Sri Krishna - 16,000 wives yet a Brahmachari: Part 2. Nitya Brahmachari and Nitya Upavasi

We received three comments in the last seven days: two comments for the blog, ‘Sri Krishna – 16,000 wives, yet a brahmachari’ and one comment for the blog, ‘Message from the Gospel – 19. Solitude Is Necessary’. All these comments are highly valuable as they provide new insights regarding those topics and also help us learn important lessons.

The comments received for the blog, ‘Sri Krishna – 16,000 wives, yet a brahmachari’ provided a link:

http://www.celextel.org/storiesandanecdotes/krishnanityabrahmachari.html.”

This made us aware of a site celextel.org. We visited this site and read the story mentioned in the link above. The wealth of knowledge available at celextel is simply remarkable.

Whereas our blog provided only the information about Sri Krishna’s brahmacharya, the story at celextel explains what makes Sri Krishna a nitya brahmachari. Here is the story in short:

One day, Krishna informs his wife Rukmani that Sage Durvasa is camping on the other side of the river Yamuna and tells her, “Prepare a sumptuous meal and take it to the sage and feed him. He will be pleased and will bless you.” Rukmani prepares the food but when she goes to the river, she was not able to find any boatman to take her across the river. So, she seeks the help of Krishna. He tells her, “Say to the river that the Nitya brahmachari has asked her to part and let you cross.” Rukmani was surprised but still she says what she was asked to say and the river indeed parts and lets her cross it. Rukmani goes to the sage, feeds him, and the sage was indeed pleased and he blesses her. When she has to leave, she tells him, “Please help me cross the river.” Sage Durvasa says, “Tell the river that the Nitya Upavasi [one who has never eaten food] has asked her to part and let you cross.” Again Rukmani is surprised and thinks, “Just now he had a sumptuous meal, yet he calls himself Nitya Upavasi?”  Still, she doesn’t ask him anything and follows his instruction. The river indeed parts when she tells that the Nitya Upavasi had asked her to part. Rukmani reaches the other side and unable to control her curiosity, asks Krishna, “You called yourself Nitya Brahmachari and the sage called himself Nitya Upavasi after eating the food I offered him. And the river agreed to both and parted. I am not able to understand.” Krishna laughs and tells her, “We are both realized souls. When we perform an action we understand that it is the body which is performing the action. The soul is unattached. That soul does not marry and does not take food.”

That is how Sri Krishna (his soul) is a brahmachari and Sage Durvasa (his soul) is a upavasi. Once we understand this great truth, we can lead a contended and happy life.

Is it possible to remain unattached? When we accomplish something and people praise us, do we have the humility to believe that we are not the doer? When problems confront us and we receive blows left and right, is it possible for us not to blame the Almighty for the misfortune? When we develop the equanimity of mind – to remain unperturbed in success and failure – we may think that we are getting closer to the ideal.