Srimad Bhagwat Katha entails the stories of Lord Krishna, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, inspiring devotees to lead a righteous life. It showcases the Lord’s life when He lived on earth. Every leela or instance from his life can inspire humans to face adversity and come out victorious. Lord Krishna has also taught us that one must be the same in every situation. His life was full of problems one after another, yet he was always seen smiling. He would calmly look at the problem and then try to find a solution to it. We, mere mortals, can also imbibe this and move on to a path of inner calm.

Lord Krishna was separated from his biological mother immediately after he was born, yet he adapted to the new environment even as a baby. He spread happiness in Gokul and was loved by all. In life he faced many enemies; He first fought in Gokul against the demons sent by Kans, and when He was 11.5 years old, he moved to Mathura to combat Kans. Following that, He proceeded to Dwarka and founded it with 18,000 people, established the federal government there, altered the political structure, and sacrificed Himself for the benefit of the people. Later, He was seen to be running between Hastinapur and Dwarka. Despite a hectic life, He always followed the righteous path, teaching us that the only way to go forward is the right way.

Lord Krishna also taught us to stand firm and face our problems. The incident where Krishna asked the people of Gokul to worship Mount Govardhana, and He became the hill’s spirit to accept their offerings, is well known. Lord Indra grew enraged at this usurpation and unleashed a terrible storm. Krishna lifted Mount Govardhana like an umbrella to protect his companions and their cattle for seven days. Thus, He taught that when we face a problem, we must stand tall for as many days as the problem is there because it will be resolved one fine day. Like He fought Kali Naag, we must also be steadfast on our path and we will win, even if we have our biggest enemy in front of us.

While Krishna was lifting the hill, the villagers also lifted their sticks to help him. At one point of time, they requested Him to take some rest while they took care of the hill. The moment Krishna moved His finger slightly, everything got imbalanced. Thus, this is the biggest life lesson from Srimad Bhagwat that we might be under the assumption that we are doing something, but it is actually the Lord who has decided our fate and is shielding us against all the problems. We must do what needs to be done, play our part and not be too attached to our karma. We must be able to break away from this cycle of karma and move towards the path where karma does not impact us. We must do the tasks that God wants us to do, without any expectations, then only we will be able to achieve salvation. We are nothing but puppets in the hands of God. We are like mere characters in a film. We must play our part and go, instead of entwining ourselves in this chakra of karmas. Since everything happening is pre-decided, we must be humble. The world has always been moving, is moving today and will move too in the same way even without you.

Another big lesson that Lord Krishna taught us is to live in harmony with nature. Giriraj Govardhan is considered to be worthy of worship because it is a major part of the ecosphere of Gokul. This lesson given to us 5,000 years ago must be imbibed today. If we worship our immediate environment, we will refrain from harming it. Today we are all reeling under extreme climate changes when the earth becomes severely hot or cold or experiences incessant rains. Once we start planting trees instead of cutting them, then only can we create a balance and live peacefully. Global warming is increasing every day. We must remember: when we preserve nature we shall live on, destroying it will fasten the process of destruction of mankind.

Srimad Bhagwat is full of more such lessons. And Lord Krishna is called the Jagat Guru or the teacher of the entire mankind for this precise reason.

The author is a spiritual guru, philanthropist and storyteller.