Every year when the big festivals come along, I pause to read and reflect on what they represent. Today we celebrate Janmashtami in India – the birth of Lord Krishna . He was the 8th incarnation of Lord Vishnu, According to the Hindu texts, Lord Krishna came into this world as the eighth avatar of Lord Vishnu – the preserver and protector of the universe. His role is to return to the earth in troubled times and restore the balance of good and evil.
And yet while this is such an important festival for Indians all over the world, the story of Krishna’s birth is far from unique. Many myths and legends all over the world revolve around a child being cast away in a basket set adrift on the waters in an attempt to survive against all odds, seeking the help of divine spiritual intervention, and yes not only does the child does survive, but also grows up to become a great leader and play an important role in society.
It was Lord Krishna in India, Sargon of Akkad in Persia, Horus in Egypt, Moses in Hebrew, Taliesin in Nordic, Oedipus in Greek and Romulus and Remus in Roman. The thread across all these legends is the same. A character meant for greatness, born against the odds of survival , and through divine intervention rises to greatness ..Rudolf Steiner explained this thread in his own way through his lectures of the evolution of the Cosmos, the cultural epochs and the evolution fo the human consciousness. Story telling has always played a significant role is transfer of knowledge since ancient times… but most of the myths, legends and folklore that we only read today as books, were at one time living reality for the people of ancient times. The spirit world not only spoke to them through these characters but also helped man evolve to a new level of consciousness. Steiner in his lectures always maintains we are connected by the same events, it is just the story handed down reflected the consciousness of the people of that time and place.
Its hard to think that there is a singular spiritual being that this event happened to, and that the legends from Ancient India (Krishna) to Chaldea (Moses) to Greece (Oepdius) are just stories about this being yet coloured by their consciousness of their epochs. Hard to conceive, yet good to reflect on, given that most wars we fight in the world, finally boil down to religion and race. Seems pointless don’t you think?