Why Must You Leave, Krishna?

Uddhava approached Krishna with tears streaming down his face, his voice breaking with anguish.

Uddhava: "Krishna, my heart cannot bear what I am witnessing. The Yadavas, our own kinsmen, are falling to madness and violence. And now I hear you speak of leaving this world forever. Why? Why must you go? Have we failed you so completely that you would abandon us to this darkness?"

Krishna gazed at his beloved friend with infinite tenderness, his eyes holding both sorrow and an unshakeable peace.

Krishna: "Dear Uddhava, you who have been closer to me than my own shadow, do you think I leave because of failure? The flower does not fail when it releases its fragrance to the wind. The river does not fail when it finally reaches the ocean. My work here is complete."

Uddhava: "But what of those who love you? What of me? For thirty-six years, you have been my breath, my reason for living. When you leave, how shall I continue? The world without Krishna is no world at all—it is merely an empty shell."

Krishna reached out and gently wiped the tears from Uddhava's face.

Krishna: "Listen carefully, my friend, for what I am about to share with you is the essence of all I have ever taught. You weep for my departure, but have you truly understood who I am? I am not this body that stands before you. I am not limited to this form that will soon seem to vanish from your sight."

Uddhava: "I know the scriptures. I have heard you speak of the eternal Self. But knowing and feeling are different, Krishna. My intellect may grasp that you are the Supreme, but my heart—my foolish, devoted heart—knows only that my friend, my beloved, is leaving."

Krishna smiled, and in that smile was all the love of creation.

Krishna: "And that is precisely why you are dear to me, Uddhava. Your love is not for my powers or my divinity—it is for me. But now I must ask you to let that love mature. A child loves his mother's physical presence. But when the child grows wise, he realizes his mother lives within him—in his values, his courage, his capacity to love. I will live within you in the same way, but infinitely more so."

Uddhava: "Then tell me, Lord—what am I to do when you are gone? Where shall I go? How shall I live without the one I have served all my life?"

Krishna: "Go to Badrikashrama, to the sacred mountains where the air itself is prayer. There, in solitude, realize what you have always known but have not yet fully awakened to: that I have never been separate from you, and I never will be. I dwell not in Vaikuntha or in Dwaraka, but in the heart of one who loves me."

Uddhava: "And this destruction around us—the Yadavas killing each other with reeds that have become weapons, the curse that has fallen upon us—does it not grieve you?"

Krishna: "I have seen countless worlds arise and dissolve, Uddhava. Each dissolution carries within it the seed of new creation. The Yadavas were instruments of dharma, and now their role is complete. Grief is for those who see only the wave and miss the ocean. You are ready to see the ocean."

Uddhava fell at Krishna's feet, his whole body trembling.

Uddhava: "Then let me go with you. If you must leave this world, take me too. I cannot—I will not—remain in a world where you are not."

Krishna lifted him up and embraced him.

Krishna: "You will remain because the world needs you. You carry my teachings within you, and through you, they will flow to those who seek refuge. Your grief is sacred, Uddhava—do not suppress it. But let it transform into something greater. Let it become wisdom. Let it become the teaching that awakens others."

Uddhava: "But how can I teach when my own heart is broken?"

Krishna: "It is often the broken heart that becomes the greatest teacher. The pot must crack for the light to pour through. Your vulnerability is not weakness—it is the very doorway through which my presence will touch others."

Uddhava looked into Krishna's eyes one final time, knowing these moments were numbered.

Uddhava: "If I cannot keep you here, at least tell me—how shall I remember you? What image, what thought, what practice will keep you alive in my heart?"

Krishna: "Remember me in everything. See me in the compassion you show to others. Hear me in the silence between your thoughts. Feel me in the love that rises unbidden in your chest. I am the friend who walks beside you, the voice that counsels you in difficulty, the peace that descends when you surrender. I have never left you, Uddhava. I am only teaching you to recognize what has always been true."

Tears still flowing, but now mixed with something like peace, Uddhava whispered.

Uddhava: "Then I will go to Badrikashrama. I will carry your words like sacred fire. And when seekers ask me how I survived losing you, I will tell them the truth—that I did not lose you at all. I found you everywhere."