Recently, social media platforms were awash with a video of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev in which he made remarks on the nature of love between Lord Krishna and his foster mother Yashoda. The video created a substantial furore among devotees of Lord Krishna and others after Sadhuguru was heard saying that after Lord Krishna grew up, Maa Yashoda became his ‘lover’ and a Gopi. He further said that her love for him was not limited to just maternal love. Now, Sadhguru has released a video where he apologised to those who might have been genuinely hurt by the video but has also explained what he meant.
Taking to Twitter, Sadhguru tweeted, “Krishna is Love. He is the very embodiment of Love. There is no other way to be with him than to be in Love”.
Krishna is Love. He is the very embodiment of Love. There is no other way to be with him than to be in Love. -Sg pic.twitter.com/qHjrvoLrjf
— Sadhguru (@SadhguruJV) April 7, 2021
In the attached video, Sadhguru attempts to explain what he meant in the video that has now gone viral.
The video starts with a lady asking about the viral video and how people are outraged about the comments. She then asks why people are not being able to see through ‘such acts’ and keep falling for it.
To this, Sadhguru says that he has been made aware of the video going viral. He said that the programme Leela (from which the video was taken) was conducted due to his profound appreciation and devotion for Krishna as the most playful and fantastic, colourful manifestation of Yoga.
He then says that the Leela programme was an intimate programme of about 8 days that the video was taken from there and “mischievously edited” to make it seem as if something sacrilegious had been said.
Explaining what he meant when he said “Initially, Yashoda was his mother, but later, she becomes her lover”, he says that the idea of “lover” goes beyond “going to bed with someone”. He said that the people questioning him do not understand that Lord Krishna is “love” and there is nobody who cannot be his “lover”. He said that everyone can be there only as his lover and nothing else, but unfortunately, the idea of a ‘lover’ for those questioning him is sexuality and they are feeling offended about it.
He explains that there is “no other way to approach Krishna than as a lover. So when she realises the child she is possessive about, so enamoured with, she realises slowly as He grows, what is His quality, she knows the only way she can engage with him is to be in love with him. And she is. To be in love with somebody… actually.. even physical lovers, when they are really loving, there will be no sexuality between them. Just holding hands and sitting is all that matters”.
He further says, “Even among that, when they came together due to bodily push, even they become like that. Here, He (Krishna) is an embodiment of love. How can anybody be without being in Love? His mother, grandmother, friends, man, woman, child, cows, everybody loves him. That is the only way to be. If you love someone, you are his lover”.
Apologising to those devotees who are genuinely offended, Sadhguru said that, “some are genuinely offended and I am sorry to them, but others are mischievous and they know why they edited the movie like that. For those who are genuinely admirers and lovers of Krishna, I am using that word again for you, if you are, you can rest assured that I will not say anything against Him or anyone for that matter”.
He further reiterates that those who have been genuinely hurt believing that he has said something wrong, he is sorry about that and that they should correct themselves since he has not really said anything like that. He further says that those doing it mischievously, at least while talking about Lord Krishna, should bring some love into their heart and that they should not run hate campaigns.
What Sadhguru had said about Lord Krishna and Yashoda in the viral video
In the video that had gone viral, which Isha Foundation says was mischievously clipped, Sadhguru had said that while initially, Yashoda loved Lord Krishna as her son, it developed into much more after He grew up.
“Starting with Yashoda, his foster mother. She was deeply in love with the boy. Not just as her son, much more than that. When Krishna was an infant, it was all about the beautiful child she had. But as he grew, and he grew too rapidly. His growth was phenomenal. No mother could adjust her motherhood to that kind of growth. So her motherhood fell off somewhere by the time he was 5-6. After that, she couldn’t really be his mother. She became his lover,” Sadhguru said.
He further added, “So, Yashoda’s relationship with Krishna grew and she became one of his gopis. She was also a part of the Raas. She did not like Radha. She described her ‘too forward’, whatever that meant.”
“The normal demeanour that is expected of a village girl. She is a little too outgoing. So she(Yashoda) felt this tomboyish girl is hijacking her son, but she could not help joining the Raas conducted by Radha after Krishna left. Krishna never went back, even to see his mother. Many times, he right across the river in Mathura, but he did not go back to Vrindavan because he did not want them to know that a carefree cowherd boy has taken the terrible task of bringing dharma to the world…So Yashoda also became a gopi, along with Radha, because Krishna was no longer was his son. The blue did its magic with her also,” said Sadhguru in the now-viral video.