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

CHAPTER 11. DRAUPADI: A RARE WOMAN
and loss, right and wrong, are essential. Life is made of these opposites; the opposites are like two
sides of a coin.
The real question is not whether Krishna wins a battle or loses it; the real question is whether the
totality of one’s life results in victory or defeat. And it applies to everyone’s life. It is immaterial
whether one wins a battle here and loses a battle there. It is possible that a defeat becomes a
stepping stone to victory. It is also possible that a victory may serve as a jumping board to fall into
abysmal defeat. The warp and woof of life are so vast and complex, every defeat does not mean
defeat and every victory does not mean victory. It is okay if one loses a battle or two and wins the
war. The ultimate judgment on one’s life depends not on a count of wins and losses, but on the final
summation of one’s whole life story.
It is natural that Krishna had moments of defeat in his life. It is inevitable with life. If God has to live
in the world he will have to live as humans do; he will have to accept everything that life brings with
it. Success and failure, happiness and pain, light and shade, will walk hand-in-hand together. In
fact, one who is not ready to face defeats in life should give up all thought of victory.
Krishna’s life contains both victory and defeat; that is why it is so human. But this humanness does
not detract from the grandeur and glory of his life, really it adds much to it. It means that Krishna is
so unique that he can take defeat too. He is not set on winning, not an egoist who is sworn to win
and who is not going to accept a defeat. Krishna is prepared for everything that life brings with it.
He is prepared to lose a war, even to run away from it, to escape it from any point. He accepts the
ups and downs of life unconditionally; he is really choiceless. He does not say that he will go this
far and no further. This is what makes Krishna tremendously human, and at times because of his
humanness he looks small in comparison to the divinity of Buddha and Mahavira. Both Buddha and
Mahavira look absolutely divine; they do not look human at all. But remember, too much divinity is
likely to turn harsh and inhuman; it loses that beautiful quality called human tenderness.
Krishna is not going to be harsh, so he accepts all that we call human weakness. A proverb says,
”To err is human,” but there is no corresponding proverb that says, ”Not to err is inhuman.” There
should be one; it is utterly inhuman if one does not ever err. And Krishna does not take a mistake
as mistake; he takes it in stride, as something coming with life.
And it is true that Krishna had to leave Mathura. A man like Krishna might have to leave many places;
he might prove to be troublesome at many places. Any number of places may find it increasingly
difficult to bear him; they can ask to be excused for their inability to go with him. To under stand
him and to go with him is really arduous. So Krishna moves away without difficulty; he is not set
on staying in a particular place. He moves from one place to another with the ease you move from
one room of your house to another. And he leaves a place so utterly that he does not once turn his
head to look back at it again. While his lovers feel disturbed about it, and implore him again and
again to come back, they want to know if he still remembers them or not, on his part he has left
them completely and finally. Now he is mindful of the other place to which he has moved; he forgets
Mathura altogether. Wherever Krishna is, he is there totally. And because of it he sometimes seems
to be harsh and hard-hearted.
Krishna’s life is a flux; he moves with the winds. He goes eastward with the east wind; he goes
westward with the westerly. He has no choice of his own to be here or there or anywhere; he goes
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 212 Osho