Krishna's core teachings that he demonstrated through his life are that one has to fully accept everything that comes to them - both negative and positive. That is how the very existence itself is, and only through complete acceptance will you live a life like a blossoming flower! This is exactly what hits home with many people in the West
In the last six years, I have lived in some major cities in the United States – Chicago, San Francisco and New York City – and observed how the teachings of Hinduism are being preached in the West.
In most of the places, the entire teachings of Sanatana Dharma are conveyed through the life stories of Shri Krishna and the Bhagavad Gita instead of emphasising on the pluralistic nature (many gods, multiple scriptures) of Hinduism.
The numbers speak for themselves on whether this approach has been effective or not because there are seven Krishna temples within 20 miles of Manhattan and more than 700 Krishna temples have been built outside of India and Nepal in the last 60 years.
So, here I want to explain the significance of Krishna within Hinduism and the reasons his relevance is growing every day.
Unlike other religions, such as Christianity, Islam or Judaism, Hinduism doesn't have a founder or one key figure who started the religion. Hinduism is referred to as Sanatana – one with no beginning and no end. Even in the absence of a founder, the strong and sustainable foundation of Sanatana Dharma has been possible because of the contributions by our great teachers and spiritual figures who helped strengthen it overtime.
However, the one spiritual figure in Santana Dharma who has influenced Hinduism the most is Shri Krishna.
In contrast to other spiritual leaders, such as the Buddha, Mahavir or Ram, the birth of Krishna didn't happen in some palace surrounded by servants.
Hindus unequivocally agree that he was born in a jail, grew up as a cowherder and stayed away from his parents for the first two decades of his life. He is the same individual who steals food, hides women's clothes while they are taking a bath in the river and shows his ruthless side in killing many warriors. Basically, implying that one cannot limit the divine within any social or other boundaries – very similar to the concept of infinity.
Despite having negative life experiences and being a rule-breaker, the reason Hindus revere him is because, throughout his life, Krishna put dharma (justice/truth) above everything – above any family ties, emotions and even ahead of peace!
On this point, Guru Acharya Rajneesh has said, 'Krishna was a non-violent man, but when dharma (duty) asked for violence, he even accepted the war with open arms. On the positive side, he was able to be a spiritual leader like Buddha, and on the negative side, he could be as bad as Hitler or Stalin. However, nowhere in history have we seen one individual touch all these extremes.' Shri Krishna's core teachings that he demonstrated through his own life are that one has to fully accept everything that comes to them – both negative and positive. That is how the very existence itself is, and only through complete acceptance will you live a life like a blossoming flower!
This is the exact point that hits home with many people in the West.
Among Krishna's biggest contributions is that he redefined spiritualism and brought the idea of karmayog to the centre of Sanatana Dharma. Until that point, spiritualism in Hindu society basically meant giving up family life and going away to the forests/nature to live an ascetic lifestyle to practise spiritualism.
An easy way to cop out from life's challenges!
However, Shri Krishna through his own conduct and teachings showed that every action of yours can be spiritual. He demonstrates that fulfilling one's duty (dharma) – for the self, family or society – is the biggest karma/spiritual action.
This key message can be applied in anyone's life and is both atheistic and universal in nature. Thus, this spiritual path of karma-yoga allowed the Hindu way of life to be more practical, sustainable for millenniums, and that's one of the primary reasonsthat Sanatana Dharma's teachings are thriving everywhere from London to Moscow to Manhattan today.
Moreover, Krishna's teachings and the discourse in the Bhagavad Gita have allowed the core ideas of Sanatana Dharma to be summarised in one single text. Hinduism has 4 Vedas, 108 Upanishads and numerous other books but doesn't have a single lead scripture, but the Gita discourse gave Hindus one scripture that summarised all the key concepts of Sanatana Dharma, ranging from spiritualism, karma, bhakti to aatma in a single text.
Krishna's life touched aspects from women empowerment, justice, challenging authority as well as supporting animal rights (obvious for a cowherder).
However, the one contribution that many Hindu saints and scholars have appreciated is his attack on meaningless ritualism that was prevalent in Hindu society during his time.
Shri Krishna's whole life was about how one should stop performing meaningless rituals or actions to appease God and instead focus on oneself (Swadharma).
The summary of most chapters in the Gita is: 'If you know yourself, you don't need to know God'. In many ways, he was a radical who challenged societal norms, and that radical action was necessary in Hindu society at that specific time. He reestablished spiritualism in a society that had been too occupied with meaningless rituals like worshiping so-called "nature Gods".
In conclusion, one article or a talk cannot fully capture the divinity within Krishna, and there are numerous reasons why all of Santana Dharma's followers have revered Shri Krishna overtime. Many devoted and influential Hindushave shown reverence to Shri Krishna overtime for various reasons – from Gandhi to Adi Shankara and from Guru Nanak Dev to Chhatrapati Shivaji.
However, a poet puts it best: "He (Krishna) is the man of vision, reason and of every season. One who encompasses evolution, revolution and the solution!"
May his life and teachings illuminate the entire world!
Khadka is finance director of Sodexo, a world leader in food and facilities management services
A version of this article appears in the print on February 23 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
