10.8 – Why think about Krishna?

Some people question: “What is the benefit of thinking about Krishna?”

Thinking about Krishna connects us with a higher spiritual reality that enables us to see life in a fresh light, thereby detecting order and coherence where we earlier saw only disorder and incoherence.

To understand why this light comes by thinking about Krishna alone and not by thinking about anyone else, let’s understand the difference between Krishna and other characters that people sometimes think about. These characters usually fall in three broad categories: fictional characters who have no real existence and so can’t influence reality, historical characters who being dead and gone can’t do anything about the present, or real characters like movie stars who do larger-than-life feats only in fictional roles. Thinking about them may offer some relief from life’s inevitable uncertainties, but that relief is an illusory and temporary painkiller; it offers no lasting cure.

Gita wisdom explains that Krishna is neither fictional nor historical – nor an illusory blend of real-fictional. The Bhagavad-gita (10.8) proclaims that he is the Supreme Person, the Absolute Truth, the source and sustainer of everything.

So when we think about Krishna, we think not just about him but also about the universal order that he oversees. Such meditations form an elevator that lifts us to higher, more spiritual levels of consciousness. From there, we get a clearer sense of Krishna’s presence and purpose. This sense helps us learn and grow internally through each situation that comes our way externally.

More importantly, this elevated consciousness gives us a clearer vision of Krishna’s all-attractive personality and his irresistible beauty. This divine vision deepens and strengthens our devotion for Krishna, thereby preparing us to eventually return to him for a blissful life of endless love.

Thus Krishna-thought offers us significant this-worldly and unparalleled other-worldly rewards.