Krishna Connection !

Being a nature lover and a hardcore Pluviophille, I love my outings during the rainy season. On one such rainy day, in 2015, I had gone forest trekking and mountain hiking to a place known as “Bhimashankar”. It is a Temple, approximately 1200 years old, dedicated to Lord Shiva high up in the Sahayadri mountain ranges in the state of Maharashtra, India.

It is a beautiful place!

I had taken the adrenaline pumping “Sheedi-Ghat ” route in the mountain and was on my way walking through the dense Jungle enjoying the natural beauty around me. At a height of approximately 1000 feet there was a very steep climb in one particular section of the mountain and just past that was a beautiful waterfall where you could sit behind the waterfall in a small cave like structure and see hundreds of feet below through the flowing waterfall.

I climbed that steep section with the waterfall flowing a few feet away on my right side. I reached the small cave like hollow behind the waterfall and took a seat at that spot to enjoy the serene sound of the flowing waterfall while looking at the endless green pastures in the valley below. There was greenery all around me mixed with a mild cover of fog.
It felt like Heaven!

Just then, from my right side, I heard someone say, “Hi Vishrut!!….. How are you??”

I was shocked!

The place was far-far away from human traffic and settlements and so who the hell would find me there and know me by my name!! While thinking that and with a madly beating heart, I found some courage to turn my head sideways and see who it was!

When I managed to catch a glimpse, I stood up and rubbed my eyes in disbelief as what I saw was unbelievable.  I saw a person standing there in a pair of dark blue jeans, a white full sleeved shirt and white sneakers. The shirt was not tugged in reaching just below his waist and the man was perfectly built. He had an average height but had a non-ignorable presence. He had short hair and deep penetrating yet compassionate eyes. He had a wheatish skin tone, was handsome looking, had the most serene face and the loveliest smile I had ever seen. All this was alrite, but the unbelievable part that made me rub my eyes was that the person had a visible golden light emanating from his body. I also could very clearly see rays of white light protruding from around his head. I just could not believe my eyes! On catching a glimpse of that person, my racing heartbeat started going back to normal on its own. I was scared yet feeling calm at the same time.
Just the presence of that man had an unbelievable effect on me!

But then fear, originating from my brain, started overpowering the calmness of my mind and heart. I tried to let my logical and rational self take over. I started repeating in my mind to myself, ‘Vishrut, You are Hallucinating! VISHRUT, You are Hallucinating!’
And as I chanted that a few times in my head without uttering a word, that person said, “No Buddy, You are not hallucinating. I am real !!” and on saying that he started giggling as if mocking me!

Holy Grace! I got the strongest goose bumps ever!
The blood in my veins almost froze! I thought WHHOOAA!!… Did that man just read my thoughts?? Even if I believe that I am not hallucinating and that the person is really there and that he also knows my name somehow, but how the hell did he know what I was thinking!

And while I was thinking all this, the person was still standing there looking at me with a serene smile. Somehow I mustered some courage to speak and said, “Hey…Who are you and how do you know my name?” I tried to act cool as if I was not very bothered by his unbelievable looks and all that was happening, as if I was used to such happenings!
I guess I was trying to be a smartass! 😛

The person simply smiled broader and said, “Buddy, I know a lot more about you then just your name…”

Even though he looked astonishing and gave an extremely friendly vibe, but after hearing that last statement of his, I got really alarmed. I started thinking of options about what to do next-
Option 1:-
Run Away…
But I realised that was not possible as I was on a steep rock mountain covered with a thick forest and the person was standing just 5 to 7 feet away from me.
OPTION 1= USELESS!

Option 2:-
Scream for help…
Now, to tell you the truth, that was the scared me thinking and that is why I could come up with such a pathetic solution because I knew that screaming would be useless as no one could be as crazy as me to be all alone on an isolated patch of a mountain in such a dense forest and, anyways, the sound of the waterfall would muffle my screams!
OPTION 2= USELESS!

Option 3:-
Face him….
Talk to the man and fight if need be! The man is also alone (I hoped so!) and would not be able to harm me that easily! So, simply grab a stone and be ready to pounce on him with all my might and strength.
OPTION 3=EXECUTE!

So I got up from the cave like hollow, picked up a stone that was laying on the ground there and asked the person the same question again…but this time with a little more confidence and a stern face, “Look man, first of all stop calling me buddy and secondly, tell me, What’s your name?, What are you doing here?, and how the hell do you know my name? Come on start speaking up!”  I said that with a mild dramatic rage.

The person, not bothered about the stone in my hand and still smiling as broadly as he could, said, “WHOA! WHOA! Slow down buddy…OH! Sorry for calling you ‘buddy’ but that’s how I have always thought about you and hence that word is a part of my vocabulary when I address you!” saying that he winked at me and continued smiling.

I behaved as if I was unmoved by whatever he said and remained expressionless and just kept staring at him. In reality, I think I was on the verge of a heart attack! 😛

He continued, “Look, I will answer all your questions. The ones that you asked me now and the ones that you have asked me in the past too!”

I stood there thinking ‘WHHHAAATTT??!!…..questions in the past??!!…What the hell is this man talking about!!??’… but I did not say anything aloud and let him continue.

He continued, “but before I start answering your questions, I suggest, you please throw that stone away because, trust me, just as the other two options that you thought of were USELESS, similar is the case with this third option too because YOU CANNOT FIGHT ME and EVEN IF YOU FIGHT, YOU CANNOT WIN!!” and he winked again with a sarcastic mocking smile on his face.

I was dumbstruck and in a state of shock because the person had just read my thoughts AGAIN!!! My grip on the stone loosened on its own and the stone slipped out of my hand. I could not feel my feet. I went cold. I just stood there blankly staring at him.

Seeing me and sensing my state of mind the man said, “Okay look, I will answer your first question. But you have to promise me that you will believe each and every word I say. I am not in the habit of proving myself. Either a person believes in me on his own or does not; I don’t put efforts to alter that! This is a part of my biggest gift to humanity which is THE GIFT OF CHOICE. And hence, believing in me is also a choice, I have left upto every person to make on his own.”

I heard what he said, somehow processed it in my mind, came back to my senses and thought ‘WHHHAAAATTTT???….this man truly seems to have gone bonkers!!’
But I decided not to react and hence, with a blank face, I simply nodded my head a little in affirmative.

