He is adored by people of different faiths in and outside India, says Dr Asha Goswami
It is remarkable to find that the unique fascination of the people for Krishna, irrespective of their ethnic status, has rendered him into a secular universal god who is not only endeared to the Hindus, but being the centre of adoration to every Indian and many from foreign land, evokes them to visit his places of worship and participate in celebrations held in his honour all through the Indian regions.
Moreover, Krishna story is of such a type of Indian saga that has since ages built deep relation with the psyche of the Indian masses. Due to which he equally shines through the Puranic scriptures as well as the grip of the hearts of the people by holding imprint among their thoughts and emotions, as if providing them with heart-to-heart talk from the farmer in the field, worker in the factory to high core scholar, as for every one the tale of Krishna is a living thing.
Among the Indian festivals there is none so popular among the masses than the celebrations of the events from Krishna’s life with great fervour like Janmashtami, Govardhanapuja, Rassa, Hindola, Teeja,Vasantotsava and Holi. Hence, due to such a warm interactive relation with the Indian genre, Shri Krishna be best acclaimed as “the deified cultural hero and the most popular of country’s deities who casts secular appeal as he serves centre of fascination and admiration of the Indians at large so much so that the Krishna connect is felt by them during their daily chores, as they find him resonating in their songs (as goes the maxim Kanha bin geet naahi), conversational folk mediums, tales, beliefs, customs, festival celebration which they have construed in theme, spirit, and ideals of the Krishna saga which they recite and practise at various secular and non-secular ceremonies.
Besides, Krishna is the only Indian god who in different forms is variedly worshipped in Indian regions with different rituals and cultic practices, as in Odisha, he is cherished as Purushottama Jagannatha, in Assam he is Vishnu Krishna, in Gujarat his child form is adored as Swaminarayana. Hence, this overall profound appeal of Shri Krishna to the Indian masses, if followed in the right spirit, may serve a uniting force for bringing the people together. For, Shri Krishna’s close interrelation with the Indian people is not based on any tenet but is due to the fact that the Indians trace and cite the motives in the Krishna saga (best called Krishna leelas) as deeply interwoven within their cultural milieus in the form of their social beliefs, customs, faiths, folk tales, and folk arts. Due to which not only the title of secular god but also of a folk deity were conferred upon Shri Krishna.
For, as a god of masses, he equally permeates religious shastraic works as well as the secular media in the form of distinct aesthetic art forms viz performing, visual and iconic apart from being synthesised with the Indian mythology and folklore. This composite Itihasapurana tradition, which developed with regard to Krishna, provided him with a footage of directly permeating masses’ souls and spirit as well as making profound influence on them by moulding their ethos onto colourful motifs of his leelas replete with music and dance. With the result, art tradition of India was enriched with the legendary motifs of the Krishna saga. Due to this special appeal for the arts, he is titled ‘the maker of arts’ (Kalaanidhana).
Moreover, his personae endowed with sharp features having special appeal for sharp emotions provided enough grounds for evoking aesthetic fervour of the people due to which the Indian art fully bloomed during the medieval era in the form of wide range of contributions by the devotee lyricists, musicians and sculptors throughout the country. Among the Indian dance forms Odissi, Dandiyaraasa or Garbaraasa, Pandavani, Thayyam and Kathakali may be cited as glaring contributions of Krishna’s secular appeal.
In the same era, Krishna also turned into the highest ideal of the Indians as the eternal lover of the beings when there developed five schools of the Krishna bhakti with the combination of singing and dancing, which also proved effective, casting Krishna into secular deity with more wider appeal to the common folks than the religious.
Hence, this overwhelming legacy of Krishna bhakti taking into its fold wide range of seekers, devotee poets from different faiths from every nook and corner of India has also played a great role, making Krishna more secular as he is equally cherished and adored by them all from Suradasa to Raskhan. It is thus apparent that by evoking deep impress of the masses, Krishna holds a unique position among the Indian gods that of a secular deity who suits into every strand of nation’s myriad culture. No wonder, he is an object of fascination of the people with different faith and creed from India and some of the foreign countries like Java, Bali, Malay, Kampuchea and laos, and due to this Krishna be also best acclaimed as the harbinger of integrity among these fellow nations.
Krishna’s universal appeal is also evident from the multiple versions of his grand saga in country’s regional languages which form magna opus works of these vernaculars like Keertanghosh of Sankardev in Assamese, Harileela of Bheemadeva in Gujarati, Bhagavatabhaavartha of Ekanatha in Marathi, and Krishnagathas of Cherusheri in Malayalam.
last but not the least, Krishna’s universal secular appeal can be traced in his personae as a great world teacher — Jagadguru — of a unique religion and faith which be best termed as universal religion in the form of integrated yoga which he taught through Gita, implying a disciplinary practice which envisages mankind ‘to offer worship to God by doing one’s dutiful acts while treating the society as his extended family and seeking God in the best of the each species of the universe’. Thus, no wonder if Shri Krishna upholds most of India’s social, ethical, aesthetic values and ideals.
The writer is a noted Indologist and authority on Krishnaite studies
