Sathya Sai Baba on differences between Rama and Krishna Avatars
From Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's discourse on 4 Sept. 1996, as provided in the discourse text here: http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume29/sss29-40.pdf
The distinction between Krishna and Raama
Today we celebrate the birthday of Krishna. Where was he born? In a prison. What were his possessions? Nothing. Born in a prison, he was taken to the house of Nandha and then he went to Mathura. He owned nothing. But he became the greatest figure in the world. What does this show? Worldly possessions are not the secret of greatness. Krishna's greatness consisted in his permanent state of Aanandha (bliss).
If you recognise the distinction, between Krishna and Raama, you will appreciate better the nature of Krishna. Krishna always smiled at the outset and carried out his task later. For Raama, the deed came first and then the smile. Krishna made women cry. Raama wept for the sake of women. Raama went into the battle only after having a strong cause for it. Krishna first provoked the conflict and then determined its outcome.
The Krishna principle revels in delight. The Raama principle is based on the concept of baadhyatha (obligation).
The Raamaayana is intended to promote the reign of Truth and Righteousness on earth. The Krishna Avathaar was intended to give a perennial message to the world. He sought nothing for himself. He kept nothing for himself. He gave away everything to the people. He slayed his maternal uncle, Kamsa. He installed on the throne Kamsa's: father Ugrasena. He did not covet the Kingdom. He befriended the Paandavas, defeated the Kauravas and crowned Dharmaja as the emperor. He did not make himself king. He was a king without a crown. He was the king of kings. He had no kingdom of his own. But he ruled over the hearts of the millions. It is this profound truth that is proclaimed by the Krishna-thathva (Krishna principle).
If you enquire deeply, you will find that every Avathaar has incarnated to convey a special message and carry out a particular mission.
--- end extract ---
The above website in its index page for 1996 discourses, http://www.sssbpt.info/english/sssvol29.html, also has the discourse mp3 download link: http://dl.radiosai.org/DD_1996_09_04.mp3 (13+ MB size). The above part is slightly after 39 min 10 secs into the mp3 file. I have given a rather literal English translation below based on my middling understanding of Telugu and using the above translation as well as Prof. Anil Kumar Kamaraju's on-the-spot translation when I had doubts. I have provided some Telugu words in parentheses. [Please note that Swami would use words and phrases like bank balance that conveyed the core message to listeners. This should be properly interpreted and not taken literally.]
Krishna was born. Where was he born? What were his (aastu-paastulu) possessions? Nothing. He was born in a jail, grew up in Nanda's house, and went to Mathura. What was his property? He has no property at all. He has no (bhoomi); does not have one naya paisa bank balance. But he became the greatest person in the world. What does it mean? The worldly property is not his property. The worldly money is not his money. All these are passing clouds. That which is permanent is Anandam (happiness/bliss). Krishna was always happy (in Anandam).
If you (study) the difference well between Krishna and Rama, you can understand it easily. Krishna first (mottamodati) has the smile (navvu) and then (does) the work (pani). Rama first (mottamodati) has (does) the work and then the smile. It is Krishna who made women (strilaku/strilu) cry. It was Rama who cried for women.
[Swami's discourse literal translation continues:] Ramayana is meant to propagate truth (sathya) and righteousness (dharma). Rama + aayanam is Ramayanam. Krishna's thatwamu (principle/story) is not like that. He came to teach the world. He did not desire anything. He did not have any attachments. He gave everything to the people. He killed his maternal uncle (Menamaama) Kamsa. He gave the kingdom to Kamsa's father, Ugrasena. He (Krishna) did not take it. He went to the side of the Pandavas, defeated the Kauravas, and installed Dharmarja (Yudishtra) of the Pandavas as king/emperor. He (Krishna) did not become king/emperor. He was a king without a crown (Kiritamu leni raju). He is a king of kings (Maharaja-raja). He has no kingdom. The hearts of everybody is his kingdom. This is the kind of truth taught by Krishna (principle) (Krishnatatthwamu).
In fact, if you inquire about it you will find that each Avatar has incarnated for demonstrating (conveying) a particular (separate/different from that of other Avatars) ideal (message).
The distinction between Krishna and Raama
Today we celebrate the birthday of Krishna. Where was he born? In a prison. What were his possessions? Nothing. Born in a prison, he was taken to the house of Nandha and then he went to Mathura. He owned nothing. But he became the greatest figure in the world. What does this show? Worldly possessions are not the secret of greatness. Krishna's greatness consisted in his permanent state of Aanandha (bliss).
If you recognise the distinction, between Krishna and Raama, you will appreciate better the nature of Krishna. Krishna always smiled at the outset and carried out his task later. For Raama, the deed came first and then the smile. Krishna made women cry. Raama wept for the sake of women. Raama went into the battle only after having a strong cause for it. Krishna first provoked the conflict and then determined its outcome.
The Krishna principle revels in delight. The Raama principle is based on the concept of baadhyatha (obligation).
The Raamaayana is intended to promote the reign of Truth and Righteousness on earth. The Krishna Avathaar was intended to give a perennial message to the world. He sought nothing for himself. He kept nothing for himself. He gave away everything to the people. He slayed his maternal uncle, Kamsa. He installed on the throne Kamsa's: father Ugrasena. He did not covet the Kingdom. He befriended the Paandavas, defeated the Kauravas and crowned Dharmaja as the emperor. He did not make himself king. He was a king without a crown. He was the king of kings. He had no kingdom of his own. But he ruled over the hearts of the millions. It is this profound truth that is proclaimed by the Krishna-thathva (Krishna principle).
