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From: Mani Varadarajan (mani)
Date: Mon Feb 27 1995 - 11:31:01 PST
Krishna Kalale writes: > Here Sri-Krishna is referred to as a seer and world-teacher and a seeker > of God. This aspect > is totally unacceptable to Sri Ramanujacharya and to even the words of > Bhagawadgita itself!. Ramajujacharya's > introduction to Gitabhasya identifies Sri Krishna with the absolute > God undoubtedly. > Moreover, no where in the whole of bhagawadgita, Lord > krishna has ever referred to himself as just a seer! I think you are misunderstanding the point Professor Rangacharya makes. He very clearly understands Krishna and the Supreme Brahman Vaasudeva to be one and the same -- but at the same time, Krishna is like other religious leaders in that he is a guru. There is, of course, that dhyaana-sloka wherein it is said "krishnam vande jagadgurum". In this sense, Krishna is the parama-guru, a personality who was truly a "seer", since the Lord is by definition a "jnaani". I do not know about the "seeker" part; that word is not used in your excerpt. If we may compare a bit further, Krishna and Jesus occupy similar, though not identical, positions, since Jesus is also fully God in the incarnation, yet at the same time, he was a great teacher. The point is that these world-religions are definitely inspired works, inspired by their faith in God. Krishna had faith in himself, the Para-Vaasudeva (the ultimate expression of self-esteem?), just as Jesus glorified his "father who is in heaven." Mani