God has given us our senses to appreciate Him. With our eyes, we should feast on His beauty. With our ears, we must hear His praise. With our nose, we must smell the tulsi garlands that adorn Him. To hear of Him, to sing of Him, to see Him, to talk of Him- to be able to do any of these, we must have accumulated punya over several births. And when we have no thoughts, except thoughts of Him, He embraces us as a mother would her child, said Damal Ramakrishnan. And who delights a bhakta more than Krishna?
Swami Desika described Him as a Sun that cools, and does not scorch. Desika felt that since Krishna’s horoscope was not mentioned in detail by the sage Sukha Brahma, he would have to make amends for this. Sukha Brahma had mentioned the month in which Krishna was born and His birth star. But Desika wanted a more complete horoscope for Krishna. So he took up the task, and said that Krishna was born in the Rishaba lagna, and that when He was born, the Sun, Moon, Mars, Saturn and Mercury were in favourable positions. When Krishna was born, the hearts of sadhus were filled with joy. The water in rivers was rid of impurities and became as pure as the hearts of the Lord’s devotees. Trees bore fruits in excess.
Rama was born in the Surya dynasty.. But we refer to Him as Ramachandra. But Desika referred to Krishna as Krishna Surya, although Krishna was not born in the Surya dynasty. The difference between the Sun and Krishna, is that the Sun can be eclipsed, but Krishna can never be eclipsed by anything. Devaki is the East from which this Sun called Krishna made His appearance. To indicate His auspiciousness, Sukha Brahma began the Srimad Bhagavatam with the word ‘Tham.’ The ‘tha’ sabdha in Sanskrit is auspicious. Thus the Ramayana, Aditya Hridayam, the Gayatri mantra, the Sundara kandam in the Ramayana, Rama Pattabhishekam, all begin with the ‘tha’ sabdha.
Krishna embodies all the worlds. His ankles represent patala and rasatala- that is the netherworld. His knees represent the mahatala loka, that is yet another portion of the region below the earth. His hip represents our Earth. His chest represents the world of the celestials. His navel represents the sky. His head represents Satyaloka.
