Lord Krishna In The 21st Century
Chapter One
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The Greatest Hero
I have often pondered the very first book I ever read by Shrila Prabhupada, Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead. I remember reading about the various qualities of Lord Krishna, which taken together define and identify Him as God.
In these Western countries, when someone sees the cover of a book like Krishna, he immediately asks, ‘Who is Krishna? Who is the girl with Krishna?’ etc. The immediate answer is that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. How is that? Because he conforms in exact detail to descriptions of the Supreme Being, the Godhead. In other words, Krishna is the Godhead because He is all-attractive. Outside the principle of all-attraction there is no meaning to the word Godhead. How is it one can be all-attractive? First of all, if one is very wealthy, if he has great riches, he becomes attractive to the people in general. Similarly, if someone is very powerful, he also becomes attractive, and if someone is very unattached to all kinds of possessions, he also becomes attractive. So from practical experience we can observe that one is attractive due to 1) wealth, 2) power, 3) fame, 4) beauty, 5) wisdom, and 6) renunciation. One who is in possession of all six of these opulances at the same time, who possesses them to an unlimited degree, is understood to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
This has always struck me as something quite wonderful, and I’ve thought about these passages many times. It even dawned on me that one could say that the Lord is also the greatest hero. This is just a tremendous fact because everyone loves a hero. Indeed, mankind the world over recognizes this quality and holds any person who truly acts heroic in greatest esteem. There is the often repeated example of the man who saves a child from drowning, but drowns himself in the process. Or, at the last moment, an elderly gentleman is pushed from the path of an oncoming bus, but the hero dies saving him. Communities across America and in every country across the globe honor such heroic men and women every year. No one is more honored than the person who gives his life to save another. Even dogs are awarded medals—such as the Carnegie Medal of Honor—for acts of lifesaving valor. Furthermore, nearly the same honor is bestowed upon those who don’t die, but who clearly and unselfishly come to the rescue. Besides these outstanding individual efforts, organizations such as The Salvation Army receive award after award for their unending commitment to help in times of great need. I once worked with The Salvation Army during a dramatic fire at the Denver airport. Several large fuel tanks caught fire, which ended up burning for a week. Besides the extreme danger involved with the nature of this particular fire, the temperatures at night were well below freezing. Believe me, after five days and nights, 24 hours around the clock with countless meals fed to the firefighters, praise and admiration for The Salvation Army was broadcast all over the city. In the end, officials from Stapleton International Airport held a ceremony in their honor and handed The Salvation Army a sizeable check for "coming to the rescue." Shrila Prabhupada has pointed out that there is no greater hero than God. Additionally, it makes sense that Lord Krishna is also the most interesting person. These two facts are simply fascinating to me. For more than six years my thoughts have been preoccupied thinking about them—especially within the context of what Shrila Prabhupada wanted to accomplish. As the religious embodiment of Prabhupada’s life’s mission, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness certainly has its work cut out. But this challenge can be achieved simply by presenting Lord Krishna—as He is. This cannot be neglected. After all, to have on one hand the most interesting person, and on the other hand a boring presentation about Him, is quite a contradiction. But it happens all the time. In this regard, I think it was the great Pentecostal preacher Smith Wigglesworth who once cautioned, "Instead of praying for ten minutes and giving a one hour sermon, pray for one hour and deliver a ten-minute sermon." Consequently, besides all that goes into writing a book, this is also part of the challenge before me: to present the Lord as He is. After all, only tragic ineptness on the part of this author could result in a boring book about God. Lord Krishna is the greatest hero. Everyone loves a hero. How do we open this window for the world to see? What will happen if we successfully present Lord Krishna to the world—as He is?
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