Question 7
QUESTIONER: YOU SAID IN THE COURSE OF A DISCUSSION OF KRISHNA AT AHMEDABAD THAT THE INTERCOURSE THAT VASUDEO HAD WITH HIS WIFE DEVAKI WAS NOT JUST SEXUAL, BUT WAS A SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE AND THAT IS WHY A PERSON LIKE KRISHNA WAS BORN. IN VIEW OF IT ONE WONDERS WHY THE SONS OF RAMA AND KRISHNA WERE NOT AS TALENTED AND BRILLIANT AS THEIR PARENTS. CAN IT BE SAID THAT RAMA AND KRISHNA DID NOT HAVE SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE WITH THEIR WIVES?
In this connection, two things have to be understood. When I talk of spiritual intercourse between two lovers it does not mean that I am condemning sexual intercourse. By spiritual intercourse I mean that when two persons, a man and a woman, make love, they meet not only on the physical plane but at the spiritual level too. A child born out of mere physical coitus cannot reach to that height of excellence one born out of spiritual intercourse can. I take Krishna to be a child of spiritual intercourse. That is why people who knew Jesus could say that his mother Mary remained virgin even after giving birth to Jesus. Though Mary and Joseph must have made love physically, it is true that the intercourse was much more spiritual than physical. Their desire for sex was not that strong. The physical part of it was like the shadow of the spiritual meeting. Evidently the responsibility for giving birth to Jesus does not lie with the shadow, with physical intercourse.
But the question is significant. Why were the sons of Krishna and Rama not as talented and brilliant? There are good reasons for it. Firstly, it is impossible to give birth to a son who can excel Krishna; Krishna is the apex any son can ever reach. Of course, Vasudeo, who is an ordinary person, can produce a son greater than himself, but Krishna cannot. A son of Krishna is bound to be forgotten by history, because Krishna will always tower above him. Even the high est peaks of the Vindhyachal mountain range will look like dwarfs before Everest. Everything is relative; everyone pales into insignificance before Krishna.
The offspring of people like Krishna, Buddha, Rama and Mahavira have to live under certain inherent disadvantages. Lava and Kusha, the sons of Rama, are great in their own right, yet they pale before their father's towering greatness. If they had been born of ordinary parents they would have made history; they were really extraordinary people. How could the sons of Rama be ordinary people? But in comparison with Rama they had to take a back seat in history. Dashratha was a very ordinary person; he is known only because he was Rama's father. In his own he was insignificant, but he became great just because he was father of a great person. But even a great son of a great father cannot be that great; he will be smaller than his father by comparison.
The intercourse between Krishna and his wives was spiritual; his offspring were born of spiritual union. But when we come to evaluate them, it has necessarily to be relative, comparative; there is no other way to do it.
You are aware of an anecdote connected with the great Indian King Akbar. Once he was sitting with his court discussing some important matter of state. He rose from his seat and drew a line on a blackboard with white chalk and asked his courtiers to make the line smaller without touching it in any way. Nobody could think how to reduce it without touching it. Then the King's intimate friend Birbal, who was known for his great wit, rose from his seat and drew another line longer than the existing one, and the existing line became smaller without being reduced in size.
Lava and Kusha are indeed great, but they could not surpass their father, who was already at the height of greatness. So they were lost in the shadow of his greatness, which was immense. They would have shone if they had not been Rama's sons. Then history would certainly have remembered them.
