“The Trinavarta demon who took baby Krishna on his shoulder went high in the sky, but the baby assumed such a weight that suddenly he could not go any further, and he had to stop his whirlwind activities. Baby Krishna made Himself heavy and began to weigh down the demon. The Lord caught hold of his neck.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality Of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 7)

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His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains that one of the ways to describe the Supreme Personality of Godhead is Adhokshaja. This Sanskrit word can also be used to address Him. The inquisitive mind is generally not satisfied to simply follow blindly, to take the word of others, or to respect from a distance without any further approach.

Rather, the intelligent person likes to know to some degree how something works. Why is one car faster than another? Why does one television display a superior picture than another? Why is this person respected, while that person is loathed?

If God is supposed to be the topmost person, there must be some insight into that assignment. There must be a way to understand His greatness, to an extent. This explains why Vedic literature continues to expand. It is as ananta as the person serving Vishnu directly in the Vaikuntha realm.

Adhokshaja refers to someone whose qualities cannot be measured. We have an object, for instance. It has a certain size and shape. We might be able to measure the weight. These are basic statistics. We can use those measurements to compare to other objects. This is what determines bigger or smaller, higher or lower, heavier or lighter, and so forth.

God is actually beyond such measurements, but at the same time He displays a visual. The challengers are fooled by this visual. They consider Him to be limited by what is on display, but then they are in for a shock when they actually attempt to exploit the situation based on that assessment and the supposed limitations.

1. Laghima

From Krishna-lila, we have the incident of Trinavarta coming to Gokula. He is sent by King Kamsa of Mathura with ill-intent. He has this unique ability to turn into a whirlwind. Like a tornado coming to town, but with a purpose. GPS coordinates tracked to the home of Nanda and Yashoda.

Krishna is the foster-child to that couple. He is in the transcendental form of a baby, and so mother Yashoda is known to pick Him up. She takes care of Him in a loving manner. Krishna is the entire universe and more, but He is light enough to be held by affectionate devotees.

Since Krishna is also Jagannatha, He is the entire universe and more. At the same time, He can become light enough to be held. For those practicing mystic yoga, this is known as the laghima-siddhi. Through advancement in the stages, through vigorous practice and attention to the necessary conditions, a yogi can acquire this siddhi.

2. Garima

Krishna can transition from one to the other. To facilitate the desire of the asura to attack, Krishna creates a situation whereby Yashoda can no longer proceed fully in the motherly direction. The baby becomes too heavy to carry.

Nothing else has changed. It is not that Yashoda’s arms have suddenly given out. It is not like she has reached the point of failure in a set of bicep curls within a weightlifting routine. It is not that her attention drifts elsewhere or that she is ill in any way.

The same Krishna who is too heavy to be held by the mother is light enough to be carried by the whirlwind demon. Trinavarta takes Krishna high into the air. Let gravity do its magic. Carry out Kamsa’s wicked plot by using the elements of nature to their advantage.

The same baby then suddenly becomes too heavy to hold. This is the opposite side of the previous ability. This is known as the garima-siddhi. As Yogeshvara, Krishna has mastery over the different siddhis and more. He can become heavier than the heaviest at a moment’s notice.

The combination of the heaviness and strength of Krishna spelled the end for Trinavarta. It was the whirlwind who perished. To the uninitiated, it appears that Krishna used His mastery over yoga to defeat the demon, but in truth God’s ability is beyond anything we can measure. He is greater than the greatest mystic yogi, and He can change His properties observable to the external world at any time, to the delight of the devotees.

In Closing:

To admirers’ delight,
A most wonderful sight.

That before moments mere,
Held by mother dear.

But after to ground placing,
Trinavarta to scene racing.

Krishna then into sky position,
But too heavy in instant transition.

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Tags: god, hare krishna, krishna lila, poem, poems, poetry