Hare Krsna,
When we meditate on someone, we usually meditate because of that person’s good qualities such as kindness, love, compassion, mercy, beauty, gratitude, etc. These very qualities of the person make dear to someone. We do not prefer to meditate on someone’s bad qualities. In this lesson, Uddhava, being a great devotee he is, meditates on Lord Krsna by noting his contradictory behavior.
The subject of contradictions is really interesting. One aspect of life that we come across all the time is that of contradiction. For example, in society we want to balance the two opposing elements of individual freedom and societal order, yet one generally comes at the cost of the other. Some may argue that the need to balance out contradictory elements is an unnecessary one and that there is no utopian existence where opposing elements can co-exist together. We face similar difficulties when we deal with the relationship between God, material nature, and individual souls. Is there complete unity between all of them, or is there duality? This perennial question has been answered differently in different metaphysical traditions, some preferring dualism and some monism.
According to Gaudiya Vaishnavism, neither of the two concepts does complete justice to the nature of the Absolute. In Gaudiya philosophy, God is simultaneously one and different from his energies, including material nature and the individual soul. God has both transcendent and immanent features that co-exist together. The Gaudiya tradition proclaims that it is only by the inconceivable power of God, acintya-shakti, that these apparently contradictory attributes simultaneously exist in the Absolute.
Therefore, when we see Uddhava meditating on Krsna’s contradictory behavior, it should not bewilder us. Krsna is the Supreme Absolute Truth. He is the source of everything. Thus even apparent evil or wrong behavior should find its proper function in relation to him. All so-called dualities are accommodated and harmonized in Krsna, thus enhancing His beauty.
The so-called contradictory behavior that we see in Krsna is basically a manifestation of His sweet will to facilitate the exchange between Him and His devotees. Damodara lila is full of such contradictions. Krsna is feared by fear personified, but still He feared Mother Yasoda’s stick. Krsna cannot be bound (as He is all pervading), but still He chose to be bound by Mother Yasoda’s rope. Krsna is always self-satisfied but He developed a desire to drink Mother Yasoda’s breast milk. He is beyond the three material modes, but still He displayed transcendental anger when Mother Yasoda dropped Him down from her lap. Krsna is fully opulent (He is the husband of Goddess Laksmi) but still He steals butter. Krsna is unconquerable but still He is caught behind by Mother Yasoda. He gives liberation to others, but the very same Krsna cries for liberation from Mother Yasoda after He is bound to wooden grinding mortar. As Manvantara right quoted from Sri Damodarastakam, “those superexcellent pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s babyhood drowned the inhabitants of Gokula in pools of ecstasy.”
Krsna is beyond all contradictions. By his own will, Krsna takes on a finite appearance to facilitate the exchange between the infinite Absolute and the finite soul. This finite form does not diminish his infinite nature, rather it enhances it, and the subsequent sweetness of the exchanges between Krsna and the individual souls enchant and captivate the hearts of many who come in touch with Krsna’s pastimes. The all-powerful, unconquerable Absolute becomes helpless in front of the selfless love of His devotee. This is indeed a beautiful contradiction. These very contradictory qualities make the Lord so dear to everyone.
As Srila Prabhupada writes in SB 3.2.20 Purport, “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, appears in this world for two missionary purposes: to deliver the faithful and to annihilate the miscreants. But because the Lord is absolute, His two different kinds of actions, although apparently different, are ultimately one and the same. His annihilation of a person like Śiśupāla is as auspicious as His actions for the protection of the faithful.”
SB 3.2.22 Purport “Persons with a poor fund of knowledge belittle the Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, not knowing His exalted position as the Lord of everything. In Bhagavad-gītā the Lord has explained His position clearly, but the demoniac, atheistic student squeezes out an interpretation to suit his own purpose and misleads unfortunate followers into the same mentality. Such unfortunate persons merely pick up some slogans from the great book of knowledge but are unable to estimate the Lord as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Pure devotees like Uddhava, however, are never misled by such atheistic opportunists.”
However, a pure devotee like Uddhava can see beyond these contradictions of Krsna and see His all-loving nature. In this way Uddhava manifests spontaneous loving symptoms.
SB 3.2.23 P: “The Lord accepts the least qualification of the living entity and awards him the highest reward. That is the standard of His character. Therefore, who but the Lord can be the ultimate shelter?”
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 