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    "num": 2,
    "slug": "01-krishna-india-and-brahmanic-initiation",
    "title": "Krishna: India and Brahmanic Initiation",
    "of": 9,
    "words": 17034,
    "text": "## Krishna: India and Brahmanic Initiation\n\n\nIndia and Brahmanic Initiation\n\nHe who creates worlds without ceasing is threefold. He is Brahma, the Father; he is Maya, the\nMother; he is Vishnu, the Son; Essence, Substance and Life, each includes the others, and all three\nare one in the Ineffable.\n\n—Brahmanic Doctrine, Upanishads\n\nThou carriest within thee a sublime Friend whom thou knowest not. For God dwells in the inner part\nof every man, but few know how to find Him. The man who sacrifices his desires and his works to the\nBeings from whom the principles of everything stem, and by whom the Universe was formed,\n\nthrough this sacrifice attains perfection. For one who finds his happiness and joy within himself, and\nalso his wisdom within himself is one with God. And, mark well, the soul which has found God is\nfreed from rebirth and death, from old age and pain, and drinks the water of Immortality.\n—Bhagavad-Gita\n\n6. Heroic India\nThe Sons of the Sun and The Sons of the Moon\n\nFrom the conquest of India by the Aryans emerged one of the most glorious civilizations the earth\nhas ever known. The Ganges and its tributaries saw great empires and vast capitals arise, like\nAyodhya, Hastinapura and Indrapechta. The epic accounts of the Mahabharata and the popular\ncosmogonies of the Puranas, which include the oldest historical traditions of India, speak dazzlingly\nof royal opulence, of heroic grandeur and of the chivalrous spirit of those vanished times. Nothing\nmore proud nor yet more noble can be imagined than one of those Aryan kings of India standing on\nhis war chariot and commanding armies of elephants, horses and infantrymen. A Vedic priest\nconsecrates his king before the assembled crowd in this manner: \"I have brought you into our midst.\n\nAll of the people want you. Heaven is firm, earth is firm; these mountains are firm; may the king of\nfamilies be firm also.\" In a later code of laws, the Manava-Dharma-Sadstra, one reads, \"These\nmasters of the world who, eager to get rid of one another, unleash their strength in battle without\nflinching, after their death go directly to heaven.\" In fact, they consider themselves descendants of\nthe gods and believe themselves their rivals, ready to become gods themselves. Filial obedience,\nmilitary valor, with a sense of unselfish protection for all, is man's ideal. As for woman, the Hindu\nepic, humble servant of the Brahmans, hardly ever depicts her except with the qualities of the\nfaithful wife. In their poems neither the Greeks nor the peoples of the North have portrayed such\ndelicate, noble and exalted wives as the passionate Sita or the gentle Damayanti.\n\nWhat the Hindu epic does not tell us is the deep mystery of the mixture of races and the slow\nincubation of religious ideas which brought about profound changes in the social organization of\nVedic India. The Aryans, pure-blooded conquerors, found themselves in the presence of very mixed\nand inferior races, where the yellow and red types intermixed with blacks in many nuances. The\nHindu civilization thus appears as a mighty mountain, at its base a melanian race, mixed bloods on\nits sides, pure Aryans on its summit. Since the separation of the caste was not rigid in primitive\ntimes, many mixtures took place among these peoples. The purity of the conquering race changed\nmore and more with the centuries, but to this day one sees the predominance of the Aryan type in the\nhigher classes and the melanian type in the lower classes. And, from the lower levels of Hindu\nsociety, like the miasmas of the jungle mixed with the odor of wild beasts, always arose a burning\nvapor of passions, a mixture of languor and ferocity. Superabundant black blood gave India her\nspecial color. It attenuated and weakened the race. The miracle is that despite this mixing and so\nmany changes, the dominant ideas of the white race could be preserved at the peak of this\ncivilization.\n\nThis, then, is the ethnic base of India: on the one hand, the genius of the white race with its moral\nsense and sublime metaphysical aspirations; on the other, the genius of the black race with its\npassionate energy and solvent strength. How is this double genius expressed in the ancient religious\nhistory of India? The oldest traditions speak of a solar dynasty and a lunar dynasty. The kings of the\nsolar dynasty claim their descent from the sun. The others considered themselves to be sons of the\nmoon. But this symbolic language concealed two opposing religious concepts and meant that these\ntwo categories of sovereigns were related to two different cults. The solar cult attributed the male\nsex to the God of the universe. Around it was grouped all that was purest in the Vedic tradition: the\nscience of the sacred fire and of prayer, the esoteric conception of the supreme God, respect for\nwoman, ancestor worship, elected and patriarchal royalty. The lunar cult attributed the feminine sex\nto divinity, under whose sign the religions of the Aryan cycle have always worshipped nature, even\nblind, unconscious nature in its violent, terrible manifestations. This cult leaned toward idolatry and\nblack magic, preferred polygamy and tyranny, supported by the passions of the masses. The battle\nbetween the sons of the sun and the sons of the moon, between the Pandavas and Kuravas, is the\ntheme of the great Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, a kind of summary in perspective of the history of\nAryan India before the definitive formation of Brahmanism. This battle abounds in spirited combats\nand strange, endless adventures. In the middle of this gigantic epic, the Kuravas, the lunar kings,\nbecome the conquerors. The Pandavas, noble children of the sun, guardians of the pure rites, are\ndethroned and banished. As exiles they hide in the forests, seeking refuge among the anchorites,\nwearing clothing made of bark, and leaning on hermits' sticks.\n\nWill the baser instincts triumph? Are the powers of darkness, represented in the Hindu epic by the\nblack Rakshasas, to be victorious over the enlightened Devas? Will tyranny crush the elite beneath\nits chariot of war, the cyclone of evil passions destroy the Vedic altar and extinguish the sacred fire\nof the ancestors? No. India is only at the beginning of her religious evolution. She will display her\nmetaphysical and organizing genius in the establishment of Brahmanism. The priests who served the\nkings and chiefs under the name of purohitas, those placed in charge of the fire sacrifice, had already\nbecome their advisors and ministers. They had great wealth and considerable prestige. But they\n\nwould not have been able to give to their caste that sovereign authority, that position above attack,\neven from royal power itself, without the aid of another group of men who personify the spirit of\nIndia in its most original and profound sense. These are the anchorites.\n\nFrom time immemorial these ascetics dwelt in retreats in the depth of the forests, beside rivers, or in\nthe mountains near sacred lakes. They were sometimes found alone, sometimes assembled into\nbrotherhoods, but always united in a single spirit. One recognizes in them the spiritual kings, the real\nmasters of India. Heirs of the ancient wise men, the Rishis, they alone held the secret interpretation\nof the Vedas. In them lived the spirit of asceticism, hidden knowledge and transcendent powers. In\norder to obtain this wisdom they endured everything in the form of hunger, cold, burning sun, the\nterror of the jungles. Defenseless in their wooden huts, they live in prayer and meditation. With their\nvoice, their gaze, they summon or drive away serpents, and calm lions and tigers. Happy is one who\nobtains their blessing, for he will have the Devas as friends! Woe to one who abuses or kills them,\nfor their curse, say the poets, follows the guilty one to his third incarnation! Kings tremble at their\nthreats, and, strangely enough, these ascetics themselves cause the gods to be afraid. In the\nRamayana, Visvamitra, a king who became an ascetic, acquires such power through his strictness\nand meditation that the gods tremble for their lives. Then Indra sends him the most captivating of the\nApsaras, who comes to bathe in the lake in front of the saint's hut. The anchorite is seduced by the\ncelestial nymph; a hero is born from their union, and for several thousand years the existence of the\nuniverse is assured. Beneath these poetic exaggerations one senses the true superior power of the\nanchorites of the white race who, with acute divination and strong will, rule the turbulent soul of\nIndia from the depths of their forests.\n\nFrom the midst of the brotherhood of anchorites was to emerge the priestly revolution that made\nIndia the most formidable of theocracies. The victory of spiritual power over temporal power, of the\nanchorite over the king, out of which the power of Brahmanism was born, came in the guise of a\nreformer of the first rank. By reconciling the two warring groups, the white race and the black race,\nthe solar cults and the lunar cults, this divine being was the true creator of the national religion of\nIndia. Moreover, through his teaching this powerful genius introduced a new idea of immense\nsignificance into the world: the holy word, or divinity manifest in man. This first of the Messiahs,\nthis eldest of the sons of God, was Krishna.\n\nHis legend is principally interesting in that it sums up and dramatizes all Brahmanic doctrine. But it\nhas remained scattered and unformed in tradition because the Hindu genius entirely lacks plastic\nforce. The confusing and mythical account of Vishnu-Pourana nevertheless contains some historic\nfacts about Krishna which are of a personal and striking nature. On the other hand, the Bhagavad-\nGita, that wonderful fragment interpolated into the great poem, the Mahabharata, which the\nBrahmans consider one of their most sacred books, contains in all purity the doctrine attributed to\nhim. It was while reading these two books that the face of the great religious initiator of India\nappeared before me with the power of a living person. Therefore, I shall relate the story of Krishna,\ndrawing upon these two sources, one of which represents popular tradition, the other, that of the\ninitiates.\n\n7. The King of Madura\n\nAt the beginning of the Kali-Yuga Age, around the year 3,000 B.C., according to the chronology of\nthe Brahmans, the thirst for gold and power invaded the world. For several centuries, the ancient\nsages say, Agni, the celestial fire which forms the glorious body of the Devas and purifies the souls\nof men, had spread its ethereal effluences over the earth. But the burning breath of Kali, goddess of\ndesire and death, who comes out of the abysses of the earth like a fiery exhalation, then passed over\nall hearts. Justice had reigned with the noble sons of Pandu, solar kings who obeyed the voices of the\n\nwise men. As victors they pardoned the conquered, and treated them as equals. But since the\nchildren of the sun had been exterminated or driven from their thrones, and their few descendants\nwere hiding among the anchorites, injustice, ambition and hatred had gained the upper hand.\nChangeable and deceitful like the nocturnal body which they had taken as their symbol, the lunar\nkings engaged in a merciless war among themselves. Nevertheless, one had succeeded in\novercoming all the others by means of terror and unusual powers.