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

CHAPTER 12. DISCIPLINE, DEVOTION AND KRISHNA
Krishna makes every side, every facet of his life divine; with him every direction of life becomes
sacred. It is not so with Mahavira: one particular direction in which he journeys becomes sacred,
while all other directions remain profane. And in fact because his one direction becomes sacred all
other directions are bound to remain profane; these are automatically condemned; doomed to live
in the shade of profanity. And this is applicable not only to Mahavira, but also to Rama, Buddha,
Christ, Mohammed – all those who adhere to one exclusive direction in life’s quest.
Krishna is the sole being about whom it can be said that he made every path, every facet of life
sacred and holy. He made it possible for every kind of seeker to attain to the supreme from any
direction that comes naturally to him. In this sense he is multi-dimensional, not only for himself but
for others too. With a flute on his lips one can dance his way to God; playing a flute he can touch that
depth where samadhi, or ecstasy happens. But to Mahavira and Buddha with a flute there is no way.
It is not possible on the paths of Mahavira and Buddha that a flute can achieve the majestic heights
of meditation and samadhi. It is impossible. To Mahavira, Meera can never attain to the highest; she
is attached to Krishna, she loves Krishna. And according to Mahavira, attachment can never lead
you to God, only non-attachment can. But going with Krishna, both the attached and non-attached
can reach the same destination.
That is why I say that Krishna’s wholeness is incomparable; it is rare.
Secondly, you want to know if none of the Jaina tirthankaras attained to wholeness. No, they all had
attained to it, but only to one-dimensional wholeness. And it was because of this that Jaina ideology
could not achieve widespread popularity. It was inherent in the very nature of Jainism. Twenty-five
centuries have passed, and there ate only three and a half million Jainas, a very poor figure.
It is ironic that the message of a person of the stature of Mahavira – and he was not alone, he carried
with him an immense heritage bequeathed by twenty-three tirthankaras – could reach only three and
a half million people. If only three dozen persons had been influenced by Mahavira in his lifetime,
they alone through procreation would have, in the course of twenty-five hundred years, reached
this figure. What is the cause? The cause is obvious. It is their one-dimensional approach. They
lack the multi-dimensional wholeness of Krishna. Their appeal is limited to a few; it is ineffectual
in reaching the rest of mankind. People with inclinations different from the single dimension that
Jainism represents remain wholly unaffected; they don’t find themselves in tune with it.
It is ironic that even this handful of Jainas don’t treat Mahavira the way he should be treated. It is all
right to worship Krishna, but it is repugnant to Mahavira’s teachings. And the Jainas are worshipping
Mahavira. Worship is okay with Krishna but not with Mahavira. It means Mahavira will not agree
with the minds of even those few who are born into the Jaina community. The reason is that the
dimension of Mahavira is very exclusive; it accords with few. So being born in the Jaina community
one continues to be a Jaina, but takes on many things that don’t belong to Mahavira’s dimension.
Devotion has entered Jainism, and along with it have come worship and prayer and other rituals.
They have nothing to do with Mahavira; they are alien to his genius. In fact, devotion and worship are
an outrage against Mahavira; there is no place for them in the life of Mahavira. But the Jainas have
their own difficulty; they cannot feel gratified without worship and prayer. So they go on incorporating
all these things into the religion of Mahavira.
Here I would like to say that all those who have attained to one-dimensional wholeness are bound
to be unjustly treated by their followers; they cannot escape it. But you cannot misbehave in this
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 218 Osho