Question: Why is Krishna’s body (Krishna) bluish-blackish?
We often get these sorts of questions and the answer generally given is “Well, He’s God, therefore He can be any color He wants to be.” But this isn’t so satisfying. With the same logic, the question “Why does Krishna descend to the material world?” could be answered “Well, He’s God, therefore He can go anywhere He wants to go.” I doubt that answer is going to take us back to Godhead since Krishna gives us the promise that one who understands His appearance and activities will never take birth again.(BG 4.9)
So my question also implies that since Krishna has a personality, wouldn’t it be sensible for Him to have a reason for choosing to be a certain color? Maybe it is His favorite color. In other words, can we expect every single action of Krishna’s to have some logic or reason, even if it is something silly or extraordinary according to His personality. Does Krishna ever do something without any real reason?
The most satisfying answer I have found for this question is that the color of Krishna’s body (krishna) is the color of madhurya rasa, the color of pure love. So can you confirm this and also perhaps elaborate if we have such information.
Answer by Romapada Swami:
Krishna is unlimited and His actions are indeed unfathomable by our limited intelligence. The limited living entity can never FULLY understand the unlimited, but we can understand to the extent He reveals Himself and empowers us to understand. Whatever we do know, we can know through the medium of revealed scriptures and saintly persons. As Krishna recommends in Bg 4.9, it is important for us to understand the divine nature of His appearance and activities, but the process of such understanding is not through our mental exertion, but by hearing in Disciplic succession. (Bg 4.2 & 4.34) Such hearing, with an attitude of submission, service and great faith, will enable us to actually understand (tattvatah) and thus go back to Godhead; theoretical or intellectual understanding will not.
In the case of why Krishna descends to the material world, He does state some specific reasons (Bg 4.8) and there are further elaborate discussions on this topic (for instance see prayers by Queen Kunti, SB 1.8.30-35) It is certainly important for us to be eager to get an insight into these reasons but equally important is the understanding that ultimately He is not bound by any of these reasons. As revealed in Prahlad’s prayers and other places, the Lord actually appears for His own pleasure and to please His devotees. (SB 7.9.13)
Even great mahajans like Bhismadeva admit that no one can fully understand Krishna’s plans. (SB 1.9.16) Likewise, great devotees like Krishnadas Kaviraj Gosvami repeatedly state the impossibility of penetrating into the meaning of Lord Caitanya’s pastimes. This is to say that we may not expect to be able to understand the logic and reason behind everyone of the Lord’s actions; trying to do so would be presumptuous and also unnecessary. Devotees are happy to appreciate the fact that their Lord is completely independent & merciful, and simultaneously eager to understand the confidential reasons behind His actions as much as guru, sadhu and sastra reveal to them, which they fully accept without further doubts.
As for the reason behind Krishna’s having a bluish complexion, here is a very beautiful explanation given in Krishna Bhakti Ratna Prakasa by Raghava Gosvami wherein it is said:
atha kaiscid uktam. yadi sva-prakaso lila-rasa-mayah paramatma-svarupas tasmin katham syama-varnatvam sarvatra prasiddham. yatha srutau rupam na vedyam na ca bindunadah ity adi. tad aha
syamabhatvam vidhatte yat
sarva-varno ‘tra liyate
nityam ca prabhavaty eva
kalo ‘smin naiva vidyate
Translation:
At this point some may ask: Why is it that the form of the Personality of Godhead, which He manifests only by His own wish, and which is made of the sweetness of transcendental pastimes, is famous everywhere for its dark complexion?”
Part of the answer to this question may be found in the statement of the Sruti-sastra: “No one can understand even a drop of the Lord’s transcendental form.” Aside from this it is also said:
“He eternally manifests the color syama, within which all colors rest. His complexion is not the material color black.”
Thus from the last verse we see it says “sarva-varno” which means that the colour syama is a special color, which is like a composite of all colours. And we notice that if we combine all colours we get a colour which is blackish, but not black.
