The dawn of the all-attractive

Sri Krsna, riding on the great eagle Garuda, destroys the demonic
forces of ignorance and aversion to truth.

Tomorrow is the Appearance day or Avirbhava mahotsava of the most legendary, epic, charming, dashing, and romantic Incarnation of Godhead, Sri Krishna. I'd like to share some of the concepts which underpin the appearance of Sri Krishna and how it relates to yoga, meditation, and reality itself.

This is not a description of the story but an introduction to the meaning behind some of the characters in the story and the qualities of principles that they embody. For someone who's never read the story I urge you to read it here. The story of Krishna's birth goes on until the end of the 3rd chapter. Please take a few moments to check it out.

(The various meanings or symbolism of the personalities in this story are derived simply from their names, for example; Vasudeva(Krishna's father) is a word commonly used in the Agama's for 'Pure consciousness'

Krsna reveals himself to Vasudeva and Devaki
in the prison of Kamsa.

Devaki(Krishna's mother) is a word derived from two parts; Deva, which means godly or gods, and Ki which a root form of the kri or karma, meaning action. Thus devaki is godly or saintly actions/behaviour. 
Kamsa(The cruel and wicked brother of Devaki) is derived from the words kama(selfish desire) and sah denoting the concept of "I, me, mine" based on the material body/mind.)

In the prison of material existence we are captive to the conception of selfish desire tied to the image of body and mind as ones only self. Chained to this mentality we suffer the loss of countless attempts to find genuine happiness and satisfaction, feeling all those attempts cast against the hard ground of death and impermanence. Many lose hope and surrender to the finality of death without ever having achieved our once cherished goals.

Those who hold within themselves the understand and experience of pure consciousness as being the true Self  and saintly behaviour as the proper mode of being in the world, are the only ones who can genuinely experience and nourish true lasting happiness.

Krsna carried out of the prison by Vasudeva,
Sheltered by Sesa-naga

The attempts to achieve that goal are at first demolished by the beginningless tendency of selfishness and egoistic desire.  finally, however,  by consistent honest practice and cultivation of detachment, acceptance, and equanimity, the truth of one's eternal nature dawns in the heart, giving rise to true peacefulness and contentment. The cultivation of such virtue comes about only by direct contact with the principle of Samarasa or Samadhi. There in the depths of ones being, having merged all elements and appearances back into their source, the Self, one can have the darshana of the eternal darling of life, of pure consciousness, of saintly behaviour, known as Sri Krishna.

However, although Sri Krishna manifests within such an environment, he does not stay there but immediately goes to that place which is ever protected by Affection, kindness, good-will, well-wishing, praising others, humility, simplicity, friendship, natural lifestyle, and riches. Sri Krishna becomes the foster child of these qualities, although born from the former.

This gives us a few clues to how we may come about the genuine perception of Krishna as well as how we may keep him in our lives. This is the yoga system of the Bhagavata purana, which consists of 12 cantos or books. The first 9 canos delineate the paths of Karma yoga, Yoga, Jnana as well as bhakti yoga for the purpose of cultivating ones pure consciousness and saintly behaviour. The 10th canto gives us insight into the lives of those who attained Sri Krishna in full and managed to be with him in natural humanness. Rejecting the austerities of jnana and yoga and the hard work mentality of the Karma yogi, Those personalities held Krishna through pure love and attraction on the most simple and human platform. A task which baffles the most experienced of meditators since Sri Krishna is the manifest form of the goal of meditation  known as Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Any experienced meditator will understand just how hard it is to experience Samadhi let alone maintain it through daily activities and the drama of life. 

This natural easiness and proximity with Sri Krishna is called Sahaja Samadhi or Ragatmika bhakti and can only be achieved by understanding the devotees of Vraja, especially his divine counterpart Srimati Radharani, the queen of the forest of unlimited abundance. Such a yogi experiences all of life as the play of Sri Krishna and his various expansions, sub-expansions, energies, and devotees. Such a yogi is said to be in the eternal play of life. Such a yogi is always free. Such a yogi attains bliss through every breath offered with love and devotion to the most Attractive and loving protector of universes, Govinda.

I pray for the dawning of  that vision of life which grants you boundless freedom, effortless joy, and a constant desire to serve life in its eternal love play, Sri Radha and Krsna along with the infinite assembly of Bhakti yogis who have achieved the realization of this loving service as the core of their being.