Krishna was the man who revolutionized the society using his extraordinary Yogic powers.
Today's Yogis are just healers, like doctors they heal, however Krishna
was a social reformer. He structured the whole society depending on individual
skills and capabilities.
He visualized the existence of four different shaktis
in a society namely, Jnana Shakti (power of knowledge and intellect),
Bahu Shakti (power of shoulders), Uru Shakti (power of traveling and connecting
with different people) and Charana or Acharana Shakti (power of compassion to
fellow beings, love and devotion) based on which he created Varna system. It
was a scientific categorization based on Psychological inclination of people,
based on Guna and Karma.
चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं
गुणकर्मविभागशः।
तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम् ॥गीता ४-१३॥
तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम् ॥गीता ४-१३॥
He describes the characteristics of people having these
four Shaktis in the eighteenth chapter.
ब्राह्मणक्षत्रियविशां शूद्राणां च परंतप।
कर्माणि प्रविभक्तानि स्वभावप्रभवैर्गुणैः॥गीता १८-४१॥
शमो दमस्तपः शौचं
क्षान्तिरार्जवमेव च।
ज्ञानं विज्ञानमास्तिक्यं
ब्रह्मकर्म स्वभावजम्॥गीता १८-४२॥
शौर्यं तेजो धृतिर्दाक्ष्यं युद्धे
चाप्यपलायनम् ।
दानमीश्वरभावश्च क्षात्रं कर्म
स्वभावजम् ॥गीता १८-४३॥
कृषिगोरक्षवाणिज्यं वैश्यंकर्म
स्वभावजम्
परिचर्यात्मकं कर्म
शूद्रस्यापि स्वभावजम्॥गीता १८-४४॥
These four shaktis are complementary to each other and
are necessary to achieve completeness in a society. All these four shaktis must
be duly represented in any society to ensure its balance and progress.
Today the
original Varna system propagated by Krishna has been polluted and it has been
replaced by Caste system which is based on birth and not based on the Guna of a person. Caste based system is the most
divisive system, harmful for the progress of a society and it needs to be condemned
and rejected.
Maharshi Aurobindo says; every individual has all these Shaktis
hidden inside. However, one Shakti may get manifested more than the others
depending on circumstances.
This concept is very well captured in the Samskrit
word सदाचरणतत्परः Sadācaraṇatatparaḥ. If one splits the
above word as सद् आचरण तत्परः Sad ācaraṇa tatparaḥ it
represents a person who is always focused on righteous living. If one splits it
as सदा च रण तत्परः Sadā ca raṇa tatparaḥ, it means a person
who is always ready to fight for a cause, if it is split as सदा
चरण तत्परः Sadaa charaNa tatparaH, it means a person who is always on
the move, always traveling (and engaged in trade and commerce), in the same
form सदा चरण तत्परः Sadaa charaNa tatparaH, it can also be
interpreted as one who is ready to serve others. Like this word, seeds of all
four Varnas are embedded in every one of us. So, no Varna can claim supremacy
over the other and enforce societal hierarchy based on it.
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To summarize, the true representation of Krishna is,
- he is the originator of Yoga,
- he is an extraordinary Yogi who knew all about his previous births and
- he was a social reformer who introduced Varna system.