\n\nIn northern India, on the banks of a wide river, a powerful city flourished. It had twelve pagodas, ten\npalaces and one hundred gates flanked with towers. Multicolored banners floated over its high walls,\nresembling winged serpents. This was proud Madura, impregnable like Indra's fortress. Kansa\nreigned there with a crafty mind and an insatiable soul. He allowed only slaves around him; he\nthought he owned only what he had subjugated, but what he possessed seemed nothing to him,\ncompared with what remained to be conquered. All the kings who recognized the lunar cult paid him\nhomage. But Kansa dreamed of conquering all India, from Lanka to the Himavat. In order to execute\nthis plan, he allied himself with Kalayeni, master of the Vyndhia Mountains, the powerful king of\nthe Yavanas, men with yellow faces. As one of the goddess Kali's followers, Kalayeni had dedicated\nhimself to the mysterious arts of black magic. He was called the friend of the Rakshasis, nocturnal\ndemons, and the king of serpents because he used the latter to frighten his people and his enemies.\nAt the far end of a dense forest was the goddess Kali's temple, carved in a mountain. It was a great\ndark cave of unknown depth; the entrance was guarded by giants with animal heads, carved in the\nrock. There they led those who wished to pay homage to Kalayeni, in order to obtain from him some\nsecret power. He would appear at the entrance of the temple in the midst of a host of monstrous\nsnakes that entwined themselves around his body and rose up at the command of his scepter. He\nforced his tributaries to kneel before these serpents whose heads, twisted into knots, hung over his.\nAt the same time he muttered a mysterious formula. It was said that those who performed this rite\nand worshipped those serpents obtained tremendous gifts and everything they desired. But they fell\nirrevocably under Kalayeni's power. Far or near, they remained his slaves. If they tried to disobey\nhim or escape him, they thought they saw the terrible magician, surrounded by his reptiles, arise\nbefore them; they saw themselves encompassed by the serpents' hissing heads, and were paralyzed\nby their spell-binding eyes. Kansa asked Kalayeni for his support. The king of the Yavanas promised\nhim dominion over the earth, provided he would marry his daughter.\n\nProud as an antelope and supple as a serpent was the daughter of the magician king, the beautiful\nNysumba, with golden pendants and ebony breasts. Her face resembled a dark cloud with nuances of\nbluish reflections from the moon; her eyes were like two lightning flashes, her warm lips like the\npulp of a red fruit with white seeds. One might have thought she was Kali herself, the goddess of\ndesire. Soon she reigned as mistress over Kansa's heart, and breathing upon all his passions, turned\nthem into a glowing furnace. Kansa had a palace filled with women of every color, but he listened\nonly to Nysumba.\n\n\"If I may have a son from you,\" he told her, \"I shall make him my heir. Then I shall be master of the\nearth; I shall no longer fear anyone.\"\n\nBut Nysumba did not have a son, and she became angry. She was jealous of Kansa's other wives,\nwhose love had been more fruitful. She made her father increase the number of sacrifices to Kali, but\nher womb remained sterile like sand beneath the torrid sun. Then the king of Madura ordered that the\ngreat sacrifice of fire be made before all the city, and that all the Devas be invoked. Kansa's wives\nand the people attended with great ceremony. Kneeling before the fire, the chanting priests called\nupon the great Varuna, Indra, the Aswini and the Maruts. Queen Nysumba approached and threw a\nhandful of perfumes into the fire with a gesture of challenge, as she uttered a magic formula in an\nunknown language. The smoke thickened, the flames swirled and the frightened priests cried out, \"O\nQueen, those are not the Devas, but the Rakshasas who passed over the fire! Your womb will remain\nsterile!\"\n\nKansa approached the fire and said to the priests, \"Tell me, then, of which of my wives will the\nmaster of the world be born?\"\n\nAt that moment Devaki, the king's sister, came near the fire. She was a pure, unpretentious virgin,\nwho had spent her childhood spinning and weaving, living as in a dream. Her body was on earth, but\nher soul seemed forever in heaven. Devaki knelt humbly, begging the Devas to give her brother and\nbeautiful Nysumba a son. The priest looked at the fire and then at the virgin. Suddenly he cried out\nin complete amazement, \"O king of Madura, none of your sons will be master of the world! He will\nbe born in the womb of your sister who is kneeling here!\"\n\nGreat were Kansa's dismay and Nysumba's anger at these words. When the queen was alone with the\nking she said, \"Devaki must die at once!\"\n\n\"How,\" asked Kansa, \"could I cause my sister to die? If the Devas are protecting her, their\ny p 8\nvengeance would fall upon me!\"\n\n\"Then,\" said Nysumba in a rage, \"let her reign in my place and let your sister bring into the world the\none who will cause you to die in shame! But I no longer wish to reign with a coward who is afraid of\nthe Devas. I am returning home to my father, Kalayeni!\"\n\nNysumba's eyes cast oblique flames, the pendants shook on her shiny dark neck. She rolled upon the\nground, and her beautiful body twisted like a raging serpent. Kansa, fearful of losing her, and\ncaptivated by a terrible desire, was eaten by a new passion.\n\n\"Very well,\" he said, \"Devaki will die, but do not leave me!\"\n\nA gleam of triumph shone in Nysumba's eyes; a rush of blood brought color back to her sepia face.\nShe jumped up and encircled the conquered tyrant with her supple arms. Then, caressing him lightly\nwith her ebony breasts from which emanated potent perfumes, and touching him with her burning\nlips, she whispered in a soft voice, \"We shall offer a sacrifice to Kali, goddess of desire and death,\nand she will give us a son who will be master of the world!\"\n\nBut that same night in a dream the purohita, the priest of sacrifice, saw king Kansa drawing his\nsword against his sister. Immediately he went to the virgin Devaki, told her that mortal danger\nthreatened her, and ordered her to flee to the anchorites without delay. Devaki, directed by the priest\nof the fire, disguised as a penitent, left Kansa's palace and the city of Madura without anyone\nobserving her. Early in the morning the soldiers looked for the king's sister in order to put her to\ndeath, but they found her room empty. The king questioned the guards of the city. They answered\nthat the gates had remained closed all night long. But in their sleep they had seen the dark walls of\nthe fortress break under a ray of light, and a woman leave the city, following that ray. Kansa realized\nthat an invincible power was protecting Devaki. From that moment, fear entered his heart and he\nbegan to hate his sister with a mortal hatred.\n\n8. The Virgin Devaki\n\nWhen Devaki, dressed in clothing made of strips of bark which hid her beauty, entered the vast\nsolitudes of the giant forest she staggered, exhausted from fatigue and hunger. But as soon as she felt\nthe shade of the awesome forest, tasted the fruit of the mango tree and inhaled the freshness of a\nstream, she took on new life, like a blossoming flower. First she passed beneath tremendous arches\nformed by massive tree trunks, whose branches planted themselves in the soil again, multiplying\ntheir arcades infinitely. For a long time she walked, sheltered from the sun, as in a dark pagoda\n\nwithout an exit. The buzzing of the bees, the cry of the amorous peacocks, the song of the kokels and\nof a thousand birds, drew her still further on. And still larger became the trees, the forest denser and\nmore entangled. Tree trunks crowded close beside tree trunks, foliage descended over foliage to\nform cupolas and growing pylons. Sometimes Devaki walked through corridors of greenery which\nthe sun flooded with light, and where tree trunks lay overturned by the storm. Sometimes she paused\nbeneath arbors of mango trees and asokas, from which cascaded garlands of lianas and a profusion\nof flowers. Deer and panthers leaped in the thickets; frequently buffalo made the branches snap, or a\nband of monkeys would pass shrieking through the foliage. She walked through scenes like this for\nthe whole day. Toward evening, above a grove of bamboos she saw the motionless head of a wise\nelephant. He looked at the virgin with an intelligent, protective air, raising his trunk as if to greet her.\nThen the forest became light, and Devaki saw a landscape of deep peace and celestial, paradisical\ncharm.\n\nA pond strewn with lotus and water lilies spread out before her; its heart of blue opened into the\ngreat forest, like another sky. Bashful storks dreamed motionless upon its banks, and two gazelles\nwere drinking from its waters. On the other side, in the shelter of the palms stood the hermitage of\nthe anchorites. A soft pink light bathed the lake, the forest and the dwelling of the holy Rishis.\nAgainst the horizon the white summits of Mount Meru rose above the ocean of forests. The breath of\nan invisible river gave life to the plants while the softened thunder of a distant waterfall was wafted\non the breeze like a caress or a melody.\n\nAt the edge of the pond Devaki saw a boat. Standing near it, a man of mature age, an anchorite,\nseemed to be waiting. Silently he gestured to the virgin to get into the boat, and he took up the oars.\nAs the little boat moved forward, stroking the water lilies, Devaki saw a female swan swimming\nover the pond. In a bold flight a male swan came through the air and began to describe large circles\naround her. Then he descended upon the water near his companion, shaking his snow white\nplumage. At this spectacle, Devaki trembled greatly without knowing why. But the boat had touched\nthe opposite shore, and the lotus-eyed virgin found herself before Vasichta, leader of the anchorites.\n\nSitting on a gazelle's skin, clothed in the hide of a black antelope, Vasichta had the venerable\nappearance of a god rather than a man. For sixty years he had eaten only wild fruit. His hair and\nbeard were as white as the summit of the Himavat, his skin was transparent, and the gaze of his dim\neyes was turned inward in meditation. Upon seeing Devaki, he arose and greeted her.\n\n\"Devaki, sister of the famous Kansa, you are welcome in our midst. Guided by Mahadeva, the\nsupreme master, you have left the world of sorrows for that of happiness. For here you are near the\nholy Rishis, masters of their senses, content with their destiny and seeking the path to heaven. We\nhave waited long for you, as the night waits for the dawn. For we are the eyes of the Devas fixed on\nthe world. We live in the densest of forests. Men do not see us, but we see men and we observe their\nactions. The dark age of desire, blood and crime is raging over the world. We have chosen you for\nthe task of deliverance, and the Devas have chosen you through us. For it is in the womb of woman\nthat the ray of divine splendor must take on human form.\"\n\nAt that moment the Rishis were leaving the retreat for evening prayer. The aged Vasichta ordered\nthem to bow down to the ground before Devaki. They bowed low as Vasichta continued, \"This one\nwill be the mother of all of us, for from her will be born the spirit which is to regenerate us.\" Then,\nturning to her, he said, \"Go, my child. The Rishis will lead you to a neighboring lake where the\npenitent sisters live. You will dwell among them, and the mysteries will be fulfilled.\"\n\nDevaki went to the retreat surrounded by lions. There she was to live with the devout women who\nfeed tame gazelles and devote themselves to ablutions and prayers. Devaki took part in their\nsacrifices. An aged woman gave her secret instructions. These penitents had been commanded to\ndress her in exquisite scented fabrics like a queen and to let her wander alone in the open forest. And\n\nthe forest, filled with perfumes, voices and mysteries attracted the young woman. Sometimes she\nmet processions of old anchorites returning from the river. Upon seeing her they knelt before her and\nthen continued on their way. One day near a stream covered with pink lotus, she noticed a young\nanchorite in prayer. He stood up at her approach, cast a long, sad look at her and walked away in\nsilence. And the serious faces of the old men, the image of the two swans and the look of the young\nanchorite haunted the virgin in her dreams.\n\nNear the stream was a tree of unknown age, with wide branches, which the holy Rishis called \"the\ntree of life.