Anybody who has read an ancient Indian epic Mahabharata knows about pivotal figure Lord Krishna. He is the eighth avatar of Vishnu and is one of the most widely admired deities in Hinduism. Krishna, more than a Hindu God, is a true spiritual guru that this universe has ever witnessed. He reformed the spiritual and sequential destiny of mankind. He educated the world about devotion and dharma as well as the eventual reality. Krishna has been role model for the people in every sense in the past, in today modern world and certainly will remain in ages to come.
The most popular book in India – The Bhagavad-Gita often referred to as simply the Gita, is a 700 verse Hindu scripture in Sanskrit. It is a part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, where during the righteous war between Pandavas and Kauravas in the battle of Kurukshetra, Lord Krishna enlightens Arjuna with his wisdom. It teaches many lessons that can be easily applied to our daily lives.
On the auspicious occasion of Krishna Janmashtami (Birthday of Krishna), let’s have a look at the 8 life changing lessons that we can learn from the God himself.
Krishna Lesson #1: Importance of Karma (duty)
Krishna describes the Karma in Chapter 2, Verse 47 of Bhagavad-Gita as under
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि || 47 ||
karmaṇy-evādhikāras te mā phaleṣhu kadāchana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stvakarmaṇi
Meaning : Do your duty and be detached from its outcome, do not be driven by the end product, enjoy the process of getting there.
In the battle of Kurukshetra, Arjun’s conscience was haunted by the thoughts of killing his own kith and kin, ancestors and gurus. He refused to fight, and then Krishna delivered the philosophical epic called Bhagavad Gita. He said, “I am the sole creator of this universe. If, I wish I can kill the enemies in a moment with ‘Sudarshan Chakra’. But I want to teach the importance of Karma (performing own duty) to coming generation.” He further added,” Do your duty and be detached from its outcome, do not get driven by the result, enjoy the journey of reaching there.” In the end, he convinced Arujna to fight and destroy the enemies.
If you will not work or perform your duty, you will not get the things or result out of the blues. This is one of the best learning from the teachings of Lord Krishna. You must perform your duty without anticipating the outcome or end result. While I say this it does not mean, having hopes or being optimistic is wrong, but without actions, your path will be dreadful. The trick is not to concentrate too much on the final result and just enjoy the process of reaching there.
Krishna Lesson #2: There is always a cause or reason
In Bhagavad-Gita Lord Krishna said that everything happens for a cause or good reason. Whatever happens in life happen for good and there is always a cause or reason behind that. He also mentioned that we all are children of God, the one creator. God is supreme power and this world is governed by him. And since, we all are god’s children, nothing evil can happen to us. Hence, it is best to not cry over things that have happened or over things that we do not have control of. We need to let go and accept things.
Krishna Lesson #3: Mindfulness
Krishna teaches us to live in present moment. He was conscious about the future, but he chose to live in the present moment without worrying. Even though he knew what would happen in coming future, still he stayed in present moment. Mindfulness is all about staying in present and being aware about present moment. Mindfulness is life changing and makes a difference in quality of life. Living in present and paying more attention to the present moment can improve your mental well-being.
It’s possible more often to get hindered by challenging circumstances, but staying mindful and living in present moment can make things much easier. We need to learn, how to focus on the present, and not on the future or the past.
Krishna Lesson #4: Control your anger
Lord Krishna describes the anger in Chapter 2, Verse 63 of Bhagavad-Gita as under
क्रोधाद्भवति सम्मोह: सम्मोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रम: |
स्मृतिभ्रंशाद् बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति ||63||
krodhād bhavati sammohaḥ sammohāt smṛiti-vibhramaḥ
smṛiti-bhranśhād buddhi-nāśho buddhi-nāśhāt praṇaśhyati
Meaning: Anger leads to clouding of judgment, which results in bewilderment of the memory. When the memory is bewildered, the intellect gets destroyed; and when the intellect is destroyed, one is ruined.
Therefore, anger is the fundamental cause of all kind of failures in a person’s life. It is one of the three main gates of hell, other two being greed and lust. One must try to control and side-track anger while keeping the mind at peace.
Krishna Lesson #5: Sacrifice
Krishna asked Bheem to call upon Ghatotkach (Bheem’s son) in the battle of Krukshetra. It was not to annihilate the Kaurav army but to force Karna to use the Indrastra (a deadly divine weapon) that one cannot escape alive from. He did this to ensure that Arjuna, who was the key to winning the war, would stay alive. Hence, by sacrificing one brilliant warrior, he ensured the victory of Pandavas.
Likewise, in life we have to sacrifice many things to achieve success. There cannot be any significant progress or achievement without sacrifice. If you are not willing to sacrifice your comfort zone, pride, ego, time, money or security, you will never be able to achieve your highest level of success.
Krishna Lesson #6: Humbleness or modesty
Even though Krishna was the king of splendid Dwarka and the god of all creation, he was still humble and always showed tremendous respect to his elders – whether they were his parents or teachers. He was always eager to give pleasure to them. Because of this, people were always willing to help him where ever he went.
During the Kurukshetra war, Krishna donned the role of lowly charioteer. Lord Kirshna was the embodiment of simplicity and his role as a charioteer is a testament of that.
Being humble or modest is one of the most important characteristic of personality. Like Krishna you too must be humble in life. It helps you to cultivate genuine relationship with honest people. Be modest enough to give people more reasons to be happy in their life.
Krishna Lesson #7: No job is big or small
Lord Krishna could have won the battle of Kurukshetra all by himself. But he chose to guide Arjuna and drove his chariot for him. He says job is a job; there is no big or small job. No labour is without dignity. You must love your job and give your best while at your job, does not matter how big or small it is. Your job fills a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to respect all kind of jobs and accept them.
Krishna Lesson # 8: Best or true friends
Sudhama was Krishna’s childhood friend. Unlike Krishna he was a deprived man and his financial conditions were not good. His family could hardly arrange food for twice in a day. He once visited to meet Shree Krishna hoping to ask for some support or assistance. But once he met Krishna, he could not have courage or had heart to share his problems to his friend Krishna. When Sudama returned back to his home, he was surprised by the lavish house, beautiful clothes and expensive jewelry. Being a true and genuine friend Krishna understood Sudhama’s problems, even without uttering a word by Sudama regarding his problems. That is the true meaning of friendship.
Now a days, it is well-established fact that having real, genuine and trustworthy friends is good for you . This life is about the people you share it with; make the most of it. Surround yourself with good friends and always be a good friend in return.
Over to you now, these were my version of the life changing lessons that we can learn from Krishna. I would like to know the lessons you have learnt from the life of Krishna. Please feel free to share them in the comment section below.