From a discourse with Pt. Dr. Umesh Persad, Spiritual Leader, SWAHA Gyaan Deepak Kirtan Mandali
The mythology of Shree Krishna’s birth is renowned: The powerful and tyrannical King Kans had a beloved sister, Devaki, who was about to marry Vasudev. As a wedding gift he himself offered to be their carriage driver. All went well until a voice from the void warned the king that Devaki’s eighth child would be the cause of his death. He only spared his sister’s life because Vasudev promised that he would give all his children to the king. He killed each of the children born to the couple, except for the seventh who was saved by the Lord’s Maayaa. When the eighth child’s birth was approaching, he strengthened the chains of Vasudev and Devaki in the prison. At the time of Shree Krishna’s birth at midnight, many miracles occurred that allowed Vasudev to carry Krishna to the safety of Nanda and Yashoda’s house.
If we analyze the story of Shree Krishna’s birth through the meanings of the names of all involved, we can delve into a deeper meaning of His manifestation on Earth.
King Kans’s name comes from the Sanskrit root, kam, which means ‘desire’. It also means ‘measure’. Another word for ‘measure’ is maayaa (illusion). Therefore, Kans represents desire born out of maayaa. It is the state of being confused and deluded about the world. Kans thought, like many of us do, that the world could bring him lasting happiness.
His sister, Shree Krishna’s mother, was named Devaki, ‘one of divine qualities’. Devaki got married to Vasudev: vasu means ‘water’ as well as ‘sweet’ or ‘a jewel’. Vasudev is the Lord of the water, who is Vishnu Bhagavan, pure consciousness.
For each person, there is a choice: we can be like Kans, worldly minded, or like Devaki, spiritually minded. It is only when we link the consciousness with spiritual qualities that Vishnu Bhagavan as Shree Krishna is born within us.
The word, Krishna, means ‘dark’. At this moment many people are searching for God. The self is dark because it cannot see itself. The self is the seer. It means we are looking for something that we cannot really see or comprehend because we are looking for our own essence. God or consciousness is everywhere. To examine the name further, Krish also means ‘destruction’ and na means ‘bliss’. Therefore, Krishna is that bliss which remains after the destruction of all else. It is the Supreme Self that is always in existence. Krish also means ‘existence’ or ‘being’ and na means ‘turning inward’.
Kans, the mind that turns outward, imprisons Vasudev and Devaki. Therefore, the conditions are not right for Shree Krishna to live with them and he must be taken to the home of Nandalal and Yashoda. Nanda means ‘bliss’ and ‘lal’ means ‘to extract, seek, play or bring out’. Yashoda means ‘splendour’. Therefore, it is only when Kans is out of the picture, that we can extract the true bliss of the self.
Thus, we can either expect to get our happiness from the world, or we can link our awareness with good spiritual qualities (Devaki) and turn away from the negativities of the outer world. Then, the bliss and splendour of Shree Krishna will emerge in our lives.
