Monday, August 25, 2008

Krishna- The Yug Purush



On the occasion of Janmashthami,I present some less popular stories related to Shree Krishna:

1. Krishna and Radha:

Krishna and Radha painting by me-part of the trilogy of Kurukshetra Yuddha

Krishna Radha love story is a unique one. Anyone who knows about their story is also aware that these eternal lovers didn’t marry each other. In some narrations of Krishna’s stories, it is written that Krishna did meet Radha once again, long after he kills Kamsa.

“…when Krishna came face to face with Radha no words were said. No hands stretched to meet each other, no smile played upon lips and no eyes sparkled with delight. Only a million thoughts flashed through each mind and a deluge of tears flowed from each pair of eyes. Radha had promised not to get involved with Krishna's later life and she intended to keep that promise.
Krishna did not want to say or do something that would make things difficult for Radha. They stood staring stonily at each other till all the thoughts were exhausted and the eyes were dry. Though Krishna and Radha had been physically separated, they had been inseparable spiritually and would continue to be so till the end of the world. Radha had seen the splendour in which Krishna's wives lived and the joy he lavished on them. But she knew that his tears were for her alone and that each drop was more valuable than all the riches of the world. Krishna knew that Vrindavan would be enshrined forever because of Radha's sacrifice. Both were assured that they had taken the correct decision many years ago. Without saying anything they said everything and went their separate ways. They never saw each other again…”
Krishna and Radha; a painting I did for my book "Kurukshetra Yuddha"

That’s the beauty of Radha Krishna’s love. Who said that marriage means a successful love story ? The most successful love story never ended in a marriage.


2. Bhagdatta’s Vaishnav Astra:

In the Kurukshetra war, there was a warrior of very advanced age named Bhagdatta fighting from the kaurava’s side. He possessed a deadly weapon named Vaishnav Astra. He had a mighty elephant. Riding on that elephant he waged a terrible duel with Arjun on the 12th day of the war. When all his weapons failed to hurt Arjun, he called his Vaishnav Astra and threw it towards the brave warrior. It could have killed Arjun, but just on time Krishna stood up and took the weapon on His own chest, and the weapon turned into a garland of lotus around Krishna’s neck. Arjuna asked Krishna that He had promised to be only a charioteer in the battle and to leave the fighting to him, then why He faced the weapon which was destined to kill Arjun. Krishna replied that one of the prime duty of the charioteer is to protect the life of his warrior ‘Rathi’, so He did.
He also said that the weapon was His own belonging which returned to Him.

King Bhagadatta confronting Krishna and Arjun; a painting I did for my book "Kurukshetra Yuddha"

This showed the respect Lord gave to his own Astra and to the great warrior Bhagdatta. He could have prevented the use of the weapon if he wanted to. But he respected the valor of the great warrior and protected his friend, Arjun

3. Gandhari’s confrontation with Krishna:

At the end of the war, Kaurav Queen Gandhari curses Lord Krishna that his own clan Yadavas will also get extinguished the same way as the Kauravas have been exterminated. So strong was the anger of the aged mother of 100 sons, none of whom survived the war, that she cursed the supreme God. If the Lord wished there could have been no effect of that curse, but since He was determined to exterminate all the Kshatriyas from the earth that he accepted that curse gracefully.

Krishna and Gandhari; a painting I did for my book "Kurukshetra Yuddha"
Such was the greatness of Krishna, who told us to love nature, respect mother earth, follow our duties, and to accept the truth, no matter how bitter.

(All the paintings in this post are from my book "Kurukshetra Yuddha"; the story of the 18 days war of Mahabharata; you can buy the book from
Flipkart, here: http://www.flipkart.com/kurukshetra-yuddha-hindi/p/itmddzresspczjwa?pid=9789350875131

4 comments:

faria said...

its really gud dude, i never seen before like in this perfection,, thats great

aastha shukla said...

Your artwork is indeed wonderful. I liked your description of the curse too.
There is a very interesting conversation between the Gods and Krishna, when the latter describes the necessity to finish the yaduvansh.
It is in the beginning of the Uddhava Gita. You may like to read it sometime.

Anonymous said...

Hi there

Thanks for sharing, I have digged this post

Anonymous said...

Good evening

This post was interesting, how long did it take you to write?