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Krsna: In Defence of a
Devious Divinity
1 . THE ENIGMA
Such opinions about Krsna are not simply restricted to Western Indology;
the Jainas and the Buddhists were also highly critical of the ethics of
Krsna.
In fact, the author of the Mahbhrata himself supplied a strikingly
candid list of the misdeeds perpetrated by Krsna through the mouth of the
dying Duryodhana. When Duryodhana was struck down by Bhima in an
unlawful manner (it was a de facto hitting below the belt, breaking the
ethical code of the mace-fight), and was dying, he took Krsna to task for
his questionable part in the battle of Kuruksetra. In a way Duryodhana
was right. According to him, Krsna broke the moral code of dharma in
more ways than one, whenever he found it suitable for ensuring victory
for the Pndavas. Duryodhana called Krsna 'son of a slave', for his father
Vasudeva was sort of a slave to King Karnsa.
Duryodhana continued to point out that it was Krsna who advised
Arjuna to place Sikhandin in front, while attacking Bhisma, knowing that
the grandsire would not fight Sikhandin and would let himself be mortally wounded without resistance. It was Krsna again who prevailed upon
Yudhisthira to utter that deadly lie which finally led to the killing of the
great warrior and revered teacher Droncrya. The death of Kama was
also brought about by Arjuna who attacked him in a cowardly manner
when the former was engaged in lifting his chariot-wheel from the mud
in which it got stuck. And it was Krsna who persuaded Arjuna to kill the
invincible Kama in this manner. It was Krsna again who instigated
Styaki to butcher Bhrisravas when his right arm had been cut off. Thus
the misdeeds of Krsna were well-known and that they cannot be justified
on moral grounds was, on the surface, very obvious to any religious believer in traditional India. Can any of these be defended?
The contradictions in Krsna's activities as well as in his professed
ethical doctrine are self-evident. The Hindu believers were not unaware
of them, but still they had been undaunted by such contradictions. The list
of contradictions supplied in the above extract stands out, no matter
what. But still a tradition that is just about 2000 years old has unconsciously
believed that these contradictions must have either some deeper significance, or some plausible explanation. In fact, Krsna is not a god, but the
God for the Hindus, and yet he is very different from the God of JudeoChristian tradition, or the Allah of Islam. I am not suggesting that there
are many gods in the world today, but obviously there are many conceptions of God which have been around and well-entrenched in world
In fact, it is an uphill task for anyone who tries to see that justice was done
in the end. When the two sides were lined up for battle, it was clear that
the Kauravas represented the stronger side by all counts. The Pndava
side was weaker by comparison. On the other hand, it was the Pndavas
who were deprived of their kingdom for thirteen years through trickery
and fraud. But above all, the unprovoked insult inflicted upon the defenceless Draupad! in public was the last straw. This particular incident
could be regarded as a turning point of the moral balance in the story. This
was uncalled for and unprovoked and it was an unparadonable offence
on the part of the Kauravas. From that point onwards, as I have already
noted, it seems, the balance of justice tilted in favour of the Pndavas.
It has already been noted that the Pndava side was comparatively
weaker. The weaker side can defeat a stronger side only with the help of
a strategy, and strategies cannot always be restricted to fair and just
means. There is a touch of realism here. Idealism would have demanded
that the good be the victorious over the evil by following the ideally
constructed strategies, which should always be fair. But our story-teller
preferred realism. Our world is really an imperfect world, and this is all
we have. Our story-teller's conception of God was not that of an Almighty Deity. Throughout the Utanka episode, our story-teller consciously
108 / Philosophy,
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'I did not hope for victory, O Sanjaya, when I heard that the teacher, Drona,
was slaughtered by Dhrstadyumna. Dharma was thus violated, for Drona at
that time was sitting in his chariot unarmed.'
See Drona-Parvan, of the Mahbhrata, critical edition, Poona.
See svamedhika-Parvan of the Mahbhrata, critical edition, Poona.
Geach, P.T., Providence and Evil, Cambridge, 1977; Kenny, A., The God of
the Philosopher, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979; Mackie, J.L., 'Evil
and Omnipotence', Min d, vol. 6,1955, pp. 100-212; The Miracles of Theism,
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982.
For other ethical issues connected with the moral dilemmas, see my 'Moral
Dilemmas: Insights from Indian Epics', in Moral Dilemmas in theMahbhrata (ed. Bimal Krishna Matilal), I.I.A.S., Shimla, and Motilal Banarsidass,
Delhi, 1989.