In the last article, we saw that both God and souls are unborn and eternal, and both God and souls take janm – or appear – and have done so uncountable times. We still need to understand why Shree Krishna’s janm is considered to be Divine, while souls’ janm is considered material.
Firstly, when Shree Krishna appears, He doesn’t have to come from anywhere else. This is because He is omnipresent. In other words, He exists everywhere, even in His personal form. Therefore, when He appears, He isn’t coming from another place to appear in this place – He simply manifests Himself on the physical plane in that one location. Even having manifested Himself visibly in that one place, He still remains omnipresent in the universe.
Let us take the specific example of His appearance before Devki and Vasudev. According to the Bhagwatam, He appeared in His full grown form before them, and they paid their obeisances to Him.
Before He appeared, where was He? He was everywhere, including in the jail cell – but He was not visible to anyone. Once He appeared, where was He? He was still everywhere, but He could be seen at that one place in the jail cell. In contrast, a soul is not omnipresent and can only exist in one place at one time.
Therefore, when a soul appears in its mother’s womb, it had to first leave the previous place where it was. This is one of the ways that Shree Krishna’s Divine janm differs from a soul’s material janm.
Secondly, Shree Krishna’s body was not formed in His mother’s womb. God’s body is eternal, so it does not have to be formed or created. In fact, there is no duality between God and His body. Whereas we souls inhabit our body, and are separate from our body, God actually is His body. Whereas the Divine soul inhabits a material body, there is a total oneness between Shree Krishna and His body.
This may be difficult to understand initially, so let us discuss situation in more detail.
Souls are said to incarnate, because having left our previous body, we take a new body.
There is no permanent relationship between a soul and its material body. In God’s case, He doesn’t change bodies. He eternally exists in uncountable forms, and all those forms are Divine and are simultaneously omnipresent. He can appear in any of those forms anywhere, anytime.
He can even appear in uncountable places simultaneously with the same form. For example, Shree Krishna could be appearing in uncountable places in the universe right now. He could also be appearing in uncountable places in the universe as Shree Ram, or Vishnu, or Shiv, etc.
In other words, He is simultaneously omnipresent in uncountable forms and can be appearing in uncountable places simultaneously, while maintaining His omnipresence. This is possible because He has a Divine body and that Divine body is not separate from Him.
To understand this concept more deeply, let us clarify that the word incarnation should never be used to describe God’s appearance in the world. ‘Incarnation’ applies to when a soul leaves its previous body and takes a new body. It doesn’t apply to God, Who is omnipresent with His Divine body, and simply makes Himself visible in one place while remaining omnipresent. We should use the word ‘appearance’ (‘prakatya’) or ‘descension’ (‘avatar’) for God, not incarnation. This gives you some idea as to why Shree Krishna told Arjun that His janm is Divine and ours is material.
Another point to consider is that God’s body is not born, and can never die, since it is synonymous with Him. When He came into this world, He came with His body, and when He left this world, He left with His body. In other words, He just made His body appear, and then disappear. Then why do we consider Devki to be Shree Krishna’s mother?
Devki was a devotee of Shree Krishna in her previous life. She became God realized. When Shree Krishna appeared before her, she asked for the boon of having a son like Him. Since there is no one “like Him”, Shree Krishna told her that He would become her son in her next birth. Shree Krishna was already planning to take avatar, so He decided to simulate a material birth. This type of pre-planned Divine event is called a leela.
In His appearance leela, He appeared before Devki and Vasudev in the jail cell in His full grown form. After paying their obeisances to Him, Devki requested Him to become a baby so that she could experience the joy of having Him as her child. To fulfill her desire, Shree Krishna then transformed Himself into a one-day old baby and began His ‘bal leelas’ or childhood pastimes.
Then how do we explain the fact that Devki appeared to be pregnant for 9 months? And did Shree Krishna, having become a baby, then cease being all-powerful God? These questions will be answered in the next article.
Disciple of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj
Swami Nikhilanand Ji is a Canadian born Hindu spiritual leader based in Austin, Texas. He is a sanyasi disciple and pracharak of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj.
Attracted to the teachings of Hinduism from a young age, Swamiji eventually let his deep spiritual longing lead him to India, where he was most fortunate to come under the guidance of Shree Kripaluji Maharaj. Thereafter, living in the ashrams of JKP, he extensively studied Hindi, the philosophy of the prime Sanskrit scriptures (Vedas, Darshan Shastras, Gita, Bhagwatam), and practiced meditation in the tradition of raganuga bhakti. In 2003, he was given sanyas.
Now, with the blessings of his Guruji, he offers satsang programs throughout America, engaging audiences with his clear explanations of Hindu philosophy coupled with inspired chanting of Sanskrit mantras and shlokas and charming nam sankirtan. His informative and compelling speeches provide practical insight into how to adopt the teachings of Sanatan Dharm into our daily lives, and inspire us to awaken our inner spiritual potential.
To stay in touch with Swami Nikhilanand Ji, like his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SwamiNikhilanand or follow him on twitter at https://twitter.com/Swami_Nikhil.
Swami Nikhilanand