He continued, “To answer your first question, I don’t have a name but yet I am addressed by hundreds of names. I don’t have a gender or an address but I am present everywhere and I have been around since time unknown. Hence, people have seen me and known me in various forms during all the different era’s of time”

I got the hint of what he meant and with my eyes growing bigger in surprise I thought ‘Is this man intending to say or claim that he is GOD!!!???’

By now, my mouth was wide open and my eyes were so big in disbelief that they could have popped out! I also thought that maybe this man was some psychopath and I hoped he did not have a knife or a gun! 😛

And Voila!, again he read my thoughts and said, “No my dear, please don’t worry as I am not some psychopath with a gun or a knife! Anyways, I don’t need such measly weapons if I needed to create some destruction. And, Yes… Some people call me by that name too… ‘GOD’ ”

I sat down right there on the ground. I went so cold that the next level would have been paralysis! 😛  My mind went completely blank. And a few moments later thoughts started pouring in again. I started thinking, ‘Is this really GOD? I have met many people who have developed telepathic skills so, although impressive, but just on the basis of that I cannot accept that he is God! Also, I can see that he looks like a divine being but then, I also know that make-up and light effects can create magical outcomes and so his physical appearance, although astonishing, also cannot be a reason for me to accept that he is GOD.’

And while I was thinking all this, the man again read my thoughts (I was getting tired of that now! 😛 ) and said, “Look, you can have your doubts. I know you shall have doubts because I know how rational and logical you are! After all, I am the one who designed you!” and he kept on smiling.

And he continued, “But look buddy, as I said, I don’t ever prove who I am or whatever I say to anyone. Either you are a believer in me or you are not. Period.” He paused for a second and continued, “The last time I made an exception and proved my reality to someone was 5000 years ago. I proved it to a very good friend of mine known as Arjun. It happened in the middle of a very important conversation which is known as ‘The Bhagwad Geeta’ in today’s era.”

“And Vishrut, you being dear to me as much as Arjun was,  I feel like making an exception again and trying to clear your doubt about who I Am!”

And on completing that statement, before I could say something, he waved his right hand upwards. And, the next moment, the sound of the falling waterfall stopped. I turned my head towards the waterfall and I COULD NOT BELIEVE what I saw! The water had started flowing back upwards! MY MOUTH REMAINED OPEN IN UTTER SHOCK!
Quickly, the next moment I turned my head towards the man and in a split second I saw him move right next to me. I was still sitting on the ground and before I could say or do anything, he bent a little and placed his right hand on my head.

And that moment…that exact moment….was the most magical moment of my life!
I felt a level of peace and serenity I cannot explain in words. I think I experienced BLISS in its purest form! My eyes were shut and I was in ABSOLUTE ECSTASY!

I knew then, right during those moments, that this was GOD! Yes, I MET GOD!

It must have been only half a minute before God moved his hands from my head but those few seconds felt like eternity. I opened my eyes but I was still in the hangover of the Bliss and the Ecstasy I had just experienced!
I opened my eyes and stood up.

I was smiling broader and was happier than I had ever been in my life. 🙂  I was super excited and jumpy but at the same time felt super calm and relaxed too. I did not know what to do but at the same time knew exactly what I had to do. I was confused but yet in a super clear state of mind! It is not every day that one gets to meet God and hence it is difficult to explain in words the effect of those moments on me. 🙂

Then I looked into God’s eyes, quickly folded my palms in a Namaste gesture and bent forward as a mark of respect. He was looking at me with his compassionate eyes and an “all-knowing” smile. Then I went down on my knees and was about to put my forehead on God’s feet when he said, “Oh no buddy…come-on… you don’t have to do that! As I said, you are a dear friend and friends meet and greet by hugging each other” and saying that God helped me stand up from my kneeling posture and we both hugged each other tight. It was the warmest hug I had ever experienced upto that point in my entire life. It felt as if I was a meeting a very dear old friend after many years! I felt a level of security and comfort that cannot be compared to anything else! 🙂

Tears started rolling down my eyes. I was smiling and crying.
It is true when people say that sometimes a person experiences such overwhelming happiness that it cannot be contained and hence it finds an outlet through tears. And hence the saying, “Tears of happiness” 🙂

Then God said, “Come Vishrut. Let us sit and talk dear.”

I wiped my tears, followed his word and we moved into the cave like hollow .

Then, as we settled on the rock, I said with a smile, “GOD, let the waterfall flow back normally. You proved your point! ” 🙂

And he smiled back and said, “Ok, I will do that but I think I will reduce the sound a little bit so that we can talk peacefully”. On saying that he waved his right hand index finger in downward direction and the water started flowing back normally with the sound of the crashing water reduced.

I said, rolling my eyes, “Ok God, now you are just showing off!” 😛 and I teasingly giggled a little bit and God started laughing. He ruffled my hair in a loving way.

And again I started crying. I just could not contain my happiness. And God said with a smile, “Ok, now stop crying, will you?!” before I could respond he continued, “Yaaa Yaaa…I know-I know, Tears of happiness and all. I created that mechanism! But now stop crying and let us talk, otherwise I would have to manipulate your tear glands” and he gave me a playful smile.

I replied, “Ya right!…so now you will threaten me with consequences if I do not do as you say. Being God and all, that is an exploitative advantage you are taking of your position! Don’t be a meanie!!” and we both burst out laughing together. 😀 😀

I completely wiped away my tears and asked with a broad smile, “God, so you are in which avatar/incarnation of yours right now?”

And he said, “Vishrut, I am omnipresent and, as I already said, I have always been around since time unknown. I am the energy which makes this world work. As a matter of fact, I am just the ultimate form of energy! There is no beginning or end to me and in the real essence, I don’t come and go. Yes, I do take physical forms in accordance to each era and interact with the beings in that era whenever there is a need. But in totality and in real essence I am always around. I am inside you and everything that you can perceive and beyond that too. The events and experiences that people call as ‘CO-INCIDENCE or MIRACLES’ are my ways to let you know that I am around!” 🙂

And I excitedly intervened, “YES…YES GOD, I always believed the same about co-incidences, I always did! I always give you the credit for all the so called co-incidences and miracles in my life and I am sure you are aware of that!” and he nodded his head in acknowledgement and said “Yes, I know that. It feels good when people understand this simple fact! :)”

But anyways, to answer your question about which avatar/incarnation I am in presently, please know that this is just a form that you would be comfortable with. 🙂 ” and he added, “and let me tell you this that the time has not yet come for me to come back in this world in my next avatar/incarnation which is expected to arrive soon in this era. And so what you are seeing is not the next Vishnu incarnation or the return of  Jesus or Mohammad for this era but this is just a physical form that you would be able to relate to!”