If you enquire deeply, you will find that every Avathaar has incarnated to convey a special message and carry out a particular mission.
--- end extract ---
The above website in its index page for 1996 discourses, http://www.sssbpt.info/english/sssvol29.html, also has the discourse mp3 download link: http://dl.radiosai.org/DD_1996_09_04.mp3 (13+ MB size). The above part is slightly after 39 min 10 secs into the mp3 file. I have given a rather literal English translation below based on my middling understanding of Telugu and using the above translation as well as Prof. Anil Kumar Kamaraju's on-the-spot translation when I had doubts. I have provided some Telugu words in parentheses. [Please note that Swami would use words and phrases like bank balance that conveyed the core message to listeners. This should be properly interpreted and not taken literally.]
Krishna was born. Where was he born? What were his (aastu-paastulu) possessions? Nothing. He was born in a jail, grew up in Nanda's house, and went to Mathura. What was his property? He has no property at all. He has no (bhoomi); does not have one naya paisa bank balance. But he became the greatest person in the world. What does it mean? The worldly property is not his property. The worldly money is not his money. All these are passing clouds. That which is permanent is Anandam (happiness/bliss). Krishna was always happy (in Anandam).
If you (study) the difference well between Krishna and Rama, you can understand it easily. Krishna first (mottamodati) has the smile (navvu) and then (does) the work (pani). Rama first (mottamodati) has (does) the work and then the smile. It is Krishna who made women (strilaku/strilu) cry. It was Rama who cried for women.
[I did not follow some of the Telugu for these crucial sentences starting at 40:29, and so have reproduced text from Radio Sai document and Prof. Anil Kumar's on-the-spot English translation. I have also given the Telugu words.
RadioSai doc. text: Raama went into the battle only after having a strong cause for it. Krishna first provoked the conflict and then determined its outcome. The Krishna principle revels in delight. The Raama principle is based on the concept of baadhyatha (obligation).
Prof. Anil Kumar on-the-spot translation (the parentheses words are added by me): It was Rama who was hurt and (then) waged war. It was Krishna who found a plea (an excuse) to fight (war). In fact, Krishna started fighting with everybody (and defeated everybody). That is the gulf of difference between Treta age and Dwapara age. The nature of Krishna is one of bliss (Anandamu). Rama stands for responsibility (duty).
Ravi: My attempt at capturing Swami's Telugu words (there could be errors as Swami was in real rapid-fire Telugu, at least for a non-Telugu fellow like me): Kaanathokkinchukoni kaayiniki poinattivaadu Ramudu. Kaanuthokki kayyaniki thesukunattuvadu Krishnudu. Andarthona yuddhaniki siddham aaiyipoyi andarni oodiste vacchadu Krishnadu. Kanukane treta yugamuluku dwapara yugamuluku undinattivanti vithyasam ilaanti (...) untayi. Krishnatattvamanettivantidi chala oka vidhamaina ... anandamaina ... tattvamu. Ramatatthawamanettivantidi oke vidhamaina ... badhyata thattwam.
Ravi: Some personal thoughts on this. In my youth I had read some accounts of Krishna's life, of course, but then I was not sure how true it was, especially the miracles/paranormal events mentioned in the accounts. Sometime in the early 1990s when I was around 30 years old, I turned to faith in Krishna and Hinduism in general due to some very tough life challenges. I had not yet got into the Sathya Sai fold and knew very little about him (Sathya Sai Baba). At that time, with faith that the scriptural accounts about Krishna are largely truthful (and not fiction), I studied the life of Krishna in an abridged version, translated to English, of the part of the Bhagavatha Purana that dealt with Krishna's life, and read some of the relevant parts of Mahabharata. I was struck by how Krishna, in the versions I read, seemed to marshal events in such a way that led to the Mahabharata war. Yes, he did act as an (unsuccessful) peace envoy too. But, overall, it seemed that he was determined to destroy most of the Kshatriya kings then as they were ignoring dharma. It was as if he felt that the Mahabharata war (great war of those days) was inevitable, and he was ready for the bloodlust and killings that happened in it, leading to tremendous sorrow for the kin of the slain, and a victory full of sorrow for the Pandavas as they too faced very heavy losses besides the sorrow of having killed their cousins (Kauravas) and other relatives.
Swami's words on Krishna above seem to confirm my views based on my limited readings on the life of Krishna. That is, Swami clearly states that Krishna fought with everybody (who strayed from Dharma) and won against everybody. He provoked the conflict (Swami must be referring to Mahabharata here). This is in marked contrast to Rama, who did not provoke conflicts but fought only when necessary/required/challenged. I find this key comparison point Swami has made between Rama and Krishna to be utterly fascinating and very insightful.]
[Swami's discourse literal translation continues:] Ramayana is meant to propagate truth (sathya) and righteousness (dharma). Rama + aayanam is Ramayanam. Krishna's thatwamu (principle/story) is not like that. He came to teach the world. He did not desire anything. He did not have any attachments. He gave everything to the people. He killed his maternal uncle (Menamaama) Kamsa. He gave the kingdom to Kamsa's father, Ugrasena. He (Krishna) did not take it. He went to the side of the Pandavas, defeated the Kauravas, and installed Dharmarja (Yudishtra) of the Pandavas as king/emperor. He (Krishna) did not become king/emperor. He was a king without a crown (Kiritamu leni raju). He is a king of kings (Maharaja-raja). He has no kingdom. The hearts of everybody is his kingdom. This is the kind of truth taught by Krishna (principle) (Krishnatatthwamu).
In fact, if you inquire about it you will find that each Avatar has incarnated for demonstrating (conveying) a particular (separate/different from that of other Avatars) ideal (message).
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