Three Features In Krishna Juxtaposed With Us

“As the Lord's desire is infallible because He is achyuta, similarly the desires of the devotees in the transcendental service of the Lord are also achyuta, infallible. This is very difficult, however, for the layman to understand without knowledge of the mystery of devotional service, as it is very difficult to know the potency of touchstone.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.9.35 Purport)

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1. As man is fallible, God is infallible, or achyuta.

To err is human. We make mistakes. This is one of the four defects built into the human existence. Imperfect senses, a tendency to cheat, and being easily illusioned. For instance, society goes into a panic when a certain virus spreads throughout the world. Businesses shut down, governments declare emergencies, and everyone is told to stay away from the public.

Yet other viruses, which have much higher fatality rates, do not cause any type of panic. They appear year after year, leaving the same destruction, but no one is concerned to the same degree. This is an indication of illusion, where the vision is not properly applied.

The Supreme Lord lacks these defects. He is infallible. The Sanskrit word is achyuta. If He were to have any imperfections, then there would be no God. Nature itself would be considered the highest deity, but nature is a collection of matter that cannot function without the presence of an animating force inside. This force is known as spirit, and God is the Supreme Spirit, or Paramatma.

2. As we have a beginning in terms of this birth, He is without one, or anadi.

The Sanskrit word is adi. This is for analyzing a specific situation juxtaposed with another. The sun was shining bright this morning, but right now it is cloudy outside. The first situation was before the current one. Before and after, or past, present and future.

Adi is the beginning in terms of time. For this lifetime, every person has one. They most likely don’t remember it. They take it on the authority of their parents that there was time spent in the womb followed by the event known as birth.

Shri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is without a beginning. Therefore, He is anadi. We are actually similar, in a sense. We have no beginning and no end. The adi is with respect to this lifetime, but as spirit soul, we were someplace before, as well.

न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्
नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतो ऽयं पुराणो
न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin
nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ‘yaṁ purāṇo
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.20)

Krishna can give a definition to His anadi feature. That is to say He can recall exactly where He was at every point in time in the past. We can barely remember what we did yesterday. This is another indication of our fallibility.

3. As jara [old age] is one of the miseries affecting this existence, He is always fresh and new in the transcendental form [nava-yauvanam].

In this temporary existence, one of the miseries we suffer is old age. Nothing can be done to reverse. I am a certain age right now, and there is no way to return to my childhood body. I can remember the time period, but everything was different in comparison to today. I am compelled to follow the dictates of nature, prakriti, which gets manipulated by kala, time.

Shri Krishna is nava-yauvanam. The body is always fresh and new. Time works at His direction, after all. On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, more than one hundred years had elapsed since His visible arrival in this world from the womb of mother Devaki. Yet Krishna did not appear any older than a teenager.

That eternally youthful existence extends to the devotional practices done in His honor. It is for this reason that a person can daily chant the holy names in full transcendental bliss: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

Right now tired and old,
Of impending crisis told.

For a better time to yearn,
Like to childhood to return.

But by powerful nature commanding,
Whereas Krishna differently standing.

Oldest person but age not to grow,
Appearance fresh and new ever so.