Swami's Discourse- Krishna : incarnation of love

Love is God; the Cosmos is permeated with Love.

Assuming the Love form, to save His beloved ones,

Showering the nectarine stream of Love,

Krishna came as the embodiment of Love for those yearning for

Him.

Everything is born out of pure Love;

All joy is derived from unalloyed Love;

So are Truth, Sacrifice, Peace and Forbearance

If Love is lacking, there can be no contentment.

This is the path of Sai and the word of Truth.

EMBODIMENTS of Divine Love! Anuraaga (affection) and Prema (Love) are mutually

dependent and inseparable. When the mind is turned towards things of the world, it is called

Anuraaga (affection or attachment) and if it is turned towards God, it is called Prema (Love or

devotion). Love is the fruit of love. Love is comparable only with love. Love can offer only love

itself. Love cannot be described by poetry. It cannot be proved by the mind or the spoken word.

Hence, the Vedas declared that it transcends the mind and speech. Love is priceless and

indescribably precious. Its sweetness is unexcelled. The scriptures have described Amrit (nectar)

as indescribably sweet. But Love is far sweeter than nectar.

Love can be got only through love

Love is a precious diamond which can be got only in the realm of love and nowhere else. The

kingdom of Love is located in the heart, in a heart filled with love. Love can be experienced only

in a mind flowing with love and a heart filled with love. The precious diamond of Love cannot

be got through japa or meditation, through prescribed rituals or various sacred acts. These can

only give mental satisfaction.

Love can be got only through love. The different paths of devotion--santhi (peace), sakhya

(friendship), vaatsalya (material love), Anuraaga (affection) and Madhura marga (sweetness)--

are all based on love. The essence of all spiritual disciplines is contained in love.

The greater a man's love for God, the greater the bliss which he experiences. When love declines

in man, his joy also declines equally. The lover of God sees God everywhere. Hence man's heart

must be filled with the love of God.

Love will not enter the heart of one who is filled with selfishness and self-conceit. Therefore,

man should forget his petty self and concentrate his thoughts on God. Love of God makes a man

oblivious to his own existence. Love becomes a form of intoxication. Love makes the devotee

and God dance in ecstasy and becomes one with them. It induces self-forgetfulness. It generates

an ecstasy in which everything is forgotten.

Love cannot bear separation from the beloved. Today is the day when we celebrate the advent in

human form of the Lord who came down to the earth from Gokula to instil love in human beings.

The nature of divine love can be understood only when the Divine in human form teaches as man

to man the nature of this love.

Love transforms man's animal nature

In ancient times, the sages performed rigorous penance in the forests, living among wild animals.

With no weapons in their hands, they relied on their spirit of love to protect them. They

performed their penance with love for all beings. Their love transformed even the wild animals

which lived at peace with the sages. Love transformed even tigers into friendly beasts.

Today because men have lost the feeling of love and are filled with selfishness and greed, they

have become "tigers" (man-eaters). You read in the papers about the death of "Tigers" in Sri

Lanka. Who are these "Tigers"? They are men who have turned into "Tigers."

Today men are becoming man-eaters. In ancient times, tigers turned into creatures with love.

It is to transform man's nature from the animal to the human that love has been serving as a

powerful force. The hearts of men in the olden days were soft and loving. Although love

inherently is soft and compassionate, in certain situations it assumes a stern form. This is

because, even out of love one has sometimes to use punishment. The harsh words and the

punishment are associated with love. When it rains, it is a downpour of drops of water. But

sometimes the rain is accompanied by hailstones. The hailstones are hard, but they are only

water in a condensed form. Likewise, softness or punishment are different expressions of love.

Sometimes, even devotees use harsh words about the Divine. Kamsa, who regarded Balarama

and Krishna as his mortal enemies, wanted by some means or other to get rid of them. Despite all

his stratagems, Kamsa could not get hold of them. On the pretext of performing a sacrifice, he

sent Akrura to bring Balarama and Krishna to Mathura. Akrura was a kind hearted man, full of

devotion to the Lord. Although he did not relish the prospect of going to Balarama and Krishna

to bring them to Mathura, he could not disobey his master's orders. He reached Repalle and

conveyed to Devaki and Vasudeva and Yasoda and Nanda, Kamsa's invitation to Balarama and

Krishna and asked them to arrange for sending the two lads with him.

