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Is Krishna Immoral?
>Hare Krishna!!
>
>My name is Devang, I am 100% Hindu and a worshiper of Krishna
>and many other Hindu gods. As a college student, I often involve
>in long engaing conversations about world religions. In a recent
>chat, someone told me something very disturbing about krishna. I
>was stunned and did not know how to reply. What he said has
>remained on my mind for some time. I was hoping that you could give
>me some info. What this person said was"... that krishna had sex
>with several women who were married." Is this true? Can you or
>someone you know shed some light on this topic.
>
>Looking forward to your responce.
>
Dear Devang,
Hello, Hare Krishna! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Thanks for the letter. Firstly, you say you are 100% Hindu and worship Krishna
along with many other Hindu Gods... Krishna is not a "Hindu god..." Krishna is
the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is God. The same God everyone talks
about that is Krishna. The name Krishna means "the all-attractive person". It
is the perfect name for God. As God, Krishna has all attractive qualities in
full. He has all strength, He has all knowledge, He has all beauty, He has all
fame, He has all wealth and He has all renunciation... So He is Krishna, the
all-attractive person.
"The Sanskrit word bhagavan is explained by the great authority Parasara
Muni, the father of Vyasadeva. The Supreme Personality who possesses all
riches, all strength, all fame, all beauty, all knowledge and all renunciation
is called Bhagavan. There are many persons who are very rich, very powerful,
very beautiful, very famous, very learned, and very much detached, but no one
can claim that he possesses all riches, all strength, etc., entirely. Only
Krsna can claim this because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No
living entity, including Brahma, Lord Siva, or Narayana, can possess opulences
as fully as Krsna. Therefore it is concluded in the Brahma-samhita by Lord
Brahma himself that Lord Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No one is
equal to or above Him. He is the primeval Lord, or Bhagavan, known as Govinda,
and He is the supreme cause of all causes:
isvarah paramah krsnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah
sarva-karana-karanam
"There are many personalities possessing the qualities of Bhagavan, but Krsna
is the supreme because none can excel Him. He is the Supreme Person, and His
body is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. He is the primeval Lord Govinda
and the cause of all causes." (Brahma-samhita 5.1)
In the Bhagavatam also there is a list of many incarnations of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, but Krsna is described as the original Personality of
Godhead, from whom many, many incarnations and Personalities of Godhead expand:
ete camsa-kalah pumsah
krsnas tu bhagavan svayam
indrari-vyakulam lokam
mrdayanti yuge yuge
"All the lists of the incarnations of Godhead submitted herewith are either
plenary expansions or parts of the plenary expansions of the Supreme Godhead,
but Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself." (Bhag. 1.3.28)
Therefore, Krsna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, the
Absolute Truth, the source of both the Supersoul and the impersonal Brahman."
(from Srila Prabhupada's purport to Bhagavad-gita 2.2)
There are two types of living entities, Visnu-tattva, or God, and Jiva-tattva
or the ordinary living entities. Both are expansions of Krishna but the potency
is different. The Visnu-tattva expansions are God and have the potency of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, but the Jiva-tattva expansions do
not... Many of the "Hindu Gods" you are worshipping are jiva-tattva expansions,
they are not God, they are Demigods, or appointed agents of God who are
entrusted to perform some responsible task in the management of the universe.
For example Lord Brahma is entrusted with the secondary creation of the
universe. He is one of the "Hindu Gods" and is worshipped by many Hindus on a
equal level with Krishna -- this is a great mistake. They don't see any
difference, but there is a great difference. Krishna is the Supreme Personality
of Godhead and Lord Brahma is an ordinary living entity like you or me who has
become qualified for the exalted post of Lord Brahma. You or I could become
Lord Brahma, just as you or I could become the President. It is a post, a
position offered to a qualified living entity... But he is not God. He is a
Demigod, a responsible representative of God.
So the point is there are not "many Hindu gods". There is Krishna and His Visnu
expansions. He is God. The demigods are not the Supreme Personality of Godhead
at all. They are ordinary living entities who have exalted positions of power
in the universal management. So beause they have these high positions
materialistic men aproach them for some benefits. If one is sick he worships
the Sun-god, Surya; if one wants money he worships Laxmi; if one wants
knowledge he worships the Goddess Saraswati; etc... But this worship is
completely material. It is asking for some material benediction which is
temporary and can not help one solve lifes real problems: birth, old-age,
disease and death...