He had the most soothing voice and the most courteous way of speaking I had ever heard! 🙂

I absolutely LOVED all that he said.

“So what name should I address you with?” I asked.

And he replied with his ever continuing smile, “I think for you let us settle with KRISHNA. I am aware you love that avatar/form/incarnation of mine. I also know that you like all my forms/incarnations be it Jesus, Allah, Mahavir, Guru Gobind Singh, Buddha, Balaji, Mohammad, Sai, Dutt Guru, Swami Samarth, etc etc…But I know that Krishna and Shiva hold a special place in your heart. And so, today I shall talk to you as Krishna and you are more than welcome to address me as Krishna.” 🙂

And he continued, “Also, since a very long time I have noticed that, during your meditation, you have been trying to connect to ‘Krishna’ by reaching a state of mind that people now-a-days have termed as ‘Krishna Consciousness’ ”

I smiled and replied, “Yes you are right…it has been a long time that I have been trying to connect to you!” and after a short pause I asked, “So would you be comfortable with me calling you Krishna or should I call you Krishnaji, or Lord Krishna or Shri Krishna or something of that sort?” 🙂

And he said “I think your real emotions would seep out in front of Krishna and so plain Krishna should be good because that is how you have been speaking to me since you got introduced to me, isn’t it??!! There was never any ‘Krishnaji’ or ‘Shri Krishna’ on your mind whenever you have communicated with me in the past and so let us stick to simple Krishna! 🙂  And also….Vishrut, very importantly, I want you to lose all this formality and just talk to me the way you always have, which is as a friend!” 🙂

I kept on smiling like a mad man. KRISHNA SITTING RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! WOW!
I wanted to dance and sing like there was no tomorrow.
OH BOY! I did not know how to express the exploding ecstasy in me. The joy in my heart knew no bounds! I think I needed someone to keep pinching me every two seconds to make me believe that all this was really happening! 🙂 🙂 🙂

He smiled in such a way that it let me know that he knew what I was thinking and he said in his soothing voice, “Look buddy, I love you the way you have become. I have seen you grow mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I love the fact that you don’t have any blind or biased thoughts about, almost, anything. And I also know that you have worked hard and gone through lots and lots of trials and tribulations while reaching the state of mind that you are in presently! And, of course, I know that you have been through experiences that would surprise many people you meet. I helped you come across those unbelievable experiences and also the troubles to help you reach where you are today! And you make me proud! Of course, still there are many negatives in you but I am happy to see you working on them. As having negatives is not a problem, but not accepting them and doing nothing about them is a problem in my rule book. So it is good to see your efforts to evolve out of your negative traits and you have my blessings and good wishes for the same.

I also see that you still have many unanswered questions which need to clarified for helping you move ahead towards your life purpose.
I have seen that you have tried various books, people and many other ways to get your answers. Some were helpful and some were not. Even I tried, indirectly, to give you some clarity. You grasped some of my help and some you could not. And hence, looking at your unwithering efforts to connect to me to get your answers and clarity, I finally decided to meet you personally.  🙂

I gave a broad smile, leaned forward and hugged him. I just could not resist!
I was the happiest man on earth! 😀 😀

He laughed and hugged me back. After a good 20-25 seconds I let him loose from my tight hug and he caressed my cheek saying, “Love you too my friend, Love you too!”

As I settled back to my place in front him, he said in very sweet way, “So Vishrut, let us start talking buddy. Ask me that, which has been on your mind since a very long time.”

With a playful smile I said, “Do you mean about that girl who has been on my mind??!!!” and I winked at him and burst out laughing. Krishna also joined me in my laughter and said, “You naughty rascal! Of course NOT! I am not talking about that! But now that you have brought that up, I will just tell you one thing that don’t worry about that my friend, and trust me, very soon that girl is going to realise a few things and come running to you and love you like there is no tomorrow and continue that forever. After all, you guys are soul mates and have been together since many of your previous births in various forms! You have been waiting for her and her time to do the needful and come to you is coming soon” and with a smile on his face he winked back at me. On hearing all that, I became so damn happy that it became completely evident by the heavy blush and the shy smile on my face.

Krishna smiled naughtily and said, “Ok Mr. Lover boy, enough of the blush!” and I blushed even more! He added, “My dear Sir, with your kind permission, can we move on from the topic of your love life to something else??!! 😀 And would you please do the honour of discussing with me that which has been on your mind since a long time??”

I made a dramatic frown and said, “Okaayyy Boss, seeing your insistence, I think I can allow us moving on to other less interesting topics than my love life” and I rolled my eyes expressing my disappointment and started smiling. 😀
Krishna laughed, folded his hands in the Namaste gesture and said, “Thank you my dear Lord Vishrut.”

I again giggled a bit when he addressed me as Lord Vishrut and asked, “Ok Krishna, so are you talking about the thoughts in my head that connects Bhagwad Geeta and King Ravana i.e the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata?”

“BULLSEYE! Yup, that is the one. So please carry on and explain it to me in detail”

“But Krishna, I know that you, of course, know everything about everything in this world which includes all that is there in my mind, So why do want me to say all that aloud??”

Krishna smiled and replied, “Vishrut, I wish to have a conversation with you and for that, we both need to talk, Right??!! So please continue and lets have this conversation.”

I smiled and said, “Ok Krishna, I understand what you mean. 🙂  I shall speak out everything and in detail. So here goes.

