Joy is the sole search of every being, of every soul.
Wherever one searches, whatever one searches for, one is looking for joy. Whether it is spiritual or material, whether it’s in movies or bars, whether it’s in churches or temples, whether it’s money, fame or power- the search is simply for joy.
The Divine is all joy. The Divine is existence, consciousness and bliss (or joy)
Bliss is nothing but “qualified” joy. While love comes along with pain, joy that is devoid of feverishness, suffering and pain is called bliss.
Silence is a little serious, but joy is mischievous! You can’t have mischief if there is no joy- and Krishna is all mischief!
Krishna is absolute joy, absolute bliss. Nothing whatsoever could take away joy from Krishna!
However, if you just look at Krishna’s life- it was miserable throughout!
To begin with, he was born in a prison.
An astrologer had told his uncle, who was a king “Your sister’s eight son is going to kill you and rue the entire nation. You are only running a small province- what is so great?”
Krishna was the eight child and the news of his birth brought so much suffering to his parents. When he was born, his father spirited him away from jail and took him to another village. There, he quietly exchanged Krishna for another child, whom he brought to prison.
He did all this, following the instructions of a voice- an ethereal voice – which he had heard.
The female child, he had replaced Krishna with, was a divine child. In time, she was brought before the king, and just as he was about to chop off her head, the child flew up into the air!
The child was the spirit- the Holy Spirit, the mother divine. She took off up into the air, and started laughing as she said,” See! You can’t capture me”
Kansa- Krishna’s uncle – is a symbol of ego.
Ego is far away from joy. It is the ego that tries to kill the joy in us.
Children are so full of joy because they have no ego.
The moment ego comes, separation and division come, and we destroy that bliss, that beauty, that innocent joy.
Mischief is the outcome of joy, the outcome of bliss. Children are very mischievous- but as parents, we shun their mischief. We tell them “I don’t do this, so neither should you!?
Stop this! It is very normal for children to be mischievous. You should let them be so! It might sometimes bring parents trouble, but its fun – and what’s life without fun?
In the presence of pure bliss and joy, all complaints vanish. Life appears like a play, a game. Life is not to be taken too seriously. We are only here for a few days, a few years. So it doesn’t matter much.
Taking every trouble in life, as a challenge, is a good way of looking at life. The other way is to brood over these troubles “Oh this is not alright, that is not alright” Complaining, crying and wailing are all foreign to joy.
Joy creates mistakes, joy creates problems, and that is mischief- isn’t it?
Mischief is creating problems, creating challenges.
Krishna would create many such challenges around him. If you look at Krishna’s life, you will see that there was always some fight or some war where he went. Any town he went to, there would be some trouble-but he would stand there, in the midst of all the trouble, smiling and laughing at one and all.
From one angle, this sounds very cruel. However is you look at it from another angle- i.e., if you look from the angle of truth- then it’s just a game. It’s very much like watching macho men fight- watching today’s muscle men or boxers fight: one can see ten thousand people sitting around, yelling, shouting and enjoying themselves as they watch these men fight. It’s a standard practice isn’t it?
Life is somewhat similar to this. Everything is a play. Everything is a game. That’s why; Krishna calls it “ Leela”- a game...
Another name for Krishna is Nanda. Nanda nandana. Nanda means joy, ananda means bliss, how can joy or bliss be another name for Krishna? - well simply because he is hollow and empty.
You know, what you have in your hand indicates what you are inside.
If you have a gun in your hands, it indicates that you have fear inside and you are violent.
If you have a flower in your hands, it indicates that you are like a flower.
If you have a flute in your hands, it indicates that you are like a flute- hollow and empty.
There is fullness in Krishna, there is totality in Krishna. Krishna is the symbol of all possibilities. He is the total blossoming of all aspects of the human or divine.
It’s very difficult to really understand Krishna’s personality. The rishis (sages) call him the full embodiment of the Divine because all that a human (a man or a being) can be totally – it’s all in Krishna.
One of his close aides once told him,” Oh! Krishna! I can’t understand you! I have been with you for the past fifty years, but you confuse me more and more with every passing day. At one point I see you as such a courageous person – one who can fight a war alone against so many people. At other times you are so timid; you go and hide yourself in a closet.”
This is Krishna! At one time he is a servant, and at another time, he’s the king of the whole province, taking such good care of his subjects.
What role has Krishna not played? There is no role Krishna has not played: he has played all roles!
Krishna was such a good teacher because he taught as a friend. He said, “ Arjuna, you are my friend, and so I am telling you this for your own good- you have to fight this war.”
In the battlefield, where there was chaos all around, if someone could sustain that depth of awareness, that clarity of mind, and give the highest knowledge to his friend, then that was Krishna.
He also became Arjuna’s charioteer- this is something wonderful, something unimaginable.
Every aspect of Krishna leaves you in awe. Uddhava himself says, “Krishna, I fail to understand you, and yet, I have not seen another reflection like you.”
Krishna is the embodiment of total joy.
In Krishna’s field of energy, even recluses and saints would fall in love! Even people, who had renounced everything, would become interested again, the dispassionate ones would be drawn in too.
The word “Krishna”, itself, means that is all attractive, that which draws everything in.
Symbolically too, it’s so beautiful:
“Devaki” means the body and “Vasudeva” means the prana or breath.
Devaki and Vasudeva- the body and the breath- together , brought forth ”Anandananda”- the joy within, the bliss within.
“Radha” is longing and “Krishna” is the symbol of love.
The very core of your Being is such. The bliss of the Self, the joy of the Self, is like this- it just draws everything in.
- Sri Sri Ravishankar
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