The Oregon daily journal., November 21, 1915, Page 47, Image 47

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PICTORIAL SUPPLEMENT
tlAGAZINE SECTION
i
He ed 16,000 Wi yer and W&p loppf
Once as Krishna was playing the flute
JHB European war
put a damper on
the recent annual
celebration of In
dian natives In
honor of Krishna, a
deified hero who,
according to his
Hindu followers.
outSolomoned Solomon in the number of
his .wives. Krishna, so they say, had no
less tban 16,100 life partners; And he was
biappy 1
"With many of their loved ones facing
death on far-removed .battlefields, the wor
ship of the natives at the Temple of Purl
In Orrlsi was confined mostly to prayers
for. their safety, rather than to the rites
which Dr. W. W. Hunter once termed
''licentious." Even the innermost sanc
tuaries of the temple, where "the mystio
songs" of Jayadeva and the "ocean of love"
wer,e wont to play an important part in the
voluptuous ceremonies, breathed a more
spiritual atmosphere.
"The most deplorable corruption of
Vishnu worship," observes Dr. Hunter, 'is
that ; which has covered the temple walls
with Indecent sculptures and filled Its in
nermost sanctuaries with licentious rites,"
yet "it Is difficult for a person not a Hindu
to pronounce upon the extent of the evil.
None but a Hindu can enter any of the
' larger ' temples, and . none but a Hindu
priest really knows the truth about their
inner mysteries,"
a number of beautiful women came to
Some Interesting New Commentaries on Krishna, Eighth of . the Incarnations of
the God Vishnu, and Who, if Indian Folklore Is to Be Believed,
Ovtt-Solomoned Solomon Twenty to One
Krishna was, as the scholars tell us, the
eighth and most celebrated of the ten chief
incarnations of the god Vishnu.
Krishna, say the doctors, is the most
renowned demigod of the Indian folklore
and the most famous in Indian history. It
is probable that when the story of his life is
stripped of its mythological incidents it will
be found that he was a historical person
age who belonged to the Aryan race when
they were making their gradual inroads
south and west in the peninsula of India,
and the enemies he attacked and subdued,
the Turanian races, who constituted the
aborigines of the country, and who, fighting
fiercely in their primeval forest, came to be
magnified into gods and demigods.
A noted scholar once said Jestingly that
if the men of modern times were possessed
of the powers attributed to Krishna half of
them would be bigamists. Asked to ex
plain further, he said: "Krishna acquired
his many wires after conquering Naraka,
the King of Prayjyotiaha, and slaying all
his-foscea. In. the women's treatment of
PORTLAND, OREQON, SUNDAY
plaly and dance with him, but as all
werre women, each woman believing
the pajjlace he found 16,100 damsels, and
at an aWpidous moment received the hands
of all,
houses.
ccording to the ritual, in separate
Into so many forms did Krishna
himself that each of the damsels
multlpl.
though
he had wedded her in his single
person,
ing plai
nd he abode severally in the dwell-
of each of his wives."
Multiplication and division seemed to be
the favobrite pastime of Krishna, relates
end. Once as he was playing the
flute a number of beautiful women came to
play ancl dance with him, but as all these
uld not hold Krishna's hand as
ced he multiplied himself Into as
rms as there were women, each
elieving she held the hand of the
hna.
orite wife was Radha. . It is she
is ever associated with Krishna
in hymns songs, prayers and pictures.
The lqve of Krishna for Radha, and vice
versa, tnsAket that of Borneo and Juliet a
purely plttoole friendship In comparison.
Vfenjr Khiplars-sajr that -nowhere in xoyth-
women cm
they dart
many foV
woman b
true Krtsl
Uisfafv
whose narne
MOBNXNQ, NOVEMBER 21, 1913.
these women could not hold Krishna's
she held the hand of the true Krishna.
dlogy or actual history is the divine passion
so manifest as in the lives of this couple.
The reciprocal attraction is beautifully de
scribed in the tenth book of the Bhogavat,
and is the subject of the appealing pastoral
drama, entitled Oita Govinda, by Jayadeva,
who wrote before our era.
We shall quote some passages from this
beautiful poem. The reader will occasion
ally call to mind that some of the effusions
must be received not literally bui emblem
atically, as in the mystical poetry of other
people.
The following is the tender lamentation
of Radha for her lord:
"Though he, takes recreation in my ab
sence, and smiles on all around him, yet my
soul remembers him whose ' languishing
reed modulates sn air, sweetened by the
nectar of his quivering lips, while his ear
sparkles' with gems, and his eye darts
amorous glances him whose locks are
decked with the plumes of peacocks, re
splendent with many -colored, moons, and
whose-xnantle gleams Ilka adarfe- bloe-cioud
hand as they danced he multiplied himself into as many forms as there
illumined with rainbows him whose grace
ful smile gives new luster to his lips, bril
liant and soft as a dewy leaf sweet and
ruddy as the blossoms of BandHvjiva.
"My weak mind thus enumerates his
qualities ; and ' though offended strives to
banish his offense. What else can It do?
It cannot part with its affection for
Krishna. Bring, O my sweet friend, that
vanquisher of the demon Kesi, whose dis
course was once composed of the sweetest
words, to convene with me, who am bash
ful on his first approach, and express niy
thoughts with a smile as sweet as honey.
Bring him who formerly drew me by the
locks to his embrace, whose feet tinkle as
they move with rings of gold and gems,
whose loosened zone sounds as It falls, and
whose limbs are as slender as the creeping
plant.
"That god, whose cheeks are beautiful
by the nectar of his smiles, whose pipe
drops in ecstacy from bis hand, I saw in
the grove encircled; by damsels of Troja,
'Who gnrrtl an Titn'istonffrt2!T'TTjrvT
of tnelr eyesi I saw him in the grove-wtt
happier damsels, yet the sight of him de-'
lighted me. Soft is the gale that blows'
over yon clear pool, and expends the clua
tering blossoms of the voluble asoca; soft,'
yet grievous to me in the absence of the
foe of Madhu. Delightful aro the flowers
of the Amra, on the mountain top, while
the murmuring bees pursue their voluptuous
toll; delightful, yet afflicting to me, O
friend 1 in the absence of the youthful
Kesava."
Krishna, afflicted by the jealous -anger
of Rahda, exclaims:
"Grant me but sight of thee, oh, lovely,
Rahda, for my passion torments me. I am'
Dot the terrible Mauesa ; a garland of water
lilies, with subtle threads, decks my;
shoulders, not serpents with twisted folds;
the blue petals of the lotos glitter on my
neck, not the azure gleam of poison; pow
dered sandalwood Is sprinkled on my limbs,
not pale ashes.
"I meditate on her delightful embrace
on the ravishing glances darted from the
fragrant lotos of her mouth ; on her nectar
dropping speech; on her lips, ruddy as tb
berries of the Blmba"
We must recollect, like the scholars,
that the. seemingly amorous conflicts ol
these ardent lovers are mere mythical fle
scriptlons of "the reciprocal attraction be
tween the divine goodness and the-human
- soulT
- -tcoprrirni. laig. by-Jarasr.y
v -4V