I think that this story started many years ago when I was still a kid. As you might be aware that I have always been fascinated by you and Prince Arjun since the time I saw the ‘Mahabharata’ series on television many years ago. And post that, my fascination about you and Arjun kept on growing stronger. I am sure that you are aware of my crazy childhood act of introducing myself to people as Arjun Parekh for a long time!  That was the level of fascination I had reached for you and Arjun!” On recalling that childhood memory, I started laughing at my own madness and Krishna said, “Yes I know that! I know how crazy you can be!” and he made fun of me by making a serious face and rolling his eyes in a sarcastic way and then joined me in my laughter. 😀

Then, as our laughter died down, I continued, “So anyways, leaving aside my craziness for now, I will continue with what I was saying.

So as I grew older, I started to look out for more info about you. In the process I also gathered a lot of knowledge about your other Avatar’s, about other religions/ways of life and other forms of God. During that time, through various sources, I also came to know a lot about your Shri Ram Avatar and your fight against King Ravana. I felt nice knowing about your Ram Avatar but I also felt a sense of respect for King Ravana. I somehow did not feel about him the way majority of people feel presently.”

And I paused for a few moments and continued, “Anyways, so I continued to find more about you. And the more I found about you, Krishna, the more I felt connected to you. And I kept on craving for more. So one day I decided to start reading The Bhagwad Geeta thinking that it will give me an ‘absolute’ understanding of you.
Of course, there is no doubt about the fact that you could have used a simpler language to express yourself to Arjun and spoken in an easier way! But then, I understand that being the diplomatic and dramatic person that you are, you had to say all that to Prince Arjun the way you did!” and I started laughing. 😛 😀

And Krishna also started laughing while giving me a soft friendly punch for teasing him that way. I dramatically cried out in pain and Krishna said, “And look, the King of Drama is calling me Dramatic!”

As our laughter died down, I continued, “Anyways, so then I embarked on the journey of trying to read, think about and understand your conversation with Prince Arjun. Some concepts I understood clearly, some faintly and many concepts were a total bouncer!” and I again started laughing after saying the word bouncer!

Krishna again punched me playfully and said, “Stop teasing me you Rascal! otherwise you know what I am capable of!” and I replied with a dramatic, “ooooo…. I am scarrreedd!!” and mocked him. And, again, we both burst out laughing.

Then Krishna said, as if instructing a small kid, “Ok Mr. Vishrut, lets become a little serious now and focus on the topic at hand. I know how talkative and playful you are! And I also know the level of sarcastic bully you can be…but for now continue with what you were saying. Later on we both can pull each other’s legs and keep laughing as much as we want!”

I gave a sheepish grin, nodded my head in agreement and said, “OK”.

I paused for a few seconds, gathered my thoughts and started speaking with a serious face, “Umm…so the thing is Krishna, I could see some connections between the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata while trying to understand your words in Bhagwad Geeta. What I mean to say is that Ravana was a super learned man with some amazing accomplishments. If someone looks at his life and accomplishments in an unbiased way then one would notice that he was already doing a lot of things in accordance to all that you told centuries later to Prince Arjun as Krishna. Of course, Ravana might be following a few ways of life which might not be labelled as right but I am too little a person to tag anyone right or wrong! I believe he had his own reasons for the things he did and many of them are quite justified if you look at the other side of the coin with unbiased thoughts. Some theories even suggest that “Mother Seeta” was his daughter. But anyways, I don’t wish to dig into which theory is true and which is not. I believe that just as King Ravana was justified in his own ways, even you, as Lord Ram had your reasons and justifiable explanations to fight and end his dynasty.  And anyways, it doesn’t matter to me who was right or wrong in their actions. After a lot of thinking and meditating over all this, I realised and understood one thing that the cause of everything was something other than what the Kaurava brothers did or what King Ravana did! And so, in my quest to understand the basis of everything, which in return would have helped me gain an absolute understanding of you, I kept on devouring more and more information about King Ravana, the Kaurava brothers, the Pandava brothers and the Bhagwad Geeta. And as I did that, the turmoil in my head kept on growing stronger because I couldn’t help noticing a few discrepancies. And I have to say that, with all due respect to you and everyone, I got this feeling that there is a mild hypocrisy with regards to the stand you took as Lord Ram against King Ravana & what you told Prince Arjuna as Krishna while helping the Pandava brothers” and I lowered my eyes in embarrassment when I finished that statement because I realised that I was accusing God, my Krishna, of Hypocrisy.

Krishna kept listening intently with a fixed smile on his face and noticed my embarrassment and said, “Please don’t feel embarrassed buddy. I am not offended. As a matter of fact I love this quality of yours of seeing things the way they actually are and the guts to say that straight. As a matter of fact, Honesty and straight forwardness is highly appreciated in my book of accounts, the book which is universally known as “The LAW of KARMA” or “THE BOOK of DEEDS”. And also, Vishrut, I absolutely admire you for not believing History, Mythology, the concept of Religion and the concept of God just the way people have presented it to you because I am aware that it is highly altered and tampered over the years! So go on buddy continue with what you were saying!”

I gave a respectful affirmative nod with my head, smiled and continued, “So, then I thought that I might be getting this feeling of hypocrisy being there because maybe I had not yet understood your entire conversation with Arjun very clearly or as you meant it Because if I had understood it correctly then King Ravana could not be labelled as the bad guy. And if King Ravana was a bad guy then the Pandava brothers could not be labelled as the good guys.

And hence, I started meeting people who claimed to have understood absolutely everything about your conversation with Arjun. And after meeting and discussing the same with lots and lots of people and going through a lot many books and texts, I understood one bottom line, that most of these people are explaining ‘their’ version of the Bhagwad Geeta. As a matter of fact, some are saying completely BOGUS things in your name and in the name of The Bhagwad Geeta. And so, I still am in the pursuit to understand your conversation with Arjun exactly as you meant it so that I can understand and justify your stand and actions as Lord Ram too. Most importantly, so that I can understand the basis of everything. And then I came across the concept of Krishna Consciousness and hence have been trying that….because I believed that if I can connect to that, i.e to you directly, then everything will become clearer to me and this thought of mine would vanish…the thought about there being a contradiction between the individual stands of Lord Ram and Krishna which I believed couldn’t be possible! I thought that, definitely, there is a lack in my understanding and hence I should work towards improving that! And I guess that my efforts to connect to you seems to have worked since here you are sitting right in front of me!” 🙂 🙂

Krishna said, “Yes, it has worked. And here I am enjoying your company, love and smartassness!” and we both laughed again.

