by SWAMI PREMANANDA

Dear Divine Souls,

This is the day on which Lord Krishna was born. Merely contemplating his greatness on this day, gives the mind and soul satisfaction. You might wonder whether God Himself can have a birthday. Yes, He can. These people are God's messengers. Whether God or God's messengers, both are one and the same. We should come to a state that we understand this fact. Now let us consider Lord Krishna's teachings.

All his teachings are like a river flowing towards the sea. They were given so that our soul, searching for the sea of Divinity, would find peace. The teachings given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna are the teachings of the Gita. In the Gita he gives an explanation for everything, like family relationships, the illusions in worldly life, ways to please the Divine and methods our mind should follow in order for our souls to gain peace. Arjuna, or Vijayan as he is also called, took up his bow in order to fight for the sake of dharma. When he reached the battlefield and told his Guru and charioteer Lord Krishna about the confusion in his mind, Lord Krishna smiled at Arjuna. His mind was in a depressed state because he thought he had to fight his relatives and teachers and was wondering how he could use the bow against them. Lord Krishna looked at Arjuna and explained that there are two types of lives in this world. One is the pursuit of worldly things and the second is each person's search for the wisdom that is inside him. He said, "Now I am not only being your charioteer, but I am your Guru, your teacher and a person who makes the truth of Wisdom grow in you. But you are deluded by the affections caused by blood relations. Your senses are being affected by worldly illusions. You are standing on the side of Truth in the war of dharma. If you get upset by seeing your relatives, you cannot become the representative of dharma." Saying this, Lord Krishna showed his form of All-Pervading One to Arjuna. When Arjuna saw this, he fell down, prayed and gained courage and was ready to fight the war. Then, again, he became deluded and again Lord Krishna encouraged him, "You have come to fight this war of dharma, taking me as your Guru. I will show you the way to reach spiritual wisdom. Spiritual wisdom depends firstly on your surrendering yourself fully to me, your Guru. If, after surrendering to me, your mind still considers blood relations to be great, then my teachings will be of no use to you. If you want to be victorious, you should give yourself to me totally. I am the one who is able to tell you what you need and what you don't need. I will show you the path, but you should give yourself to me."

In this way he stressed how Guru cannot show the way to wisdom to those whose mind is not steady and he explained the necessity of surrender in order to reach spiritual wisdom.

Jai Prema Shanti!