Unravelling the Mysteries of Krishna Avatar
From age to age, the Supreme Almighty has descended upon the earth in diverse forms. Among the many sacred manifestations, Shree Krishna’s avatar shines with radiance, captivating hearts with a charm that is both playful and profound.
Such a manifestation beckons reflection: How does the infinite Lord take form? Can we recognize Him when He walks among us? And above all—why does He come at all? What compels the Eternal to enter the mortal realm? As we reflect on these questions, the mysteries of God’s descent unfold like the petals of a flower, revealing the intricate divine purpose underneath.
The Wonder of Divine Birth
One of the most captivating mysteries of God's descent lies in the wonder of His birth. It upends expectations, shatters earthly norms, and radiates a splendor beyond human comprehension. Shree Krishna’s advent took place within the dim confines of a prison cell in Mathura, far from the grandeur of royal halls. And even there, He did not arrive as a delicate newborn.
The Bhāgavatam states:
tam adbhutam bālakam ambujekṣhanam
chatur-bhujam śhankha gadādyudāyudham ~ (10.3.9) [v9]
God appeared before Devaki and Vasudev in a resplendent, full-grown form—six feet tall—holding in His four hands the Shankh (conch), Chakra (discus), Gada (mace), and Padma (lotus), His divine symbols. This was no ordinary birth; it was brought about by Yogmaya (His divine power).
Such a form could never be contained within a human womb. Yet, through the same Yogmaya shakti, Bhagavan deepened Devaki’s maternal bond by making her feel as though a child was truly growing within her. Her womb expanded, her heart swelled with motherly love. And when the destined hour arrived, the womb became empty. And before her stood the Lord in His full glory. Only then did He reveal that He had actually never been inside her.
The Bhāgavatam paints a vivid imagery:
āvirāsīd yathā prāchyam diśhīndur iva puṣhkalah ~ (10.3.8) [v10]
“As the moon manifests in its full glory in the night sky, similarly the Supreme Lord Shree Krishna manifested before Devaki and Vasudev.”
This is the profound difference between our entry into the world and His. Our births are bound by nature’s laws; His is a conscious, divine manifestation. Even God’s Form is not material.
Enigma of the Divine Form
In Sanskrit, the body is called Deh, and the soul residing within it is the Dehi. In our case, there is a clear distinction between the two; we inhabit our bodies. For God, however, this distinction does not exist. The scriptures declare that the Bhagavan Himself becomes His body. Every limb, every feature, is divine. This is why God’s Form is so miraculous; unlike anything in the material realm.
Yet, perceiving that Form is not as straightforward as simply looking at it. Each person sees the Lord according to their inner purity, faith, and spiritual vision. An example comes from Krishna’s leelas in Vrindavan, where He lived for eleven years and fifty-two days. One day, Kans, the tyrant king of Mathura, announced a grand Dhanur Yagya (a bow sacrifice) in his kingdom. The festival drew vast crowds, alive with excitement. As Shree Krishna entered, everyone perceived Him differently.
The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam describes it vividly:
mallanam asanir nrnam nara-varah strinam smaro murtiman
gopanam sva-jano satam ksiti-bhujam sasta sva-pitroh sisuh
mrtyur bhoja-pater virad avidusam tattvam param yoginam
vrsninam para-devateti vidito rangam gatah sagrajah ~ Verse 10.43.17
The wrestlers, Chanur and Mushtik, sent by Kans, looked at Shree Krishna and scoffed. They saw Him only as a “puny boy” they could crush in moments. Yet when they tried to bend even His little finger, they failed. To them, He seemed asanir—as hard as a thunderbolt. The devotees who had long heard of Krishna’s beauty and secretly worshipped Him felt their hearts overflow with adoration. They perceived His Form as surpassing even Kamdev, the god of love, a thousandfold.
