Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.
When something untoward happens in our lives we always question Krishna, "Why me?". We then think that may be Krishna is partial to some persons and inimical to some others. Canto 7 of Srimad Bhagavatam, which is called "The Science of God", commences with the very same questions from Parikshit Maharaj to Sukadeva Goswami. He asks why the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although equal to everyone, became partial for the sake of Indra and kill his enemies? Maharaj Yudhisthira similarly questions Narada Muni how Sisupala and Dantavakra receive the mercy of the Lord and attain sayujya mukti even when they were so envious of the Lord and were always blaspheming Him from their very childhood whereas King Vena was sent to hell for blaspheming the Lord. Let us contemplate on the responses of Sukadeva Goswami and Narada Muni to these questions with the vivid examples they give to prove the position of Krishna towards everyone.
1. Lord Vishnu is transcendental to material qualities: Srimad Bhagavatam vesre 7.1.6 gives the first clue to the answer. It says,
nirguṇo ’pi hy ajo ’vyakto bhagavān prakṛteḥ paraḥ
sva-māyā-guṇam āviśya bādhya-bādhakatāṁ gataḥ
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu, is always transcendental to material qualities, and therefore He is called nirguna, or without qualities. Because He is unborn, He does not have a material body to be subjected to attachment and hatred. Although the Lord is always above material existence, through His spiritual potency He appeared and acted like an ordinary human being, accepting duties and obligations, apparently like a conditioned soul.
All the material sufferings in the form of happiness and miseries is because we have accepted the material body and Krishna being unborn and having a spiritual body, cannot be affected by the material modes. Just as in the case of Lord Rama, He appeared to grieve so much when Ravana abducts Sita but, at the same time, He gives up Sita at some words of a simple washerman. So it is clear that He is above the modes and not affected by them. But He accepts and acts apparently like an ordinary human being. This is the completeness of the Lord. He can do anything, whether material or spiritual. So when He kills demons it is His mercy, when He protects demigods it is His mercy. Everything is His mercy. In Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6, from verse 37 to 43, when Arjuna asks the doubt what happens to the unsuccessful transcendentalist who falls down due to worldly mindedness, Krishna replies that he is given chance again in his next life to continue the process to make further progress to achieve complete success and attain the supreme goal.
From material point of view also, if we see the 12th chapter of Canto 6 of Srimad Bhagavatam, Indra was never free of anxiety whereas Vrtrasura was always at peace even when he was defeated in the battle and that is why he was liberated. Indra wanted all opulence and the Lord granted him his wish, but anxiety is part of the bargain. Even after killing Vrtrasura he wants to kill the 49 Marut ganas. In the purport of SB 6.12.8, Prabhupada writes that actually Indra is asura and Vrtrasura is sura. So actually if we see, it is Vrtrasura who was favoured by Krishna by giving him liberation rather than Indra who is never free from anxiety.
The material qualities sattva guna, rajo guna and tamo guna belong to the material world and do not touch the Supreme Lord. SB 6.4.29 says,
yad yan niruktaṁ vacasā nirūpitaṁ
dhiyākṣabhir vā manasota yasya
mā bhūt svarūpaṁ guṇa-rūpaṁ hi tat tat
sa vai guṇāpāya-visarga-lakṣaṇaḥ
Anything expressed by material vibrations, anything ascertained by material intelligence and anything experienced by the material senses or concocted within the material mind is but an effect of the modes of material nature and therefore has nothing to do with the real nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Lord is beyond the creation of this material world, for He is the source of the material qualities and creation. As the cause of all causes, He exists before the creation and after the creation. I wish to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.
He is 'guṇāpāya', the cause of the annihilation of everything made of material modes of nature. Thus Krishna is never influenced by the material qualities. Therefore there is no question of partiality in the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
We will continue with more reasons to support why Krishna is not partial to anyone in the subsequent offerings on the subject.
Thank you very much.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev,
Uma Prathap
Abu Dhabi.
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