Lord's Ordinary Children by Gitasri Pani

This was the realization that Krishna had intended to bring about within them from the very beginning. Through this, their minds were purified and they slowly became able to see their Beloved in all things: in the trees, in the rivers, in the mountains, in the sky, in all people, and animals-even in their own selves. It drove their minds into a fever pitch, wherein their every thought was of Krishna.

The pain of separation was unbearable for the gopis. In fact, Krishna never returned to Vrindavan. And in the end, Krishna returned to Mathura and killed Kamsa, restoring dharma to the land. Kamsa sent many assassins to kill Krishna, but none of them were able to do so. It is from this that Krishna was given the name “Chitta Chora”. “By spending all his time with the gopis of Vrindavan-playing with them, joking with them, stealing their butter and milk, etc-what he actually was doing was stealing their hearts,” Amma says. It was in Vrindavan, one of the villages of Vraja, that Krishna won the hearts of the gopis, the cowherds of the village. They sent Krishna off to Vraja, where he was raised by a foster mother, Yasoda. However, Devaki, and her husband, Vasudeva, finally were able to sneak one child off to safety. So Kamsa imprisoned Devaki and had each child she bore murdered. A sage had told his egoistic uncle, King Kamsa, that he would be killed by his sister Devaki’s child. Krishna, in fact, took birth in a prison cell. However, here are some of the broad strokes. It is told primarily through Srimad Bhagavatam, Garga Samhita, Visnu Purana, Brahmavaivarta Purana, Mahabharata, Harivamsa and several other puranas. Krishna’s life was so full, it would be impossible to recount it all here. The message that he conveyed through his life is that we should make life full of laughter.” He took birth with a smile on his face, lived with a smile, and left his body with a smile.

That is why he was always able to give a big smile. “Sri Krishna is one who celebrated both life and death. “There have been very few who have been able to rejoice both in victory and in defeat,” Amma says. This, Amma says, is perhaps his greatest teaching. In this way, he was able to remain detached and thus perform flawlessly, never allowing the smile to fall from his face. A child, a brother, a charioteer, a warrior, a disciple, a guru, a cowherd, a messenger, the beloved of the gopis… Throughout his life, Krishna enacted so many roles-the whole time never forgetting that they were just that, roles and that his true nature was eternal, ever blissful consciousness.

Lord's Ordinary Children by Gitasri Pani