To establish and to protect the Sanatan Dharm and human civilization, and sometimes to help the celestial gods, the supreme God descends on the earth planet. Sometimes He also descends in the celestial space of this brahmand. The Sanskrit word is avatar, which means the descension of God in the material (mayic) realm.

There cannot be parts or fractions of God, He is always absolute and eternal and so are His descensions. A common verse telling the same thing is:

So, all the descensions of God are complete, but most of the descensions don’t reveal the full Divine glory of God. They reveal only a part or a fraction of it, whatever is needed according to the situation. It is like a college professor who uses only a part of his intellect when teaching his six year old boy and he uses a little more of his intellect when he is giving lessons to his twelve year old boy, but when he is lecturing in the college he uses his full intellect.

Out of twenty-four descensions, only in two descensions (Bhagwan Ram and Bhagwan Krishn) the full glory of the Divine was revealed. As regards the glory of Divine love, it was partially revealed in the descension of Bhagwan Ram and fully revealed in the descension of Bhagwan Krishn, that’s why the Sages of Dandak forest again took birth in Braj to receive the Bliss of Krishn love. But in the other twenty-two descensions only a fraction of the Divine glory was revealed. These descensions were called ansh or kala (avatar) which means the revelation of only a fraction of the Divinity.

They were only for a particular purpose which was needed at that time.

For example: The Kachchap avatar (the Divine tortoise) was only to help the celestial gods to hold the Sumeru mountain during the ocean churning event; Vaman avatar was also to help the celestial gods recover their lokas (abodes) from the possession of King Bali; Nrasingh avatar was to help Bhakt Prahlad and to eliminate demon Hiranyakashyap; Parashuram avatar was to eliminate the vainful and corrupted chatriyas from the society; Kapil avatar was to reveal the Sankhya Darshan; Ved Vyas avatar was to reveal all of the scriptures; and Buddh avatar was only to introduce compassion for all the beings and to teach that worldly desires are the cause of pains. So, Buddh did not teach the path to God, he limited the approach of his formulated meditations only up to the “absolute nothingness,” which is a state of maya. (Mahavir Swami, the promulgator of Jain religion, was a contemporary of Buddh and his religion also vaguely embraces the soul energy and not the supreme God.)

For the devotional purpose and for the realization of God’s love for all the souls of the world, there are only two descensions (Ram and Krishn) in which the supreme God has descended in His full Divine dignity and in His same name and form as He is seen in His Divine abode.

Bharatvarsh was glorified with the descension of Bhagwan Ram which happened in the tretayug about 18.144 million years ago. The Bhagwatam (9/11/18) tells that Bhagwan Ram lived for thirteen thousand years. But, in fact, He is always with His humble devotees as He is eternally omnipresent. In His eternal Divine abode, Saket, along with His consort Goddess Sita, and His brothers Lakc◊hman, Bharat and Shatrughn He always rejoices His Devotees.

To reveal the same Bliss of Saket abode for the souls of the world, Bhagwan Ram descended and appeared in the palace of King Dashrath in front of His mother Kaushalya. When He appeared He was in His full youthful form and in His absolute Divine glory.

Then, on the request of His mother, He became like a day-old child and, in His leelafulness, He began to cry like a normal baby.

Tulsidas describes the childhood leelas of Ram in detail. Then he tells about the wedding of Ram and His other three brothers. But, all through the Ramayan, the image of Bhagwan Ram, whatever he portrays, is exceedingly marvelous and befitting to His Divine dignity.

King Janak, who was always absorbed in the Bliss of the nirakar brahm, when the first time he saw Ram, became overwhelmed with the Blissfulness of His Divine beauty. He said,

”My mind has ceased relishing on the formal Bliss of formless brahm and my heart is thrilled seeing the all-exceeding loving beauty of Ram’s Divine personality.”

When Bhagwan Ram went around to see the town of King Janak, the people overjoyedly rushed to have the vision of Ram. One maiden says,

”My dear friend! I am dying to see that Ram weds Sita, so that, at least with this relationship, He would again come to this town and I would be able to see the love of my heart once more.”

