Awaken ‘Krishna’ In Your Consciousness By: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Janmashtami celebrates the birth of Krishna. He is not a vyakti or person but shakti or energy. Krishna was poornakalaavataran, a complete incarnation. The purpose of celebration is to realise that Krishna is in me. In the Bhagwad Gita, Krishna says, “One who sees everyone in Me and sees Me in everyone, for such a person, I shall never remain hidden and he shall never be far from me.”
Krishna’s life has all the nine rasas or flavours. For instance, he was naughty like a child, a warrior, joy personified and a source of knowledge. He was a perfect friend and guru. His birth on ashtami signifies his mastery of both spiritual and material worlds. He is a great teacher and spiritual inspiration as well as the consummate politician. On the one hand, he is Yogeshwara, the Lord of Yogas while on the other, he is a mischievous thief. His behaviour is a perfect balance of extremes — perhaps this is why his personality is so difficult to fathom. The avdhoot is oblivious to the world outside and a materialistic person, a politician or a king is oblivious to the spiritual world. But Krishna is both Dwarkadheesh and Yogeshwar.
 To understand Krishna, simply become Radha, Arjuna or Uddhava. Three kinds of people seek refuge in God -- the lover, the miserable and the wise. Uddhava was wise, Arjuna was miserable and Radha was love personified. Krishna’s teachings are most relevant to our times as they neither let you get lost in material pursuits nor make you completely withdrawn. They rekindle your life, from being a burnt-out and stressed personality to a more centred and dynamic one. Krishna teaches us devotion with skill. To celebrate Gokulashtami is to imbibe extremely opposite yet compatible qualities and manifest them in your own life.
 Krishna tells Arjuna, "You are very dear to me" and says he must surrender. Surrender begins with an assumption. You assume you are the most beloved of the Divine, and then surrender happens. Surrender is not an action; it is an assumption. Non-surrender is ignorance, an illusion. Surrender has to begin as an assumption and then it reveals itself as a reality. Finally, it reveals itself as an illusion. An illusion, because there are no two aspects, no duality. There is no independent existence of anyone. An individual has no independent existence.
 So, in the Gita, Krishna says, "He is dear to Me who neither goes on thanking people nor hates anyone.” Thanking and feeling obliged indicates that you believe in someone else's existence rather than in the Divine who is ruling everything. When you feel obliged, then you are not honouring the principles of karma or the divine plan. Appreciate people for what they are; do not thank them for what they do. Otherwise your thankfulness is centered around the ego. You are grateful, but not for an act. You are grateful for what is.
Hence the most authentic way of celebrating Janamashtami is to know that you have to play a dual role — of being a responsible human being and at the same time to realise that you are above all events, the untouched Brahmn. Imbibing a bit of avadhoot and a bit of activism in your life is the real significance of celebrating Janmashtami. Awaken the Krishna in your consciousness – “Krishna is not far from me, not separate from me, he is within me’-- this feeling will fill your life with Krishna.