Five Ways Krishna Might Be Considered An Iconoclast

“Real religious principles are enacted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although fully situated in the mode of goodness, even the great rishis who occupy the topmost planets cannot ascertain the real religious principles, nor can the demigods or the leaders of Siddhaloka, to say nothing of the asuras, ordinary human beings, Vidyadharas and Charanas.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 6.3.19)

Download this episode (right click and save)

धर्मं तु साक्षाद्भ‍गवत्प्रणीतं
न वै विदुऋर्षयो नापि देवा: ।
न सिद्धमुख्या असुरा मनुष्या:
कुतो नु विद्याधरचारणादय: ॥

dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītaṁ
na vai vidur ṛṣayo nāpi devāḥ
na siddha-mukhyā asurā manuṣyāḥ
kuto nu vidyādhara-cāraṇādayaḥ

1. Stole butter

“What kind of God is this? He steals butter. He is not even polite enough to ask for it. Breaking and entering. He knows that this annoys the neighbors. He does not seem to care. He will even take the stolen goods and feed it to monkeys. Okay, this is while Krishna is a child, but you told me that God is always God; no matter how large or how small the physical stature.”

2. Killed a bull

“What kind of God is this? Is not the cow sacred to you people? Is not the cow everything in your culture? Obviously, the bull must be important, too. What kind of lord and savior kills a bull, then? Okay, it was an asura, a demon, in disguise, but that seems like a technicality. Krishna is still setting a bad example.”

3. Danced with young girls

“What kind of God is this? You try to smooth over the inconsistency by beautifully depicting the scenes in paintings. The artistry is nice, but you are not getting away so fast. Is not fidelity in marriage a key aspect to life in dharma? Krishna openly violated these sacred contracts, these agreements in marriage. What kind of spiritual leader gives in to temptation and encourages the lusty desires of other women?”

4. Killed His uncle

“What kind of God is this? In Vedic culture you are basically bowing down from the time of birth. When you see elders in the family after a long time, you touch their feet. The same for when they are leaving. You respect the aunts and the uncles. You certainly do not kill them. Krishna did just that, by punching Kamsa in the face.”

5. Invented new worship

“What kind of God is this? He makes up new forms of worship. He picks an inanimate object, like a hill, and asks the people in the village to worship it. He intentionally stops an authorized and perennially successful worship of Indra, who is the king of heaven. I would think an avatara would try to reinforce existing traditions instead of destroy them.”

“According to the instruction of Lord Krishna, Nanda Maharaja and the cowherd men called in learned brahmanas and began to worship Govardhana Hill by chanting Vedic hymns and offering prasadam. The inhabitants of Vrindavana assembled together, decorated their cows and gave them grass. Keeping the cows in front, they began to circumambulate Govardhana Hill.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 24)

…

In the same way that there is a line which divides right and wrong, up and down, and moving and staying put, there is always a choice with respect to spiritual life. A person is either aligned with dharma or they are not. They are either under the influence of maya, mistaking a snake for a rope and identifying with the temporary body, or seeing things as they are, under the Brahman vision.

This same dividing line applies to understanding the position of Shri Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If we fall to one side, we look for any point of criticism. Any blemish or mark that might invalidate the status. Finding an entryway into an area of doubt, we have the potential to demolish the entire proposal.

That is to say, we can dismiss religion as a whole. If the person everyone is worshiping is a fraud, a fake, a made-up character, then surely the same invalidity extends to the principles that the worshipers supposedly follow. It makes it even worse when those followers try to insist that others follow along, as if to bring the entire world down with them.

On the other side, we can take a rational approach and judge for ourselves whether the faults we have identified are indeed issues of concern. It is for appealing to the honest approach, for a rational study, to reach a conclusion based on a sober review that the sacred text known as Bhagavata Purana is presented in the manner that it is.

The premise of that work is knowledge of God. If we are not really sure how to define that term, Bhagavata Purana provides some clarity. If we are not really sure what religion means, there is an explanation for that, as well.

स वै पुंसां परो धर्मो
यतो भक्तिर् अधोक्षजे
अहैतुक्य् अप्रतिहता
ययात्मा सुप्रसीदति

sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā
yayātmā suprasīdati

“The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.2.6)

Bhagavata Purana, which is also known as Shrimad Bhagavatam, explains at length the position of the Supreme Lord, the living entities, the many universes, what takes place in those universes, how the elements of nature combine to create different circumstances, which always change due to the influence of time, and so forth.

अहम् एवासम् एवाग्रे
नान्यद् यत् सद्-असत् परम्
पश्चाद् अहं यद् एतच् च
यो ऽवशिष्येत सो ऽस्म्य् अहम्

aham evāsam evāgre
nānyad yat sad-asat param
paścād ahaṁ yad etac ca
yo ‘vaśiṣyeta so ‘smy aham

“Brahma, it is I, the Personality of Godhead, who was existing before the creation, when there was nothing but Myself. Nor was there the material nature, the cause of this creation. That which you see now is also I, the Personality of Godhead, and after annihilation what remains will also be I, the Personality of Godhead.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.9.33)

The origin of everything was there even before Lord Brahma, the creator, knew what to do. The same Bhagavata Purana explains that the origin of everything once appeared in this world as Shri Krishna. It would therefore only make sense that whatever Shri Krishna does is actually religion. It is indeed dharma, because Krishna is in fact the object of dharma.

मत्तः परतरं नान्यत्
किञ्चिद् अस्ति धनञ्जय
मयि सर्वम् इदं प्रोतं
सूत्रे मणि-गणा इव

mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat
kiñcid asti dhanañjaya
mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ
sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva

“O conquerer of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.7)

The rules accompany the creation. The person who is responsible for the creation has license to break the rules. He is never under the influence of karma. He is not bound to the reactions of any external force. Everything rests in Him, and so it is with great joy that devotees follow that beloved son of Yashoda, who inaugurated the first Govardhana Puja.

In Closing:

Hands with butter to fill,
His own uncle to kill.

With young girls to dance,
As if personal glory to enhance.

New worship tradition making,
And all the rules breaking.

Karma not to Krishna applying,
Since the entire universe supplying.