Why Is Krishna Blue?
“Anything which is larger than your perception tends to be blue because blue is the basis of all-inclusiveness.” —Sadhguru
Blue is one aspect of the legend of Krishna that has remain unchanged in time and geography. Why is Krishna blue? Sadhguru looks at what the “blue magic” is all about, and how it worked even on Krishna’s sworn enemies who were bent on his death and destruction.
Sadhguru: Blue is the color of all-inclusiveness. You will see in the existence, anything that is vast and beyond your perception generally tends to be blue, whether it is the ocean or the sky. Anything which is larger than your perception tends to be blue because blue is the basis of all-inclusiveness. It is based on this that so many gods in India are shown as blue-skinned. Shiva has a blue skin, Krishna has a blue skin, Rama has a blue skin. It is not that their skin was blue. They were referred to as blue gods because they had a blue aura.
What is aura?
An aura is a certain field of energy that is around every substance. It is a scientific fact that the whole existence is energy. One part of the energy has manifested itself into a physical form. Another part of the energy does not manifest itself into a physical form, but it still has a form. That form which is not yet physical, or refuses to become physical but still maintains a form, is called aura.
Krishna being blue-bodied need not necessarily mean his skin color was blue. Maybe he was dark-skinned, but people who were aware saw the blueness of his energy, so they described him as blue. There are many disputes about who Krishna is and what he is but his all-inclusiveness is one thing that no one can deny. So the theme of blue remained common, and in every corner of the country, Krishna is seen as blue.
Irresistible blue
Because his energy or the outermost ring of his aura was blue, he was simply irresistibly attractive – not because of the shape of the nose or the eyes or whatever. There are any number of people with good noses, good eyes, and good bodies but they do not exude the same level of attraction. It is the blueness of one’s aura which suddenly makes a person irresistibly attractive.
This blueness, this sense of all-inclusiveness in him was such that even people who were sworn enemies of his sat with him and unwittingly gave in to him. He was able to effortlessly turn around even people who abused and plotted to kill him any number of times. There are various other aspects to him but this blue nature constantly assisted him in everything that he did. He was so irresistible that even Poothana, the assassin who came to kill him when he was just a baby, fell in love with him. She was with him for just a few minutes but she became completely entangled in his blue magic.
Electrifying blue
There is another aspect to this. In terms of one’s evolution, there are various hues that one’s aura can take. If we make the agna very important in our sadhana, then orange will be the dominant color. That is the color of renunciation, austerity, asceticism and kriya. If someone has a pure white aura, that means this is a pure being. Such a person’s presence will be fantastic, but he will not be so action-oriented. When someone attains to their highest but chooses to be active in the world, his aura will always be electric blue. Anyone who was dynamic was blue. It is this type of aura which allows you to function in the world in a way that other people think is superhuman.
So instead of putting blue paint around Krishna, people said he was blue-skinned because when those who were aware looked at him, he looked blue and that’s all that’s important. When those who were unaware looked at him, they saw his skin, but that’s not important. The truth about his life is more important for us than the facts about his life because the facts will not make any difference in our lives, but the truth makes a difference in our life.
Editor’s Note: Sadhguru explores the life and path of Krishna. Watch the Leela series, available as a free webstream – one part every week.