\" Devaki liked to sit in its shade. Often when she fell asleep there, she was visited by\nstrange visions. Voices sang behind the foliage, \"Glory to thee Devaki! He will come, crowned with\nlight, that pure fluid emanating from the great soul, and the stars will become dim before his\nsplendor. He will come, and life will defy death, and he will rejuvenate the blood of all beings. He\nwill come, sweeter than honey and amrita, purer than the spotless lamb and a virgin's mouth, and all\nhearts will be overwhelmed in love. Glory, glory, glory be to you Devaki!\"\n\nWere these the anchorites? Were these the Devas, who sang like this? Sometimes it seemed to her\nthat a distant power or a mysterious presence, like an invisible hand suspended over her, forced her\nto sleep. Then she fell into a deep, sweet, inexplicable slumber, out of which she awakened\nbewildered and disturbed. She turned around as if to look for someone, but she never saw anyone.\nBut several times she found roses strewn on her bed of leaves, and a crown of lotus in her hands.\n\nOne day Devaki fell into a deeper ecstasy. She heard heavenly music like an ocean of harps and\ndivine voices. Suddenly the sky opened into depths of light. Thousands of magnificent beings were\nlooking at her and in the brightness of a flashing ray of light, the sun of suns, Mahadeva, appeared to\nher in human form. Then having been overshadowed by the Spirit of the worlds, she lost\nconsciousness, and oblivious of earth, in a boundless felicity, she conceived the holy child.\"\n\nWhen seven moons had described their magic circles around the sacred forest, the chief of the\nanchorites summoned Devaki. \"The will of the Devas has been fulfilled,\" he said. \"You have\nconceived in purity of heart and in divine love. Virgin and mother, we greet you. A son will be born\nof you, who will be the savior of the world. But your brother Kansa is looking for you to kill you,\nalong with the tender fruit you carry in your womb. You must escape him. The brothers will lead\nyou to the shepherds who live at the foot of Mount Meru, beneath scented cedars, in the pure air of\nthe Himavat. There you will bring into the world your divine child, and you shall call him Krishna,\nthe holy one. But see that he knows nothing of his origin and yours; never speak to him about it. Go\nwithout fear, for we are watching over you.\"\n\nAnd Devaki went away to the shepherds of Mount Meru.\n\nNotes for this chapter:\n\n12. An observation is indispensable here concerning the symbolic meaning of the legend as well as\nthe real origin of those in history who have borne the name, \"Sons of God.\" According to the secret\ndoctrine of India, which was also that of the initiates of Egypt and Greece, the human soul is the\nchild of heaven. Before it was born on earth the soul had a series of corporeal and spiritual\nexistences. The father and mother therefore only engender the body of the child, since his soul\ncomes from somewhere else. This universal law governs everything. The greatest prophets, even\nthose in whom the divine Word has spoken, cannot escape it. And, in fact, from the moment one\naccepts the pre-existence of the soul, the question of knowing the name of the father becomes\nsecondary. One must believe that this prophet comes from a divine world, and the real Sons of God\nprove this by their life and death. But the ancient initiates did not believe it necessary to make these\n\nthings known to the common people. Some of those who appeared in the world as divine envoys\nwere sons of initiates, and their mothers had frequented the temples in order to conceive chosen\nones.\n\n9. Krishna's Youth\n\nAt the foot of Mount Meru stretched a fertile valley, green with pastures and surrounded by vast\nforests of cedar trees, where the pure air of Himavat sighed gently. In this high valley lived a tribe of\nherdsmen over which the patriarch Nanda, friend of the anchorites, ruled. Here Devaki found refuge\nfrom the persecutions of the tyrant of Madura, and here in Nanda's home she brought her son,\nKrishna, into the world. Except Nanda, no one knew who the stranger was nor where this son came\nfrom. The women of the area simply said, \"It is a son of the Gandharvas,13 for Indra's musicians\nmust have been present at the love-making of this woman who resembles a celestial nymph, an\nApsara.\" The marvelous child of this unknown woman grew up among the flocks and shepherds\nunder the care of his mother. The shepherds called him \"The Radiant One\" because his presence\nalone, his smile and his big eyes had a way of spreading joy. Animals, children, women, men,\neveryone loved him and he seemed to love everyone, smiling at his mother, playing with the lambs\nand the young children of his own age, or speaking with the old men. The child Krishna was\nfearless, full of daring and performed astonishing feats. Sometimes he was found in the woods lying\non the moss, wrestling with young panthers and holding their mouths open, without their daring to\nbite him. Above all things and all beings, Krishna adored his young mother, so beautiful and so\nradiant, who spoke to him of the heaven of the Devas, of heroic battles and of the wonderful things\nshe had learned from the anchorites. And the shepherds who led their flocks beneath the cedars of\nMount Meru would say, \"Who is this mother, and who is this soil? Although she is dressed like our\nwomen, she looks like a queen. The amazing child was raised with ours, yet he does not look like\nthem. Is he a genius? Is he a god? Whoever he is, he will bring us happiness.\"\n\nWhen Krishna was fifteen years old, his mother Devaki was summoned by the leader of the\nanchorites. One day she disappeared without saying goodbye to her son. When he saw her no longer,\nKrishna went to look for the patriarch Nanda and asked him, \"Where is my mother?\"\n\nNanda answered, bowing his head, \"My child, do not question me. Your mother has gone on a long\njourney. She has returned to the country from which she came, and I do not know when she will\nreturn.\"\n\nKrishna said nothing at all, but he lapsed into such a deep reverie that all the children kept away\nfrom him as if gripped by a superstitious fear. Krishna deserted his friends, left their games, and, lost\nin his reflections, went alone to Mount Meru. He wandered for several weeks. One morning he came\nto a high, wooded peak where his view reached over the chain of the Himavat Mountains. Suddenly\nnear him he saw a tall old man in the white robe of an anchorite, standing under the giant cedars in\nthe morning light. He seemed one hundred years old. His snow-white beard and his bare head shone\nwith majesty. The lively child and the centenarian gazed at each other for a long time. The eyes of\nthe old man rested benignly upon Krishna, but Krishna was so startled at seeing him that he\nremained silent in admiration. Although Krishna saw him for the first time, it seemed as if he knew\nthis aged man.\n\n\"Whom do you seek?\" the old man asked at last.\n\"My mother.\"\n\n\"She is no longer here.\"\n\n\"Where shall I find her?\"\n\n\"With Him who never changes.\"\n\n\"But how shall I find Him?\"\n\n\"Seek.\"\n\n\"And shall I see you again?\"\n\n\"Yes, when the daughter of the serpent incites the son of the bull to crime, then you will see me\nagain in a purple light. Then you will kill the bull, and you will crush the head of the serpent. Son of\nMahadeva, know that you and I are but one in Him. Seek, always seek.\"\n\nAnd the old man extended his hand in a gesture of benediction. Then he turned and took a few steps\nunder the high cedars in the direction of the Himavat. Suddenly it seemed to Krishna that the old\nman's form became transparent and disappeared with a luminous vibration in the shimmering glow\nof the fine-needled branches. 14\n\nWhen Krishna came down from Mount Meru, he appeared to be transformed. A new energy\nemanated from his being. He gathered his companions together and told them, \"Let us fight the bulls\nand snakes; let us defend the good and subdue the wicked!\" With bow in hand and sword at his side,\nKrishna and his companions, sons of the shepherds, now transformed into warriors, began to beat the\nforests, fighting the wild beasts. In the depths of the woods one could hear the roaring of hyenas,\njackals and tigers, and the young men's cries of truimph over the defeated animals. Krishna killed\nand tamed lions; he made war on kings and freed oppressed peoples. But sadness remained in the\ndepths of his heart. This heart had but one deep, mysterious desire; he longed to find his mother and\nto see the strange, august old man again. He asked himself, \"Did he not promise me that I would see\nhim again when I crushed the head of the snake? Did he not tell me that I would find my mother\nagain with Him who never changes?\" But it was useless for him to fight, conquer, kill -- he had not\nseen the majestic old man nor his own glorious mother.\n\nOne day he heard people speak about Kalayeni, king of the serpents, and he asked to fight with his\nmost terrible serpent in the presence of the black magician. It was said that this creature, trained by\nKalayeni, had already eaten hundreds of men, and that its glance could paralyze the most courageous\nwith fear. Krishna saw a long, greenish-blue reptile come from the depths of Kali's dark temple at\nKalayeni's call. The serpent slowly raised its thick body, distended its red crest, and its piercing eyes\nlit up in its monstrous head, covered with shiny scales. \"This serpent,\" said Kalayeni, \"knows many\nthings. It is a powerful demon. It will tell them only to the one who kills it, but it kills those who fail.\nIt has seen you; it is looking at you; you are in its power. All that is left for you to do is worship it or\ndie in a senseless struggle.\" Krishna was indignant at these words, for he felt that his heart was like\nthe tip of a lightning bolt. He looked at the snake, then threw himself upon it, seizing it beneath the\nhead. Man and serpent rolled on the steps of the temple. But before the serpent could encircle him in\nits coils, Krishna cut off its head with his sword.\n\nDisentangling himself from the still writhing body, the young conqueror triumphantly raised the\nhead of the serpent in his left hand. But this head was still alive. It kept looking at Krishna, and said,\n\"Why did you kill me, son of Mahadeva? Do you think you will find truth by killing the living?\nFoolish one, you will only find it in dying yourself. Death is in life, life is in death. Beware the\ndaughter of the serpent and spilt blood. Be careful! Be careful!\" With these words, the serpent died.\nKrishna let the head fall and went away, filled with horror. But Kalayeni said, \"I have no power over\nthis man; Kali alone can subdue him with a spell.\"\n\nAfter a month of ablutions and prayers on the banks of the Ganges, having purified himself in the\nlight of the sun and in the thought of Mahadeva, Krishna returned to his native country, among the\nshepherds of Mount Meru.\n\nThe autumn moon showed its shining orb above the cedar forests and the night air was perfumed\n\nwith the scent of wild lilies in which the bees had hummed all day long. Sitting beneath a large cedar\ntree at the edge of a meadow, weary of the vain battles of earth, Krishna dreamed of heavenly\n\ncombats and of the boundless heaven itself. The more he thought of his glorious mother and the\naugust old man, the more his childish exploits seemed despicable and the more celestial things came\nto life within him. A consoling charm, a divine recollection flooded his entire being. Then a hymn of\nthankfulness to Mahadeva arose from his heart and overflowed from his lips in a sweet, divine\nmelody. Attracted by this wonderful song, the Gopis, daughters and wives of the shepherds, left their\nhouses. The first, having spied the heads of their families coming home, returned immediately after\nhaving pretended to pick flowers. Some came nearer, calling, \"Krishna! Krishna!