By Rasa Purusha Dasa
At the junction of two ages, amidst two immense armies arrayed on the battlefield at Kurukshetra, Arjuna scans his foes and becomes confused. When Krishna expounds eternal dharma to enlighten him, Arjuna addresses Krishna as pavitram paramam: "the purest of the pure." (Bhagavad-gita 10.12) Arjuna adds, "All the great sages . . . confirm this about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me." Apart from the Bhagavad-gita, other books of wisdom are the Upanishads, essential Vedic texts that saints and sages have piously guarded against both extinction and mutilation. The eighth verse of Sri Ishopanishad, the topmost Upanishad, states that Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is shuddham and apapa-viddham. Commenting on this verse, Srila Prabhupada explains: To confirm that the Lord is always pure and uncontaminated, Sri Ishopanishad describes him as shuddham (antiseptic) and apapa-viddham (prophylactic). He is antiseptic in the sense that even an impure thing can become purified just by touching Him.
Read More...