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Next: Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 8
Energy Enhancement Enlightened Texts Krishna Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy
Chapter 6
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 1
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 1, PLEASE EXPLAIN THE SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH KRISHNA WAS BORN. AND IS THERE SOME ANALOGY BETWEEN KRISHNA AND CHRIST IN REGARD TO THEIR BIRTHS? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 2
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 2, YOU SAID YESTERDAY THAT KRISHNA IS MAKING A JOKE WHEN HE SAYS, 'SURRENDER TO ME, ABANDONING ALL OTHER DUTIES,' AND THAT 'I WILL COME FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS.' HOWEVER, IT SEEMS TO ME THAT WHILE THE KRISHNA OF THE GEETA IS NOT GIVEN TO JOKING, PERHAPS THE KRISHNA OF THE BHAGWAD IS. BUT BECAUSE OF OUR UNCRITICAL ATTITUDE WE MIX UP THE TWO KRISHNAS AND TAKE HIM FOR ONE, AND THEN WE TEND TO THINK THAT THE KRISHNA OF THE GEETA IS JOKING TOO. WE HAVE TO BE CLEAR, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE KRISHNA OF THE GEETA, THAT HE HAPPENED SOME TWO THOUSAND YEARS BEFORE THE KRISHNA OF THE BHAGWAD, AND THAT THEY ARE CLEARLY TWO DIFFERENT PERSONS. AND IF WE TAKE THEM TO BE ONE AND TRY TO HARMONIZE THEM WE WILL ONLY INVOLVE OURSELVES, AT PLACES, IN OBVIOUS CONTRADICTIONS. THE GEETA ITSELF IS SUCH THAT SHANKARA INTERPRETS IT IN ONE WAY, TILAK IN QUITE ANOTHER WAY AND YOU IN A THIRD WAY. IN THIS CONTEXT IS IT NOT NECESSARY TO CONSIDER IF THE GEETA IS AN AUTHENTIC ANTHOLOGY OF KRISHNA'S TEACHINGS? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 3
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 3, DO YOU TAKE THE GEETA AS THE AUTHENTIC VOICE OF KRISHNA? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 4
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 4, THE BHAGWAD MENTIONS AN ANECDOTE FROM KRISHNA'S ADOLESCENT LIFE WHICH IS CLEARLY EROTIC. IT IS SAID THAT WHILE A GROUP OF YOUNG WOMEN KNOWN AS GOPIS ARE BATHING NAKED IN THE RIVER YAMUNA, KRISHNA RUNS AWAY WITH THEIR CLOTHES AND THUS FORCES THEM TO COME OUT OF THE RIVER NUDE. WHEN THE GOPIS EMERGE FROM THE WATER BASHFULLY HIDING THEIR SEXUAL ORGANS WITH THEIR HANDS, KRISHNA TELLS THEM THAT SINCE THEY HAVE OFFENDED THE WATER GOD BY BATHING NAKED, THEY SHOULD ASK FOR HIS FORGIVENESS WITH THEIR HANDS RAISED IN SALUTATION TO HIM, AND THEN THEY CAN TAKE BACK THEIR CLOTHES. IN THIS CONTEXT THE BHAGWAD SAYS THAT KRISHNA DECEITFULLY MADE THEM EXPOSE THEIR SEXUAL ORGANS TO HIM, AND THAT HE WAS VERY PLEASED TO SEE THEM IN THEIR VIRGIN STATE. AND YOU SEEM TO BE A STRONG SUPPORTER OF KRISHNA -- THE PIONEER OF NUDISM IN HUMAN SOCIETY. BUT IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUR CONCEPTION OF NUDISM AND THAT OF THE CURRENT NUDIST CLUBS IN THE WESTERN COUNTRIES? IT IS SAID THAT CLOTHES REPRESENT CIVILIZATION AND SKIN REPRESENTS CULTURE. IF WE REMOVE OUR CLOTHES WE WILL ON ONE HAND APPEAR IN OUR NATURAL STATE, BUT ON THE OTHER WE WILL ALSO LOOK LIKE BARBARIANS. WOULD IT NOT AMOUNT TO A GOING BACK TO THE PRIMITIVE WAY OF LIFE, A RETURN TO THE JUNGLE? AND WOULD YOU CALL THIS TURNING BACK OF THE HANDS OF THE CLOCK A PROGRESSIVE STEP? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 5
