Was Krishna Partial
Question: Swami, we lack adequate knowledge of many important things. We have only a partial view of divinity. Hence, we tend to ignore the reality and are prone to doubt divinity. It is our misfortune that we find fault with God too, and attribute human fallibility to Him. In the Mahabharata, it appears that Krishna was very partial to the Pandavas and so He did many things unbecoming of God incarnate in order to defend them. We may cite such instances as the killing of Dronacharya [teacher of Pandavas and Kauravas], Bhishmacharya [the grand-uncle of Pandavas and Kauravas who fought on the side of the latter during the battle between the two sides], Saindhava [a clan of the Indus basin region] and a few others. We pray for your comments on our misconceptions; please enlighten us.
Bhagavan: God is faultless. He is pure and unsullied. It will be the worst of sins to attribute any kind of mistake to God. Every inch of God, if it can be put that way, is selfless, and whatever He says and does is for the welfare of humanity. He gives and forgives. He doesn’t want anything from anybody in return, nor does He keep anything in this world that doesn’t belong to Him. Maybe due to the effects of Kali yuga [the Iron Age], you see people with narrow, selfish ideals that are responsible for physical and mental agitations and disturbances everywhere. Man today has no trace of gratitude left in him. He has gone even to the extent of ignoring his parents. He has grown demonic in his behavior. So, it is difficult for him to recognize God.
The Kauravas were wicked and spent their lives in acts of injustice, untruth, and unrighteousness. They were full of hatred and jealousy. Motivated by greed and envy, they indulged in cruel acts like poisoning the Pandavas, setting their house on fire, and cheating them in the game of dice, only to finally self-destruct. So, they had to be checked and controlled. You know that only a diamond can cut another diamond. So also, you can remove a thorn only with the help of another thorn.
A simple example here will make this point clearer to you. When thieves make their getaway with valuables through the back door, you also have to chase them through the back door. At such a moment, you can’t say, “Because I am the house owner I will go out through the main [front] door and not the back door.” You have to follow the thieves through the back door to catch them.
Similarly, to catch the Kauravas, who trod the wrong path, you had to go by the same route. Krishna did exactly the same thing in order to protect the Pandavas and bring about their ultimate victory. There was little trace of selfishness in Krishna.
