​Why does Krishna descend to this world – to kill demons or to teach the Gita?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So why does Krishna descend to this world? Is it to kill demons or to teach the Bhagavad Gita? Yes, both are true. Actually, there is a contextual purpose and there is an eternal purpose.
So in the Bhagavad Gita 4.89, He talks about these two purposes. In 4.89, He says, I come at a particular time when adharma has become too strong. So at that time, those who are dharmic people, they are under trouble.
I come to protect them. Those who are the adharmic people, I come to kill them, punish them. And then in this way, I establish dharma.
So that is His immediate purpose. He establishes dharma. But in the next verse, He tells that, Those who understand in truth my appearance and activities, they become purified, they become attracted to me and they attain me.
And that is His ultimate purpose. What that means is, Krishna came and established dharma and went away. How does that benefit us now? But He has performed His leela, He has given His message.
By hearing that message, by understanding His leela, we can become attracted to Him. And by learning to love Him, we can attain Him. That is His eternal purpose.
So, Krishna’s descent serves both purposes. The contextual purpose to establish dharma at that time and the eternal purpose of guiding people on the path of dharma. Telling people, this is how you should practice dharma.
That God instructions and ultimately the purpose of dharma is to love Krishna. So, He performs lovable pastimes by which our love for Him can be awakened. So, Krishna’s descent serves both the contextual and the eternal purpose.