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 5, YOU SAID WE NEED A SOCIETY IN WHICH A MAN CAN FREELY TAKE THE HAND OF A WOMAN HE LIKES IN HIS, WITHOUT FEAR OF BEING OSTRACIZED. SINCE IT RAISES THE QUESTION OF IMMORALITY, WE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW YOUR VIEW ON IMMORALITY. WHAT IF SOMEONE, BY WAY OF TAKING A WOMAN'S HAND IN HIS, ASKS FOR MORE, ASKS TO GO TO BED WITH HER? WOULD IT NOT CREATE A CONFLICT IN THE LIVES OF MANY MEN AND WOMEN? WOULD IT NOT PUT MANY HUSBANDS IN TROUBLE? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 6
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 6, KRISHNA REPRESENTS TWO EXTREMES OF LIFE. ON THE ONE HAND HE STEALS THE CLOTHES OF THE GOPIS AND ON THE OTHER HE BRINGS CLOTHES TO DRAUPADI WHEN SHE IS BEING PUBLICLY DISROBED BY THE KAURAVAS. THIS ASPECT OF HIS LIFE IS REALLY UNIQUE, UNEARTHLY AND DIVINE. OR IS IT JUST AN EXCEPTIONAL INSTANCE? THEN THERE ARE CONFLICTING REPORTS ABOUT HIS BODILY COLOR. WHILE THE COLOR OF KRISHNA, WHO PROVIDED DRAUPADI WITH ABUNDANT CLOTHES, IS SAID TO BE DARK, THE BHAGWAD DESCRIBES HIM IN THREE SHADES: WHITE, YELLOW AND BLUE. AND POETS HAVE EULOGIZED HIS BLUE COLOR IN A FANTASTIC MANNER at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 7
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 7, YOU SAID IN THE COURSE OF A DISCUSSION OF KRISHNA AT AHMEDABAD THAT THE INTERCOURSE THAT VASUDEO HAD WITH HIS WIFE DEVAKI WAS NOT JUST SEXUAL, BUT WAS A SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE AND THAT IS WHY A PERSON LIKE KRISHNA WAS BORN. IN VIEW OF IT ONE WONDERS WHY THE SONS OF RAMA AND KRISHNA WERE NOT AS TALENTED AND BRILLIANT AS THEIR PARENTS. CAN IT BE SAID THAT RAMA AND KRISHNA DID NOT HAVE SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE WITH THEIR WIVES? at energyenhancement.org
- Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 8
Krishna, Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy Chapter 6: Nudity and Clothing Should go Together, Question 8, YOU TALKED ABOUT LIBIDO, SEX ENERGY AND SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. IN THIS CONTEXT A DELICATE BUT CLEAR QUESTION ARISES IN REGARD TO KRISHNA'S RELATIONSHIP WITH RADHA.IT SEEMS AS IF THE FLUTE BELONGS TO KRISHNA, BUT THE MUSIC EMANATING FROM IT BELONGS TO RADHA. IF KRISHNA SINGS A SONG, ITS POETIC JUICE AND BEAUTY COME FROM RADHA AND WHEN KRISHNA DANCES, RADHA MAKES THE CLINKING SOUND AND ITS RHYTHM -- SO INEXTRICABLY ONE THEY ARE. THAT IS WHY RADHAKRISHNA HAS BECOME OUR WATCHWORD, OUR CHANT. NOBODY SAYS RUKMINI-KRISHNA, ALTHOUGH RUKMINI WAS MARRIED TO KRISHNA IF RADHA IS REMOVED FROM THE LIFE OF KRISHNA, HE WILL LOOK SO FRAGMENTARY AND PALE. BUT THE IRONY IS THAT RADHA IS NOT EVEN MENTIONED IN THE BHAGWAD, IN THE BASIC SCRIPTURE DEPICTING THE COUNTLESS EROTIC PLAYS OF KRISHNA. SINCE YOU ARE SO MUCH LIKE KRISHNA, YOU ARE THE RIGHT PERSON TO SHED LIGHT ON THIS QUESTION at energyenhancement.org
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