\" Then, very\nashamed, they ran away. Gradually becoming bolder, the women surrounded Krishna in groups like\ntimid, curious gazelles, charmed by his melodies. But, lost in his dream of the gods, he did not see\nthem. More and more enchanted by his song, the Gopis began to grow impatient at not being\nnoticed. Nichdali, Nanda's daughter, with eyes closed, had fallen into a kind of ecstasy. But\nSarasvati, her sister, bolder than she, quietly moved near Devaki's son, pressed against his side and\nsaid in a soft voice, \"O Krishna, dont you see that we are listening to you, that we can no longer\nsleep in our homes? Your melodies have cast a spell upon us. O adorable hero, we are captivated by\nyour voice, and can no longer do without you!\"\n\n\"O keep singing!\" a young girl said. \"Teach us to sing!\"\n\"Teach us dancing,\" said a woman.\n\nAnd Krishna, coming out of his dream, looked favorably upon the Gopis. He spoke kind words to\nthem and, taking their hands, made them sit on the grass near the huge cedars, in the bright\nmoonlight. Then he told them what he had seen within himself. He told them the story of the gods\nand heroes of Indra's wars and of the exploits of the divine Rama. The women and young girls\nlistened, captivated. These tales lasted until dawn. When pink Aurora arose behind Mount Meru and\nthe kokilas began to chirp beneath the cedars, the Gopi girls and women furtively returned to their\nhomes. But the next night, as soon as the crescent moon appeared, they returned more eagerly than\never. Seeing that they were enchanted by his narratives, Krishna taught them to sing and to portray\nin gestures the sublime actions of the heroes and the gods. To some he gave vinas with strings which\nvibrate like souls, to others resounding cymbals like the hearts of warriors, to others drums which\nimitate thunder. And choosing the most beautiful, he inspired them with his thoughts. With arms\nextended, walking and moving about in a divine dream, the sacred dancers portrayed the majesty of\nVaruna, the anger of Indra killing the dragon, or the despair of abandoned Maya. Thus the battles\nand everlasting glory of the gods, which Krishna saw within himself, came to life again in these\nhappy, transfigured women.\n\nOne morning the Gopis had scattered. The sound of their musical instruments and their singing,\nlaughing voices had faded in the distance. Krishna, who had remained alone under the huge cedar\ntree, saw Sarasvati and Nichdali, Nanda's two daughters, coming toward him. They sat down beside\nhim. Sarasvati, throwing her arms around Krishna's neck, making her bracelets jingle, said to him,\n\"In teaching us the sacred songs and dances you have made us the happiest of women; but we shall\nbe the most unhappy ones when you have left us. What will become of us when we shall see you no\nlonger? O, Krishna, marry us! My sister and I will be your faithful wives, and our eyes will not have\nthe pain of losing you.\" While Sarasvati spoke thus, Nichdali closed her eyes as if she were falling\ninto an ecstasy.\n\n\"Nichdali, why do you close your eyes?\" Krishna asked.\n\n'\n\n\"She is jealous,'\nneck.\"\n\nanswered Sarasvati, laughing. \"She does not wish to see my arms around your\n\n\"No,\" replied the blushing Nichdali, \"I am closing my eyes in order to look at your image, which is\nengraved deep inside me. Krishna, you can leave, but I shall never lose you!\"\n\nKrishna became thoughtful. Smiling, he loosened Sarasvati's arms which were passionately wound\nabout his neck. Then he looked at the two women and embraced them. First he kissed Sarasvati's\nlips, then Nichdali's eyes. In these two long kisses, young Krishna seemed to explore, to taste all the\npleasures of earth. Suddenly he trembled, saying, \"You are beautiful, O Sarasvati! You, whose lips\nhave the perfume of amber and all the flowers! You are adorable, O Nichdali! You, whose eyelids\nveil intense eyes, and who know how to look within yourself! I love you both . . . But how could I\nmatry you, since my heart would have to be divided between you?\"\n\n\"O, he will never be in love!\" said Sarasvati spitefully.\n\"I shall love only with an everlasting love.\"\n\"And what is required for you to love in that way?\" asked Nichdali tenderly.\n\nKrishna had stood up. His eyes were aflame. \"To love with an everlasting love?\" he asked. \"Daylight\nmust disappear. Thunder must fall upon my heart, and my soul must flee beyond myself into the\nheights of heaven!\"\n\nWhile he spoke it seemed to the young girls that he increased in height. Suddenly they were afraid of\nhim and returned home sobbing. Krishna took the road to Mount Meru alone. The following night\nthe Gopis met for their games, but they waited for their teacher in vain. He had disappeared, leaving\nthem only an essence, a perfume from his being: the sacred songs and dances.\n\nNotes for this chapter:\n13. These are the genii who, in all Hindu poetry are represented as presiding over love and marriage.\n\n14. It is a definite belief in India that the great ascetics can make themselves manifest at a distance in\nvisible form, while their bodies remain plunged in a cataleptic sleep.\n\n10. Initiation\n\nIn the meantime, having learned that his sister, Devaki, had lived among the anchorites, and not\nhaving been able to find her, King Kansa began to persecute them and hunt them like wild beasts.\nThey had to take refuge in the remotest and wildest part of the forest. Then their leader, old\nVasichta, though one hundred years of age, set out to speak to the king of Madura. The guards saw\nwith amazement a blind old man led by a gazelle which he kept on a leash, appear at the gates of the\npalace. Out of respect for the Rishi, they allowed him to pass. Vasichta approached the throne where\nKansa was sitting beside Nysumba, and said, \"Kansa! King of Madura! Woe to you, daughter of the\nserpent, who breathes hate into him! The day of your punishment is near. Devaki's son is alive! He\nwill come, covered with armor of impenetrable scales, and will drive you from your throne in shame.\nNow tremble and live in fear; that is the punishment the Devas allot you!\"\n\nThe warriors, guards and servants knelt before the holy centenarian as he departed, led by his\ngazelle, no one daring to touch him. But from that day, Kansa and Nysumba dreamed of secret ways\nto bring about the death of the leader of the anchorites. Devaki was dead, and no one except Vasichta\nknew that Krishna was her son. Nevertheless, the news of the latter's feats had reached the king's\nears. Kansa thought, \"I need a strong man to protect me. The one who killed Kalayeni's great serpent\nwill not be afraid of the anchorite.\" Accordingly, Kansa called the patriarch, Nanda, and said, \"Send\n\nme the young hero, Krishna, so I may make him the driver of my chariot and my first counsellor.\"15\nNanda informed Krishna of the king's command, and Krishna answered, \"I shall go.\" He thought to\nhimself, \"Can the king of Madura be the One Who never changes? Through him I shall find out\nwhere my mother is.\"\n\nKansa, observing Krishna's strength, skill and intelligence, was pleased with him and entrusted him\nwith the care of his kingdom. But Nysumba, upon seeing the hero of Mount Meru, trembled\nthroughout her whole body with an impure desire, and her cunning mind shaped a secret plan,\ninspired by a criminal thought. Unknown to the king she had the driver of the chariot summoned to\nher apartments. As a magician she possessed the art of instantly becoming young again by means of\npotent philters. Devaki's son found the ebony-breasted Nysumba lying almost naked upon a bed of\nvelvet. Gold rings bound her ankles and arms and a crown of precious stones sparkled upon her\nhead. At her feet burned a copper censer, from which issued a cloud of perfumes.\n\n\"Krishna,\" said the daughter of the serpent king, \"your countenance is smoother than the snows of\nHimavat, and your heart is like the tip of a bolt of lightning. In your innocence you shine above the\nkings of earth. Here no one has recognized you; even you do not know yourself. I alone know who\nyou are. The Devas have made you master of men; I alone can make you master of the world. Are\nyou willing?\"\n\n\"If it is Mahadeva who is speaking through you,\" Krishna said, looking grave, \"you will tell me\nwhere my mother is, and where I shall find the tall old man who spoke to me beneath the cedars of\nMount Meru.\"\n\n\"Your mother?\" asked Nysumba with a smile of disdain, \"It certainly is not I who will tell you; as for\nthat old man, I do not know him. Foolish one, you continue to dream and do not see the earthly\ntreasures I am offering you! There are kings who wear crowns who are not kings. There are sons of\nshepherds who bear royalty on their foreheads and who do not know their strength. You are young;\nyou are handsome. Hearts belong to you. Kill the king in his sleep, and I shall place the crown upon\nyour head, and you will be master of the world. For I love you and you were predestined for me. I so\nwish, and I so command!\"\n\nAs she spoke, the queen raised herself, domineering, fascinating, terrible as a beautiful snake. Sitting\nupright on her couch, she cast a flame of such dark fire into Krishna's limpid eyes that he trembled.\nHell appeared in those glances. He saw the abyss of the temple of Kali, goddess of desire and death,\nwhere snakes writhed in an everlasting agony. Then suddenly Krishna's eyes seemed like two\nswords. They pierced the queen through and through, and the hero of Mount Meru cried out, \"I am\nfaithful to the king who chose me as protector! As for you, know that you will die!\"\n\nNysumba gave a piercing scream and rolled over on her couch, biting the velvet covering. All her\nartificial youth had faded; she had become old and wrinkled once again. Krishna went away, leaving\nher to her anger.\n\nTortured night and day by the anchorite's words, the king of Madura said to the driver of his chariot,\n\"Since the enemy has set foot in my palace I no longer sleep in peace. An infernal magician named\nVasichta, who lives in a dense forest came and left his curse on me. Since that time I no longer\nbreathe; the old man has poisoned my days. But with you who fear nothing, I do not fear him. Come\nwith me to the accursed forest! A spy who knows all the paths will lead us to him. As soon as you\nsee him, run to him and strike him without allowing him to say a word to you, or look at you. When\nhe is mortally wounded, ask him where the son of my sister Devaki is, and what his name is. The\npeace of my kingdom hangs on this mystery.\"\n\n\"Calm yourself,\" Krishna said, \"I was not afraid of Kalayeni nor of Kali's serpent. Who can make me\ntremble now? However powerful this man may be, I shall find out what he is hiding from you!\"\n\nDisguised as hunters, the king and his driver rode in a swift chariot, drawn by spirited horses. The\nspy who had explored the forest followed behind them. It was the beginning of the rainy season. The\nrivers were rising, growing plants covered the roads, and the white line of storks was seen on the\ntops of the clouds. When the men neared the sacred wood the horizon darkened, the sun hid itself,\nthe air was filled with a copper-colored mist. From the stormy sky clouds hung like horns over the\nwild foliage of the forest.\n\n\"Why,\" Krishna asked the king, \"has the heaven suddenly darkened and the forest become so black?\"\n\n\"Well do I know,\" said the king of Madura. \"It is Vasichta, the evil recluse, who is darkening the sky\nand arming the accursed forest against me. But Krishna, are you afraid?\"\n\n\"Let the sky change its face and the earth its color! I am not afraid!\"\n\n\"Then, Forward!\"\n\nKrishna lashed the horses with his whip and the chariot dove beneath the thick shade of the baobabs.\nIt moved forward for a time at an amazing speed. But the forest became still wilder and more\n\nfrightening. Lightning flashed, thunder roared.\n\n\"Never,\" said Krishna, \"have I seen the sky so dark and the trees twisting in this way. Your magician\nis powerful!\"\n\n\"Krishna, slayer of serpents, hero of Mount Meru, are you afraid?\"\n\n\"Let the earth quake and the sky crumble! I am not afraid!\"\n\n\"Then keep going!