Chapter 10. The Lord of Vraja. “It's what Krishna taught, what he represents, that matters, not whether these beautiful lessons came from a real man who lived long ago in the past, a man whose life story has become mostly the work of myth, or someone who is entirely a fictitious creation. Vishnu decided to take on this avatar for the same reason he always decides to take on a human (or earlier, animal) avatar-not to try to save the world and to redeem humanity from sinning, but to help people, to teach them, to be a hero when a very horrible time is upon the world and they need someone to get rid of that evil (in this instance, Krishna's evil uncle Kamsa, and in the incarnation just prior to Krishna, the horrible demon king Ravana). I find it really beautiful, touching, and true what Krishna says to his dear friend Arjuna during the course of the sermon which has come to be known as the Bhagavad Gita. He, Krishna, Vishnu, has many names and forms to many different people; one need not be a Hindu to properly worship him or to find enlightenment. However one sees the Divine, be it Krishna, Jesus, the Tao, Great Spirit, the Goddess, the traditional Western view of God, kanji, local spirits, a special rock, even the broader realms of Nature or Science, is how he will come to that person, and in that guise he is being worshipped. Krishna acknowledges that there are many paths to him, none of them incorrect if approached with a pure and devout heart. If only more people would care to learn this beautiful ancient story, there might be less religious intolerance and bigotry in the world and more love and understanding. If God can understand that all of these different religions ultimately lead up to the same Divinity, then why can't ordinary human beings?” The many faces of the Divine, April 25, 2004, Anyechka (Rensselaer, NY United States)