09.10: Fantastic? Yes. Fantasy? No.

Krishna’s pastimes of magically killing supernatural demons may seem fantastic to some of us. Yes, they are fantastic, in the sense that they demonstrate his capacities to effortlessly accomplish feats that would be impossible for us humans. Krishna’s deeds may be fantastic, but they are not fantasy. They are not figments of a mythological imagination on the riot; they are the demonstrations of a fundamental philosophical reality. If Krishna’s deeds seem incredible, that’s how they are meant to be. After all, he’s God; he’s the supreme controller and is absolutely free to do what he likes. 

To some of us, this logic of God’s omnipotence may seem questionable. The cause of this skepticism is that our intellects have been subconsciously taken hostage by the currently fashionable worldview of naturalism. This worldview grants God only a token existence; its worshipable supreme deity is nature and its laws. This naturalistic worldview imagines that it is doing God a favor by allowing him to exist, subject, of course, to the inviolable condition that he behave himself properly, meaning that he not violate the laws of nature. As soon as God dares to transgress the sacred laws of nature, he is at once deemed a heretic and is banished into the Siberia of mythology.

Gita wisdom refuses to bow down to this dictatorship of naturalism and buy in to the conception of an impotent God who is imprisoned in the realm of the natural and the predictable. Instead, it unambiguously upholds the true position of God; not only is he not controlled by nature, but he is in full control of nature. Thus, the Gita (9.10) asserts unambiguously that material nature functions under the supervision of Krishna. That’s why he can bend the laws of nature to his will whenever he wills.

Once we recognize and reject our misconceived devotion to nature, then the door swings open for us to devote ourselves to Krishna; the cynical head can no longer block the charmed heart from falling in love with Krishna and his fantastic deeds.