Bala Krishna: The Supreme Son
While Christianity stresses God the father, who is
approachable through his son, Hinduism speaks further
of other relationships souls can have with God. In sharp
contrast to the conception of God as father, many devotees
of Krishna conceive of him, the Supreme Godhead, as their
son.
The love of the son and daughter for their parents
is generally less intense than the love of the parents
for their children. At least for some time, children
do not know what love is or how to express it maturely.
A mother loves her son in spite of the child's rejection
of parental authority. Any mother knows that love is
about sacrifice, while children more often think it is
about getting rather than giving. Devotees who conceive
of Krishna as their child (not their child as Krishna)
experience greater intensity and intimacy of love of
God than devotees who conceive of him as the supreme
father.
The principal devotee of Krishna who serves as a role
model for others aspiring to love Krishna as their son
is Mother Yashoda. She is described in the Puranas, and
her ecstatic reality (bhava) is articulated in the Bhagavata
Purana in particular. Drawing on this Purana, Vallabhacharya,
a contemporary of Shri Chaitanya, has contributed much
to the religious world in terms of articulating the spiritual
path of loving Bala (baby) Krishna. Vallabhacharya called
his path pushti marg, the path of nourishment, in which
imbibing the spiritual sentiment of parental love for
God is a
prominent ideal.
Bala Krishna is not an obedient son. He is hievous
and misbehaved. Bala Krishna is a thief who steals butter
from the neighbors of the cowherd community and distributes
it to the monkeys. Butter and other milk products are
the livelihood of the cowherds, yet seeing their wealth
misspent by baby Krisna is their inner wealth of spiritual
love. In all of his blatant wrongdoing, Krishna can do
no wrong to those who have eyes of love. Such eyes are
not blind, however, for if God steals it is only play,
since
everything already belongs to him.
Bala Krishna's lilas take place in the spiritual realm
known as Gokula, a transcendental pastoral setting. The
neighboring devotees' complaints about his hief serve
as an opportunity to continue to speak about him, an
activity that is the very life of his devotees. While
neighboring devotees of parental love complain about
Krishna, Mother Yashoda replies, turning their fault
finding into glorification of Krishna:
"Your son releases our cows!"
"Is he not then helping you in your duties?"
"But Madame, he does this for no reason."
"Then why don't you scold him?"
"If we do, he merely laughs."
"Then why don't you give him some milk?"
"He eats only stolen things."
"That is ridiculous! Put the milk out of his reach."
"He makes a hole in the pot from a distance."
"How could he know milk was inside the pot?"
"He is expert in knowing the inside of things."
"Put it in the dark corners of your houses."
"His effulgent body lights them."
"What you say is incredible."
No doubt, God is unborn, yet he takes birth nonetheless. This is indeed a mystery
that can be unlocked only by the key of selfless love. |
