Bhakti - The Only Way to Realize Krishna

In our day to day life, we come across so many kinds of incidents both in our lives as well as in the external world. If we try to comprehend the reasons for these things using our mind, or try to manipulate why Krishna has allowed these things, it will simply lead to bewilderment. Our senses are limited and Krishna is unlimited - so we can never judge or ascertain Krishna's actions.

In the 4th Mantra of Sri Isopanishad it is said

anejad ekam manaso javiyo / nainad devaa aapnuvan purvam arshat
tad dhaavato 'nyaan atyeti tishthat / tasminn apo maatarishvaa dadhaati

"Although fixed in His abode, the Personality of Godhead is swifter than the mind and can overcome all others running. The powerful demigods cannot approach Him. Although in one place, He controls those who supply the air and rain. He surpasses all in excellence."

There are few points we can learn from the above verse:

i) Although fixed in His abode - It means that though Krishna is fixed in one place, localized and the greatest, He can be simultaneously omni-present.A very good example of this is found when the Lord stood before Kunti mata as she was glorifying him. However,at the very moment, Uttara mata shouted and called out to Krishna as the Brahmastara was about to kill Parikshit Maharaj in her womb. The Lord was still standing before Kunti Mata but simultaneously he covered the child with his own energy and protected Parikshit Maharaj. Also during His pastimes in Dwaraka with His queens, with His friends in Vrindavan and in so many other places we find the Lord exhibiting His omnipresent nature - though He eternally continues to reside in His Supreme abode. This act of the Lord is inconceivable by mental speculation and unexplainable by material standards. This is due to our limited understanding and potency to understand the Lord's actions.

ii) The personality of Godhead is swifter than the mind and can overcome all others running - Our mind is supposed to be swifter than our actions. But this verse clearly points out Krishna is swifter than the mind. Since Krishna is the Supreme personality of Godhead, He is the fastest and the most excellent. No one is greater or equal to Him. He can do anything He wants. He is the cause of all causes. It is stated by the Lord personally that He is the cause of all the demigods and sages. Even the demigods and great sages cannot understand Krishna as their energies are limited.

Glorifying these potencies of Supreme Lord, Prajapati Daksha prays in Srimad Bhagavatam verse (6.4.29) :-

yad yan niruktam vacasaa nirupitam
dhiyaakshabhir vaa manasota yasya
maa bhut svarupam guna-rupam hi tat tat
sa vai gunaapaaya-visarga-lakshanah

"Anything expressed by material vibrations, anything ascertained by material intelligence and anything experienced by the material senses or concocted within the material mind is but an effect of the modes of material nature and therefore has nothing to do with the real nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Lord is beyond the creation of this material world, for He is the source of the material qualities and creation. As the cause of all causes, He exists before the creation and after the creation. I wish to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him."

Daksha very carefully points out that material designations cannot be names of the worshipable Lord: yad yan niruktam vacasaa nirupitam. Nirukta refers to the Vedic dictionary. One cannot properly understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead merely by picking up expressions from a dictionary. In praying to the Lord, Daksha does not wish material names and forms to be the objects of his worship; rather, he wants to worship the Lord, who existed before the creation of material dictionaries and names. As confirmed in the Vedas, yato vaaco nivartante/ apraapya manasaa saha: the name, form, attributes and paraphernalia of the Lord cannot be ascertained through a material dictionary. However, if one reaches the transcendental platform of understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he becomes well acquainted with everything, material and spiritual

In the above verse, Kind Daksha clearly tells us that we cannot understand Krishna through the process of mental speculation or using our mind. If we try to speculate about Him, then Krishna will be illusive to us. The Lord is Supreme Pure and we are completely impure. The only way we can understand the Lord is through the purificatory process of Bhakti which is non-different from the Lord. So instead of speculating the reasons for each and every happenings using our mind, let us simply accept His Supremacy and simply endeavor to act in a manner pleasing to Him.