Akrura Katha 1 – When no one understands us Krishna understands
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So, I talked about Krishna Leela having a broadly 3 divisions in 10th canto, 40 chapters for Vrindavan Leela, 10 for Mathura and 40 for you could say Dwaraka Leela or Dwaraka based Leela from where you go to different places and that the major transition in Krishna Leela is from Vrindavan to Mathura from a rural setting, from pastoral setting to a urban or a metropolitan setting and then the student comes from a village to a city or goes from India to America for studies, it's a big change in the life. And Krishna was actually very small, early around 10s, early teens when he has to make this transition. And the person who brings about this transition for him is Akrura and I talked about how Akrura stayed with Kamsa because he saw that Kamsa was both influential and influenceable, like our mind.
Our mind is influential, when it gets some idea, pushes us, pushes us, do it, do it, it just has a tremendous influence on us. But the mind is also influenceable, if somebody comes and makes a persuasive presentation, you can do this, yes, I want to do it. So, in Bhakti we want to make the mind influenceable by Krishna and principles of Krishna Bhakti.
So, he, I gave how Kamsa would flip flop from one position to another. First he wanted to kill Devaki and then he wanted to give the sons of Devaki back till the 8th son and then he wanted to kill all the sons and then when the 8th son turned out to be a daughter, then he released Kamsa and Vasudev and then again when he started suspecting that the 8th son might be there somewhere, he said kill all the children in the vicinity and again had Vasudev and Devaki arrested. So, he was flip flopping and that was because he was getting malefic advice, bad advice from people.
So, Akrura thought that if I just stay there, I will be one voice of sanity amidst the insanity that is there in Mathura. So, unlike some of the, those who were imprisoned and some who fled, Kamsa, Akrura apparently defected over to Kamsa and Akrura was in a position where actually everyone, his loyalties were suspect by everyone. So, Kamsa knew that he was from that party earlier.
So, even when he had come on his side, Kamsa was still suspicious and he sent Akrura as a test to Vrindavan. His idea was that if as long as Krishna enjoys his home territory in Vrindavan, it is difficult to kill him. If I get the home territory advantage in Mathura, then I will kill him.
And he, Akrura would act as the most non-threatening inviter. So, if Akrura refuses to go, then his loyalty to Krishna will be seen. If he agrees to go, then Krishna will come in a little non-threatening way, without feeling much threatened and then I can finish him off.
So, when Akrura was suspected like this by everyone, just sincerity of his intention is what counted. So, I discussed about how one characteristic of the mode of goodness is to separate observation from evaluation. Yes, sometimes we have to make evaluations based on what observations we make, but we need to separate the two.
Instead of saying you are so irresponsible, you had said that you will do this, but this was not done. So, because observation, then the person may apologize, may clarify and the situation can be rectified. But when you make an evaluation, you are so irresponsible, the person becomes defensive and aggressive and then things become worse.
Now, if we move forward and then I discussed about how Akrura, when he comes along, he is like whom in Ramlila? Sumantra. Sumantra, he has a tougher task actually, he has to take Rama out and bring and come back again. Akrura has to take Krishna away from Vrindavan.
And his, the Bhagavatam often reveals devotees doing apparently non-devotional activity, like Pratharasura fighting demoniacally against the Devata. Suddenly, in one moment of magical transformation, he starts revealing his devotion. So, like that Akrura, he may be seen as an externalization of Kamsa, but then when he sees prayers, when he sees actions especially, he is offering obeisances to the footprint of Krishna.
It is like an architectural monument for the Prajivasis. When nobody is seeing it, he is doing it. Because he is doing it, not for show, but to fulfill his need to respect, need to worship.
So, some people unfortunately do yajna, do religious activities, not for purifying themselves, but for making a show to the world. The test of our devotion, one test of our devotion is how well we perform devotion when nobody is watching us. And Akrura passes that test with flying colours.
And now he is eagerly waiting to behold the darshan of that lord, whose darshan he has been having for a long time in his own heart. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.