Cosmic manifestation

Krishna is known as Vaasudeva, son of Vasudeva. But the term Vaasudeva is already well known in the Vedas and denotes the “One who dwells deep inside all beings and the One in whom all beings and things dwell.” They elaborate this further and say that He is the creator, the preserver, and the final refuge of all. Among the many descriptions of the cosmic manifestation of the Lord, scriptures refer to the Formless Being who also assumes the fourfold forms, Vaasudeva, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, and Sankarshana. In the Gita, Krishna explains at length this invaluable truth in yet a novel way that appeals to all, from the spiritual seeker to the lay and uninitiated alike, pointed out Srimati Rukmini Ramamurthy in a discourse.

Echoing the Upanishads, He asserts that though He is the fundamental Reality, He is beyond and separate from Prakriti and its limitations. He is present in all but without the associations with the body, mind and other individual associations. He is the beginning, the middle and the end of all things. So, He explains further that if the universe has come from somewhere, it has come from Him. If it is existing now, it is due to His existence; and one day or the other it shall be absorbed into Him. The strong feeling of love of life in individuals, which is sometimes of a possessive and egoistic nature, is actually the love for the Lord’s true and universal existence that operates through individual bodies. He is the very essence of glory, might, dominion, energy and power. So the deepest Reality, the soul, the Self, in all existence is the Lord. He is the essence of all auspicious qualities and all beings are endowed with a small portion of His individuality. He then goes on to explain the individualised and specialised forms of His manifestations in the universe.