\"\n\nAgain the daring driver whipped the horses and the chariot continued on its way. Now the storm\nbecame so dreadful that the giant trees bent and the quaking forest roared like the howling of a\nthousand demons. Lightning struck near the travelers; a shattered baobab blocked the way; the\nhorses stopped and the earth trembled.\n\n\"Your enemy must be a god,\" said Krishna, \"since Indra himself is protecting him.\"\n\n\"We are approaching the goal!\" cried the king's spy. \"Look at that path of green! At the end of it is a\nwretched hut. It is there that Vasichta, the great mouni lives, feeding birds, feared by wild animals\nand protected by a gazelle. But not for a kingdom shall I take one step more!\"\n\nAt these words, the king of Madura became white. \"He's there? Really? Behind those trees?\"\nClinging to Krishna, he whispered in a low voice, while his whole body trembled, \"Vasichta!\nVasichta, who is plotting my death is there! He sees me from his secret retreat. . . . His eye is\n\nfollowing me! Save me from him!\"\n\n\"Yes, by Mahadeva!\" said Krishna, getting out of the chariot, \"I want to see the one who causes you\ny g 8 y\nto tremble like this!\"\n\nFor a year the aged Vasichta quietly had awaited death in his hut, hidden in the thickest part of the\nsacred forest. Before the death of his body he was freed from his fleshly prison. His eyes were blind,\n\nbut he saw with his soul. His skin hardly felt heat and cold, but his spirit lived in a perfect unity with\nthe sovereign Spirit. Praying and meditating without ceasing, he saw things of this world only in the\nlight of Brahma. A faithful disciple brought him grains of rice, on which he lived. The gazelle who\nate from his hand warned him of the approach of wild beasts. Then he drove the latter away by\nwhispering a mantram and by extending his bamboo staff with its seven nodes. As for men, whoever\nthey were, by means of his gaze he saw them when they were still several miles away.\n\nKrishna, walking along the dark path, suddenly found himself before Vasichta. The leader of the\nanchorites with legs crossed was sitting on a mat, leaning against the post of his but in a deep calm.\nFrom the eyes of the blind man came the inner glimmer of the seer. As soon as Krishna saw him, he\nrecognized him. \"The majestic old man!\" He felt a sensation of joy; reverence entered his soul.\nForgetting the king, his chariot and his kingdom, he knelt on one knee before the saint and\nworshipped him.\n\nVasichta seemed to see him. His body, leaning against the hut, sat up with a slight trembling; he\nextended both arms to bless his guest and his lips murmured the sacred syllable, AUM/16\n\nMeanwhile, Kansa, hearing no outcry and not seeing his driver return, slipped furtively along the\npath and stood petrified with astonishment upon seeing Krishna kneeling before the holy anchorite.\nThe latter turned his blind eyes toward Kansa. Raising his staff, he said,\n\n\"O king of Madura, you are coming to kill me! Greetings! For you will free me from the pain of this\nbody. You wish to know where is the son of your sister Devaki, who is to dethrone you. Here he\nkneels before me and before Mahadeva; he is Krishna, your own charioteer! How foolish and cursed\nyou are, since your most fearful enemy is this very one here! You have brought him to me, so that I\ncan tell him that he is the chosen one. Tremble! You are lost, for your infernal soul will indeed be\nthe prey of demons!\"\n\nStupefied, Kansa listened. He did not dare look the old man in the face. Pale with rage, seeing\nKrishna still kneeling, he took his bow and arching it with all his might, discharged an arrow at\nDevaki's son. But his arm had trembled; the arrow swerved and sank deep into Vasichta's chest.\nWith his arms extended in the form of a cross, Vasichta appeared as though waiting for the arrow in\na kind of ecstasy.\n\nA cry was heard, a terrible cry. -- It was not from the heart of the old man, but from Krishna's. He\nhad heard the arrow hum past his ear, and then he had seen it sink into the saint's flesh.... And it\nseemed to Krishna that it had sunk into his own heart, so closely had his soul become identified with\nthe Rishi's at that moment. With that sharp arrow all the pain of the world pierced Krishna's soul,\ntearing it to its core.\n\nNevertheless, Vasichta, with the arrow in his chest and without changing position, was still moving\nhis lips. He murmured, \"Son of Mahadeva, why do you cry out? Killing is vain! The arrow cannot\nreach the soul and the victim is the conqueror of the assassin. Be victorious, Krishna, destiny is\nbeing fulfilled! I am returning to Him Who never changes. May Brahma receive my soul! But you,\nhis elect, savior of the world, stand up! Krishna! Krishna!\"\n\nAnd Krishna stood up, his hand on his sword; he wanted to strike the king, but Kansa had fled.\n\nThen a flash rent the dark sky and Krishna fell to earth, thunderstruck, paralyzed by a blinding light.\nWhile his body remained inert, his soul, united with that of the old man through power and\nsympathy, ascended into space. Earth, with its rivers, seas and continents disappeared like a black\nball, and both souls arose to the seventh heaven of the Devas, to the Father of Beings, to the Sun of\nSuns, to Mahadeva, the Divine Intelligence. They were plunged into an ocean of light, which opened\n\nbefore them. In the center of the sphere Krishna saw Devaki, his radiant mother, his glorified\nmother, who with an ineffable smile stretched forth her arms and drew him to her breast. Thousands\nof Devas came to bathe in the radiance of the Virgin Mother, as in a fountain of light. And Krishna\nfelt permeated with love from Devaki. Then from the heart of his shining mother his being radiated\nthroughout all the heavens. He felt that he was the Son, the divine soul of all beings, the Word of\nLife, the Creative Word, Superior to universal life, nevertheless he pervaded it through the essence\nof grief, through the fire of prayer and the happiness of a divine sacrifice.17\n\nWhen Krishna came to himself, thunder still rolled in the sky, the forest was dark and torrents of rain\nwere falling upon the hut. A gazelle was licking the bloodstained body of the slain ascetic. \"The\nmajestic old man\" was but a corpse. But Krishna arose as if revived. An abyss separated him from\nthe world and its vain appearance. He had lived the great truth; he understood his mission.\n\nAs for Kansa, filled with terror he was fleeing through the storm in his chariot, and his horses\ngalloped as if flogged by a thousand demons.\n\nNotes for this chapter:\n\n15. In ancient India these two functions were often combined. The drivers of kings' chariots were\nimportant persons, and often were the monarchs' ministers. Examples of this abound in Hindu\npoetry.\n\n16. In Brahman initiation this means Supreme God, God-Spirit. Each of its letters corresponds to one\nof the divine qualities, that is, to one of the members of the Trinity.\n\n17. The legend of Krishna helps us to comprehend at its very source the idea of the Virgin Mother,\nof the Man-God, and of the Trinity. In India this idea appears from the first in its transparent\nsymbolism with its profound metaphysical meaning. In Book V, Chapter II the Vishnu Purana,\nhaving related the conception of Krishna by Devaki adds, \"No one could look upon Devaki because\nof the light which surrounded her, and those who saw her radiance felt troubled in mind; the gods,\ninvisible to mortals, continually sang her praises, since Vishnu was embodied in her. They would\nsay, You are that infinite, subtle Prakriti who once bore Brahma in her womb; you were then the\ngoddess of the Word, the Energy of the Creator of the Universe, and the Mother of the Vedas. O\neternal being, who contains in your substance the essence of all created things, you were identical\nwith creation; you were the sacrifice from which all that earth produces originates; you are the wood\nwhich in its rubbing engenders fire. Like Aditi, you are the mother of the gods; like Diti, you are the\nmother of the Datyas, their enemies. You are the light from which the day is born; you are humility,\nmother of true wisdom; you are the mother of Order; you are Desire from which love is born; you\nare Satisfaction from which resignation is derived; you are Intelligence, mother of Silence; you are\nPatience, mother of Courage; all the firmament and the stars are your children, all that exists\noriginates in you. You went down to earth for the salvation of the world. Have compassion on us, O\ngoddess, and show yourself kindly disposed toward the universe; be proud of bearing the god who\nsustains the world!\" -- This passage proves that the Brahmans identified Krishna's mother with\nuniversal substance and the feminine element in nature. They made her the second member of the\ndivine trinity, of the initial unmanifest triad. The Father, Nara (Eternal Masculine); the mother, Nari\n(Eternal Feminine) and the Son, Viradi (Word-Creator), are the divine qualities. In other words, the\nintellectual element, the plastic element, the productive element. All three together constitute natura\nnaturans, to use Spinoza's term. The organic world, the living universe, natura naturata is the\nproduct of the Word-Creator who in turn is manifest in three forms: Brahma, Spirit, corresponding\nto the divine world; Vishnu, Soul, corresponding to the human world; Siva, body, corresponding to\nthe natural world. In these three worlds the male element and the female element (essence and\n\nsubstance) are equally active, and the Eternal Feminine is seen at the same time in terrestrial, human\nand divine nature. Isis is threefold in nature, and so is Cybele.\n\nThus it is clear that the double trinity, that of God and that of the universe, contains the elements and\nframework of a theodicy and a cosmogony. It is correct to recognize that this basis came from India.\nAll the ancient temples, all the great religions and many outstanding philosophers have adopted it.\nFrom the time of the Apostles and during the early centuries of Christianity, the Christian initiates\nrevered the female element in visible and invisible nature under the name of the Holy Spirit,\nrepresented by a dove, the symbol of feminine power in all the temples of Asia and Europe. If since\nthat time the Church has hidden or lost the key to its Mysteries, their meaning is still written in its\nsymbols.\n\n11. The Teaching of the Initiates\n\nKrishna was greeted by the anchorites as the anticipated, predestined successor to Vasichta. They\nperformed the srada or funeral ceremony for the holy old man in the sacred forest, and Devaki's son\nreceived the staff with its seven nodes as a sign of command, after having performed the sacrifice of\nfire in the presence of the three eldest anchorites who knew the three Vedas by heart. Then Krishna\nwithdrew to Mount Meru to think upon his teaching and the way of salvation for all men. His\nmeditation and austerities lasted seven years. At the end of that time he felt that he had subdued his\nearthly nature through his divine nature, and that he had become sufficiently identified with the son\nof Mahadeva to merit the name, the son of God. Then only did he call to him the anchorites, young\nand old, in order to reveal his teaching to them. They found Krishna purified and matured; the hero\nhad changed into the saint; he had not lost his lion's strength, but he had gained the gentleness of the\ndove. Among those who hastened to Krishna, the first to come to him was Arjuna, a descendant of\nthe solar kings, one of the Pandavas dethroned by the Kuravas, or lunar kings. Young Arjuna was\nfull of fire, but was easily discouraged and inclined to doubt. He became deeply attached to Krishna.\n\nSeated under the cedars of Mount Meru, facing the Himavat, Krishna began to speak to his students\nabout truths inaccessible to men who live in slavery to the senses. He taught them the doctrine of the\nimmortal soul, its rebirths and its mystic union with God. The body, he said, covering of the soul\nwhich makes its home there, is a finite thing, but the soul which inhabits the body is invisible,\nimponderable, incorruptible and eternal. Earthly man is threefold, like the divinity he reflects: spirit,\nsoul and body. If the soul unites with the spirit, it attains Satwa, wisdom and peace; if it remains\nwavering between spirit and body, it is ruled by Raja, passion, and goes from object to object in a\nfatal circle; if it gives itself over to the body, it falls into Tama, irrationality, ignorance and\ntemporary death. Every man can observe this in himself and in those around him.