Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 6. NUDITY AND CLOTHING SHOULD GO TOGETHER
did we conceive him so, we even named him so. Whether you say Krishna or Shyam or Sawalia, it
means the same.
You also want to know why on one hand Krishna disrobes the gopis and on the other rushes to
provide clothes to Draupadi when she is being publicly disrobed by the Kauravas. The question is
significant. In fact, a person who has never once really disrobed a woman will continue, in dreams
and fantasies, to disrobe women all his life. But he who has known nudity can now well afford to
cover it, to clothe it.
Then there is a significant difference between robing and disrobing a woman. In love, disrobing is
allowed. If you are in love with a woman, she can happily consent to being disrobed by you. But
Draupadi was being disrobed not out of love, she was being disrobed in utter hate and spite. The
people who disrobed her had no love whatsoever for her. They were out to humiliate her, so it was
an outrageous and barbaric act.
As I have said over and over again, I don’t attach much importance to facts. I don’t look at the story
of Krishna providing clothes to Draupadi from a great distance by a miracle as an historical fact.
This is just an allegory to say that Krishna, in a very effective manner, came in the way of her being
made naked. I believe that he really prevented the Kauravas from dishonoring her. But when a poet
describes this event, he turns it into a poem. And when we eventually look at the same poem of an
event, it seems to be a miracle. Poetry itself is a miracle; there is no greater miracle than poetry. It
only means to say that Krishna intervened and prevented it in his own way.
It is significant to know that one of the names of Draupadi is Krishna, the feminine form of Krishna.
The truth is, in all human history, there has never been a man as many-splendored as Krishna and a
woman as magnificent and glorious as Draupadi. Draupadi is simply incomparable. We have talked
a lot about Sita and other women, but Draupadi was as great as any of them. But we have difficulty
with Draupadi because she happened to be the wife of five men; in making a right appraisal of her
life this fact often comes in our way. But remember how difficult it is to be a single husband’s wife;
only a woman of exceptional ability and accomplishments could be the wife of five men at the same
time.
Krishna is in deep love with Krishna; she is one of his most intimate beloveds. And that love comes
to her rescue in a moment she is being subjected to the worst humiliation. But that is a different
topic which we will discuss when I speak on Draupadi.
Question 7
QUESTIONER: YOU SAID IN THE COURSE OF A DISCUSSION OF KRISHNA AT AHMEDABAD
THAT THE INTERCOURSE THAT VASUDEO HAD WITH HIS WIFE DEVAKI WAS NOT JUST
SEXUAL, BUT WAS A SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE AND THAT IS WHY A PERSON LIKE KRISHNA
WAS BORN. IN VIEW OF IT ONE WONDERS WHY THE SONS OF RAMA AND KRISHNA WERE
NOT AS TALENTED AND BRILLIANT AS THEIR PARENTS. CAN IT BE SAID THAT RAMA AND
KRISHNA DID NOT HAVE SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE WITH THEIR WIVES?
In this connection, two things have to be understood. When I talk of spiritual intercourse between
two lovers it does not mean that I am condemning sexual intercourse. By spiritual intercourse I
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 115 Osho