We all need a portrait of Lord Shree Krishna! Something to keep on one’s desk, or in one’s wallet or on a sideboard. That’s the literal variety – a picture, a painting. The play – A Portrait of Lord Shree Krishna, or Vidagdha Madhava, translated into English by Arjundas Adhikari is good too, but you need an actual picture of Krishna. There are many excellently detailed descriptions of Him in the Vedas, detailed enough that a very acceptable representation can be painted by a good artist, or indeed rendered with the help of AI.
When Brahma, the creator, saw Krishna, he was impressed:
श्रीब्रह्मोवाच
Bhagavat Purana 10.14.1
नौमीड्य तेऽभ्रवपुषे तडिदम्बराय
गुञ्जावतंसपरिपिच्छलसन्मुखाय ।
वन्यस्रजे कवलवेत्रविषाणवेणु-
लक्ष्मश्रिये मृदुपदे पशुपाङ्गजाय ॥ १ ॥
He glorified Krishna’s dark complexion as being blue as a new cloud, His clothes as being as brilliant as lightning, and His beautiful face especially handsome due to its being adorned with bright gunja-berry earrings and a shimmering plume-crown. Elsewhere, Brahma went on:
kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ
Brahma Samhita 5.30
Krishna’s beauty, he said, was extraordinary to the point of fascinating Cupid, the master of allure, indeed, Brahma ventured that Krishna’s beauty would have an army of Cupids completely spell-bound.
And Krishna is not only beautiful, He is heroic. A full picture of Krishna has us realise How powerful He is. This is especially important in the world today. What do we do faced, as we are, with a world ruled by demons? The oppression of the powers that shouldn’t be is tormenting, and it’s often that we appear to have nowhere to turn. A demon’s business is to harm, to torture, to kill, and cause fear, indeed to revel in such wickedness, but it must be known that Krishna is ever-ready and able to dispose of such evildoers. He declares so openly:
परित्राणाय साधुनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
Bhagavad Gita 4.8
धर्मसंस्थानार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥ ८ ॥
Krishna does not suffer miscreants gladly, no question, because the extremes of misery such ne’er-do-wells foster are limitless and unconscionable, and because they are arrant liars who wish to subjugate and control. Krishna incarnated for two reasons – to kill the demons, of which, there were many during His time, and to save the innocent, accomplishing both with alacrity; but furthermore, His recollection, or even having His portrait, or seeing a play about Him like Rupa Goswami’s Vidagdha Madhava, is tantamount to Krishna actually being with us here and now. And so, we may avail ourselves of a Krishna portrait, or ‘A Portrait of Lord Shree Krishna,’ and rest assured that all negativities will be diminished markedly. One useful salutary lesson of the Vedas is the recognition that divine matters are absolute, ergo: Krishna’s name is exactly the same as He Himself, for example.
Here are three powerful common-or-garden demon-types of old, whom, whilst historical, may not yet be out of circulation, and will only be sorted out effectively with the assistance of Shree Krishna…
- Rakshasas: ‘Injurers,’ nocturnal fiends, rapists.
- Yakshas: Malignant spirits causing possession.
- Pishachas: Witches/warlocks who devour young children.
Arjundas Adhikari
