IN the epic Mahabharata, the principal players were the five Pandava brothers, Kauravas, Bhishma Pitamah, Dhritrashtra, and Duryodhana. There was yet another deeply respected, highly knowledgeable, a perfect yogi, a great teacher, and a complete person by the name of Lord Shri Krishna, the king of Dwarka and the Emperor of all Emperors. Lord Krishna was acceptable to all the factions, leaders, and teachers. Before the commencement of the Mahabharata War, both Pandavas and Kauravas had gone to Lord Krishna to solicit his support. hile Kauravas led by Duryodhana opted for the army of Lord Krishna, the Pandavas opted for Lord Krishna himself. Lord Krishna acted as the charioteer of Arjuna and promised not to use any weapon during the entire War. Lord Krishna and Arjuna are the two principal characters in the entire story of Mahabharata.

Lord Krishna was born to Vasudev and Devki, the sister of King Kansa of Mathura. He was a despot and held many devilish traits and ambitions. He had a soft corner for his cousin’s sister, Devki. When Devki got married, Kansa, out of love for her, drove her to her new house. On the way, he heard a mysterious voice saying that the eighth male child born of Devki would kill him. As a consequence, he imprisoned both of them and killed all the seven newborns. When the eighth child was born, it was a male child. Kansa looked for him everywhere. The child was smuggled to Gokul and placed under the care of Yashodha and Nanda in return for the girl child who had just taken birth in Nanda home. Kansa killed her too. The male child was no one else than Lord Krishna himself. While killing the girl child, a mysterious voice warned Kansa that his destroyer had already taken birth. Kansa tried to look for all newborn kids and got them killed. Efforts to kill Lord Krishna continued. At the age of 12 Lord Krishna, together with his brother, Balram, was invited to Mathura by Kansa for a game of wrestling. Lord Krishna killed Kansa during the wrestling match and restored the throne to Ugrasena, Kansa’s father, who was imprisoned by him due to disobedience.

There are many heartwarming stories of Lord Krishna during his stay in Gokul and Vrindavan. Coming of age, Lord Krishna moved to Dwarka where he established his own empire. Lord Krishna never ruled from the throne of Dwarka. He was always engaged in putting down the wrong and encouraging the right. He was the center of attraction and a monument of advice. He never mingled with anything, yet he was always far away from all and always. He was a personification of truth, perfection, and yoga. His Holiness Sudhanshu Ji Maharaj, in his discourses always highlights the role and teachings of Lord Krishna. He reinforces his advice by quoting elaborately from the Gita. In one of his discourses, he said: “Lord Krishna is that type of teacher who does not ask you to renounce the world but exhorts to understand the world while continuing to live in it. That is why live in the world but do not get entangled with it. It is better to stay in it rather than entering conflicts with it. “First of all, try to evaluate yourself and find out where you are entangled and what the causes of such an entanglement are. It is from that very point that you would gradually begin to entangle yourself. It will loosen up and the knot gets opened from the point where it had got entangled. You begin to entangle from the point where you got entangled. There is no need to go anywhere else to get relief. If you must liberate yourself then the knot has to be undone in a proper way. It is the teacher [guru] who helps you to help yourself.” In the Gita, Lord Krishna has given the advice which can never be given by anyone to anyone even in the future to become aware of the “duty”, “protection of religion”, “respect to the elders”, “love and affection to the young” and never ever wait for the rewards. It is a complete code of conduct for a person to live in this world, enjoying it but never getting involved with it. The Gita is
the divine song which has come from His holy mouth.