Krishnavatara (Set of 7 Volumes) - Krishna Avatara

Who has not heard of Sri Krishna who delivered the message of the Bhagavad Gita and whom the Bhagavat calls 'God Himself?

From the earliest days that my memories can go back to, Sri Krishna has been, in a sense, dominating my imagination. In my childhood, I heard his adventures with breathless amazement. Since then I have read of him, sung of him, admired him, worshipped him in a hundred temples and every year on his birthday at home. And day after day, for years and years, his message has been the strength of my life.

Unfortunately, his fascinating personality, which could be glimpsed in what may be called the original Mahabharata, has been overlaid with legends, myths, miracles and adorations for about three thousand years.

Wise and valorous, he was, loving and loved, far- seeing and yet living for the moment. gifted with sage-like detachment and yet intensely human; the diplomat. the sage and the man of action with a personality as luminous as that of a divinity.

The urge, Therefore, came upon me. time and again, to embark upon a reconstruction of his life and adventures by weaving a romance around him.

It was an impossible venture. but like hundreds of authors in all parts of India for centuries. I could not help offering him whatever little of imagination and creative power I possessed. feeble though they were.

I have called the whole work Krishnavatara, The Descent of the Lord. This, the First Part. which ends with the death of Kamsa, has been named 'The Magic Flute". for it deals with his boyhood associated with the flute. which hypnotized men. animals and birds alike. sung with such loving tenderness by innumerable poets.

I have named the Second Part. which ends with Rukmini Haran. The Wrath of an Emperor, as the central theme is the successful defiance by Sri Krishna of Jarasandha, the Emperor of Magadha. The Third Part is entitled The Five Brothers and ends with Draupadi's Swayamvara. The Fourth Part is entitled The Book of Bhima and the Fifth Part is entiled The Book of Satyabhaama. The Sixth Part, which is now being serially published in the Bhavan's Journal; is entitled The Book of Vyaasa. the Master.

I hope to carry forward the series till the episode when, on the battle-field of Kurukshetra. Krishna reveals himself as the Eternal Guardian of the Cosmic Law-Saashvata Dharma Gopta-to Arjuna, if it is His will that I should do so.

I have followed the technique since 1922 to reconstruct the episodes connected with Chyavana and Sukanya in Purandara Parajaya (a play). Agastya and Lopamudra, Vasishta and Vishwamitra, Parashurama and Sahasrarjuna in Vishvaratha (a romance), Deva Didheli (a play), Vishwamitra Rishi (a play), Lomaharshini (a romance) and Bhagavan Parashurama (a romance), and now Sri Krishna and the heroes and heroines of Mahabharata in these volumes of Krishnavatara.

Time and again, I have made it clear that none of these works is an English rendering of any old Purana.

In reconstructing Sri Krishna's life and adventures. I had, like many of my predecessors, to reconstruct the episodes inherited from the past. so as to bring out his character, attitude and outlook with the personality-sustained technique of modern romance. I had also had to give flesh and blood to various obscure characters referred to in the Mahabharata.

In the course of this adventure. I had often to depart from the legend and myth. for such reconstruction by a modern author must necessarily involve the exercise of whatever little imagination he has. I trust He will forgive me for the liberty I am taking, but must write of Him as I see Him in my imagination.