Questions About Krishna

By Krishna's Mercy

“Is Lord Krishna really blue,
Is He not the god for only the Hindus?
Why in His hands does Krishna carry around a flute,
And why the flowers and peacock feather to boot?
Some say that Krishna is God while others say Vishnu,
Please explain these to me, for to Hinduism I am new.
Honor the carved statues of Krishna, do many take the privilege,
Trusting the Vedas, is not the worship of idols pure sacrilege?
Lord Chaitanya, who is He and what did He do?
Preach to men did He, but why not to women too?
How do I find balance between material and spiritual life?
Must I quit my job, renounce my family, home, and my wife?”
Salient, appropriate, and insightful inquiries are these,
For understanding the truths of life is surely not a breeze.
But from hearing the Vedas and Krishna’s words with humility,
Soon all of life’s questions answer will we with full certainty.

Chapters: 1. Evidence That God Exists, 2. Shyamasundara, 3. Muralidhara, 4. Vishnu and Krishna, 5. Comings and Goings, 6. A False Choice, 7. A Sight For Sore Eyes, 8. Listen To Your Heart, 9. Self-Respect, 10. ...And Mercy For All

• Language: English
• Publisher: Krishna's Mercy
• Release date: Oct 6, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465711533

Krishna's Mercy

Krishna’s Mercy is a nonprofit organization established to serve Lord Krishna. Our primary activity is to serve Lord Krishna with our thoughts, words and deeds as much as we can. Though He may be referred to by different names such as Jesus, Allah, or Krishna, God is one. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as mentioned in the ancient Vedic texts of India. Mankind can attribute all of its suffering due to forgetfulness of his relationship to God. We are all constitutionally spirit souls, but from time immemorial we are associating ourselves with our physical bodies in this material world. Thus the soul has been transmigrating from one body to another through the laws of karma. This human form of life is our opportunity to break out of this cycle of birth and death and return to our original home, with Krishna, or God.

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Questions About Krishna

Krishna’s Mercy

Published by Krishna’s Mercy at Smashwords

Copyright © 2011 Krishna’s Mercy

www.krishnasmercy.org

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Introduction

"Is Lord Krishna really blue,

Is He not the god for only the Hindus?

Why in His hands does Krishna carry around a flute,

And why the flowers and peacock feather to boot?

Some say that Krishna is God while others say Vishnu,

Please explain these to me, for to Hinduism I am new.

Honor the carved statues of Krishna, do many take the privilege,

Trusting the Vedas, is not the worship of idols pure sacrilege?

Lord Chaitanya, who is He and what did He do?

Preach to men did He, but why not to women too?

How do I find balance between material and spiritual life?

Must I quit my job, renounce my family, home, and my wife?"

Salient, appropriate, and insightful inquiries are these,

For understanding the truths of life is surely not a breeze.

But from hearing the Vedas and Krishna’s words with humility,

Soon all of life’s questions answer will we with full certainty.

Chapter 1 Evidence That God Exists

Question: Do you have any concrete evidence that God exists?

Answer: Proof of the existence of God, or a supreme divine authority figure, has been an issue since the beginning of time. There are those who simply don’t believe in a higher power, regardless of how hard they may try or want to have faith in Him. Rather, they require concrete evidence, proof of the claim that this entire creation was intelligently designed by a higher authority, someone who is immune to the effects of birth and death, heat and cold, happiness and distress. For the believers, those who have firm confidence in the existence of a singular Divine Entity, the questions pertaining to evidence supporting God’s existence certainly seem silly. The devotee sees evidence of God’s existence everywhere, at every corner of the globe and in every inch of ethereal space. Life itself is proof of spirit, for without the spiritual spark inside the body, an individual is deemed dead and useless. Just as there is life inside of a small body composed of matter, there is a more powerful life inside of the entire material cosmos. This Superior Spirit is responsible for all the workings of nature, thus any action, inward or outward, is evidence of the Supreme’s potencies. Nevertheless, there will always be skeptics, and their main bone of contention will relate to evidence. In actuality, evidence is merely a product of the material senses, and thus it can never be concrete. Rather, everyone abides by some type of faith, regardless of their spiritual persuasion. The key is to take shelter of the right kind of evidence, i.e. have faith in the right people. Following this tangible belief system ultimately leads to the greatest benefit, which is proof enough of the claims made by the faithful.

