A Team For Everyone To Support

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the shelter of the complete creation and from whose lotus navel the whole creation is manifested, immediately knocked the crown from the head of Kamsa and grabbed his long hair in His hand. He then dragged Kamsa from his seat to the wrestling dais and threw him down. Then Krishna at once straddled his chest and began to strike him over and over again. Simply from the strokes of His fist, Kamsa lost his vital force.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 43)

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“Krishna is great. He killed the wicked king of Mathura named Kamsa. Do you know how bad that king was? He would take newborn babies and throw them up against a stone slab. He went to this extreme because he heard that his sister Devaki’s eighth child would kill him. Rather than take any chances, he killed each child that came out of Devaki’s womb.

“The eighth child did manage to escape. This is because the destiny written by the Supreme Divine cannot be erased. That child was a boy and He got transferred to the nearby town of Gokula. When Kamsa came to know, he ordered many nefarious characters to go and kill the child. But Devakinandana, the delight of Kamsa’s sister, survived each attack. Today He is famously known as Krishna, the all-attractive one. His pastimes have been sung through the ages. The pages of the always expanding Vedic literature describe some of these glories, but the praise can never come to an end. This is because Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is therefore infinite.”

The above is but a sampling of the praise offered to the Supreme Lord. This offering is yoga; it is meditation on something beyond birth and death. The act is linking with the Supreme Soul, who lives in each and every heart. Within this body is a spirit soul, which is the animating force. There is another soul as well, but it only witnesses. It is much more powerful; it exists in every single body. While the different life forces represent unique individuals, the Supersoul is a singular identity. Since He sees everything, He is the supreme witness, antaryami.

Bhakti-yoga is the way to connect with the Supersoul in love and devotion. Bhakti-yoga is the culmination of all other yogas. Meditating in a remote Himalayan cave can help an individual realize their spiritual nature and the singular energy that goes through the entire creation. After a realization comes action, since the soul is always active. Service to God the person is the next step. It is so powerful that it can be practiced even before realization of the self. The child can serve God in love and devotion, before they even know how to read. Bhakti-yoga is open to every person.

Praise of any other object is limiting. It may also offend. Consider your favorite sports team. You watch every one of their games on television. Sometimes you purchase tickets and go to the arena, wearing paraphernalia that easily identifies you as a fan. You listen to the postgame interviews, and you get excited when the team wins.

Since you spend so much time associating with this team, it is natural for you to talk about them. There is a problem, though. Not everyone shares your sentiments. In fact, to some your team represents the enemy. That team is the cause of great heartache to them. It is in the nature of competition after all; there will be winners and there will be losers. The supporters of the losers will not think too highly of the winners.

The Supreme Lord is someone every person can get behind. He is the champion for each and every person, across all lands. His victory over the evil Kamsa was for the benefit of the whole world. The demoniac may not like what He did, in ridding the world of a tyrant, but it was still for their own good. Krishna is the best well-wishing friend. He does good to both the saint and the sinner. He gives knowledge to those who seek it and He brings peace from the pangs of a material existence.

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ

sarva-loka-maheśvaram

suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ

jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

“The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 5.29)

Krishna’s killing of Kamsa is not the only thing of importance that He did during His time on earth. He also gave pleasure to the cows in Vrindavana. He lifted the massive Govardhana Hill to save the residents from devastating rainfall. He delivered the king of education, the Bhagavad-gita, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra to the warrior Arjuna. In His expansion of Narayana, Krishna effortlessly creates this and many other universes. As Shri Rama He partners with forest-dwellers to defeat a formidable foe consisting of evil night-rangers.

There is no end to the good deeds of God, and in those deeds man gets a glimpse into His transcendental features. Praising the Supreme Lord is for the benefit of the whole world. Krishna has a spiritual family as well, and it grows as each new person reenters the eternal engagement that is devotional service. That team consisting of Krishna and His devotees is the one every person can support without any negative consequence.

In Closing:

Holding championship trophy of shine,

So happy for favorite team of mine.

 

But not everyone sentiment to share,

That this team misery for them aware.

 

With Supreme Lord’s pastimes not so,

Shelter for every individual to go.

 

Killed Kamsa and lifted a hill,

Glories for many lifetimes to fill.