And he continued, “Ok Vishrut, so first of all let me tell you that my conversation with Arjun was about principles and insights with regards to various aspects of life which, if inculcated in everyday life, would bring happiness into, and remove misery from, the Human race. I tried explaining Arjun the ABSOLUTE TRUTH and how a person is supposed to reach that truth and live his or her life in a righteous way and on the basis of that truth. Those are universal principles applicable to every individual in any and every era BECAUSE THE CAUSES OF MISERY AND NON-RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE HUMAN RACE IN EVERY ERA ARE THE SAME! And those CAUSES are some of the negative traits of human nature  known as
Ego
Attachment (Moha)
Pride
Anger
Greed
Fear
Lust
Hatred
Envy
Selfishness.
And in my avatar as Lord Ram too, my fight against Ravana was a fight against those 10 negative parts of the human nature so that a righteous way of life would be upheld and misery would be eradicated.”

I intervened, “Ok, so I am guessing that you are referring to the 10 negative qualities of Ravana depicted by his 10 heads…But Krishna….ummm….isn’t it true that another symbolization of his 10 heads is that he is the possessor of great knowledge being the 4 Vedas and the 6 Upanishads?”

“Also Krishna, so based on what you just said and the tampered knowledge that we have today with regards to Mahabharata and your conversation with Arjun, what I am understanding is that the entire war of Mahabharata was also instigated by, and based on those, 10 qualities….am I understanding correctly?”

Krishna nodded his head in agreement.

“But then Krishna, there are so many stories within the stories of Mahabharata and Ramayana. Some stories justify you and Prince Arjun and his brothers and some versions justify Duryodhan and his brothers. Some versions justify Lord Ram’s stand and some versions glorify King Ravana in magnificent ways. From where I see things, Prince Yudhishtir, Prince Arjun, Prince Bheema, Prince Nakul and Prince Sehadev also had good noticeable levels of many of those ten qualities in themselves just as Prince Duryodhan and his brothers had in them. And you, as Krishna, supported the Pandava brothers and faught against the Kaurava brothers. And, as Lord Rama, you defied King Ravana because of his acts due to those same 10 qualities in him but failed to take into account the fact that a major part of his life was lived in accordance to the principles of the Bhagwad Geeta and that too thousands of years before the event of Mahabharata or  Bhagavad Geeta occured!
And keeping all this in view I feel that there is a contradiction to what you did as Lord Ram and Krishna individually.”

Krishna kept looking at me with a serene expression and a fixed smile.

I paused for a few seconds, looked out into the valley below through the waterfall and then continued, “But anyways Krishna, You have already helped me reach the next level of understanding after telling me about those 10 qualities, which as you said was the basis of everything…be it Ramayana or Mahabharata. And I am grateful to you for sharing that!
I totally understand that History turns into mythology and it gets distorted slowly and steadily and one can only hope to know the facts closest to reality. But anyways, as I also said earlier, it is not important for me to know who was right or wrong or what qualities in King Ravana and Kaurava brothers were dominant and which were not! After talking to you today and reaching the next level of understanding,
NOW, I WISH TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO PERCEIVE THOSE 10 NEGATIVE QUALITIES…
Of course, I don’t wish to know about those qualities in context to the Ramayana or Mahabharata!

“Why not in that context?”

“because I do not think that knowing about those qualities in context to Ramayana or Mahabharata would be helpful in TODAY’s ERA.

And hence, please explain to me the significance of those 10 negative qualities of a Human Being and what a person is supposed to understand about them in day to day life in this era, the present era.
Please tell me in the context of TODAY!”

Krishna lovingly put his right hand on my left cheek and said, “Vishrut, I am really proud of you. Based on the biased and tampered knowledge that people today are coming across, the seemingly contradictory connection that you have stated between my stands as Lord Ram and Krishna is very evident. You have analysed everything in a non-biased way and hence our conversation reached a point where we hit the crux of everything, the crux being the 10 qualities that a human being should shed, or atleast control, in his or her life. I am really impressed my dear!”

I started patting my own back jokingly and Krishna said in a loud voice, “Hey HELLO!… Please don’t forget, I created you, so the credit is completely mine!” and we both laughed out together. 😀 😀

And then he became serious, took in a deep breath and continued in his soothing voice, “Vishrut, you are correct to point out that the Pandava brothers also exhibited some of those 10 qualities. And that King Ravana was already a person who, in his life, was already following many of the things that I told Arjun, hundreds of years later. And I would love to tell you why I supported the Pandavas as Krishna and fought against Ravana during my Ram Avatar. But I am happy to know that you are not interested in knowing WHO was right and who was wrong and HOW were they right and wrong. I find many people now-a-days being interested in all those stories, trying to live their lives on the basis of all the tampered knowledge of the past that they receive. I feel bad that these same people are not interested to delve deeper and understand the crux of everything. And although, as I told Arjun in our conversation that “Believe in me and what I say because that is the absolute truth” and I also told you earlier that “I don’t justify myself and you have to believe what I say”, but at the same time I don’t even like blind and mindless followers. What I meant to tell Arjun and you is that if you understand me, you would automatically believe in me and my words! And I am feeling really happy that you wanted to UNDERSTAND ME and so you gathered information about various things which led to the turmoil in your head because of which we hit the crux, i.e the basis of both those events of the past which you call Ramayana and Mahabharata and ALSO the basis for misery in the human race today.”

I gave out a shy smile and said, “Thanks for your appreciation”. And he replied, “Well, My friend, you deserved it! So anyways Vishrut, on your insistence I wouldn’t delve into telling you about the reasons of my stand as Krishna or Ram because first of all, you are not interested in that and secondly because that would anyhow lead to the point that we have already hit, the point being about the 10 qualities that should be defeated by all humans in themselves. And so, I am going to share with you my thoughts on those 10 negative qualities of the Human Nature.”