To understand the nature of evidence, let’s work through a simple example of a situation that occurs quite frequently in real life. In America and other industrialized nations, automobile accidents are quite common. For those incidents involving two motorists who are behind the wheel, the causes and effects of the crash are quite obvious. Both parties perceived with their senses the events that led to the collision. In these instances, the evidence is the eyewitness account. Other times, however, there may not be any other parties around. The hit-and-run is a not so nice part of the life of a car owner. A person parks their car in a parking lot, goes into a store or shopping mall, and then returns to see that someone has hit their car. The other driver has left the scene, so there is no evidence showing who actually committed the crime.

Yet sometimes there are supposed eyewitnesses who write down their observations. They will leave a note on the victim’s car which lists the culprit’s license plate number and a brief description of what occurred. What’s interesting, though, is that this note is not evidence enough to convict the accused of a crime; a fact which speaks to the nature of evidence and authority. A person could have witnessed the entire event firsthand and written about it on paper, but this description alone isn’t enough to convict, with the reason being that anyone can write anything. Any person, regardless of what they saw or didn’t see, could claim that another car hit a parked car. Sometimes the alleged criminal may even have dents and scratches on their car already. But regardless, there is always the possibility that the alleged criminal is innocent, that the person writing the note is either lying or has made a mistake. In these instances, it takes more evidence, or proof, to convict the criminal. Camera records are pulled and paint samples are matched. Even after finding all sorts of perceived evidence secured through an exhaustive investigation, the accusers still need to have definitive proof that the accused was driving the vehicle when the hit-and-run happened.

All of this points to the subjective nature of evidence, how it can be perceived differently by different people. Evidence is merely a recorded version of sense perceptions. A person sees, hears, tastes, smells, or touches something and then writes down their experience in a book, newspaper, website, or journal. Descriptions of the experiences can also be orally transmitted to friends, family members, and coworkers. This is how we take in all vital pieces of information. In school we read about famous figures of the past. For example, we only know that George Washington, the first President of the United States, existed because of the written evidence found in books. There are also paintings that were created, but again, the identification and authenticity of the paintings is determined by written evidence in addition to oral tradition passed down from generation to generation.

For the skeptic, successfully nullifying evidence is very easy. Everyone is prone to making mistakes, cheating, having imperfect senses, and being easily illusioned. To ere is human after all, so every one of us can make mistakes. Sometimes you can even have photographic evidence that is disputed. For example, in the National Football League, there are instant replay reviews of many controversial calls on the field. Invariably, there will be calls in a game where the announcers, referees, and players see the same video replay and reach different conclusions as to what occurred. Again, this speaks to the fact that every person has different sense perceptions, worldviews, ulterior motives, and levels of honesty.

So how do we determine what is evidence? A doubting soul may ask what evidence is there of God’s existence, but the same question can be posed to the original questioner. What proof is there that you exist? The person may retort with, Well, I’m talking to you, aren’t I? You’re seeing me, aren’t you? Isn’t that proof enough? This is a very obvious answer that actually gives us insight into solving the question about God. Surely we know someone exists when we see them and interact with them. Now let’s fast forward one hundred years. Both questioners are now dead, yet what proof is there that either person existed? If someone had written down their observations in a book and that book happened to be preserved for over one hundred years, then we could surely use that as evidence. Similarly, if the third party’s observations were verbally transmitted to a dependent, who then subsequently passed the same information down to other dependents, we could take that verbal affirmation as evidence of existence.

This situation validates the claim that one’s perceptions don’t diminish or increase over time. If I say that someone else exists today, my statement doesn’t lose value over time, nor does it become truer. The truth is the truth; the perception is the perception. Whether we fast forward one hundred years or ten thousand years, the sense perceptions are still the same; hence the evidence is always valid. At this point, a