Appreciating Kṛṣṇa - From Fear to Love
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is the reservoir of all pleasure and the object of all love. However, He is not perceived in the same way by everyone. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that appreciation of Kṛṣṇa is relative to the observer's consciousness. While the pure devotees appreciate Him as the most beautiful object of love, the non-devotees may appreciate Him only as the cruel hand of death.
The Limitation of Blunt Senses
Śrīla Prabhupāda repeatedly emphasizes that Kṛṣṇa cannot be appreciated by material senses. The name, form, qualities, and pastimes of the Lord are transcendental (adhokṣaja) and therefore beyond the reach of empiric observation or mental speculation. Just as a tongue covered by jaundice cannot taste sugar candy, a soul covered by lust and greed cannot taste the sweetness of Kṛṣṇa.
- Actually they (impersonalists) do not believe in Krsna but consider all these names to be material vibrations. Not being able to appreciate the holy name of the Lord, they simply utter indirect names like Brahman, atma and caitanya.
- We cannot actually see one another. How, then, can we hope to see God? It is stated: atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih (CC Madhya 17.136). - Material senses cannot appreciate Krsna's holy name, form, qualities and pastimes.
- Stated in the sastras that it is not possible to appreciate or understand Krsna with our blunt material senses.
- These blunt senses, they cannot appreciate what is Krsna. Yogamaya-samavrtah. He's covered. To the nondevotees, He is covered. To the devotees - sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva (CC Madhya 17.136) - He reveals: Yes, I am here like this.
Varieties of Appreciation
According to the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa reciprocates with everyone according to their surrender. This means that appreciation of God is not monolithic. A jñānī might appreciate Kṛṣṇa as the impersonal Brahman, a yogī as the Supersoul, and a devotee as the Supreme Person. Even among the enemies of the Lord, there is a warped form of appreciation; the wrestlers in Kaṁsa's arena appreciated His strength with terror, and Śrutadeva notes that for non-devotees, Kṛṣṇa is appreciated as death.
- Actually the whole world is full of Krsna's singing, but it is appreciated in different ways by different kinds of living entities. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita: ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham (Bhagavad-gita 4.11).
- Srutadeva said, "For a nondevotee, You (Krsna) are appreciated only as ultimate death".
- When Krsna was present in the sacrificial arena of His enemy King Kamsa, the wrestlers present, although appreciating the softness of the body of Sri Krsna, were afraid and perturbed when they thought of engaging with Him in battle.
- When the warriors from the other side of the battlefield saw Lord Krsna at the front, they appreciated His beauty, and their dormant instinct of love of God was awakened. Sisupala saw the Lord also, but he saw Him as his enemy, and his love was not awakened.
The Vision of Love
The highest appreciation of Kṛṣṇa is found in Vṛndāvana, where the residents love Him spontaneously. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda points out fascinating nuances even here. Mother Yaśodā, overwhelmed by maternal affection, often fails to appreciate Kṛṣṇa’s opulences because she sees Him only as her helpless child. The gopīs, on the other hand, appreciate Kṛṣṇa’s beauty with such intensity that they condemn the creator for giving them eyelids that blink and interrupt their vision.
- Because of her pure maternal love, mother Yasoda thought that this wonderful child playing so many tricks must have had some disease. She did not appreciate the wonders shown by her child; rather, she wanted to close her eyes.
- The relationship between mother Yasoda and Krsna is one of pure maternal love. In that love, mother Yasoda did not very much appreciate the display of the Supreme Personality of Godhead's opulences.
- The beauty of Krsna's face was much more appreciated by the gopis than by His friends the cowherd boys or even by Yasoda Mata, who was also interested in decorating the face of Krsna.
- Only those who are on the transcendental platform of love of God, who out of love engage in devotional service, can appreciate the transcendental beauty of Krsna. Such beauty is the essence of all opulences and is only appreciated in Goloka Vrndavana.
The Greatest Artist
Śrīla Prabhupāda also teaches that we can appreciate Kṛṣṇa by observing His creation. He describes Kṛṣṇa as the "Greatest Artist." A thoughtful person sees the artistic hand of God in nature—a flower, a sunset, or the complex arrangement of the universe. While the mūḍhas (fools) explain these things away as chance, the devotee appreciates the intelligence and craftsmanship of the Lord in every atom.
- We are all artist, but when we appreciate the greatest artist, Krsna, then our life is successful. Otherwise, whatever we are doing we are being defeated unless we come to the point to appreciate the greatest artist who has created all this arrangement.
- We are appreciating immediately Krsna's craftsmanship, artistic sense, and we are glorifying. So that should be done by everyone. But the mudhas, they will not do that. They'll explain away. They'll never admit God's hand, intelligence, brain is there.
- For ordinary person who cannot appreciate Krsna, Krsna is giving instruction that "When you drink water, the taste which quench your thirst and you feel relief, that is Krsna." Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya.
- Considering all this, one can immediately appreciate the benefit of Lord Krsna's appearance on the earth and understand that His giving relief to the people of the world by His appearance was not at all extraordinary.
Conclusion
To appreciate Kṛṣṇa is the goal of human life. This appreciation begins with awe and reverence (śānta-rasa) and culminates in the intimacy of conjugal love (mādhurya-rasa). By following the directions of the scriptures and serving the pure devotee, our dormant ability to appreciate Kṛṣṇa is revived, and we can finally see Him face to face.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Appreciating Krsna. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.