Meanwhile, Kans seated on the royal throne, felt only dread. Sage Narad had warned him that Krishna would put an end to him. Kans grew so paranoid that he saw Krishna everywhere; discarding water and food, even tearing his own clothes, fearing the Krishna was hidden within them. For Kans, the Lord’s arrival was nothing, but death personified. On the contrary, for the simple cowherds of Braj, He appeared as their beloved friend.
As the Ramcharitmanas says: “Jaaki rahi bhavna jaisi, Prabhu Murat Dekhi Tin Taisi.” As one's feelings, so one perceives God. This is the profound mystery of the divine Form. It reflects the consciousness of the beholder. Importantly, merely seeing Him does not guarantee God-realization.
The Bhagavad Gita makes this clear:
avajānanti mam mudha mānuṣhim tanum āśhritam
param bhāvam ajānanto mama bhūta-maheśhvaram ~ Verse 9.11
“When I descend in My personal form deluded persons are unable to recognize Me. They do not know the divinity of My personality, as the Supreme Lord of all beings.”
Consider Duryodhan. As the Mahabharat war loomed, Shree Krishna Himself went to Hastinapur to seek peace. He approached Duryodhan with a proposal, urging that the Pandavas, being his cousins, be granted just five villages to avoid conflict. Duryodhan, however, rejected the offer with contempt, declaring that he would not give them even land small enough to fit on the tip of a needle. Seeing his obstinacy, Shree Krishna unveiled His Viraat Roop—the same Cosmic Form later revealed to Arjun on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. It was a chance for Duryodhan to see the Divine before him and turn away from destruction. Yet, his choice was starkly opposite to that of Arjun.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjun, beholding the Lord’s Form, exclaims:
arjuna uvacha
param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan
purusham shashvatam divyam adi-devam ajam vibhum ~ Verse 12 & 13
“You are the Supreme Divine Personality, the Supreme Abode, the Supreme Purifier, the Eternal God, the Primal Being, the Unborn, and the Greatest.”
However, Duryodhan, blinded by arrogance, dismissed The Lord’s Cosmic Form as mere trickery, ordering his guards that Krishna be tied and thrown in a cellar. He had the darshan of God, but not attainment.
The Hindu philosophy reveals that we are eternal souls traversing countless past lives. When Lord Krishna walked the earth 5,000 years ago, we too may have lived then and perhaps even seen Him. But without purified senses, we could not recognize His divinity. Thus, merely seeing Ram, Krishna, or other avatars is not enough; our journey culminates only when we realize God. And that realization is possible solely through His grace.
The Bhagavad Gita states:
tam eva śharanam gachchha sarva-bhāvena bhārata
tat-prasādāt param śhāntim sthānam prāpsyasi śhāśhvatam ~ Verse 18.62
“Surrender exclusively unto Him with your whole being, O Bharat. By His grace, you will attain perfect peace and the eternal abode.”
To receive God’s grace, we must surrender to Him with faith and purify our minds through selfless devotion. The deeper the purity of our sentiment, the clearer our perception of the Divine. This is the rahasya—the secret—that ensures our vision is not clouded by ego or material desires. For in the end, God’s Form is not merely to be seen, but to be realized. And realization blooms only when the heart is drenched in devotion.
Secret of Divine Descension
In the Bhagavad Gita, Shree Krishna gives three reasons for His descension:
yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānam sṛijāmyaham ~ Verse 4.7
“Whenever there is a decline in righteousness and an increase in unrighteousness, O Arjun, at that time I manifest Myself on earth.”
paritranāya sādhūnam vināśhāya cha duṣhkṛitām
dharma-sansthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge ~ Verse 4.8
“To protect the righteous, to annihilate the wicked, and to reestablish the principles of dharma I appear on this earth, age after age.”
These verses list three purposes:
- To establish the principles of religiosity
- To destroy demons
- To protect devotees
At first glance, these seem like sufficient explanations. Yet, when we reflect more deeply, we realize that while true, they are incidental—not the primary reason for His descent.
Let us unravel each of these.
