Who is Shree Krishna? We can learn something about that by understanding actually the definition of His name, or the meaning of His name. This is defined in the Brihad Gautamiya Tantra:
कृषिशब्दः सत्तार्थो णश्चानन्दरूपकः ।
सत्तार्थो सत्ता स्वानन्दो योर्योगश्चित्परं ब्रह्म कृष्ण इत्यभिधीयते ॥Kṛiṣhi-śhabdaḥ sattārtho ṇaśh-chānanda-rūpakaḥ.
Sattārtho sattā svānando yoryogaśh chit-paraṃ brahma kṛiṣhṇa ityabhidhīyate.- Brihad Gautamiya Tantra
What does Krishna mean?
Krishna, that name means sat-chit-anand-Brahm (eternal existence, Divine consciousness, and Divine bliss).
We talked about this a few days ago when we talked about what is bhakti (devotion), and we learned about the powers of God. We learned that sat-chit-anand-Krishna-swaroop (the true Divine form of Shree Krishna) the actual form of Shree Krishna is sat-chit-anand. So here we are being told His very name means sat-chit-aAnand. So He is sat-chit-anand-Brahm. The word used in this verse is param-Brahm (the Supreme Absolute reality).
In fact, there is one Upanishad called the Gopal Tapaniya Upanishad, which is all about Gopal, Shree Krishna. So the very first mantra asks a question:
कः परमो देवः कुतो मृत्युर्बिभेति ।
कस्य विज्ञानेनाखिलं विज्ञातं भवति ।Kaḥ paramo devaḥ kuto mṛityurbibheti.
Kasya vigyānenākhilaṁ vigyātaṁ bhavati.- Gopal Tapaniya Upanishad
Who is the param-Dev (Supreme God)?
Who is the one that by knowing whom you know everything, and there is nothing more to know after that because there is nothing beyond Him?
And who is the one before whom death himself, meaning Yamraj (the god of death), trembles?
So the answer is given in the second mantra of the Gopal Tapaniya Upanishad:
श्रीकृष्णो वै परं दैवतम् …
Shrī-kṛiṣhṇo vai paraṁ daivatam …
- Gopal Tapaniya Upanishad
Shree Krishna is the param-Dev. Shree Krishna is the one by knowing whom you know everything because there is nothing more beyond Him. Whatever exists, exists within Him. And it is Shree Krishna before whom even Yamraj trembles because Shree Krishna is the Lord of the god of death.
The third mantra of the Gopal Tapaniya Upanishad says:
कृष्ण एव परो देवः । तं ध्यायेत् । तं रसेत् । तं भजेत् ॥
Kṛiṣhṇa ev paro devaḥ । Taṁ dhyāyet । Taṁ raset । Taṁ bhajet ॥
- Gopal Tapaniya Upanishad
Shree Krishna Himself, Shree Krishna only, is Param-Dev (Supreme God). Do dhyan (meditation) of Him. He is Ras (Divine bliss). Do bhajan (loving devotion) of Him. That’s what this mantra says.
So we’re starting to get an idea that Shree Krishna is Param-Brahm (the Supreme Absolute Reality), Supreme God.
If you go to the Gita, you’ll find the same thing. In the Gita, Shree Krishna says:
मत्तः परतरं नान्यत्किञ्चिदस्ति धनञ्जय । …
Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiṇchidasti dhanaṇjaya…
- Gita 7.7 (partial)
“Arjun, there’s nothing beyond Me.”
That’s what Paratattva (the Supreme Reality), or Parat-Paratattva (the Absolute Supreme Reality), means. It means the ultimate Reality beyond which there is nothing more. You can’t go beyond that because whatever exists is within Him.