And like a small excited child I said, “YES Krishna…YES…Tell me…Tell me…” Krishna smiled at my eagerness and again ruffled my hair in a loving way and said, “Do you know that you are a darling!” and I just kept on smiling 🙂

**********************

Then Krishna took a deep breath with a serious face looking out in the horizon through the waterfall for a few seconds and then continued in his soothing voice, “Ok fine. Lets start. Vishrut, First of all let me tell you that all these 10 qualities are interlinked. And once you start eradicating one, all the others will start diminishing and eventually be destroyed completely one after the other. For example, Pride feeds Ego and Ego feeds Pride and Hatred. Lust and Envy feed each other. Greed facilitates Selfishness, Hatred and Anger. Envy also leads a person towards selfishness and anger. Attachment leads to selfishness. If you would think a little deeper, you would realise that all of them are intertwined. And basically, all these 10 qualities are emotions which overpower a human beings sensibilities and cause misery for the self and others around. When a person comes under the spell of these qualities, he or she forgets the distinction between the good and the bad for the self and others. The actions that a person takes due to the motivation of these 10 qualities, sooner or later, becomes disastrous for the person himself and everyone around him.

I intervened, “But Krishna, aren’t these qualities important for the progress of mankind?”

Krishna replied, “Vishrut, I understand what you mean. But if you would think deeper then you would realise that it is not these 10 negative qualities but the counter part of each of these which are actually the main reasons for progress of any human being and mankind as a whole. These 10 qualities are negative motivations for achievement and progress which cause larger losses in the long run. And for actual progress, the empty space that would be created after the destruction of these 10 qualities should be replaced by another 10 virtues which becomes the basis of positive motivation for progress and achievement. Ego should be replaced with simple Self-respect, Pride with Humility, Anger with Calmness & Peace, Greed with Satisfaction, Hatred with Love, Envy with Appreciation, Selfishness with Selflessness, Attachment with Sharing, Fear with Courage and Lust with Respect.”

I argued, “But Krishna, how am I supposed to passionately achieve anything if I am not attached to the outcome that I am trying to achieve? How am I supposed to share my achievements or possessions with the undeserving? How am I supposed to not feel proud of my achievements, the achievements that I achieved after overcoming enormous trials and tribulations? Isn’t it fear that helps people avoid harmful risks? How am I supposed to control my Ego if someone is hell bent on provoking it? How am I supposed to remain selfless in and around a society full of people that are completely selfish? How am I supposed to deal with the negativity thrown towards me with calmness? How am I supposed to not feel envy of people whose achievements are without any hardwork or efforts? How am I supposed to suppress my anger if I see someone I love being troubled by someone else? How am I supposed to  be calm with the people who cause trouble to me or my loved ones? How would I feel like wanting to achieve more if I lost the element of Greed? Krishna, I can go on and on with generalised as well as specific examples from day to day life of how those 10 qualities are an essential requirement to survive in today’s world. Krishna, with all due respect to you but to be honest, when someone advocates such a way of life as you are saying, it is ridiculed by most people in today’s world saying that PLEASE! BE PRACTICAL…DON’T ASK ME TO BEHAVE LIKE GOD!!”

Krishna laughed at my last statement and said, “Yes, I know that! This era is known as the “Kalyug” and I know ‘the what’ and ‘the why’ with regards to most people’s thinking and actions and hence I can understand you saying that people dislike such talks and do not believe in implementing them. But Vishrut, please understand the context of what I am trying to say. Let me try to explain in another way, maybe then you would understand the meaning behind all that I am saying. Let us say that you wish to buy a car or go on a vacation to a particular place or learn some artform or achieve something else. Now, the question you need to ask yourself is that WHY do you want any of those? Is it because your neighbour or a friend or a colleague is having that or doing that? Is it because it is the going trend? Is it due to some externally projected and externally dependent satisfaction or motivation? Or is it because you yourself want to do it or want to achieve it?

And so, to find an honest answer, the questions you should be asking yourself are:-

Would I have done that or wanted that even if not a single person in this world came to know about I having done that or bought that or achieved that?

And

Are my ways to achieve something, or any of my deeds, going to cause harm or loss or sadness of any kind to any other human being?

You have to go deeper and find the real reason and motivation. And these questions might help you find an answer to that. Do not fool yourself. And so, once you honestly answer these questions, you would understand that majority of things that people do now-a-days is due to external stimuli and externally projected motivation and satisfaction which is the birthplace of those 10 negative traits.

So the idea is that do not let any external stimuli become the motivation. The stimuli to achieve or do something should be internal, from inside your ownself! Do you want that car because that is a status symbol? Or do you want to go on that vacation because you wish to experience pride and boast about it to others? If yes, then don’t buy it and don’t do it!

If the answer to the first question is a YES and to the second one is a NO, then go ahead and do those actions or deeds. This is applicable from the smallest right upto the biggest decisions.

If a person is under the spell of those 10 negative traits, then his or her motivation is externally generated. And so in the blind quest, a person wouldn’t mind taking steps that could be harmful for the self or others around him. And the actual truth is that the will to achieve something is the strongest when it is internally motivated and without any external stimuli. When a person is not motivated by those 10 negative qualities, his acts or deeds would never ever be harmful to anyone and his achievements would be permanent and full of amazing satisfaction.

It is not necessary that a calm person who does not become angry cannot protect or achieve things. As a matter of fact, they achieve far better. It is not a necessity for Pride to be present to enjoy an achievement. It is not true that a satisfied person stops achieving further. It is about being non attached to the outcome but being passionate about the journey which leads a person to achieving what he or she set out to achieve. The satisfaction is about the journey itself and not the outcome. Such people do not stop half way and continue to remain stable, happy and calm during the ups and downs of the journey. And such people would not think of harming or belittling others while they are achieving what they wish to! The point is that a Humble, calm, sharing minded, satisfied, selfless, appreciative and a loving person achieves much more in life than the ones who are controlled by the 10 negative qualities. And permanent happiness is a bonus by-product!”

I smiled as I began to understand the context of what Krishna was saying.
It was starting to make sense.

He continued, “If a friend or an office colleague mistreats you and if you are egoistic and controlled by the 10 negative emotions you would REACT. You would become angry. You would want to reciprocate with a tit for tat. Your mind would be troubled. Your mind would be occupied by that person and that would affect your happiness and productivity. And please know that the man that is angry fails to distinguish between what should be said and what should not be said, what should be done and what should not be done.

