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

CHAPTER 3. WHERE BUDDHA ENDS KRISHNA BEGINS
a hotel, where he found him under a scorching midday sun, a young man begging a little money
from the hotel manager to buy himself a pair of sandals. He was pointing to his bare and bleeding
feet, lacerated with wounds. The prime minister stepped down from the chariot and approached the
young beggar. He took no time to recognize him – he was the king’s son – although he was in rags,
his body emaciated, his face shriveled and sunburned. He bowed to him and said, ”The king has
pardoned you and asks you to return to your kingdom.”
In a second, a split-second, the young man’s face was transformed and he threw away his beggar’s
bowl. In no time at all he ceased to be a beggar and became a king. And he told the prime minister,
”Go to the market and bring me a pair of good shoes and good clothes, and in the meantime make
arrangements for my bath.” And with the stride of a prince he walked to the chariot and stepped
aboard.
In and around the hotel, everybody, who a little while ago had given him alms or denied them, came
rushing, crowding around his chariot. And they found he was a different man altogether, he was not
even looking at them now. They asked him, ”How is it you forget us in a moment?” The prince said,
”I remembered you as long as I had forgotten who I was. Just now I have remembered who I am, so
forget I am a beggar. ” When the crowd reminded him of what he had been only a moment ago, he
said, ”Now I remember. Now I know I am a king. I have always been a king.”
Krishna’s way is just to remind man who he is. This is not something to practice, this is just a
remembering. And within a moment of this remembering everything is transformed; the beggar’s
bowl is thrown away. In one moment one ceases to be a beggar and becomes a king.
But this becoming a king is a sudden event. And remember, it is only suddenly that someone be
comes a king. Someone can be a beggar gradually, step by step, but not a king. It is wrong to think
there are steps leading to kingship. There are steps to being a beggar. If you climb those steps and
stand at the top, you will become at best a better beggar, a moneyed beggar, and nothing else. It
will make no significant difference. If you still want to be a king you will have to leap from the top you
have reached step by step. This moment comes to Buddha and Mahavira, but it comes in the last
hour. To Krishna it comes right in the beginning. Krishna will tell you, ”First take a jump, and then we
will take care of the next thing.” And after you have taken a jump this ”next thing” is not necessary at
all.
Throughout the GEETA, Krishna does nothing but remind Arjuna who he is. He does not give a
sermon, he only hits him on the head again and again so that he remembers who he is. He is not
there to teach, but to awaken him. He shakes Arjuna to wake up and know his self-nature, his innate
nature. He tells him, ”You are engrossed in very petty matters like people will die at your hands if
you fight. Wake up and see for yourself if anyone has ever been dead. You are eternally alive.” But
Arjuna is asleep, he is dreaming, and so every now and then he asks why he should kill his own
kinsmen. Krishna does not explain anything, he gives him shock treatment so he wakes up and
sees the reality for himself. It is an illusion to think that one is related with one and not related with
another, the truth is he is either related with all or with none. Similarly, either everybody dies or no
body dies. Ultimately it is the truth that counts.
Remembering is the essence of Krishna’s philosophy of life. Therefore it is not any kind of spiritual
discipline, it is a direct leap into awakening, into enlightenment. But we don’t have the courage to
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 53 Osho