So the Hindu's worship of "many Gods" is condemned in the Bhagavad-gita:
antavat tu phalam tesam
tad bhavaty alpa-medhasam
devan deva-yajo yanti
mad-bhakta yanti mam api
TRANSLATION
Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited
and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the
demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet.
PURPORT
Some commentators on the Bhagavad-gita say that one who worships a demigod
can reach the Supreme Lord, but here it is clearly stated that the worshipers
of demigods go to the different planetary systems where various demigods are
situated, just as a worshiper of the sun achieves the sun or a worshiper of the
demigod of the moon achieves the moon. Similarly, if anyone wants to worship a
demigod like Indra, he can attain that particular god's planet. It is not that
everyone, regardless of whatever demigod is worshiped, will reach the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. That is denied here, for it is clearly stated that the
worshipers of demigods go to different planets in the material world but the
devotee of the Supreme Lord goes directly to the supreme planet of the
Personality of Godhead.
So before one can understand the pastimes of Krishna when He was present on
this earth 5,000 years ago he has to understand who Krishna is and what His
position is. That is why Srila Vyasadeva has presented the Srimad-Bhagavatam so
perfectly. It scientifically explains Krishna step by step. In the first nine
Canto's the understanding and foundations are laid so one can understand
Krishna's pastimes when they are described in the Tenth Canto. The Bhagavatam
should be studied systematically from the First Canto and one will gradually
advance step-by-step to the position where he can understand Krishna's pastimes
with the gopis.
So I would strongly suggest you read Srila Prabhupada's books and then you can
understand everything. The problem is everyone wants to make it very cheep. In
India they have "Bhagavat Sapatah" where in seven days the whole
Srimad-Bhagavatam is discussed. It is very popular. I was in Vrndavana and
there was one famous Bhagavata reciter there and the place was completely
packed... Hundreds of thousands of people. All there to hear the Bhagavatam in
seven days. But that is not the proess to hear the Bhagavatam, it is "nitya
bhagavata sevaya" one has to hear the Bhagavatam always, at least daily-- Of
ourse Pariksit Maharaja heard it in seven days as he was cursed to die in seven
days. Srila Prabhupada often says that at least Pariksit Maharaja had seven
days guaranteed, we don't even have seven minutes guaranteed. So we should be
very serious to read the Srimad-Bhagavatam always. So we have to do that. Not a
false show where a materialistic professional reciter gets up in front of a
similarly materially interested audience and almost immediately goes to the
Tenth Canto and describes Krishna's pastimes with the gopis as if it was some
mundane sex literature.
So it cannot be understood cheeply. But you have to understand there is nothing
here in the material world that doesn't have its origin in the spiritual world.
This material world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world so what we
see here is perverted -- but there is an original pure source in the spiritual
world. So this mundane sex we see here is a perverted reflection of the
original spiritual relationship Krishna has with His lovers in the spiritual
world. Krishna has everything, it is not that we have a loving feeling and
Krishna doesn't. We are part and parcel of Krishna, we have the same qualities
as Krishna, but Krishna is great and we are small. So Radha is attracted to
Krishna and Krishna is attracted to Radha... But this is the highest
transcendental mellow. You can't expect to be able to understand it without a
thorough understanding of who Krishna is, what His position is, what this
material world is, how it is related to Krishna, and how Krishna has acted in
His many incarnations within the material world. Mundane men consider the
relationship of Krishna with Radha in terms of themselves, they think Krishna
is like them... But Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So both are
loving relationships, but Krishna's loving relationship with Radha is compared
to gold and the perverted reflection we see here in the material world is
compared to iron. There is no comparison whatsoever.
You have to study the books. How else will you understand it? The A-B-C of
spiritual life is the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the university degree is the
Srimad-Bhagavatam and the post-graduate course is the Sri Caitanya-caritamrta.
So Srila Prabhupada has given us everything. It is simply up to us to take
advantage of it. Srila Prabhupada has also given us a natural language
commentary of the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam called, "KRSNA Book". He has
presented it so perfectly that it is very difficult to misunderstand Krishna
and think him to be an ordinary human being...
avajananti mam mudha
manusim tanum asritam
param bhavam ajananto
mama bhuta-mahesvaram
"Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My
transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be." (Bhagavad-gita 9.11)
Thanks for the question. Please write again. Chant Hare Krishna and be happy.
Madhudvisa dasa
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Chant Hare Krishna and be happy! All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!