\n\n\"But,\" asked Arjuna, \"what is the fate of the soul after death? Does it always obey the same law, or\nJ y' y\ncan it escape it?\"\n\n\"It never escapes it, but always obeys it,\" answered Krishna. \"This is the mystery of rebirth. As the\ndepths of heaven open to the lights of the stars, so the depths of life are illumined in the light of this\ntruth. When the body is dissolved, when Satwa, wisdom, has the upper hand, the soul flies to the\nregions of those pure beings who have knowledge of the Most High. When the body experiences this\ndissolution while Raja, passion, rules, the soul comes again to live among those who have become\nattached to the things of earth. Likewise, if the body is destroyed when Tama, ignorance,\npredominates, the soul, overshadowed by matter is again attracted by irrational beings.\"\n\n\"That is right,\" said Arjuna. \"But tell us now, in the course of centuries what becomes of those who\nhave followed wisdom, and who go to live in the divine worlds after death?\"\n\n\"Man, overtaken by death during devotion,\" answered Krishna, \"having enjoyed the rewards of his\nvirtues in the higher regions for several centuries, finally returns again to inhabit a body in a holy\nand respectable family. But that kind of regeneration in this life is very difficult to obtain. The man\nso born again finds himself with the same degree of application and advancement as regards the\nunderstanding that he had in his first body, and again he begins to work in order to perfect himself\nthrough devotion.\"\n\n\"So then,\" said Arjuna, \"even the good are required to be born anew, to begin the life of the body\nagain! But tell us, O Lord of Life, for the one who seeks after wisdom is there no end at all to\neverlasting rebirths?\"\n\n\"Listen,\" said Krishna, \"to a very great and deep secret, to the sovereign, sublime, and pure mystery.\nIn order to reach perfection it is necessary to acquire knowledge of oneness, which is above wisdom;\nit is necessary to lift oneself to the divine Being who is above the soul and even above intelligence.\nNow this divine being, this sublime friend, is in each one of us. For God dwells within every man,\nbut few know how to find Him. And this is the way to salvation. Once you have seen the Perfect\nBeing Who is above the world and within you, resolve to leave the enemy which takes the form of\ndesire. Overcome your passions. The joys of the senses are like the matrices of sorrows to come. Not\nonly do good, but be good. Let the motive be in the deed, not in the reward. Renounce the fruit of\nyour works, but let each of your acts be like an offering to the Supreme Being. The man who\nsacrifices his desires and works to the Being in Whom the beginnings of all beings originate, and by\nWhom the universe was formed, obtains perfection through his sacrifice. Spiritually integrated, he\nattains that spiritual wisdom which is above the cult of offerings, and experiences a divine\nhappiness. For one who finds his happiness and his joy within himself and within himself finds light\nas well, is at one with God. Now, hear this: The soul which has found God is freed from rebirth and\ndeath, from old age and pain and drinks the water of immortality.\"\n\nThen Krishna explained his teaching to his students and through inner contemplation he lifted them\ngradually to the sublime truths which had been unfolded to him in the experience of his vision.\nWhen he spoke of Mahadeva, his voice became more serious, his countenance was illuminated. One\nday, filled with curiosity and boldness, Arjuna said to him, \"Let us see Mahadeva in his divine form!\nCannot our eyes behold him?\"\n\nThen Krishna, standing, began to speak about the Being Who breathes in all beings, the Being with a\nhundred thousand forms, innumerable eyes, faces turning in all directions, and Who nevertheless is\ngreater than they by all the heights of infinity; Who in His motionless, limitless body contains the\nmoving universe with all its divisions. \"If in the heavens the splendor of a thousand suns glittered at\nthe same time,\" said Krishna, \"this would hardly resemble the splendor of the only All-Powerful.\"\nWhile he thus spoke of Mahadeva, such light streamed from Krishna's eyes that his students could\nnot bear its brightness, and knelt at his feet. Arjuna's hair stood up on his head, and bowing deeply,\nhe said, \"Master, your words frighten us and we cannot bear the sight of the Great Being you portray\nbefore our eyes. It overwhelms us.\"\n\nKrishna continued, \"Listen to what He tells you through me. You and I have had several births. Mine\nare known only to me, but you do not know yours. Although by my nature I am not subject to birth\nor death, and although I am the master of all creatures, nevertheless, since I command my being, I\nbecome visible through my own power. Every time virtue wanes in the world and vice and injustice\nare victorious, I become visible, and thus I appear from age to age for the salvation of the righteous,\nthe destruction of the wicked and the reestablishment of virtue. One who really knows my nature and\nmy divine work, upon leaving his body does not return to a new birth, but comes to me.\"\n\nSpeaking thus, Krishna looked upon his students with tenderness and kindness. Arjuna cried out,\n\"Lord! You are our Master, you are the son of Mahadeva! I see him in your kindness, in your\n\nineffable charm, even more than in your terrible brightness! It is not in the overpowering heights of\ninfinity that the Devas seek you and want you! It is in human form that they love and adore you.\nNeither penitence nor almsgiving, nor the Villas, nor sacrifice are worth a single one of your\nglances. You are truth! Lead us to the fight, to the battle, to death! Wherever it is, we will follow\nyou!\"\n\nSmiling and enraptured, the students pressed closer to Krishna, saying, \"Why didnt we recognize it\nsooner? Mahadeva is speaking through you!\" Krishna answered, \"Your eyes were not open. I have\ngiven you the great secret. Tell it only to those who can understand it. You are my chosen ones. You\nsee the purpose; the crowd, sees only the end of the road. And now let us preach to the people the\nway of salvation!\"\n\nNotes for this lecture:\n\n18. The statement of this doctrine, which later became Plato's, is found in the first book of the\nBhagavad Gita in the form of a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna.\n\n12. Triumph and Death\n\nHaving taught his students on Mount Meru, Krishna accompanied them along the banks of the\nJamaina and Ganges in order to convert the people. One evening on the outskirts of a city, the crowd\ngathered around him. What he preached to the people above all was charity toward one's neighbor.\n\"The evils with which we torment our neighbor,\" he said, \"follow us, just as our shadow follows our\nbody. Works which have love for one's fellow man as a basis are those which must be pursued by\nthe righteous, for they are those which will weigh most on the heavenly scale. If you go only among\nthe good, your example will be useless; do not be afraid to live among the wicked in order to lead\nthem back to the good! The virtuous man is similar to the huge banyan tree whose beneficent shade\ngives freshness of life to the plants surrounding it!\" Sometimes Krishna, whose soul now overflowed\nwith a perfume of love, spoke of abnegation and sacrifice in a gentle voice and with appealing\nillustrations. \"Just as earth supports those who tread upon her with their feet and tear up her womb\nwhile tilling the soil, so we must return good for evil. -- The good man must fall under the blow of\nthe wicked as the sandalwood tree scents the hatchet which strikes it when it is hewn down.\" When\nthe demi-savants, infidels and arrogant asked him to explain the nature of God, he answered in\nsentences like these: \"Man's knowledge is but vanity; all his good actions are illusion when he does\nnot know how to relate them to God. One who is humble in heart and spirit is beloved of God; he\ndoes not need anything else. Infinity and space alone can understand infinity; only God can\nunderstand God.\"\n\nThese were not the only new things in his teaching. He captivated and won people with what he said\nabout the living God, about Vishnu. He taught that the Master of the Universe had incarnated more\nthan once among men. He had appeared successively in the Seven Rishis, in Vyasa and in Vasichta.\nHe would appear again. But Vishnu, according to Krishna, liked to speak sometimes through the\nmouths of the humble, through a beggar, a repentant woman, a little child. He told the people the\nparable of Durga, the poor fisherman, who had found a little child dying of hunger under a tamarind\ntree. The good Durga, although crippled by pain and burdened with a large family which he did not\nknow how he could feed, was moved with pity for the little child and took him home. Now the sun\nhad set, the moon was rising over the Ganges, the family had said the evening prayer and the little\nchild murmured in a low voice, \"The fruit of the cataca purifies water; thus good deeds purify the\nsoul. Take your nets, Durga. Your boat is floating on the Ganges.\" Durga lowered his nets and they\n\nwere weighed down by the great number of fish. The child had disappeared. \"Thus,\" said Krishna,\n\"when man forgets his own misery for another's, Vishnu reveals himself and makes him happy in his\nheart!\" By such stories Krishna preached the cult of Vishnu. Each man was amazed to find God so\nnear his heart, when the son of Devaki spoke.\n\nThe reputation of the prophet of Mount Meru spread over India. The shepherds who had seen him\ngrow up and had witnessed his first exploits, could not believe that this holy man was the impetuous\nhero they had known. Old Nanda was dead, but his two daughters, Sarasvati and Nichdali, whom\nKrishna loved, were still alive. Their destinies had been very different. Sarasvati, annoyed at\nKrishna's departure, had sought forgetfulness in marriage. She had become the wife of a man of\nnoble caste, who had married her for her beauty, but later he had repudiated her and sold her to a\nvaysia, or merchant. Sarasvati had left this man out of contempt, to become a woman of low repute.\nThen one day, desolate in heart, heavy with remorse and displeasure, she returned to her country and\nwent secretly to find her sister, Nichdali. The latter, forever thinking of Krishna as if he were\npresent, had not married at all and lived as a servant with her brother. When Sarasvati told her of her\nmisfortunes and shame, Nichdali answered, \"My poor sister! I forgive you, but my brother will not.\nKrishna alone can save you!\"\n\nA flame shone in Sarasvati's lifeless eyes. \"Krishna!\" she exclaimed. \"What has he become?\"\n\"A saint, a great prophet. He preaches on the banks of the Ganges.\"\n\n\"Let us find him!\" cried Sarasvati. And the two sisters set out, the one stained with passion, the other\nperfumed with innocence. Yet both were consumed by the same love.\n\nKrishna was teaching his doctrine to the warriors or Kshatryas, for he alternately taught the\nBrahmans, the men of military caste, and the people. To the Brahmans he explained with the calm of\nmature years the deep truths of divine knowledge; before the rajahs he extolled with the fire of youth\nthe virtues of warriors; to the people he spoke with the simplicity of childhood, of charity,\nresignation and hope.\n\nKrishna was seated at a feast in the home of a famous leader when two women asked to be presented\nto the prophet. They were allowed to enter because of their penitents' dress. Sarasvati and Nichdali\nknelt at Krishna's feet. Sarasvati cried out, shedding a flood of tears, \"Since you left us, I have spent\nmy life in wrongdoing and in sin; but if you will, Krishna, you can save me!