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

CHAPTER 12. DISCIPLINE, DEVOTION AND KRISHNA
Krishna will say just the opposite. He will say what is achieved through long search and struggle is
not worth having. That which can be found can be lost too. He will say, ”I will accept only that which
comes uninvited, without efforts. I will be content with that which is, the true. And truth is not a thing
that one can find.”
This is a difference in approach to life that comes with individuals and their types. There is nothing
superior or inferior about it. As individuals, Krishna and Mahavira are basically different from each
other.
What is found through long search and striving has significance for Mahavira. This is the reason
he and his whole tradition are known by that strange name shraman, which simply means one who
toils. Mahavira believes the price of freedom is hard work, and what is had effortlessly is sheer
thievery. According to him, if God is found without effort, it cannot he the real God; there must he
some deception about it. And Mahavira’s sense of self-respect will not allow him to accept anything
that comes as a gift, he will earn it with the sweat of his brow. That is why a term like God’s grace has
no place in Mahavira’s philosophy. On the other hand, it is replete with words like efforts, struggle,
hard work, discipline, and sadhana. This is as it should he. His whole tradition is based on hard
work.
There are two cultural traditions in India, running parallel to each other. One is known as shraman
sanskriti or toil-oriented culture, and the other is called brahmin sanskriti or God-oriented culture.
The brahmanic tradition believes man is God, he does not have to become it, while the shraman
tradition believes that man has to earn godliness, he is not it. And there are only two types of
people in the world – brahmins or shramans – conforming to one of these traditions. And the ratio
of brahmins is very small; even the brahmins are not that brahmin. The vast majority consists of
shramans, doers who believe in efforts. To them everything must come the hard way. It needs
tremendous courage, patience, and trust to believe that one can find without effort, that one can
attain without attaining, that one can arrive without stepping out of one’s house. Our ordinary mind
says that if you want to find something, you will have to make adequate efforts for it, nothing is had
without a price. Our ordinary arithmetic believes that efforts and achievements have to be in equal
proportions.
Once in a great while a few brahmins have walked this earth, they can be counted on fingers. The
rest of us are shramans, whether we accept it or not. That is why despite great differences between
Buddha and Mahavira, their traditions became known by the common name of shraman. In this
respect Buddhists are not different from the Jainas, they are the same.
Krishna is a brahmin – a rare thing. He says, ”I am already the supreme being.”
And remember, I am not saying that one is right and another is wrong. To me both shraman and
brahmin are right, there is no difficulty about it. They represent two different types of minds, two
different ways of thinking, two different kinds of journeying. That is the only difference.
Question 9
QUESTIONER: ONE LAST QUESTION, IF YOU PERMIT. HOW IS IT THAT KRISHNA, IN ALL HIS
PAST LIVES, HAS NEVER BEEN IGNORANT AND IMPERFECT?
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 235 Osho