Why Choose Shri Krishna for Devotion?
Why does devotion turn particularly toward Shri Krishna if Shri Ram and Shri Krishna are one and equally Divine?
📍 Where You Are in the Inquiry
All descensions of God are indivisible, Divine, and complete. Therefore, choosing a form of God for meditation is not a matter of determining which Avatar possesses more Divinity than another.
The previous inquiry considered instead the practical needs of the devotee's mind. Because the mind seeks a beautiful and attractive form, meditation upon Shri Ram and Shri Krishna is described as the easiest.
But this narrows the question rather than completing it. If Shri Ram and Shri Krishna are both especially conducive to meditation—and Ram and Krishna are one—is there any particular reason for the devotee to choose Shri Krishna for devotion?
Shri Maharaj Ji develops the answer through two considerations: the ease of sadhana and the highest Bliss of Divine love.
Shri Krishna's Leelas Make Sadhana Easy
Initially, a devotee cannot continuously meditate upon God's form. To establish the mind in Divine subjects, the devotee must therefore take the help of God's leelas (लीला | līlā).
Here Shri Krishna's descension offers a particular practical advantage. His Avatar was the sweetest, and numerous leelas were manifested during His descension. These leelas are so sweet that the devotee's mind is naturally attracted toward them.
Thus, rather than struggling to hold the mind continuously upon God's form alone, the devotee can engage it in contemplating His Divine leelas.
In this way, meditation becomes easier.
Shri Krishna's Leelas Reveal All Five Bhavs
There is another reason Shri Krishna's leelas provide such abundant support for meditation. During His Avatar, leelas expressing all five kinds of loving emotions, or bhav (भाव | bhāva), were revealed.
They are:
- Shant Bhav — the feelings a subject has for a king.
- Dasya Bhav — the love a servant has for his master.
- Sakhya Bhav — the love a friend has for his friend.
- Vatsalya Bhav — the love a mother has for her child.
- Madhurya Bhav — the love the Gopis have for Shri Krishna.
The devotee is therefore not restricted to contemplating Shri Krishna through only one kind of loving relationship. According to personal liking, the devotee may contemplate any kind of leela.
The mind can be engaged through the Divine relationship toward which it is naturally drawn.
In this way, sadhana (साधना | sādhanā) becomes easy.
But Ease of Sadhana Is Not the Only Reason
If ease of meditation were the only consideration, the inquiry could end there.
But there is another point.
Ram and Krishna are one. Yet the sweetest leela ras (लीला रस | līlā rasa) that was revealed during Shri Krishna's descension remained unrevealed during Shri Ram's descension.
This distinction does not make Shri Ram less Divine. Their oneness remains intact. The distinction concerns the leela ras revealed during their descensions.
The significance of this is seen in the Saints who became God realized during Shri Ram's descension. They chose to come during Shri Krishna's descension as Gopis so that they could experience the sweetest Bliss of Divine love.
The inquiry has therefore moved beyond asking which form and leelas make meditation easier. It now introduces a second consideration: the highest experience of Divine love.
Two Considerations Lead to Shri Krishna
The progression can now be brought together.
Shri Krishna's sweet leelas naturally attract the mind. His descension revealed leelas of all five bhavs, allowing the devotee to contemplate according to personal liking. From the standpoint of spiritual practice, this makes sadhana easy.
But Shri Krishna's descension also revealed the sweetest leela ras. Saints who had already attained God realization during Shri Ram's descension chose to return as Gopis during Shri Krishna's descension in order to experience this sweetest Bliss of Divine love.
Thus, two considerations converge:
- ease of spiritual practice, and
- experiencing the highest Bliss of Divine love.
From these standpoints, devotion to Shri Krishna—Who is all-loving and all-beautiful, the stealer of the hearts of the Gopis, and the crown-jewel of all the Rasik Saints—is appropriate.
Where This Inquiry Leads
Choosing Shri Krishna for devotion does not require concluding that Shri Ram is less Divine. Ram and Krishna are one.
The reason emerges instead from the progression of the inquiry. Shri Krishna's sweet leelas naturally attract the mind and provide opportunities for contemplation through all five bhavs, making sadhana easy. Beyond ease of practice, the sweetest leela ras was revealed during His descension, offering the highest Bliss of Divine love.
Therefore, from the standpoint of both ease of practice and experiencing the highest Bliss of Divine love, devotion to Shri Krishna is appropriate.
But this conclusion brings the inquiry to an even deeper question.
Who exactly is the Supreme Object of this devotion? The next teaching reveals the relationship between Shri Radha and Shri Krishna.
Go Deeper
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Continue the Inquiry
Part 2 of 3 — The Supreme Object of Devotion — Shri Radha Krishna
The inquiry has established why devotion turns particularly toward Shri Krishna without creating a hierarchy of Divinity between Ram and Krishna. But the teaching now reveals a deeper truth about the Supreme Object of Devotion: Shri Radha and Shri Krishna are not two separate Divine realities.
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