Talk:Sākshi Bhāva: Divine as Witness
By Vishal Agarwal
Here, the Bhakta feels that Bhagavān is always close by, watching him. Due to its immanence, Brahman is the witness (‘Sākshi’) of our good and bad Karm. Nothing is hidden from the Īshvara because He is All-pervading and present inside the entire creation, witness to everything that happens even if we think it is a secret between two people only. He ensures that everyone gets the just fruit of their karm. However, Brahman itself does not get tainted by the results of the good or bad karm of the doer. He is also therefore the Giver of fruit of our Karm.
I know the past and the present as also the future beings, but no one knows Me! Gita 7.26
The one Deva, hidden in all beings, all-pervading, the inner ātman of all beings, the overseer of all karm, who dwells in all beings, the witness, the knower, the only one who is not tainted by the Guṇas. Yajurveda, Shvetāshvatara Upanishad 6.11
The fruit of our Karm comes from Brahman because that possibility alone is the logical one. Brahmasūtra 3.2.38
The witness and permitter, sustainer, experiencer, the great Īshvara, the Supreme Ātman – thus is also called the Supreme Purusha inside this body. Gita 13.22 Īshvara, the Dispenser, is the One who gives happiness and sorrows, and what is dear and what is not dear to all creatures based on their past Karmas. Īshvara indeed is the Īshvara of everyone. Mahābhārata 3.30.22
Just as space is all-pervading, Īshvara too pervades all creatures (as a witness) and determines their measure of happiness and sorrows depending on their Karmas. Mahābhārata 3.30.24
In the Vedas, Deva Varuna in particular is regarded as the Divine witness to all of our actions and secrets-
Varuna knows the path of the birds flying in the air. He knows the course of the ships in the Ocean. Rigveda 1.25.7 Being omniscient, Varuna looks at all the wonderful acts which have been done and which will be done in the future. Rigveda 1.25.11 Varuna has spread the atmosphere over the trees, put speed in horses, and milk in kine. He has placed intellect in hearts, fire in the waters, the sun in the sky, and Soma in the cloud. Rigveda 5.85.2
The Great Ruler of these Worlds Beholds as if from near at hand The man who acts and thinks like a thief, The wise know all this of him. Atharvaveda (Shaunakiya) 4.16.1
He who dwells, walks or moves secretly, Who goes to bed or awakes secretly, When with another he takes secret counsel, Varuna (Almighty God), like a king, knows all He is present there as the third. Atharvaveda (Shaunakiya) 4.16.2
This earth belongs to Varuna, the King, And the heavens with their ends far apart. The two seas (the sky and ocean) are as His loins, And He is present in the small water drop. Atharvaveda (Shaunakiya) 4.16.3
He, who should flee far beyond the sky, Even he cannot escape Varuna, the King. His envoys proceed from heaven towards the world, With a thousand eyes, they overlook this earth. Atharvaveda (Shaunakiya) 4.16.4
God, the King of the Universe, sees all this What is between the heaven and the earth, and what is beyond. He has counted the twinklings of the eyes of men. As a player throws down the dice, He settles all things (irrevocable). 'Atharvaveda (Shaunakiya) 4.16.5
May Thy fatal snares that stand spread out, Stretched seven by seven and threefold, Catch the man who tells a lie, But pass by him who speaks the truth. Atharvaveda (Shaunakiya) 4.16.6
With a hundred nooses bind him, O God, Let him not who lies, escape Thee, Looker on Men. Let the mean fellow sit stretching his belly Like a cask of which the bands are cut. Atharvaveda (Shaunakiya) 4.16.7
Varuna is He that exists alongside, Varuna is He that exists crosswise, Varuna is of our land, and yet also of other lands, Varuna is the divine, Varuna is the humane. Atharvaveda (Shaunakiya) 4.16.8
Story: God turns to see his devotee Kanakadasa
Kanaka Dasa was a humble cowherd who wandered from village to village singing the praises of Bhagavan Vishnu. Vyasateertha, a very famous scholar of Vedanta, took him as his student. Very soon, Kanakadasa became his favorite student.
The other students became jealous because unlike them, Kanaka was not only from a very humble family, he was also not educated in scriptures. Vyasateertha decided to teach his students a lesson. He called all of them and gave them a banana each saying, “These are sacred bananas. If you eat them, you will be blessed. However, you must eat your banana in a secret spot where no one can see you. Then come back and tell me where you had eaten your banana.”