Several descended Saints have written the leelas of Bhagwan Ram, and the descriptions of all of them are mostly on the same lines. The dedication of Lakchman, the devotion of Bharat, the adoration of Hanuman and the affection of all the people of Ayodhya for Bhagwan Ram are such facts that naturally represent His loving kindness and His causeless Graciousness upon all the souls. Sage Valmiki, in the last section of his Ramayan, tells that when Bhagwan Ram was leaving Ayodhya and was going to ascend to His Divine abode, all the people of Ayodhya including the birds and the animals also followed Him and ascended to His Divine abode along with Him. This Divine historical event proves that during the descension period of Ram all the people of Ayodhya were the descended Divine personalities who had come from Saket abode to associate with and to become a part of the leelas of Bhagwan Ram.

Tulsidas says in the Ramayan that once Bhagwan Ram called for the people of Ayodhya and gave a discourse telling about the greatness of bhakti and the remembrance of the Divine name which easily eliminates the bondage of maya, reveals the Divine Grace, and makes the soul Blissful forever.

A Divine breeze permeated the entire brahmand with the descension of supreme God Krishn. His mother Deoki saw Him in His absolute Divine glory, lovingly smiling and standing in front of her in His full youthful form. In the meantime celestial gods and goddesses along with Brahma and Shiv came, sang homage to Krishn and returned to their abodes. Krishn then became like a day-old baby.

Deoki and Vasudeo were imprisoned by the demon Kans, the King of Mathura, because a celestial warning had informed him that the eighth son of Deoki would be his destroyer. But when Krishn appeared, a tiny touch of His Divine power shattered the defense system of the jail: locks broke, watchmen went into deep sleep, gates opened and all the restrictions were eliminated. The flooding Yamuna river gave way to Vasudeo so that he could safely transport baby Krishn to his relative Nand Baba’s house which was in Gokul and on the other side of river Yamuna. Thus, Krishn first descended in Mathura and on the same night He came to Gokul. He appeared on the eighth waning moon night of bhadon (August) in Rohini Nakc◊hatra (asterism) in 3228 BC.

The next day, at the house of Nand Baba and Yashoda all the Brajwasis came together to join the most joyous celebration of Krishn’s birthday. God Shiv also came rushing to Gokul to see the innocent loving smile of baby Krishn, and, in this way, from the very first morning of His descension on the earth planet, His playful Divine loving leelas started. From that day on, every day in Braj was a joyous celebration and every moment in Braj was an experience of Krishn’s ever-new and ever-increasing love that encharmed the heart of every Brajwasi.

As Krishn grew, the field of His playful activities expanded and reached almost all over Braj. That’s how everywhere in Braj there are leela places which are the inspirations for the devotees that remind them of the presence of Krishn in Braj. In those places a temple or a pond, or both, have been made to represent the liveliness of the leela which Krishn did over there. There are hundreds of such leela places in Braj. The devotees of Radha Krishn adore these places and, trying to feel the Divine presence of Radha Krishn, they enhance their feelings of love and longing when they visit those places.

When Krishn was only five years old He Graced the Brajwasi girls of similar age who were collectively worshipping Goddess Katyayani with a desire to become the sweethearts of Krishn. At the age of seven, Krishn did the Govardhan leela and at the age of eight years He did maharas.

Maharas leela happened in Vrindaban in Braj. It was so great that Brahma couldn’t imagine the depth of its Blissful superiority, Shiv experienced it but He was unable to explain it in words, Maha Lakchmi desired for it but She couldn’t receive it and Maha Vishnu knew that its description was beyond the Divine language of the Vedas.

So, in the Samrahasyopnishad, Maha Vishnu says,

“O Lakchmi! Listen! The greatness of Vrindaban Bliss is so great that I am unable to describe it… Those Saints who live in the abode of Brahma and Shiv do not understand this. My bhaktas also do not understand the greatness of Vrindaban leelas. Only those who receive the Grace of Shree Radha Rani understand and experience Vrindaban Bliss, and no one else.”

