Sri Krishna - The Cosmic Yogi
Sri Krishna describing Himself in The Bhagavad Gita:
In the Bhagavad Gita which is considered as the authority in Vedic literature especially Yogic traditions, at several places Sri Krishna explains to His disciple (Arjuna) and through Arjuna, the rest of us, that He is the Supreme personality of Godhead, the Creator of all that there is - in the material and the spiritual states..
A few of those verses are quoted here:
सर्वयोनिषु कौन्तेय मूर्तय: सम्भवन्ति या: ।
तासां ब्रह्म महद्योनिरहं बीजप्रद: पिता ॥ 14.4 ॥
"Of all beings which come in existence, I am the seed giving father"
अहमात्मा गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थित: |
अहमादिश्च मध्यं च भूतानामन्त एव च || 10.20 ||
"I am the all pervading, indwelling spiritual energy manifested in all Living & unmanifested in the non-living.
I am the beginning, middle and end of everything"
मत्त: परतरं नान्यत्किञ्चिदस्ति धनञ्जय |
मयि सर्वमिदं प्रोतं सूत्रे मणिगणा इव || 7.7||
"Nothing is higher than Myself; To the cosmic universe, I am the invisible sustaining force like the string of a pearl necklace that holds the pearls together"
As these verses illustrate, Sri Krishna describes Himself as the Creator of material Universe out of His own causeless and Infinite Spiritual potencies. He goes on to describe Himself as the Consciousness of the Infinite Brahman, the Origin, Enjoyer, Destroyer of all things in past present and future. He goes on to assert that the entire universe and creation is sustained as a functioning system because He as the Spirit becomes the invisible but infallible orchestrator, just like the 'hidden' string that keep the pearls in a necklace together.
As per The Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna is The Cosmic Yogi, the original primal God, the supporter of Everything that exists in the material and spiritual universe.
Note: One important thing to note in the above discussion is that when Sri Krishna is talking about Himself in the Bhagavad Gita, its pretty evident that He is referring to himself in first person (I, Me, Myself, from Me, to Me and such) and this brings into light the "Personal" aspect of Sri Krishna. One can conclude then from this that God here is a 'person' -- but not just an ordinary person rather a Supreme person with Infinite opulences. For this reason, the reference for Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita is the Sanskrit word भगवान or "Bhagavan" -- the Supreme Personal God.
According to the Vaishnava tradition of India's ancient Vedic culture, Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is Bhagavan (भगवान) . It means that Vaishnavas regard Sri Krishna as a "Person" but not just an ordinary person rather one who has Infinite opulences -- in other words the Infinite Almighty Absolute God.
According to Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavan Sri Krishna, appears in every age out of His own causeless mercy for the preservation of His devotees, the preservation of Dharma (Righteousness) and Destruction of unrighteous miscreants.
परित्राणाय साधुनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थानार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥ 4.8 ॥
To preserve the pious and annihilate the miscreants, for re-establishment of righteousness I appear Myself, in every age.
Historically, Sri Krishna appeared Himself in 'Mathura' (North India) some 5000 years ago, grew up in a nearby place called 'Vrindavan' and then went on to rule a kingdom of dynasty called the 'Yadavas' in a place called 'Dvaraka' (in Gujarat state of India). Throughout His earthly presence through all of His pastimes His central theme of teaching was "Dharma" (righteousness) and this was most prominently established in the great war (Maha Bharat) that took place in Kurukshetra (North India) where the discourse of Bhagavad Gita was delivered by Him to His disciple Sri Arjuna.
Note: One should not make the mistake of thinking that Sri Krishna was another ordinary human perhaps with a lot of charm, money, power, knowledge and other opulences. Rather He is the Supreme person with Infinite opulences of - Strength, Beauty, Knowledge, Fortunes, Fame and Renunciation. No human can be equal or higher than Him. Out of His own causeless mercy He may appear like a human with worldly pastimes but all His activities are spiritual. This is evident from the manner of His appearance and disappearance from earth and the extraordinary miracles He performed which are beyond human potential. In Bhagavad Gita He states:
अवजानन्ति मां मूढा मानुषीं तनुमाश्रितम् ।
परं भावमजानन्तो मम भूतमहेश्वरम् ॥ 9.11 ॥
Fools are not able to recognize Me because I appear to be in human form. They do not know that My transcendental form I am the Lord of all.
Importance of Sri Krishna..
Well, in His 125 years on earth, Sri Krishna had countless pastimes known as Leelas to His followers. But in the context of our discussion, He was the central figure in the epic battle of Mahabharata. According to historical texts, 5000 years ago in India, a a great fratricidal war was fought between two opposing sides of a Royal family (known as Kuru dynasty) for sovereignty over a kingdom. This came to be known as Mahabharata. But whats really important is that in that battlefield, Sri Krishna preached the core essence of all Vedic knowledge, to his cousin and disciple called 'Arjuna' and through Arjuna unto entire humankind in the form of 'Bhagavad Gita' literally that means The song of the Lord':
Through Bhagavad Gita, we learn:
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What is Work (work or action = Karma in Sanskrit)?
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How Work ought to be performed?
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What is Detached Inspired Action or Karma Yoga
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How Work becomes Selfless Service (to Lord) or Bhakti Yoga
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And how practice of such Action and Devotion can lead us to our ultimate goal in human life -- God Realization or Krishna Consciousness
So, thus it comes down to this. If you want your own Spiritual Liberation or God Realization but are struggling with practical existential questions like:
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What is to life beyond the visible and tangible?
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What is God?
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What the ultimate goal of human life?
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What is our relation with God?
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Why we are here?
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Why were we born?
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What happens after we die?
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Why we exist?
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What is Karma?
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How does Karma affect our existence?
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How to find permanent peace?
then you will find the answers in the words of Sri Krishna taught as the Bhagavad Gita .
This Knowledge is embodied in the idea of Krishna Consciousness that is the key to achieving the ultimate goal of human life which is freedom from this endless cycle of birth death oldage disease through the process of Yoga.
