Materialists and Devotees Accusing Kṛṣṇa
The act of accusing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, arises from various platforms of consciousness, ranging from gross ignorance to intimate spiritual exchange. Śrīla Prabhupāda elucidates that while materialists often blaspheme the Lord due to envy or a misunderstanding of His transcendental nature, pure devotees never hold Kṛṣṇa responsible for their tribulations. The material world is full of duality, and those entrenched in bodily concepts of life frequently misinterpret Kṛṣṇa's absolute activities, such as His rāsa-līlā, viewing them as immoral. However, the Lord remains eternally pure and unaffected by such mundane criticism.
Conversely, within the realm of līlā (pastimes), accusations sometimes play a pivotal role in unfolding the drama of the Lord's life. Whether it is the enmity of demons like Śiśupāla or the loving quarrels of the gopīs, these interactions serve to heighten the exchange of rasa or demonstrate the Lord's supreme forbearance. Ultimately, Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that Kṛṣṇa is the well-wishing friend of all living entities, and any perceived fault lies within the conditioned soul's vision, not in the perfect character of the Lord.
Misconceptions of Materialistic Scholars
Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that mundane scholars and theologians often study the scriptures but fail to grasp their spiritual import. Because they judge Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, particularly His dancing with the gopīs, from a mundane perspective, they wrongly accuse the Supreme Lord of immorality and lust, unaware that He is beyond the material creation.
- At the present moment they are reading Bhagavad-gita years after years, big, big scholars, big, big theologians and... But they cannot understand. After reading Bhagavad-gita, they are accusing Krsna as immoral.
- Sometimes Krsna's activities and attractive features are misinterpreted by gross materialists who accuse Him of being immoral because He danced with the gopis, but such an accusation results from not knowing that Krsna is beyond this material world.
- We cannot accuse Krsna of being lusty or sensuous. No. There are so many devotees of Krsna, and Krsna shows favor to all of them.
- What then is the basis of accusing Krsna of dancing with others’ wives? The bodies of the gopis, which were their husbands’, were lying in bed, but the spiritual parts and parcels of Krsna were dancing with Him.
Transcendental Position of the Lord
To refute these accusations, Śrīla Prabhupāda uses the analogy of the sun, which can evaporate urine without being contaminated. Kṛṣṇa has no material body or conception of life; He is the Supreme Spirit, and therefore, it is impossible for Him to be affected by material faults or to be rightfully accused of any wrongdoing.
- An example sometimes given to explain the position of the Supreme Lord is that of the sun, which evaporates urine from the earth but is never affected by contamination. The Supreme Lord can never be accused of doing anything wrong.
- Krsna has no such bodily conception, nor is His body different from His self. Therefore, since Krsna has no material conception of life, how can He be affected by material prayers and accusations.
- Krsna is the supreme person, the whole spirit, and He danced with the spiritual bodies of the gopis. There is therefore no reason to accuse Krsna in any way.
Attitude of a Pure Devotee
A hallmark of a pure devotee is the refusal to blame the Lord, even when undergoing severe difficulties. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that a devotee sees suffering as the result of their own past deeds and views Kṛṣṇa's intervention as a favor, whereas conditioned souls envy the Lord and falsely accuse Him of being unjust.
- A devotee never accuses Krsna that "Krsna, I am serving You so nicely, and You are giving me so much suffering?" No. This is not devotee's view. Devotee will take that - This so-called suffering is also Krsna's favor.
- The Lord is equally well-wishing to everyone, the unfortunate living being, due to bad association only, is unable to accept His instructions in toto, and for this the Lord is never to be blamed.
- The conditioned soul, being envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, may accuse Him, saying, "Krsna is bad, Krsna is a thief" and so on.
Accusations within Historical Pastimes
In the course of Vedic history, various personalities have accused Kṛṣṇa, but these incidents always lead to a higher purpose. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes how Satrājit falsely accused Kṛṣṇa of theft regarding the Syamantaka jewel, only to later regret his actions, and how Jarāsandha's accusations highlighted Kṛṣṇa's diverse roles in His earthly pastimes.
- Satyabhama said, "Krsna, in order to establish His pure character, fought with Jambavan and rescued the Syamantaka jewel, which He later delivered to my father. My father was very much ashamed and sorry for accusing Lord Krsna of his brother’s death."
- Krsna was both hidden, raised by Nanda Maharaja. Jarasandha accused Krsna of three faults: that He killed His own maternal uncle, that He was not even a ksatriya, that He was hidden in His childhood. Therefore Jarasandha felt ashamed to fight with Him.
- It was Maha-Visnu's plan that the brahmana would accuse the ksatriyas and Krsna, and Krsna would be obliged to come see Him to take back the brahmana's sons.
Blasphemy and Liberation
Even when Kṛṣṇa is accused out of malice by demons, the result is often liberation because they are forced to concentrate their minds on Him constantly. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that while respectable persons do not tolerate blasphemy against God, the Lord Himself is so kind that He accepts even the chanting of His name in an accusatory mood as a qualification for delivering the soul.
- He (Krsna) sometimes punishes such demons for one life by putting them in a lower species, but then, when they have stopped accusing Him, they are liberated in the next life because of chanting Krsna's name constantly.
- Krsna, being kind to all living entities, does not consider such accusations. Instead, He takes account of the conditioned soul's chanting of "Krsna, Krsna" so many times.
- Krsna did not reply to even a single accusation made by Sisupala, but all the members except few, present in the meeting were very much agitated because it is the duty of any respectable person not to tolerate blasphemy against God or His devotee.
Conclusion
In summary, Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that accusing Kṛṣṇa is an action that reveals more about the accuser than the Lord. For the materialist, it is a symptom of deep-seated envy and ignorance of the spiritual reality; for the demon, it is a paradoxical path to liberation through negative absorption; and for the devotee, it is either a test of faith or a playful exchange of transcendental love. Kṛṣṇa remains the Supreme Pure, unaffected by the duality of praise or blame, yet He is ever-willing to reciprocate with the living entities according to their surrender.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Accusing Krsna. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.