\"\n\nNichdali added, \"O Krishna, when I saw you before, I knew I would love you forever; now that I\nfind you again in all your glory I know that you are the son of Mahadeva!\" And both of them kissed\nhis feet.\n\nThe rajahs said, \"Holy Rishi, why do you allow these common women to insult you with their\nfoolish words?\"\n\nKrishna answered, \"Let them pour out their hearts. They are worth more than you, for this one has\nfaith, and that one, love. Sarasvati, the sinner, is saved as of now because she believed in me, and\nNichdali, in her silence has loved truth more than you with your shouting. Be it known that my\nradiant mother who lives in Mahadeva's sun will teach Nichdali the mysteries of eternal Love when\nall of you will be plunged in the darkness of lower lives!\"\n\nFrom that day on, Sarasvati and Nichdali became closely attached to Krishna and followed him with\nhis disciples. Inspired by him, they taught other women.\n\nKansa still reigned in Madura. Since the murder of old Vasichta, the king had not found peace on his\nthrone. The prophecy of the anchorites had come true. Devaki's son was alive! The king had seen\nhim, and at his gaze he had felt his power and royalty disappear. Like a dry leaf he trembled for his\nlife, and often, in spite of his guards, he would turn around suddenly, expecting to see the young\nhero, terrible and radiant, standing at his door. For her part, Nysumba, tossing on her couch in her\napartments, dreamed of her lost powers. When she learned that Krishna, now a prophet, was\npreaching on the banks of the Ganges, she persuaded the king to send a troop of soldiers to bring him\nback captive.\n\nWhen Krishna saw the soldiers he smiled and said, \"I know who you are and why you come. I am\nready to follow you to your king, but first, let me tell you about the King of Heaven who is mine!\"\nAnd he began to speak about Mahadeva, his splendor and his revelations. When he had finished, the\nsoldiers presented their arms to Krishna, saying, \"We shall not take you as a prisoner to our king, but\nwe shall follow you.\" And they remained with him.\n\nWhen he learned this, Kansa was very frightened. Nysumba said to him, \"Send the finest soldiers in\nthe kingdom!\"\n\nThis was done, and they came to the city where Krishna was teaching. They had promised not to\nlisten to him, but when they saw the radiance of his countenance, the majesty of his carriage and the\nrespect the crowd showed him, they could not help hearing him. Krishna spoke to them of the inner\nservitude of those who do evil, and the heavenly freedom of those who do good. The Kshatryas were\nfilled with joy and surprise, for they felt relieved of a tremendous burden. \"Truly you are a great\nmagician,\" they said, \"for we had sworn to lead you to the king in chains, but it is impossible for us\nto do this since you have freed us from ours.\"\n\nThey returned to Kansa and said to him, \"We cannot bring this man to you! He is a great prophet and\nyou have nothing to fear from him.\"\n\nThe king, seeing that all was useless, had his guard increased and iron chains put on all the gates of\nhis palace. Nevertheless, one day he heard a great noise in the city and shouts of joy and triumph.\nThe guards came and exclaimed, \"It is Krishna entering Madura! The people are forcing the gates;\nhe is breaking the iron chains!\" Kansa wanted to flee, but the guards themselves compelled him to\nremain on his throne.\n\nFollowed by his students and a great number of anchorites, Krishna was making his entry into\nMadura. The city was decked with flags and in the midst of a turbulent host of people who\nresembled a sea disturbed by the wind, Krishna entered the city beneath a shower of garlands and\nflowers. Everyone acclaimed him. The Brahmans stood grouped under the sacred banana trees\nbefore the temples in order to greet Devaki's son, the conqueror of the serpent; the hero of Mount\nMeru, but above all, the prophet of Vishnu. Followed by a brilliant procession, hailed as liberator by\nthe people and the kshatryas, Krishna appeared before the king and queen.\n\n\"You have reigned only with violence and evil,\" said Krishna to Kansa, \"and you deserve a thousand\ndeaths because you killed the holy elder, Vasichta. Nevertheless, you will not die yet. I want to\nprove to the world that it is not in killing that one triumphs over one's conquered enemies, but in\nforgiving them!\"\n\n\"Evil magician,\" said Kansa, \"you have stolen my crown and my kingdom! Kill me!\"\n\n\"You speak like a madman,\" said Krishna, \"for if you died in your present state of irrationality,\nhardness and crime, you would be lost irrevocably in the other life. If, on the other hand, you begin\n\nto understand your folly and repent in this one, your punishment will be less in the other, and\nthrough the intercession of pure spirits, one day Mahadeva will save you.\"\n\nNysumba whispered into the king's ear, \"Fool! Take advantage of his pride! While one is alive, the\nhope for vengeance remains!\"\n\nKrishna understood what she had said without having heard it. He looked at her severely, but with\ngreat pity. \"O wretched one, always your poison! Corrupter, black magician, you have nothing in\nyour heart but the venom of serpents! Extirpate it, or one day I shall be forced to crush your head! --\nAnd now you will go with the king to a place of penitence to expiate your crimes under the\nsupervision of the Brahmans.\"\n\nAfter these events, with the consent of the noblemen and people of the kingdom, Krishna\nconsecrated Arjuna, his disciple, the most illustrious descendant of the solar race, as king of Madura.\nHe gave supreme authority to the Brahmans, who became the king's advisors. He himself remained\nleader of the anchorites, who formed the superior council of Brahmans. In order to remove this\ncouncil from attacks, he had a fortified city built for them and himself in the mountains. It was\nprotected by a high wall, and was called Dvarka. In the center of this city was placed the temple of\nthe initiates, the most important part of which was hidden underground.\"\n\nBut when the kings of the lunar cult learned that a king of the solar cult had again ascended the\nthrone of Madura and that through him the Brahmans were to become masters of India, they formed\na powerful league among themselves in order to overthrow him. Arjuna gathered around him all the\nkings of the solar cult, of the white Aryan, Vedic tradition. From the heart of the temple of Dvarka,\nKrishna observed and guided them. The two armies found themselves face to face, and the decisive\nbattle was imminent. But Arjuna, his master no longer near him, was troubled and his courage\nweakened. One morning at daybreak Krishna appeared in the tent of the king, his disciple. \"Why,\"\nasked the master severely, \"have you not begun the battle, which is to decide whether the sons of the\nsun or the sons of the moon will reign on earth?\"\n\n\"Without you I cannot do it,\" answered Arjuna. \"Look at these two great armies, these multitudes\nwho are about to kill each other!\"\n\nFrom the height where they stood, the lord of spirits and the king of Madura looked upon the two\ngreat armies drawn up opposite each other. The leaders' gilded coats of mail shone in the sun;\nthousands of cavalrymen, horses and elephants awaited the battle signal. At that moment the leader\nof the enemy army, the oldest of the Kuravas, blew his great shell, whose sound resembled the\nroaring of a lion. At once on the vast battlefield was heard the neighing of horses, the confused noise\nof arms, drums and trumpets. There was a great uproar. Arjuna had only to mount his chariot, drawn\nby white horses, and to blow his sea shell of celestial blue, in order to give the battle signal to the\nsons of the sun. But here was the king, overcome by pity and discouragement. \"Upon seeing this\nmultitude about to attack each other, I feel my limbs weaken, my mouth is parched, my body\ntrembles, my hair stands on end, my skin burns, my head swims. I see evil signs! No good can come\nfrom this massacre! What shall we do with kingdoms, pleasures and even with life? Those very men\nfor whom we want kingdoms, pleasures and joys are standing there ready to fight each other,\nforgetting their lives and their possessions. Teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, uncles, grandsons,\nrelatives are going to slaughter one another. I do not wish to kill them in order to reign over this\nearth! What pleasure can I find in killing my enemies? Once the traitors are dead, evil will fall upon\nus!\"\n\n\"How,\" asked Krishna, \"has this plague of fear gripped you? It is unworthy of a sage; it is the source\nof infamy, alienating us from heaven! Do not be a weakling! Stand on your feet!\"\n\nBut Arjuna, overcome with discouragement, sat in silence. Finally he said, \"I shall not fight.\"\n\nThen Krishna, ruler of spirits, continued with a slight smile, \"O Arjuna, I called you king of sleep so\nthat your spirit might always watch, but your spirit has fallen asleep and your body has conquered\nyour soul! You weep over those for whom one should not mourn, and your words lack wisdom.\nWise men weep neither for the living nor for the dead. You and I and those leaders of men have\nalways existed, and we shall never cease to exist in the future. Just as the soul experiences\nchildhood, youth and old age in this body, so will it experience it in other bodies. A man of\ndiscernment is not disturbed about it. Son of Bharat, bear pain and pleasure with the same spirit!\nThose whom they no longer affect deserve immortality. Those who see the real essence see the\neternal, everlasting truth, which is above soul and body. Truth lives through everything, is above\ndestruction. No one can destroy the indestructible. All these bodies will not last, and you know it.\nBut seers know also that the incarnate soul is everlasting, indestructible and infinite. Therefore you\nmust fight, descendant of Bharat!\n\n\"Those who believe that the soul can kill or that it is killed, are equally mistaken. The soul does not\nkill, neither is it killed. It is not born, it does not die and cannot lose this being which it always has\nhad. Just as an individual throws away old clothing to put on new, so the incarnate soul casts off one\nbody to take on others. Sword does not cut it, nor does fire burn it, water wet it, nor air wither it. It is\nwaterproof, incombustible, durable, strong, eternal. The soul passes through everything unharmed.\nTherefore you should worry neither about death nor about life, O Arjuna! For one who is born, death\nis certain; for one who dies, birth is sure. Face your duty without flinching; for a kshatrya nothing is\nbetter than a fair fight. Happy are the warriors who find battle an open door to heaven! But if you do\nnot wish to fight this just battle, you will sink into sin, giving up your duty and reputation. All beings\nwill speak of your everlasting infamy, and infamy is worse than death for one who has been\nhonored!\"\n\nAt these words of the master, Arjuna was seized with shame, feeling his royal blood surge up, along\nwith his courage. He leaped into his chariot and gave the battle signal. Then Krishna said farewell to\nhis followers and left the battlefield, for he was certain of the victory of the sons of the sun.\n\nHowever, Krishna had perceived that in order to cause the defeated ones to accept his religion, it was\nnecessary to win their souls. This would be a more difficult victory than that with arms. Just as the\nholy Vasichta had died, pierced by an arrow in order to reveal supreme truth to Krishna, so Krishna\nhad to die voluntarily from the arrows of his moral enemy in order to plant in the heart of his\nadversary the faith he had preached to his students and to the world. He knew that the former king of\nMadura, far from doing penance, had taken refuge with his father-in-law, Kalayeni, king of the\nserpents. Kansa's hatred, constantly aroused by Nysumba, caused Krishna to be followed by spies,\nseeking the appropriate moment to strike him. But Krishna felt that his mission was ended and only\nrequired the supreme seal of sacrifice in order for it to be fulfilled. Therefore he stopped evading and\nparalyzing his enemy with the power of his will. He knew that if he ceased to protect himself with\nthis hidden power, the long awaited blow would strike him in the darkness. But the son of Devaki\nwished to die far from men, in the solitude of Himavat. There he would feel nearer his radiant\nmother, the sublime old man and the sun of Mahadeva.