After a day or so, everyone came back and reported that they had eaten their blessed banana at such and such spot. Surprisingly, Kanaka had still not eaten his banana. When Vyasateertha asked, Kanaka responded, “Reverend teacher, I was not able to find a single spot where God could not see me.”
Vyasateertha looked at his students and said, “For you, God is merely something whose name is chanted by you in prayers. But for Kanakadasa, God is a real person whom he sees everywhere.”
After some time, Kanakadasa decided to start roaming again to sing the praises of Vishnu. One day, he arrived at the famous Krishna temple at Udipi, a town in the Indian state of Karnataka. It had been his desire for a long time to have a darshana of Shri Krishna at the temple.
Unfortunately, the priests refused him entry, saying that he was a lowly cowherd and therefore he could not enter the temple. Disheartened, Kanakadasa went to the rear wall of the temple and started worshipping Krishna from there. While the priest was chanting his Sanskrit prayers to Krishna inside, he saw a miracle happen. The Murti of the Bhagavan started turning around. A hole appeared in the rear wall, and the face of the Murti gazed at Kanakadasa worshipping outside! Quite clearly, Krishna turned his back on the priest who had turned away his gentle and loving devotee Kanakadasa. A window was later inserted into the hole through which Kanakadasa had a darshana of Krishna, and this window, which exists even today, is called Kanakana Kindi in honor of the saint. Even today, devotees have a darshana of Krishna through this window.
The story of Kanakadasa shows how a devotee always experiences God and knows that God sees him at all times. Likewise, God too always keeps an eye on his devotee who always sees Him.
Sākshī Gopāla: Krishna as the Witness
Several centuries ago, in a village in the Indian state of Odisha, there lived a couple Raghavaiyya and Radhabai, and their daughter Vasanthi who was in love with Mahendra, a poor but noble boy from the same village. However, Vasanthi’s father wanted her to marry a rich man named Sukaveera. Once, Sukaveera and Raghavaiya went to the city nearby to celebrate a temple festival. But on the way, Raghavaiya caught smallpox, a very contagious disease that can cause death. Sukaveera and other companions left Raghavaiya, saying that they did not want to catch the disease from him.
While Raghavaiya was suffering alone, Mahendra happened to pass that way. When he saw his beloved Vasanthi’s father suffering, he decided to stay back and nurse Raghavaiya back to good health. Under his care, Raghavaiya overcame smallpox. He was very impressed by the selfless love of Mahendra and promised to marry Vasanthi to him once he reached his village back.
However, when Raghavaiya returned to the village, a wedding proposal for Vasanthi came from Sukaveera. Raghavaiya forgot all about the selfless love of Mahendra and the fact that he owed his very life to the service and care provided by the latter. He immediately agreed to Sukaveera’s wedding proposal. When Mahendra heard about this, he was heartbroken. He called a meeting of the village elders and claimed that Raghavaiya had gone back on his word that he would marry his daughter Vasanthi to Mahendra. The village elders demanded proof of the promise and asked Mahendra to produce witnesses.
Mahendra was now in a fix because the promise had been made when he was alone with Raghavaiya. He went to a Mandir of Krishna and cried his heart out. Very depressed and stressed out, he fell asleep. Bhagavān Krishna appeared to him in his dream and said, “Mahendra, you are a very good man and your love for Vasanthi and her family is pure. Go and tell the village elders that I, Krishna, will come as your witness because I did hear Raghavaiya make this promise to you. I will follow you to the village, but you have to make one promise – that you will never look back when I follow you. Trust me that I will come with you and never look back in doubt.”
Mahendra woke up very happy and he started walking back towards the village. As he took his steps, he could hear the jingling sound of the anklets of a man following him. However, at a little distance from the village, the sound became silent. Mahendra panicked and he turned around, only to discover that in place of Krishna, there was a beautiful and large mūrti of Him. Mahendra rushed to the village and related what had happened. Everyone rushed to the spot and found that suddenly, a beautiful Mūrti of Krishna had whatever we do, even if there was no one else around. Also, Bhagavān goes out of the way to protect his truthful and loving Bhaktas (devotees).