Lord Krishna was the 8th reincarnation of
Lord Visnu; the God of preservation.
He was Lord Vishnu in human form possessing both divine and human
qualities blended in him. In one
sense he is the supreme reality and the highest truth to foster truth and
annihailate evil, and on the other hand he is human being though endowed with
extroidinary intelligence and power.
Today Wednesday 28th of August is his birthday and I
celebrate it with this story of how he overcame the mighty serpant Kaliya. For me he is intriguing this blue
colour human God, he had so many glories in the feats he performed although he
was non-phenomenal in nature. For
me I hold him most dear in his guiding of Arjuna through the great battle
within the Bhagavad Gita, which teaches us about this life, our duties and
addresses itself to all human problems.
The Bhagavad Gita opens with the statement from Krishna – there is no
cause for grief Arjuna. There is
no need for us to feel inadequate or feel the inability to face a certain
situation. So like Krishna in this
story let us all feel courage and the ability to deal with all the mighty
snakes that rise in our lives and then face them with compassion. Have a wonderful day.
“In the river Kalindi there was a pool which was the
abode of the mighty serpent Kaliya, who polluted the water of the river by his
venom causing great hardships and harm to the inhabitants of the area and their
herds. So powerful was his venom
that even the birds who flew over the river fell dead on the ground. In order to subdue the great serpent,
Krishna climbed a Kadamba tree and placed his yellow garment, peacock crown and
garland on its trunk and then jumped into the river and began to play in the
water striking it with his arms.
Kaliya the mighty serpant was enraged and circled Krishna with his
coils. Krishna’s companions on the
bank were all terror struck and fell senseless on the ground. Krishna however through his
determination freed himself from the great snake, he so enlarged his body that
the great snake couldn’t take his weight and rapidly released him from his
coils. Krishna took this
opportunity to then dance on the snake, this rendered the snake powerless and
he surrendered to Krishna. The
wives of this great serpent saw that he had lost his power and were distressed
at the plight of their lord and appealed to Krishna. Krishna spared the snakes life but banished him forever from
the river, however he granted him protection from the mighty eagle Guruda; the
destroyer of all serpents, whom Kaliya this great snake had fled from and had
taken refuge in this river.
Om Lokha Somasta Sukhino Bhavantu
May all beings find balance, harmony and peace
Om shanti.
mangala / nicky :-)
