KRISHNA - THE ULTIMATE

" Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Faleshu Kadachana"

- Bhagvad Gita

Hindu mythology presents a diverse diaspora of several epics and stories which to the common man may sound fantastic as well as a fantasy but in the truest sense they reflect the entire vivid rainbow of humanity. The variety of characters and situations that it depicts still remains to be completely unravelled . What follows here in this page is a modest attempt to dissect a persona that has no parallel in India and that which doubtless encompasses humanity in its entirety , possesses all the qualities of a human and yet is different in all possible aspects . He is none other than KRISHNA - THE ULTIMATE , or also famous as GOVIND, NARAYANA, HARI. He has been described as the one who possesses a thousand names ( he is called the "Sahasranamdhari" ) , as the one who is comparable to none, one who has no beginning ( He is called "Anaadi" ) and the One who has no end ("Anant ").

The Hindu stories have maximum references to him and He epitomizes values in their variety, nature in its naturality . The story of his birth itself indicates what lies in store ahead for those who listen to His stories. He was born on the Ashtami of the "shravan" month of Hindu calendar in the Shukla Paksha . The myth surrounding his birth in a stormy night in the prison bars of Mathura to Devaki and Vasudev is famous and every Indian child listens to it with rapt attention when the story sessions of grandmothers begin.

The antics of the lord in his childhood are glorified as His " Leela" or sport and countless sonnets and ballads have been written and sung over the millennia in every Indian language possible . Even today a child is referred as "Balakrishna" ( Little Krishna ) when he bowls over his mother with his playfulness. It is perceived that the Lord was giving his mother "Moksha" ( salvation) by his pleasing antics . The great poet Soordas in his lyrical ode to the Lord's childhood has mentioned that the greatness that Yashoda has achieved by being a mere spectator is more than what can be achieved by great seers in seven rebirths. Poets have been rendered speechless when they perceive the sheer humanity in his playfulness and Hindi literature is abundant with such Mother - Son sequences.

As the child grew up his activities took a different turn. The cowherds and the cows became His companions in His Sport . Though he behaved humanly the Lord showed glimpses of His being the "Avatar Purush " like His lifting of the Govardhan mountain in His little finger and thus showing Indra who is the Supreme . The people of Vrindavan adored him and their adoration was their "Bhakti ". In fact this form of "Bhakti " called the " Prem - Bhakti " ( devotion through love) is the most important message of Krishna .

Hindu philosophy advocates two forms of Bhakti to attain salvation . One is the "Gyan Marg" and the other "Prem Marg". Through the former one attains the Lord by gaining knowledge and preaching the same about HIm. The latter is the more simpler asks the Bhaktas to love the Lord himself , not as a Lord but as a companion . Here one must mention that this love is echelons above what we today term as love. "prem" as our texts say is a spiritual phenomenon which is a "Sangam" of two souls. In case of Bhakti it is the confluence of the "atma" and the "Parmatma".Hindi poets like Soordas, Raskhan , Meera have described in great elaboration the worth of such form of Bhakti and who better than the most beautiful of them all - Krishna Himself .The character of Akroor in the Bhagvat Puran is to demonstrate the superiority of the Prem Marg over the other.

Krishna's "Raas - Leela" is one of the striking phase of his incarnation. Legend has it that every Gopika loved Him in her heart but social barriers prevented them from expression. This also indicates that Bhakti is without barriers and does not remain confined within the societal rules. It is said that the Lord in His Sport once asked Devi Durga to descend to Vrindavan and advise all the Gopikas to think of their beloved and fast for a period of 40 days succeeding which they would be granted their beloveds. Everybody wished Krishna and waited for 40 painful days which is also famous in Hindi as " Viyog Parv". At the end of the Parv as promised Krishna with His Maya became omnipresnt and every Gopika thought that He was with her. But in reality He was with his consort Radha. The Bhakti of Radha is unparalleled in Indian Mythology. The union of Radha-Krishna is the ultimate confluence of the "Jivatma " with the Supreme Being and it also shows that marriage is not necessarily the final resort of Love.

This story has all the shades of a classical but spritual romance. Even today Hindi film songs directly refer to the saga of Radha - Krishna . Every aspect -from Krishna teasing his consort near the Yamuna ("Bhor bhaye panghat par , mohe natkhat Sham sataye") to Radha getting angry with Him is encompassed in our literature. Poets have narrated incidents galore of this phase of the Lord's life.

The last and final major aspect of Krishna's life is his role as a Kshatriya and as a master craftsman. Krishna was the Indian Machiavelli and advocated immortal principles in the Gita which if followed even today will lead to success as well as peace of mind. He was the first to advise the businessmen to start the lending business.Legend tells that when Jarasandh invaded Mathura , it did not have the resources to lead the fightback. Krishna much to everyone's indignation advised that resources be generated from the lower "Vaishyas". His philosophy that they were also citizens and they also had equal responsibility towards the safety of the city.Moreover they being businessmen would never want to lose money and hence would bless the Kshatriyas to victory to satisfy their purpose. His role in the Kurukshetra War is an open book to all. His policy was to counter Dharma with Dharma but to tolerate Adharma taking Dharma's resort is a crime. Thus he defined His actions in the war as Dharma when he defeated Drona , Karna , Duryodhana taking resort to unlawful means.

