It’s a sultry evening and we are standing in the midst of chaotic traffic. But one man seems unperturbed by the pandemonium. His wrinkled face is dripping with sweat, his forehead is smeared with chandan and there’s a small ‘kaala tikka’ on it. Over his white kurta and dhoti, he’s wearing a grey stole printed with different mantras in Sanskrit.
I’m sure you have seen him, every time you passed by Juhu Circle. After all, he has given the circle a new meaning, one of peace and love. Meet Krishna Das.
“Aaj kal jab main nahi hasta, log mujhe dekh kar haste hain (when I don’t smile, people smile at me),” says Krishna, who moved to Mumbai 17 years ago, when he donned his “sadhu vesh.” For the past 10 years, Krishna has been standing at the Juhu traffic signal, wearing a smile and holding different peace message boards. Not for a few minutes but for several hours.
“In the beginning I used to stand here for 15 to 18 hours. Passersby would jeer at me, ‘Pagal hai kya, ghar jaa, yahan pe kyun khada hai?’ (Are you mad, go home, why are you standing here?).”
Nothing deterred his spirit. But what particularly intrigued me was what drives him to spread this message without much human interaction, by simply standing with a placard?
“On an average, two to three lakh people smile at me every day. Many a time, people have stopped by and told me that on a rough day, they remember my smile and that makes things easier for them,” says Krishna, with a glint of pride and a sense of contentment.
Born as Krishna Avatar in Moradabad, Krishna was sent to Sainiki school in Nainital, but due to his lack of academic interest, he eloped. He stayed in an ashram in Haridwar, for some days, before heading back to Moradabad. “I was always inclined towards some aspect of spirituality or the other.”
He believes that he has carried his prarabdh karma from his past life to this life and that is what constitutes his DNA. For the less initiated, prarabdh karma is that chunk of past karma, which is responsible for our actions in the present birth, in the present body.
Walking on the shores of Juhu beach, as I probe Krishna about his life, aspirations and dreams, he looks at the setting sun, takes a deep breath and exhales, as if waiting to purge his locked angst.
This self-claimed suburban saint’s spiritual sojourn began in Chitrakoot, but what changed his approach to spiritual evolution was his trip to Bhujbasa, in 1984. Located 20,000 ft above ground level, between Gangotri and Goumukh, Krishna spent several weeks here, meditating and drinking in all the knowledge he possibly could, from his two gurus – Shimla Baba and Mouni Baba. Having absorbed their philosophies, Krishna eventually started building his own philosophy of life, love and peace.
The next logical step, according to him, was to move to Mumbai, to now spread the message of peace, which he had envisaged while living in the Himalayas.
In Mumbai, Krishna initially lived in a small ashram in Malad East. His mornings would begin with a havan on Juhu beach. “I was in complete silence during those days.”
But what pains him is the suffering and violence in the world. “The basis of my message is peace. And this is the foundation of every religion – love, truth and compassion. I have studied human behaviour in great depth and I constantly experience the suffering and pain of humanity.”
In a hope to build his own inner strength and reduce human suffering, Krishna attempted converting to different religions. But he wasn’t welcomed by any. “Everyone talks about love, but I don’t find anyone practising it. Someone once told me that the message of peace in this Universe is being spread by only 2 per cent of the entire world population. Mere andar saari duniya ka peeda hai (I am harbouring the pains of humanity).”
Just like Lord Krishna talks of detachment in the Bhagavadgita, this namesake too believes in love without attachment. “I love everyone, but I am not attached to anyone. After my death, I don’t want anyone to use my name or message to set up any institution for monetary benefits. I just want to see everyone happy.”
Krishna believes that the root cause of unhappiness among humans is difference of opinion. And if this is truly understood by each one of us, then concerns related to anger, hatred, jealousy etc could be solved more tactfully.
“Families don’t live in harmony because they fail to understand that misunderstanding arises from difference of thought. Mera dimag bahut tez kaam karta hai. Lekin kabhi kabhi thapp ho jata hai (My mind works very fast, but sometimes it just slows down completely).”
Krishna is deeply influenced by the Bhagavadgita. He believes that back in the days of the Mahabharata, human technology was not outside the human body, but within. “Determination, grit and sankalpa was enough to shoot a thousand arrows and kill the enemy. But in modern times, we have played so much with Mother Nature that she is not going to spare any of us,” warns Krishna, talking about the impending catastrophes about to hit our planet.
But I am not convinced when he shares that he has no desires. That he wants to spread the message of peace and hope for a happy planet is a desire, albeit not material, but at the spiritual level. And as we veer from the topic of desires to monetary help, Krishna’s voice becomes softer, as if he wishes to only whisper.
“During my sadhu jeevan, when I was in silence, I never asked for monetary help. But the Divine would send me food and money in some form or the other. Now, there are a few people who help me.”
At this point, he goes into a flashback and narrates stories about his days with Sant Morari Bapu. “I havent heard too many saints. “Na sunkar bhi mere andar, pehle se bahut kuch moujood hai (I already have a lot of knowledge without listening to gurus and saints). I used to listen to Morari Bapu’s Ram katha. What I liked about him was that he never wanted to hold anyone in any kind of bondage- not even to his teachings. I was with him for four years. Today I am glad I moved away from him, else I would not have found my purpose.”
As I draw his attention to a very pertinent question — how does he fund his living — he is quick to mention about his guru bhai, who has been financially supporting Krishna since 2012. “The money lasts for about 12 days. There is also a Bollywood star from the 80s’ era, who helps me. Woh mujhe bahut manta hai, pura Bollywood mujhe manta hai. (He has high regard for me, entire Bollywood has high regard for me).”
Krishna clearly has no qualms about sounding immodest about the fact that he has a certain power, a blessed energy. He believes that there is some supreme power in his smile that attracts people. “Aisa toh puri duniya mein, ek time pe koi aadmi present hai hee nahi. Lekin mere saath aise hua hai.” And he credits this popularity to the grace and blessings of his God and gurus.
Soon people begin to crowd around us, Krishna shoos them away, making me wonder, ‘What happened to the smiling face? Why is he evading the crowd?’ Apparently, he’s been poisoned several times – in his tea, in his food – by his detractors.
So doesn’t he fear for his life? “I am not scared of anything. But yes, we are all scared of death. Gita mein kaha hai- Mamaivamso jeevaloke jeevabootha sanathanaha (According to the Gita, all on this earth are verily aspects of Krishna),” he says moving the conversation into a space of deep philosophy of life, death, birth and rebirth.
At 50, Krishna takes great pride in the fact that his slogans have been used as TV show names and in films too – one such is Saavdhan India. “My message is very powerful,” he says, leaving me to surmise if this is narcissism or fear wearing the mask of conviction.
And as we come back to the point of this interview, the circle, and what it means to him, he is nonchalant, “Just google ‘Juhu Circle man’ and you will find me. My name is Krishna Avatar, and the name of the circle is Brindavan Gurukul Chowk. It’s not a mere coincidence. There is a definitive divine purpose.”
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