Gopikas' appeal to Krishna not to leave them

The gopikas got wind of this and immediately rushed to Yasoda's house and asked: "Who is this

Krura (cruel fellow) who has come here? He has been named Akrura (a man without cruelty) by

mistake, Are Balarama and Krishna to be entrusted to such a cruel person?" They decided to

ignore Akrura and appeal directly to Balarama and Krishna not to go with Akrura.

However, the main purpose of Balarama's and Krishna's advent was to destroy Kamsa. This task

had to be accomplished. Therefore, they could not agree to the gopikas' appeal. They got into

Akrura's chariot. All the gopikas surrounded the chariot. "Krishna will not give ear to our prayers

not to go," they felt. So, they decided to appeal to him with all humility and intense love.

Sobbing and praying from the depths of their hearts, they said: "We cannot bear separation from

you even for a moment. Is it right for you to leave us like this? Is it a game of yours? Take pity

on us, oh Lord! What is this farce of a yaga! It is Kamsa's roga (disease). Our sole prayer is this.

Take us also with you, who have placed all our faith in you." (Swami sang the song of the

gopikas). They prayed to Krishna, "Take pity on us, Lord!" Even as they were praying in this

fashion, the chariot disappeared from the place by the Maya of the Lord.

Devotional love of gopikas is boundless

The hearts of the, gopikas were filled with love. Hence they saw only love everywhere. They felt

that everything was throbbing with life and love. They ran to Brindavan, went to every plant and

bush and flower and entreated them to tell whether Krishna was anywhere hiding amongst them,

describing the beautiful features of Krishna. (Swami sang the song in which the gopikas

described Krishna).

For those immersed in love, everything appears vibrant, with life. The power of love. is

boundless. The love-impulse is manifested in different, persons in different ways. Supreme

devotees like the gopikas considered Sri Krishna as the very breath of their life and worshipped

him. "You are everything for us," they declared.

Love incarnates as Avatar to teach love

It is to teach mankind the truth about this Divine Love that Love itself incarnates on earth in

human form. The scriptures declare that the Divine descends on earth to teach mankind the ways

of Dharma, Justice and Truth. "Dharma samsthaapa naarthaaya sambhavaami yuge yuge". (I

incarnate on earth from age to age to establish Dharma). This is Krishna's declaration in the

Gita. Once people are filled with love, all Dharma, all justice and all truth will be installed in

them. Without love, righteousness will be a mechanical ritual. What kind of righteousness can

there be without love? What sort of justice can there be? It will be a lifeless corpse. Love is life.

Without love, no man can exist for a moment.

Hence, Love is the form of the Supreme Lord. It is to preach the doctrine of love that the Krishna

Avatar and other divine incarnations made their advent on earth. According to the place, time

and circumstances prevailing then, different names were given to the Lord. These differences are

like the different figures made from sugar to appeal to the different preferences of children.

These figures may be those of a peacock, or a dog or a fox and so on. But what is common to all

of them is sugar.

Love is the basis for all Avatars

Likewise, the avatars in the four yugas incarnated to teach what were appropriate for that age'

Dhyana (meditation) for the Krita yuga, Tapas (penance) for the Treta yuga, Upasana (worship)

for the Dwapara yuga and Naamasmarana (chanting the name of the Lord) for the Kali yuga.

Common to all these is love of the Lord. In the same way what is common to the nine forms of

worship (Sravanam, Keerthanam, etc.) is love. In all of them the chanting of the Lord's name

with devotion is common.

Although there are many types of spiritual practices, they are of no avail without love. This love

must be unchanging in all circumstances. The faith of the eldest of the Pandava brothers,

Dharmaja, was of this steadfast type. Whether as an exile in the forest or as an emperor, whether

during the disrobing of Draupadi in Duryodhana's court or when Abhimanyu was killed in battle,

or when the slaughter of the Upapandavas (by Aswathama) occurred, in all situations, his faith

in Krishna never wavered. He firmly believed that Krishna was his sole saviour. At all times he

was contemplating only the name of Krishna. Whether as an emperor ruling over a vast realm or

when he lost everything in the game of dice, he was neither elated with success nor depressed by

defeat. The primary trait of the Pandavas was to cherish such unflinching faith in the Divine.

Develop pure and sincere devotion and sanctify your lives.

-Discourse at the Prashaanthi Mandir on 2-9-1991, Gokulashtami Day.