\n\nTherefore Krishna went to a retreat which was hidden in a lonely place at the foot of the lofty\nsummits of the Himavat. None of his students had fathomed his plan. Only Sarasvati and Nichdali\nread it in their teacher's eyes by means of the divination which exists in woman and in love. When\nSarasvati understood that Krishna wished to die, she threw herself at his feet, kissed them\npassionately and cried, \"Master, do not leave us!\"\n\nNichdali looked at him and said quietly, \"I know where you are going. Since we love you, let us\nfollow you!\"\n\nKrishna said, \"In my heaven, love can be refused nothing. Come!\"\n\nAfter a long journey the prophet and the holy women reached the huts grouped about the tall, bare\ncedar, on a snowcapped rocky mountain. On one side, arose the immense domes of the Himavat; on\nthe other, in the depths, were a maze of lower mountains; in the distance stretched the plain of India,\nlost in a dream-like, golden mist. In this retreat lived several penitents, dressed in bark clothing, their\nhair uncut and twisted in a knot, their beards long, bodies dirty and dusty, their limbs withered by the\nwind and the hot sun. Some were little more than dried skin on a dry skeleton. Upon seeing this sad\nplace Sarasvati cried, \"Earth is far away, and heaven is silent. Lord, why have you brought us to this\nspot, forsaken by God and men?\"\n\n\"Pray,\" replied Krishna, \"if you want earth to come near and heaven to speak to you.\"\n\"With you, heaven is always present,\" said Nichdali, \"but why does heaven wish to leave us?\"\ny ys p y\n\n\"It is necessary,\" answered Krishna, \"that the son of Mahadeva die, pierced by an arrow, in order\nthat the world may believe his word.\"\n\n\"Explain this mystery to us!\"\n\"You will understand it after my death. Let us pray.\"\n\nFor seven days they engaged in prayer and ablutions. Often Krishna's face became transfigured and\nwas shining. On the seventh day, toward sunset, the two women saw archers coming up to the\nretreat.\n\n\"Here are Kansa's archers who are looking for you,\" said Sarasvati. \"Master, defend yourself!\"\ng tor y y\n\nKrishna, kneeling near the cedar tree, did not cease praying. The archers came and looked at the\nwomen and the penitents. They were rough soldiers with yellow and black skins. Seeing the ecstatic\nform of the saint, they were speechless. At first they tried to draw him out of his ecstasy by throwing\nstones at him, but nothing could make him abandon his immobility. Then the soldiers seized him and\ntied him to the trunk of the cedar tree. Krishna let this be done as if he were in a dream. The archers\ntook their positions at a distance and began to shoot at him. When the first arrow pierced him,\nKrishna cried out, \"Vasichta, the sons of the sun are victorious!\" When the second arrow quivered in\nhis flesh, he said, \"My radiant mother, let those who love me enter with me into your glory!\" At the\nthird, he simply said, \"Mahadeva!\" And then with the name of Brahma, he gave up his spirit.\n\nKrishna's body was burned by his followers in the holy city of Dvarka. Sarasvati and Nichdali threw\nthemselves into the fire so they could join their teacher. The crowd thought they saw Mahadeva arise\nout of the flames in a body of light.\n\nAfter these events became known, a great part of India embraced the cult of Vishnu, which\nreconciled the solar and lunar cults in the religion of Brahma.\n\nNotes for this chapter:\n\n19. The Vishnu-Purana, Book V, Chapters 22 and 30 speaks of this city in rather clear terms:\n\"Krishna resolved therefore to build a citadel where the tribe of Yadu would find a safe refuge, and\nwhich would be such that even women could defend it. The city of Dvarka was protected by raised\nramparts, beautified by gardens and fish ponds, and was as splendid as Amarasvati, Indra's city. In\n\nthis city he planted the Paryata tree, whose sweet scent perfumes the earth afar off. All those who\napproached it found themselves able to recall their previous lives.\"\n\nThis tree is evidently the symbol of divine knowledge and initiation. We find the same tree in\nChaldean tradition. From there it passed to the Hebraic Genesis. After Krishna's death the city is\nsubmerged, the tree returns to heaven, but the temple remains. If all this has an historic significance,\nfor one who knows the ultra-symbolic and discrete language of the Hindus, it means that some tyrant\nor other had the city completely destroyed and initiation became more and more secret.\n\n13. The Radiance of the Solar Word\nSuch is the legend of Krishna, reconstructed in its organic whole and placed in historical perspective.\n\nIt sheds a vivid light on the origins of Brahmanism. Naturally it is impossible to establish on the\nbasis of actual documents that behind the myth of Krishna is a real person. The threefold veil which\ncovers the evolution of all oriental religions is thicker in India than elsewhere. For the Brahmans,\nabsolute masters of Hindu society, sole guardians of its traditions, often remolded and transformed\nthem in the course of ages. But they faithfully preserved all the basic elements, and if their sacred\nteaching has changed with the centuries, its core has never been touched. Therefore, unlike many\nEuropean scientists, we do not explain a figure like Krishna by saying that it is \"a fairy tale drawn\nout of a solar myth, with a philosophic fantasy to cap it all.\" We do not believe that this attitude\nexplains how a religion was established which has lasted thousands of years, has produced a\nmarvelous poetry and several great philosophers, has resisted the strong attack of Buddhism,\" the\nMongol and Mohammedan invasions and the English conquest, preserving even in its extreme\ndecadence, the feeling for its unknown and exalted origin. A great man is always involved in the\norigin of a great institution. Considering the dominant role of the character of Krishna in epic and\nreligious tradition, his human elements on the one hand and his constant identification with God\nmanifest, or Vishnu, on the other, it behooves us to believe that he was the creator of the Vishnu cult\nwhich gave Brahmanism its power and its prestige. It is therefore logical to admit that in the midst of\nthe religious and social chaos which the invasion of naturalist and passional cults made in primitive\nIndia, an enlightened reformer appeared who revived the pure Aryan doctrine with the idea of the\nTrinity and the Divine Word made manifest, who put the seal on his work by the sacrifice of his life,\nthus giving India her religious soul, her national impress and her definitive organization.\n\nKrishna's importance will appear still greater and of a truly universal nature if we recognize that his\ndoctrine contains two basic ideas, two organizing principles of religious and esoteric philosophy. I\nam speaking of the organic doctrine of the immortality of the soul or progressive lives through\nreincarnation, and his teaching of the Trinity or the Divine Word revealed in man. I have but briefly\nindicated the philosophical import of this major concept which, when thoroughly understood, brings\nabout life-giving results in all domains of science, art and life. In conclusion, I shall confine myself\nto a historical remark.\n\nThe idea that God, Truth, Infinite Beauty and Goodness are revealed in conscious man with a\nredemptive power which rises to the heights of heaven through the power of love and sacrifice -- this\nidea, fecund above all others, appears for the first time in Krishna. It is personified at the moment\nwhen, forsaking its Aryan youth, humanity is about to sink deeper and deeper into the worship of\nmatter. Krishna reveals the idea of the Holy Word; humanity will no longer forget it. Humanity will\nthirst even more for redeemers and sons of God as it realizes its decadence more keenly. After\nKrishna, the Solar Word shines powerfully in the temples of Asia, Africa and Europe. In Persia, it is\nMithras, reconcilor of the luminous Ormuzd and somber Ahriman; in Egypt, it is Horus, son of\nOsiris and Isis; in Greece, it is Apollo, god of the sun and the lyre; it is Dionysius, awakener of\n\nsouls. Everywhere the solar god is a mediating god, and light is also the Word of Life. Is it not also\nfrom this that the Messianic idea comes? Be this as it may, it is through Krishna that this idea\nentered the ancient world; it is through Jesus that it will spread over the entire earth.\n\nIn the remainder of this secret history of religions, I shall show how the teaching of the divine\nTrinity is linked to that of the soul and its evolution, and how and why they are implied in and\ncomplement one another. Let us say at once that their point of contact forms the vital center, the\nglowing crux of esoteric doctrine. In observing the great religions of India, Egypt, Greece and Judea\nmerely externally, one sees only discord, superstition, chaos. But, investigate the symbols, question\nthe Mysteries, look for the basic teaching of the founders and prophets, and harmony will be\nobserved. By varied and often indirect roads one will finally recognize that to fathom the arcana of\none of these religions is to fathom the arcana of all the others. Then a strange phenomenon comes\nabout. Bit by bit, but in a widening circle, one sees the doctrine of the initiates shine in the center of\nreligions like a sun, while each single religion appears as a different planet. With each of them we\nchange atmosphere and celestial orientation, but it is always the same sun which lights our way.\nIndia, the great dreamer, plunges us along with herself into the dream of Eternity. Grandiose Egypt,\nof deathly austerity, invites us to the journey beyond the grave. Enchanting Greece transports us to\nmagic festivals of life and gives her Mysteries the character of alternating charm and terror, and of\nher eternally passionate soul. Finally, Pythagoras scientifically formulates esoteric teaching, gives it\nperhaps the fullest and soundest expression it has ever had, for Plato and the Alexandrians were but\nits popularizers.\n\nIn the jungles of the Ganges and the solitudes of the Himalayas we have seen the source of this\nesoteric teaching.\n\nNotes for this lecture:\n\n20. Sakia-Muni's greatness resides in his sublime charity, in his moral reform and in the social\nrevolution he brought about through overthrowing the ossified castes. But Sakia-Muni added nothing\nto the esoteric doctrine of the Brahmans; he only revealed certain parts of it. Its psychology is\nfundamentally the same, though it follows a different path. (See my article on La Legende de\nBouddha in Revue des Deux Mondes, July 1,1885)\n\nIf the Buddha is not represented in this volume, this is not because we do not recognize his place in\nthe series of the Great Initiates. Rather it is because of the special plan of this book. Each of the\nreformers or philosophers selected is intended to show the doctrine of the Mysteries in a different\naspect and at another stage in its evolution. From this viewpoint, Buddha would represent a needless\nrepetition in connection with Pythagoras, through whom I developed the doctrine of reincarnation\nand evolution of souls, on the one hand, and on the other, with Jesus Christ, who promulgated for the\nWest as well as the East, the ideal of universal Brotherhood and Love.\n\nAs for the book Esoteric Buddhism by Sinnet, which in some respects is very interesting, worthy of\nbeing read, and whose origin many people attribute to self-styled initiates still living in Tibet, it is\nimpossible for me, until otherwise informed, to see anything in it but a very clever compilation of\nBrahmanism and Buddhism, with certain ideas borrowed from the Kabbala, Paracelsus, and a few\nthoughts from modern science.",
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