But if you are not controlled by any of those 10 negative traits and if you are a simply self-respecting person, you would just learn the lesson and try to stay away from that friend or colleague and move on without any bitterness or sadness. You would just RESPOND and not react. In future if you have to, compulsorily, interact with that person then you would not have a problem with that and the interaction would be just as much as required but yet respectfully from your side. You would just want to stay away from that person, not because you are timid but because your priority would be your own peace of mind. And also because you would know that revenge begets revenge and it is a never ending story and also because you would know that Ego is always starving! And hence, you would not do acts or deeds just to satisfy your ego or any of the other 10 negative traits. Your happiness or productivity would not be deterred. Your productivity at work would be much better because healthy, happy and calm minds are more productive than the others. You would have many other productive and positive things in your life to focus on rather than being tied down by someone’s bad behaviour towards you.

When a person achieves something substantial in his or her life, if that person was motivated by Pride, Attachment to the outcome or by Greed, that person would boast about that achievement. The person would want the world to know. He would expect praise and appreciation. The person would feel great about himself or herself due to being praised by others. Eventually, the way to achieve an outcome would not matter and causing trouble to others in achieving it also would not matter, as long as the outcome is achieved by hook or by crook. And all this is just to boost ego and pride. Maybe to satisfy a Greed.

Such people do not remain happy or feel peaceful in the long run because in case they do not achieve the appreciation or praise then there is no satisfaction. Pride, ego and negative attachment would become this person’s poison which would make him or her see tremendous downfall sooner or later in life. And the lives of people that would be negatively affected by such a person’s selfish and unmindful deeds would create a big circle of sadness and misery.

But a person who is humble would understand that any achievement is never a one man show ever. The person would understand that whether there be success or failure, there shouldn’t be despair or pride, because success or failure in any act, depends upon the union of many circumstances. This person would always remain in the state of humility and would always share the credit and hence would always be loved and cherished by everyone around. For such a person, the motivation to achieve something is not the praise or boasting to anyone. The motivation is a beautiful internal satisfaction. Such a person simply shares his story and achievements out of happiness and does not boast about it out of pride. Such people motivate others to become the best they can and want to be. Such people genuinely hope and wish the best for everyone and find actual pleasure in other people’s achievements and happiness. They do not become angry or feel dejected due to their own failures and always work on improving themselves. People who are humble do not worry about appreciation and in case appreciation comes their way, they are thankful but are not affected by it. And hence they are not affected by criticism too. Their state of mind remains the same. And, none of the actions of such people towards achieving something would be at the cost of happiness of someone else. And please know Vishrut that there is nothing in this world that humility cannot accomplish.

When a person is motivated by envy and greed, it burns away the person from the inside. The person would be in a constant state of comparison. And please know one thing Vishrut, that human greed has no end. A better car, a better wife, a better house, a better vacation, a better job, etc etc etc! There is nothing wrong in having better things and achievements but it should not be at the cost of not valuing what you have and surely not because of Greed or Envy. Envious and Greedy people are the most dissatisfied people in this world and hence never get to enjoy what they already have! They always long for what they don’t have!  Because, whatsoever that person achieves, from his perspective, there might be someone else having something better than him. And many a times these people do evil deeds too out of their Envy and Greed. Greed and lust causes a person to lose his moral compass.”

Krishna paused for a second and said, “I hope you are following what I am saying and I hope it is making sense to you!” I just nodded my head in agreement with a smile on my face. I was simply enjoying all that Krishna was saying and I guess it became evident to Krishna through my smile and he smiled back.

Then he continued, “See Vishrut I can go on and on and on and so to cut to the chase let me tell you this-

Think of any smallest misery or a big war…. or any devastation be it the smallest or the biggest that has ever happened that you know of, and I can bet that the core-bottomline reason for it would be amongst the 10 negative traits. Under its domination, people make decisions and perform acts that results in problems and sadness for themselves and many others. The reason for a fight between 2 people in an office scenario or a fight between two leaders of big nations, would definitely boil down to some of these 10 negative qualities in both the instances.

When people in power are dominated by any of the 10 negative qualities, they do deeds that cause problems and misery to the people whose lives they influence directly or indirectly. When I say people in power, it could be anyone ranging from the head of a family, to a manager in an office, to a boss of a company, to government servants of various levels, to politicians….right upto heads of various nations. Any and every person holds power of varying degrees to influence some or many other people’s lives directly or indirectly. And hence, I say that any and every person needs to get rid of those 10 qualities to be able to eradicate misery from their own lives and not cause misery to others too.

Lying, cheating, stealing, murder, corruption and all kinds of tangible and intangible violence caused by one human onto another human or onto any living being, has its roots in those 10 negative qualities.

Humans today are plagued with various diseases. Where do you think does this misery in the human race have its roots? It is the same 10 negative traits my friend! You might be wondering how? Let me tell you. A person’s physical and mental health is dependent on 2 basic factors namely the air they breathe and the food & water they feed their body. And today, due to the acts of people which are motivated by these 10 negative qualities, most of the food that you eat and the air that you breathe, is contaminated with elements and ingredients that are injurious to one’s health. Due to the collective selfish acts of millions of people, one of my best creation namely, the human body has deteriorated to such levels that diseases are being passed on genetically now-a-days. Diseases have become a part of the DNA itself!

So Vishrut, the bottom line is that think of any misery that any person on earth might be suffering from, and then if you think honestly and think hard, you would find that the root cause of that misery would be the result of one of those 10 qualities,

It would be the effect of deeds and acts performed by that person himself due to any of those 10 qualities in himself

OR

It would be due to the acts or deeds of another person who was dominated by those 10 qualities and had an influence on the life of the man in misery.

Then Krishna stopped talking. The expression on my face made it evident that I was in a Trance. Each and every word that Krishna said was so damn RIGHT! I thought of various problems in my life or the lives of other people I know, and I could see that the root level reasons for all those problems were amongst those 10 negative qualities, either in the self or in the people who influenced our lives.

After a little silence, Krishna continued, “So Vishrut, please do remember all this that I have said and remember the things I am about to say. Remember,

One should practice what one considers to be one’s duty, guided by reasons, instead of blindly following practices of the world. And none of that practice should be such that is harmful to anyone in anyway.