Nand Baba and others, after a few years of Krishn’s appearance, had moved from Gokul to Nandgaon because the demons of Kans were causing a lot of disturbance over there. Nandgaon and Barsana are only four miles apart. So, most of the leelas of Radha and Krishn happened around there. Later on Krishn went to Mathura and then to Dwarika; but, Radha still stayed in Barsana, and, when Krishn ascended to Golok, at the same time Radha and all other Brajwasis also ascended to Golok.

Although the whole of Braj is the leela place of Krishn but three places are most important: Barsana, Vrindaban and Govardhan. Barsana is important because the sovereign of Gopis’ hearts, and the soul of Krishn, Radha, always lived there. Vrindaban is famous because maharas leela happened over there, and Govardhan is the place where Krishn did most of His playful leelas with His playmates (called Gwalbal) while grazing the cows.

After eleven years of age Krishn went to Mathura, eliminated demon Kans and made Ugrasen the King of Mathura. Later on He went to Dwarika, married Rukmini (Who was the descension of Maha Lakchmi) and lived there up till His ascension to Golok. During that time He helped the Pandavas, taught Gita to Arjun and assisted him in fighting the Mahabharat war.

Before His ascension Uddhao came to Him. Krishn gave Uddhao all the philosophical and devotional teachings. They are fully described in the eleventh canto of the Bhagwatam. Krishn called for Arjun and advised him to take the people of Dwarika to a safer place because immediately after His ascension a sea deluge was going to destroy Dwarika.

The leelas of Krishn are described in the tenth canto of the Bhagwatam which has ninety chapters. They could be categorized as: (1) Braj leela, (2) nikunj leela, and (3) Dwarika leela. Braj leela is where all the Brajwasis join; nikunj leela is where there are only Radha, Krishn and the Gopis; and Dwarika leela refers to all the activities of Krishn when He went to Dwarika and lived there. Dwarika leela has a touch of almightiness along with the lovingness of Krishn and that makes it totally separate from the braj and the nikunj leelas; whereas the braj and the nikunj leelas are the absolute experiences of Krishn’s intimate loving Bliss that He gave to His playmates, mother Yashoda and the Gopis, and where the Divine almightiness can never enter. Krishn has three Divine abodes: Dwarika, Golok and Divine Vrindaban. Rukmini Krishn are in Dwarika, and Radha Krishn are in Golok and Divine Vrindaban. Dwarika leelas are related to Dwarika abode, and braj and nikunj leelas are related to Golok and Divine Vrindaban.

It is beyond imagination how much Radha Krishn have Graced us. They descended only 5,227 years ago. They revealed such loving leelas that fascinated even God Shiv and Goddess Parvati and Maha Lakchmi. All of this They did only for us so that the eternally miserable souls could also receive the same Bliss of maharas which is beyond the reach of Brahma and which is earnestly desired by God Shiv. But see the people of this world whose kaliyug-affected minds still criticize and allegorize the leelas of Krishn. You must know that such doings are extreme transgressions, and as such, a lover of Sanatan Dharm should discard such diabolical publications, which, even in the least, criticize, allegorize and degrade the absolute Divinity of Bhagwan Ram and Sita or Radha and Krishn and Their Divine leelas, or dispute the Divine eternity of the Vedas, Upnishads and the Puranas, and the eternal Sages and Saints. You should remember that the Divine dignity of Bhagwan Ram and Krishn and Their loving leelas are the soul of Sanatan Dharm.

Out of all of the scriptures, the Upnishads, Gita and the Bhagwatam are most important. Gita is the direct speech of Krishn Himself and the Bhagwatam is the last revelation of Bhagwan Ved Vyas in which he has kept the entire Divine truth. Thus, the teachings of all of our Sages, Saints and the acharyas follow the guidelines of these scriptures.