Krishna is a Philosophy in Himself, combining an institution of rules , variety of emotions that engraves in itself the humanity in its entirety. The Bhagvad Gita is a Bible for us . It prescribes one to be not a "Bhakta Yogi" but asks us to be a "Karma Yogi". Our authority is confined to the job only and not in its results. {"Ma Falesu Kadachana"). His life is statement on way of life on all the 4 stages of life and each and every action of His is an education in itself and worthy of replication .

The above is only a small attempt to cover a persona which has been tried in vain through millennia by poets and preachers, seers and sages. Much water has flowed down the Kalindi (Yamuna) since His days but the Vrindavan still abounds by His charms. His "Venu Vadya" ( Flute) still resonates in the greens and even now the Raag "Brindavan Saarang" brings delight to the true lovers as well as the peacocks which wait eternally for their lover , the "Sawan" (rain drops) as Radha waited and is still waiting for Him to return.

Why are we moving away??

How does our past influence us? Specially the past which was never a part of our lives and about which we have only heard and read about in books. The past of our country which is seeing a sea-change in attitudes tastes and preferences now. The new brigade is seen to be in an advantageous position because it was brought up in post liberalization era where profits where not wrong, extravagance was appreciated and envied and flaunting the order of the day. If you have it show it was the mantra. Now that cud be wealth to well-toned bodies! This brigade was talented and energetic to work hard and dared to dream. Situtaion demanded people who could shape up their dreams and lo behold! here appeared encouragement from all quarters including politics, media and what not...People might be wondering where this piece of prose is heading....It actually heads nowhere because we, ourselves as a society are heading where??? to nowhere....Every major city is at a cusp of conflicting and confused identities. A traditional Chennai is gradually being dumped with resto-bars and lounge-bars and unfortunately the increase in them is equated with city getting developed! Where have more logical parameters like transport, infrastructure, roads gone?
Gone is the old charm of Calcutta with its Durga Puja...the Puja itself competes with discs and extravagance and flaunting of the people. There is a clear divide amongst people who still listen RabindraSangeet and the new brigade which has been rarely exposed to it!
This is not a pessimistic or a communist feeling that we should revert back to old days because old is gold. India today is at an exciting threshold now. The people who dare to dream never had it so good. Profits are not decried anymore and rather any wealth & prosperity obtained through hard work is exemplified and eulogised! However, as an individual I am at splitsville to say the least...Is allegiance to traditions foolhardy? Why cant we look into the rationale of our traditions and then reject them? Arent we still under colonial influence only that it is being replaced by reasons like globalization and westernization? Why still anyone speaking better English is thought to be better or smarter? Why do people have to freak out at pubs and malls to celebrate? Why is extravagance = celebration? And what if I dont want that shall I be called as a 91 year old instead of 19?
On one hand we seem to be self-assured and confident and on one hand we seem to be confused...Societal and peer pressures try to shake off the Indian roots but something which is ingrained is impossible to amputate...Its thrown everybody from politicians to portfolio managers, from brand managers to media into a topsy turvy zone where you can only expected the unexpected to happen....
At threshold of its 60th Independence Day, India is still like a new bride who is waiting for her "ghoonghat" to be pushed over and her moon-face to be revealed! Lets not forget ourselves in the deluge of consumerism! Lets bring new ideas and theories to explain ourselves rather than resorting to existing ones! Because India is new! And as is the trend the Indian mantra we always follow Bollywood - "Chak De India"...Lets give her our best...and take the best from her!
As always you give some you take some! A Game Of Quid Pro Quo

The recordings of what we played...

The recordings of what we played in Denovo...
The first is an adaptation of Titanic soundtrack!

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Second is our version of Motherland an adaptation to fusion in Raag Jog...

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Listen and let me know

Denovo 2007 NITIE's annual cultural day

Denovo - NITIE's annual cultural day happens once the juniors come in and are asked to showcase their cultual talent to the seniors, faculty and staff. Completely different time in the life of an MBA student always into business and money. This Denovo was special as it also marked the launch of the cultural club a concept a few of us have been carrying in our hearts for long.
One of my very few satisfactory performances and definitely a sea change in terms of experience...we played instrumental fusion with Anuj n Jajoo on electric, dawn on harmonica, Sameer on Tabla and Jayanth on mridangam (percussionists after a loooong time!) and yours truly on the violin...The idea was to showcase all the talents as well as present music as a universal language....hence the choice of a Indian base track on Raag Jog and the Titanic track for the western base...
The initial exhilaration of listening to the motherland of L Subramaniam quickly vapored away as it was too hot to handle....then started customizations suiting our standards...greatest challenge for me was I had to lead the track the way Subramaniam had done....and he being who he is, is impossible to replicate...moreover as the track provided ample scope for improvisation, clamping down on that and setting up a nice framework encompassing Jog and within a minute and half, playing a bit of jazz in it as welll....but all's well that ends well and in my opinion it ended really well....
Titanic was something we had played last year and though the output wasnt satisfactory, last year's experience was valuable....Jayanth's addition to this group proved invaluable as his mridangam blended beautifully with the western sounds...there was a time when Titanic sounded like Therukoothu (Tamil folk)!
Appreciation was instantaneous and immense! But quite a lot to learn...most importantly if you put in the effort - in practise as well as in minor things like setting the pitch, accoustics, tuning of instruments- it pays you handsomely...again it boils down to a Game of Quid Pro Quo - you give some you take some!