He who never hates any being, who is friendly and compassionate and who looks upon success and failure, pain and pleasure, as same, would be the happiest and most successful person in this world.

The one who regards the well wishers, friends, foes, the indifferent, neutrals, the hateful and even the sinful as equals and can remain empathetic towards them, such a man excels in life.

When a man holds gain and loss, victory and defeat, as alike, his actions would never be harmful to the self or others and would reach the highest of heights in his achievements.

When the intellect of a man is able to help him remain out of anger and non-egoistic, only such a man has achieved the right intellect. When Pride enters a man’s mind, he is already fallen. What follows is just the details.

Courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to overcome it.

Living in envy is one of the biggest forms of self-torture.

And last but not the least I wish to repeat what I said earlier,
The questions you should always be asking yourself namely:-

Would I have done what I wish to do OR would I have wanted that which I want, even if not a single person in this world came to know about I having done that or bought that or achieved that?

And

Are my ways and actions to achieve something going to cause harm or loss or sadness of any kind to any other human being?

And if your answer is YES for the first and NO for the second, only then go ahead and do the actions or the deed.

Humans today measure Intelligence and Emotional health by quotients known as IQ and EQ. Higher the IQ and EQ levels, the better is the person considered.

But very few people understand that the most important quotient in today’s world is “KQ” namely the “Kalyug Quotient”. It is about how strongly a person is into the trap of those 10 negative traits. How much and how strongly has KALYUG taken control of a persons mind and way of life!

And for KQ, the way of measuring is opposite than IQ and EQ.
For KQ, The lower the number, the better is the person meaning the domination of those 10 traits is low in that person. And trust me Vishrut, a person with low KQ is any day better than a person with high IQ and EQ.”

I was smiling away at this concept that Krishna introduced about Kalyug Quotient (KQ). WOW!

Krishna saw my smile and reciprocated with an even broader smile.

Then I asked, “All that you have just told me about the 10 negative qualities is making perfect sense to me. And the two questions that you said which I should keep asking myself always, is an excellent way to know whether something should be done or not. But learning to control and then kill these 10 negative qualities is the tough part, isn’t it?”

And he replied, “Yes Vishrut, it is not going to be easy and that is because most of the people’s KQ is very high now-a-days! But then, it is not impossible too to lower the level of KQ! And hence, I am going to give you a practice that you should follow wholeheartedly which might help you lower your KQ level.

First of all, I want you to memorise and remember all that I have said from the point I started explaining in detail about these 10 traits. Think about it consciously and slowly let it permeate into your sub-conscious too. And secondly, as you have already understood, I want you to ask those two questions to yourself before anything and everything substantial that you do.

It would be really irritating and frustrating in the beginning for a few weeks. But then, slowly and steadily you would reach the most beautiful state of mind and start experiencing such a blissful clarity, that it can only be experienced and not explained.”

“But honestly Krishna, I think it is quite difficult!” I said making a sad face. 😦

And Krishna replied in his most soothing voice and tone, “Oh don’t feel sad or dejected Buddy. Simply follow the practice that I said and you would realise that it is easier than you can think and very soon, you would enter a world of smoothest understanding with regards to practically living a happy and successful life without those 10 negative qualities. And believe me, it would become as easy as breathing! 🙂

So do you promise to practice this, my dear friend?” and saying that he extended his right hand for a handshake.

I extended my right hand too and we shaked our hands and while doing that I smiled and said, “I am sure you know Krishna that I use the word PROMISE very sparingly and today I wish to say that Yes, I Promise you Krishna that I would do as you have told me. But Krishna there is one more question now……..can’t you just hard wire all this into my brain and mind? I guess that would be easier!” and I smiled naughtily. 😛 😀

Krishna let out a laugh and replied, “Yeaa….I am sure everyone would want that! Very convenient, isn’t it? You naughty rascal!!” 😀

And then as he said, “but to answer your question seriously….No my friend, I wouldn’t do that. I can do that but I would never! Because, I don’t wish to take away the joy of the journey and the gift of choice from you or anyone else!” and he ended that statement with his enchanting all-knowing smile.

I smiled and understood what he meant. 🙂

Suddenly, the next moment I heard somebody yell out my name. I was surprised and turned my head around to see who it was. Krishna was unmoved and was just looking at me. I asked him in surprise, “Did you hear that?” and he replied, “Yes I did”.

And again I heard someone call out my name. This time it felt that the voice was a familiar one. I nervously and hurriedly asked Krishna, “Who is that? And where is the person calling out from?” Krishna, with his all-knowing smile, replied, “In a few moments you would know….But more importantly, remember Vishrut, that I am always with you, inside you and around you and do follow up on the promise you have made.” 🙂

With a questioning expression on my face and confusion in my mind about what was happening, I was about to say something to him and I felt a big jerk which shaked me completely.

And the next moment, I opened my eyes a little bit and I saw my mother standing next to me in my bedroom, shaking me with her hands to wake me up from my deep sleep and yelling out my name. When she saw me open my eyes, she stopped yelling my name and exclaimed, “Oh God help me! It is so damn difficult to wake you! Vishrut, You are definitely the reincarnation of Ravana’s brother Kumbhakaran. I think it would have been easier to wake him than it is to wake you up. Now get up will you? You have to reach the Airport by 6 A.M.”

AND THEN……….. I WAS “AWAKE” !!!   🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

-Vishrut

(Please do give me your feedback by leaving a comment below or sending me an email at vishrut.parekh@gmail.com.
I would be obliged. Thanks! 🙂 )

P.S. :

Disclaimer

The above is a fictional story. It is not endorsed or affiliated in any way with any institution, facility, family, religion, group. The story is inspired by historical places, mythological texts and events, religious texts, stories and characters from other books, but is written entirely from my imagination. It does not intend to harm, insult, degrade, hurt sentiments or beliefs of any, group, institution, religion, a persons personal or religious sentiments. The author or anyone else does not intend to question or hurt or insult any religious theory, mythological theory, concept of god, religious teachings, religious texts, religious books, religious concepts. The images used in the above story are also used for indicational purposes only and does not intend to degrade, hurt, insult any religion, god, person or place, birds. All names of people, places, historical and mythological characters mentioned in the story is fictional and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely co-incidental.
May Peace be Unto You.