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

CHAPTER 1. THE FUTURE BELONGS TO KRISHNA
There is perhaps no one like Krishna, no one who can accept and absorb in himself all the
contradictions of life, all the seemingly great contradictions of life. Day and night, summer and
winter, peace and war, love and violence, life and death – all walk hand in hand with him. That is
why everyone who loves him has chosen a particular aspect of Krishna’s life that appealed to him
and quietly dropped the rest.
Gandhi calls the GEETA his mother, and yet he cannot absorb it, because his creed of non-violence
conflicts with the grim inevitability of war as seen in the GEETA. So Gandhi finds ways to rationalize
the violence of the GEETA: he says the war of Mahabharat is only a metaphor, that it did not actually
happen. This war, Gandhi says over and over again, represents the inner war between good and
evil that goes on inside a man. The Kurushetra of the GEETA, according to Gandhi, is not a real
battlefield located somewhere on this earth, nor is the Mahabharat an actual war. It is not that
Krishna incites Arjuna to fight a real Mahabharat, Mahabharat only symbolizes the inner conflict and
war of man, and so it is just a parable.
Gandhi has his own difficulty. The way Gandhi’s mind is, Arjuna will be much more in accord with him
than Krishna. A great upsurge of non-violence has arisen in the mind of Arjuna, and he seems to be
strongly protesting against war. He is prepared to run away from the battlefield and his arguments
seem to be compelling and logical. He says it is no use fighting and killing one’s own family and
relatives. For him, wealth, power and fame, won through so much violence and bloodshed, have no
value what soever. He would rather be a beggar than a king, if kingship costs so much blood and
tears. He calls war an evil and violence a sin and wants to shun it at all costs. Naturally Arjuna has
a great appeal for Gandhi. How can he then understand Krishna?
Krishna very strongly urges Arjuna to drop his cowardice and fight like a true warrior. And his
arguments in support of war are beautiful, rare and unique. Never before in history have such
unique and superb arguments been advanced in favor of fighting, in support of war. Only a man of
supreme non-violence could give such support to war.
Krishna tells Arjuna, ”So long as you believe you can kill someone, you are not a man with a soul,
you are not a religious man. So long as you think that one dies, you don’t know that which is within
us, that which has never died and will never die. If you think you can kill someone you are under
a great illusion, you are betraying your ignorance. The concept of killing and dying is materialistic;
only a materialist can believe so. There is no dying, no death for one who really knows.” So Krishna
exhorts Arjuna over and over again in the GEETA, ”This is all play-acting; killing or dying is only a
drama.”
In this context it is necessary to understand why we call the life of Rama a characterization, a story,
a biography, and not a play, a leela. It is because Rama is very serious. But we describe the life of
Krishna as his leela, his play-acting, because Krishna is not serious at all. Rama is bounded, he is
limited. He is bound, limited by his ideals and principles. Scriptures call him the greatest idealist: he
is circumscribed by the rules of conduct and character. He will never step out of his limits; he will
sacrifice everything for his principles, for his character.
Krishna’s life, on the other hand, accepts no limitations. It is not bound by any rules of conduct, it
is unlimited and vast. Krishna is free, limitlessly free. There is no ground he cannot tread; no point
where his steps can fear and falter, no limits he cannot transcend. And this freedom, this vastness
of Krishna, stems from his experience of self-knowledge. It is the ultimate fruit of his enlightenment.
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 6 Osho