Amma's Message

Amma's Krishna Jayanthi Message 2005
August 27th (just past midnight)

We should be able to accept defeat

Ashtami Rohini--the confluence of the star Rohini and the eighth day of the moon--is the day of the birth of Sri Krishna, born to Vasudeva and Devaki in the Dvapara Yuga. Yet he still continues to live in everyone and everything as the all-pervading consciousness that is beyond birth and death. Sri Krishna has to take birth in the womb of love within each of us.
There have been very few who have been able to rejoice both in victory and in defeat. Sri Krishna is one who celebrated both. That is why he was always able to give a big smile.
He took birth with a smile on his face, lived with a smile, and left his body with a smile. The message that he conveyed through his life is that we should make life full of laughter.
Even when we have small responsibilities, we become very egoistic. But when we are weighed down by just small problems, we forget to smile and be happy. But look at Sri Krishna--how enormous were his responsibilities! No matter how many fields of action he was involved in, he enacted and fulfilled all of them beautifully. Without seeing anything as insignificant, he took up all kinds of responsibilities and saw them to completion.
Try cracking a joke to someone who is carrying a burden on his head--because of the load he will not be able to laugh. But while Sri Krishna carried Himalayan responsibilities, he never forgot to smile.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam, it is said that Sri Krishna even once lost a war. Still he willingly accepted the defeat with a smile. He readily accepted the responsibility for it. But in today's society, we see people who try to put the blame of their failures on others. And if they succeed, they will immediately say that it was their capacities that allowed them to do so.
The attitude "I will only accept success" is wrong. We should also be able to accept defeat. It is not the number of victories in one's life that determines whether or not it was successful. In fact, life is a mixture of success and failure. Real victory is achieved when one is able to accept both with mental equanimity. This is what Sri Krishna taught us through his life.
Even if we receive a small position, amount of power or recognition, we become so completely carried away that we forget that we are human beings. But even though Sri Krishna knew that he was the All-Powerful, he never was egoistic about it. When he had to act like a simple man, he was simpler than the simplest. His patience was like that of Mother Earth. But in instances where he saw that there was no other way out, he did not hesitate to teach egoistic and crooked people like Paundra Vasudevan a good lesson.
Sri Krishna, who was established in performing good actions, happily accepted all the different roles that were put before him. Each role was different. He had to act as a king, as a citizen, as a father, as a friend, as a brother, as a warrior, as a messenger, as the beloved of the gopis, as a charioteer and much more. His performance was perfect. Only after completing his roles did he put away the costumes.
Sri Krishna's life was like a cool breeze that caressed everybody and everything. The journey of his life flowed smoothly, like moving from one room to another.
He showered happiness on all those who came to him. His end came when he was struck by the arrow of a hunter. Before he left his body and set out on his final journey, the Supreme One blessed the hunter with liberation.
When we remember the play of Sri Krishna's childhood—like breaking the clay pots filled with butter and milk, and many other things—we should also remember the right attitude that he had towards life and his efficiency in action.
May everyone be filled with the strength and the wherewithal to follow in the footsteps of Sri Krishna—Amma offers this prayer to the Paramatman