Krishna, the Greatest Teacher

Right from the day a man is born in this world until he dies, he engages himself in various activities. These include mostly material ones – in pursuit of material comfort, which invariably eludes him. At no point of time, he pauses to think of what exactly is the purpose for which he has taken birth on this earth, why he undergoes various trials and tribulations and what is it he has achieved after all his material pursuits. When he starts thinking on these lines, he will be amazed to discover that all his activities have been in vain and he is unable to conclusively say what will come of him after he breathes his last. Virtually speaking, man has not learnt his lessons – the lessons which constitute his real education that will open up entirely different vistas of his life. However, a question arises, where from can he learn these lessons? Though a person may be highly educated, scientifically and technologically, it is of no use to him when it comes to living a real joyful life, with uncontaminated bliss. Therefore, it is true that howsoever highly educated he may be, he remains an illiterate!

For him to turn into a literate proper, he should begin pursuing a different kind of education, education given by a realised master that will stand by him for ages together. Until and unless there is a realisation that there is a spirit soul inside the body which is very real and the body that carries it is susceptible to repeated births, diseases, old age and eventually death, any kind of worldly education that fetches high positions and higher salary and material comforts will not give him deliverance and he has to continue to suffer through repeated births and deaths.

In order for all of us mortals to learn our soulful lessons, there have been innumerable teachers our country has produced. These teachers have taken upon themselves the task of educating the people of gross ignorance, and still there are several teachers emerging time after time, to give deliverance to the suffering humanity.  However, have we turned true literates? Have we learnt our lessons? Have we become truly educated? The answer to all these questions is NO.  It is high time we start turning into literates and now is the right time to learn our lessons.

In this context, one may wonder as regards who is the great one who will teach us our lessons for us to realise that we are not simply our body, our name, our position in this society, or our nationality. But, who else can be a better teacher than Lord Sri Krishna, the Universal Teacher! It is to Him, we should turn, to unlearn what we have learnt, and to learn who really we are. Despite the lapse of several thousand years, Sri Krishna’s teachings are available to us in the form of Bhagavad Gita, which contains what everyone needs to know to make his/her life one of everlasting bliss. It is to Lord Sri Krishna we should all surrender, totally and unconditionally, just like how Arjun submitted himself to learn the universal lesson.  

If we do not remain in touch with Sri Krishna, it is sure that we will not attain spiritual awakening even in the twilight of one's life. One can also attain awakening solely with the help of spiritual teachers. It is to be deeply felt that whatever wealth one earns through one's hard work is of no use after death. Of what use is such wealth? It does not tag along with us but remains behind.

Adi Shankara, who gave us the famous Bhaja Govindam, says that three things in life are difficult or impossible to achieve. Human birth, thirst for knowledge and company of the saints and holy people. To take birth as a human is very rare. But what is the use of human birth if the humane qualities are missing from our life? There are billions of human beings but humane qualities are rare. What use is salt if it does not taste salty or sugar if it does not taste sweet? Man in this world has become a prisoner. Even otherwise the wise have described this world as a prison. We have become prisoners to our own cravings and attachments.

By adopting spiritual values in life we enrich our character. Spiritual growth should not be only a matter of discussions and without the guidance of saints and holy people we cannot get knowledge and without knowledge we can't attain liberation. Liberation is the fruit of knowledge.
Only an enlightened person can inspire us, change our psyche and give us a new direction in life. And that person becomes "Guru" in our life. The question how’ to find a Guru is a more important question. We need to make ourselves suitable to receive the grace of a Guru. For this, we need to have true spiritual quest. When our thirst for knowledge and to understand and realise God becomes intense, a Guru will come to us wherever we are and find us.
In the word ‘Guru’, ‘Gu’ means darkness, while ‘Ru’ means light. So Guru means the one, who removes the darkness of our ignorance with the light of his knowledge. According to Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta, a Guru should be a ‘jnani’ (knowledgeable) and ‘tatwadrishta’ (Seer of the fundamental element, philosopher). Being a jnani implies that the guru should be proficient in spiritual literature, the sastras, only then he will be able to convince you and show you the right path in accordance with the shastras. And being a tatwadrishta implies that he himself has tread upon the path shown by the spiritual literature and having so tread on that path, he has realized the supreme Truth or God.
A true student surrenders himself completely to the will of his Guru, with a firm faith that the Guru would direct him on the right course of action. A true Guru knows the exact nature of his disciple and accordingly asks him to follow the path that is most beneficial to him. The relationship of a Guru and a disciple is thus the best example of ‘Liberation through bonding and bonding through liberation’.
The greatest of Gurus is Lord Krishna who is known as the jagat-Guru, the one who is Guru to the whole universe! This is because he has given us the Gita. The message of Gita is universal. It is a treasure-trove for the whole of humanity, irrespective of religion, colour, caste, or creed. It has been sung by the Lord for the auspiciousness of the whole universe and the well-being of everyone in it.

Bhagavad Gita is a unique piece of literature inasmuch as it is the only of all fundamental philosophical books of our history that gives full and clear answers to principal questions of philosophy: a) what is God; b) what is man; and c) what is the sense of man's life and how he should live in this world.

An emperor protects only his subjects. However Krishna liberates all His devotees, even sinners and demons. There is an intimate link between the master and servant and between the teacher and the disciple. However, the power of attraction of Krishna is matchless. It was enjoyed by one and all. Throughout His Divya Leela (divine play), whether among the cowherds in His childhood, or among the several people and rulers, Krishna was ever unaffected by any event - such was His detachment. Here is a practical lesson for all that we must maintain equanimity even in the midst of crises. In the other incarnations, God liberated the wrong doer by killing. However, Krishna showed the gradual path to salvation both to the good and the bad ones; to cleanse the evil effect of their sins, by righteous conduct, unmindful of suffering. Though Krishna did not wield any weapon, the Pandavas won the war. In the beginning, Arjuna stated that he preferred to lose everything. He wanted to avoid the war as he was unwilling to kill the opponents who were his friends and relatives. Krishna taught him the pious principle that "it is not winning the war that is important, but fighting well for the righteous cause". This teaching should be the basis of all our mundane actions in our day to day living.