If the main purpose were to establish dharma, God need not descend personally. Saints and acharyas like Shankaracharya, Madhvacharya, Nimbarkacharya have done so. Dharma, being sanātan (eternal), cannot be destroyed; it only becomes obscured and can be revived by the saints engaged in the service of God.
What about destroying demons? Asuras like Shishupal, Dantavakra, Ravan, Kumbhakarna, Hiranyakashipu, were sent by God Himself to enact in His divine pastimes. If God’s only goal was to kill them, He could do so without ever leaving His Abode. Being Satya Sankalp (One whose will is instantly fulfilled), He could merely think it, and it would happen. Yet God descends, fights mighty battles; even asking Vibhishan how to kill Ravan in the Ramayan. This goes to show this is all His leela.
And what about protecting devotees? God protects from within, as He promises in the Bhagavad Gita:
ananyāśh chintayanto mam ye janāḥ paryupāsate
teṣham nityābhiyuktānam yoga-kṣhemam vahāmyaham ~ Verse 9.22
“There are those who always think of Me and engage in exclusive devotion to Me. To them, whose minds are always absorbed in Me, I provide what they lack and preserve what they already possess.”
God ensures the yog-kshem—the well-being—of those who surrender to Him, just as a mother protects her child. He does not need to descend to perform this task either. So, while these three reasons are true, they are not the supreme reason.
The Deeper, Real Reason
God descends not for Himself for He is perfect and complete. We, however, are incomplete. We are tiny parts of the infinite ocean of bliss, and our very nature compels us to seek that bliss. He, being the ocean itself, has no lack. Therefore, if He does anything, it is only for one reason: to bless the souls.
Sage Ved Vyas states in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam:
anugrahāya bhaktānam
mānusam deham āsthitah
bhajate tādrśih krīḍa yah śrutvā tat-paro bhavet ~ Verse 10.33.36
When the Lord assumes a humanlike body to shower grace over the souls, He engages in such pastimes as will attract those who hear about them to become dedicated to Him.
But how does His grace reach us?
Through inspiring auspicious thoughts. Auspicious thoughts arise when the mind is purified. The mind is purified through bhakti (loving devotion). And for bhakti to bloom, we need a tangible form, a name to chant, pastimes to remember. The formless Absolute is inconceivable to the human mind. But when God descends in a beautiful, relatable Form, He becomes a basis of love for billions across generations. The Shandilya Bhakti Darshan declares: mukhya tasya hi karunyam. The main reason for His descent is His compassion for the souls.
Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj echoes this in the Bhakti Shatak:
Karan Hari Avatar ko, Kripa Akaran jana
Apar jite karan kahe, tinahin gaun kari man ~ Doha 56
The primary reason is Akaran Kripa (causeless mercy). All other reasons are secondary.
The divine pastimes of the Krishna avatar sparkle like a treasure chest of bhakti. His leelas—from mud-eating to butter-stealing, lifting Govardhan to the moonlit Raas, were all to enchant souls into devotion, which is the ultimate spiritual dharma of the soul. In Kaliyug, saints appeared one after another, unlocking the nectar of the divine leelas and distributing its ras across the world. Thus, even in an era shadowed by darkness, humanity was granted unparalleled access to an inexhaustible wealth of love left by the Lord Himself!
Conclusion
The path of devotion becomes clear when we embrace three truths: The Lord’s birth was divine, His Form is divine, and His leelas are divine. To see them as ordinary is to miss their very purpose. Each descension of the Lord is an outpouring of His causeless grace, a reminder that the Infinite chooses to walk among the finite out of boundless compassion. With this realization, gratitude awakens within us and blossoms into love. That love alone becomes the boat to carry the soul across the ocean of life and death, into the eternal embrace of Bhagavan.
Boliye Shree Krishna Kanhaiya Lal ki Jai!
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Janmashtami 2022 | REAL Reason Behind Lord Krishna's Avatar | Swami Mukundananda