The Many Images of Krishna: Their Utility and Limits
Questioner: Pranaam Acharya ji, earlier during the discussion, you were telling us that we receive Krishna in a way that we look for. On the one hand, we are reading Shrimad Bhagavad Gita today, and in a more direct way, we are coming close to him. On the other hand, we've heard a few stories in Bhagavad Purana about Krishna and his way of life. When we read that he was a charmer, he used to dance around with the women of his village. He used to be a prankster with his friends. He used to be a notorious thief during his childhood, and he was a friend of friend to Krishna and even to Arjun. So, what is Krishna like then?
Acharya Prashant: What's the contradiction that you are seeing? Where's the problem? We said the avatar could be anywhere, in any shape, at any time. Wherever the avatar would be, in whatever shape, he would have a personality. And where there is a personality, where there is a person, there are stories. That person would be doing something. That person would have a name and a gender. So, the Bhagavad Purana has such stories. Fine.
Questioner: But on the other hand, as we study, we get to know that we cannot create an image of him. Creating an image of him would be a falsity, or it would be like limiting him.
Acharya Prashant: You should not limit yourself to one particular image of him. That's where the problem lies. Not that you cannot have an image of him, but do not be too obsessed with one particular image. Otherwise, the danger is that you will miss all the other images.
If you're obsessed with the lover-boy image of Krishna, then you will miss Krishna when he does not come as a charming lover. And he will not always come as a charming lover. If you are obsessed with Krishna, the male, then you will miss Krishna when he comes as a woman. Because, in your imagination, Krishna is the one wearing the peacock feather with the flute at his lips, appearing in attire that belonged to those ages, enjoying milk and butter, speaking Sanskrit.
That's the image that you will so intensely stick to that you will miss Krishna in flesh and blood even if he walks past you. Why? Because this time, he's not carrying the flute. Because, this time he's not speaking in Sanskrit. So, you'll totally miss him.
Not that Krishna cannot have an image, but you should be open to all images of Krishna. If you have to look at Krishna as Sagun(which has qualities that can be seen/felt by senses) or Sakar(which has a form), then you have to be receptive to all images. And if you look at him as Nirgun Nirakar, then you very well know that there can be no image. The problem starts when it’s one image that becomes very dear to you. One particular image. Then, there can be a problem.
Questioner: Acharya ji, in this case, then idol worship or reading about those things...
Acharya Prashant: So, that's why there are so many idols so that you don't stick to one particular one.
Questioner: But then, this can become a bondage in itself….
Acharya Prashant: So, if you have it in you, then simply go to the Nirgun. Then, there are no images or deities. Image worship comes from a very practical realization, which is that most people do need images. Even if they claim that they worship only the formless, somewhere in their mind, they are still dreaming up a form. Even a word is a form. Even a name is a form. Even if you say that the absolute truth is formless, even in calling the absolute truth as formless, you have accorded a form.
So, India has been wise enough in realizing that most people do need images and forms. So, from there comes the method of idol worship, image worship, deity worship. It's a practical method.
Questioner: So, like, when one is going for a darshan, or he's seeing the idol, then basically, he should not have any fantasies or images.
Acharya Prashant: Before you go to look at an image, the image should have benefited you. Otherwise, why would you go look at it? It's almost like this: you read the Gita with me here. And intensely, let's say you read the Gita, and then you go back to your native place, you get busy with your usual schedule, and you start forgetting the Gita. And then, when you look at the face of Krishna again, then the Gita comes back to you. That is darshan.
If you have no relationship with Krishna at all and you just look at a Krishna idol, that will not benefit you. Darshan is a technique. It helps only when some previous groundwork has been done.
For you to benefit from Krishna darshan, darshan of the Krishna statue, first of all, you should have had a relationship with Krishna. Now, you had a relationship. You already are full of respect for Krishna. You know the Gita, but you are ignoring it in your daily run of life, and then suddenly, you find yourself face-to-face with Krishna's statue. That is the moment you're strongly reminded of something.
Reminded of what? The Gita. Now the statue, now the darshan, is a great method. But if you have not read the Gita at all, then what will the darshan do to you? Nothing.
If you have had no prior relationship with Krishna at all, then darshan makes no sense. And darshan is a good way to immediately bring back all that which has gotten a little hidden under the dust of time. It's a very efficient way. Either you could re-read the entire Gita, or you could just look at the Krishna statue. So it's a fantastic method, but only for Gita lovers.
So, if you have a lot of virtues instilled in you, only then it makes sense to go for, let's say, sadhu(Sage) darshan every morning. And the moment you look at that person, that reminds you of everything that comes from that person. Have you not seen how memory operates?
Let's say there is a hotel room in which you stayed one year back. One year back, many of us, most of us, might have stayed in some hotel room. How much do you remember today of that hotel room? How much do you remember? Very little, Right? But if I take you back to that hotel room, suddenly you will find that you remember a lot. All the small events and memories will come back to life. Does that happen or not?
You'll suddenly remember, "Oh, you know, that particular drawer was a little fractured. I remember now." But today, if I ask you, you will not remember much. This is the science behind darshan.
When you look at a face, all that is associated with that face comes back to life. And you start saying, "Yes, yes, yes. Now I remember, yes. You know, last time I came here, that particular waiter was pretty good. Does he still work here? Does he still work here?" Had you not returned to that same hotel today, you would have never remembered that waiter. That waiter would have totally gone out of your conscious memory. But now that the darshan has happened, that old thing has been rekindled. So that's what.
Looking at the idol every day, then just looking at that face will remind you of all the history that you have had with that face, and that history is quite beneficial to you. So, it makes sense to look at that face in the morning. So, In India, we have this phrase: Pratah smarniya -the one who has benefited you the most, you make it a routine to think of him the first thing when you wake up in the morning. When somebody has greatly benefited you or when somebody is greatly respectable to you, then you call him pratah smarniya.
In the morning, the first thing I do is remember you. Because the moment I remember you, by association, I remember everything that I got from you, and there's a lot of good stuff that I got from you. It will be of help to me. I cannot remember all the little things I got from you, one by one, piece by piece. So, instead, I'll remember just one thing. What? Your face.
In remembering this one thing, I automatically get to remember the 1,000 things that I got from this face. That is called darshan. But for darshan to succeed, I again caution you, first of all, you should have had a relationship with that face. If there is no relationship at all, what is the point in ogling at any face? A face is just a face. It's a geometry.
