krishna
Religion is often perceived as a spiritual allegory. At times, the cosmic order struggles between good and evil to maintain balance. The followers of Hinduism believe that the “Absolute One” or the “Supreme God” will come down to the human world to restore the cosmic balance. They are the devotees of Vaishnavism referred to be Vaisnavites, one of the largest Hindu groups. Their unconditional love and devotion lies within Vishnu, the Supreme deity. Whenever “adharma threatens to tip the cosmic balance, through the powers of maya and nature, the transcend Lord periodically manifests to destroy evil and restore dharma.” (Rodrigues 2006:200) Vishnu will incarnate through avatars in the form of a human or any other beings. This is also known as manifestation. This paper will focus on one of the most popular avatar, Krishna (Krsna) and the devotion to him. “The Krsna avatara is immensely popular in Hinduism, undoubtedly due to the influence of the Bhagavad Gita.” (Rodrigues 2006:203)The Bhagavad Purana is known as Puranic text which mainly focuses on bhakti, unlimited devotion to the divine. This text saw rapid growth with the “Bhakti Movement” in South India. Alvars, tamil poets travelled around the world singing songs explaining their love to Krishna. This total surrender to Krishna will liberate the devotees from samsara.
Krishna can be viewed in three different narratives:
First, Krishna as a baby is perceived has maternal love. The devotional love held to Krishna is comparable to the love of a mother to her child. Yashoda and Krishna is a primary example of she loved him blindly for who he was. `` The boys looked adorable with the mud smeared on their bodies. After offering their breasts and gazing at their faces and their tiny teeth as they suckled, the mothers fell into a blissful state.” (BP 10.1.8.22-23) This is the same approach a devotee`s devotion to the divine. Sometimes, the divine can also will himself into a powerless state to allow
Religion is often perceived as a spiritual allegory. At times, the cosmic order struggles between good and evil to maintain balance. The followers of Hinduism believe that the “Absolute One” or the “Supreme God” will come down to the human world to restore the cosmic balance. They are the devotees of Vaishnavism referred to be Vaisnavites, one of the largest Hindu groups. Their unconditional love and devotion lies within Vishnu, the Supreme deity. Whenever “adharma threatens to tip the cosmic balance, through the powers of maya and nature, the transcend Lord periodically manifests to destroy evil and restore dharma.” (Rodrigues 2006:200) Vishnu will incarnate through avatars in the form of a human or any other beings. This is also known as manifestation. This paper will focus on one of the most popular avatar, Krishna (Krsna) and the devotion to him. “The Krsna avatara is immensely popular in Hinduism, undoubtedly due to the influence of the Bhagavad Gita.” (Rodrigues 2006:203)The Bhagavad Purana is known as Puranic text which mainly focuses on bhakti, unlimited devotion to the divine. This text saw rapid growth with the “Bhakti Movement” in South India. Alvars, tamil poets travelled around the world singing songs explaining their love to Krishna. This total surrender to Krishna will liberate the devotees from samsara.
Krishna can be viewed in three different narratives:
First, Krishna as a baby is perceived has maternal love. The devotional love held to Krishna is comparable to the love of a mother to her child. Yashoda and Krishna is a primary example of she loved him blindly for who he was. `` The boys looked adorable with the mud smeared on their bodies. After offering their breasts and gazing at their faces and their tiny teeth as they suckled, the mothers fell into a blissful state.” (BP 10.1.8.22-23) This is the same approach a devotee`s devotion to the divine. Sometimes, the divine can also will himself into a powerless state to allow
Bibliography: * In class lecture. Professor Mann. 2011 * Hillary Rodrigues, Introducing Hinduism, New York: Routledge, 2006.