Narayana Krishna

The Brahmin men were very well aware of Krishna’s supremacy and transcendence, nevertheless fearing the wrath of Kamsa they desisted from going to see Him.

Tenth Canto Chapter Twenty-four

In this chapter, Krishna stopping the Yāga ritual being performed to please Lord Indra is covered.

Maharishi Śuka continued, “Krishna, the Supreme Lord who continued to reside in Brindavan along with Balarama, noticed the cowherds busily engaged in arranging for the Yāga for Lord Indra. This was a regular ritual they performed every year.

The Supreme Lord Srikrishna, who dwells within every heart and who is the supreme witness for all actions, was well aware of the intention of the cowherds who were readying for the Yagna. Nevertheless, in all humility He offered obeisance to father Nanda and other cowherd men and enquired,

‘Dear father, what is this activity in which all of you are busily engaged? What is the result that this Yagna is expected to bestow? Who is the deity to whom the offerings are being made? What are the ingredients being used and who will be the yajamana (performer) for this Yagna? Dear father, I am eager to gather all the facts.

With a great expectation, all of you have begun this Yagna. Please clarify all my doubts. This is because, the noble saints who perceive every living entity in the creation to be their own Self, will never differentiate between their relatives and others. Being neutral, differences such as friends-enemies, sorrows-joys do not exist in them. As such there is no activity which they tend to retain secretively. Why then do you seek to retain this a secret?

It is said that secretive tasks should never be revealed to enemies. However, a friend is as dear as the Self and hence secrets can be shared with such friends.

jñatvājñātvā ca karmāṇi jano ‘yam anutiṣṭhati

viduṣaḥ karma-siddhiḥ syād tathā nāviduṣo bhavet

Humans perform actions both knowingly and unknowingly. The person who performs the actions with full knowledge of the same, enjoys the desired fruit whereas the person who performs it unknowingly fails to obtain fruits exactly as obtained by those who perform it knowingly.”

The person who, through wilful understanding of the action and its consequences, completes it per the stipulated procedure, enjoys the desired fruit of the action. On the contrary, the person who simply imitates the actions of others without proper study of the action, its result, its proper procedure will not get the same level of results as are enjoyed by the person who performed the action after studying it thoroughly.

“Krishna continued, ‘Have you studied in detail about this Vedic ritual you are about to commence? Or is it a worldly activity? Please clarify in detail’.

Nanda then replied, ‘Lord Indra is the Lord of rains. The monsoon clouds are nothing but his forms. Indra is in charge of ensuring timely rainfall, which bring joy to everyone and sustain all forms of life. My dear son, not just we cowherds but people of all communities, using the stipulated ingredients, worship Lord Indra who is the ruler of the clouds and hence is responsible for the timely rainfall on Earth. Indra is the Lord who rules all other deities. We need to offer worship to him who is our protector’.”

The grace of Lord Indra prompts Varuna to shower rains on Earth. Crops are dependent on timely and proper rainfall. Crops are crucial for sustenance of life on Earth. Thus it can be said that crops are the blessings showered by Him upon us.

“Human beings use crops and other ingredients to offer Yagna to Lord Indra while surviving on the remaining ingredients and accomplishing the three goals of life viz., adherence to righteousness (dharma), righteous earnings (artha) and fulfilment of desires (kama). The Lord of rain bestows the resultant fruit for the activities of ploughing and sowing. This practice has been coming down through successive generations and it is our righteous duty.

The person who, due to greed of wealth, or desire to enjoy material comforts, or due to fear of being condemned by others or due to aversion towards the Devatas, abandons this ritual will face dire consequences’- said Nanda.

Hearing these words uttered by his father and by other inhabitants of his village, the Supreme Lord Srikrishna replied,

‘Karmaṇā jāyate jantuḥ karmaṇaiva vilīyate

Sukhaḿ duḥkhaḿ bhayaḿ kṣemaḿ karmaṇaivābhipadyate

What a wonderful statement this is!

A living being takes birth due to the force of its past actions (karma). Its actions alone lead to its death and its actions alone lead to the joys, sorrows, fear and sense of well-being experienced by it.

Thus it is to be understood that one’s action is the root for everything in creation. If there is a Lord who showers the resultant fruits for actions performed by a person, then it must be understood that He too showers the fruits only upon the performer of the action”.

To clarify that the Lord cannot shower the results of any action upon the person who does not perform the action, this statement has been made.

Krishna Krishna