15 May 2014 - QA 1

Dearest Gurudev, could you please tell us what is the relationship between Shiva and Krishna? Are they friends? Are they colleagues? If yes, is there any hierarchy among them?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

When you try to know any one of them, you will get to know both because they are one and the same.

If there is a cup and I move the cup from here to there, is it the same space or has the space changed? It is the same, yet different, isn't it? The space in the cup here is the same, when you move it, it is still the same space, yet it is different. It is just like that with Shiva and Krishna.

Krishna walked on this planet Earth. Shiva was not a person, it is an energy, it is in the subtle only. Inside all of you is Shiva, when you realize this, that is Krishna. That is why we sing (the song) "Shivoham, Shivoham (I am Shiva, I am Shiva)". God is not sitting somewhere up in the heaven. Just sit, be still, and you will see that there is nothing other than Shiva in the whole Universe.

Do you know how they describe Shiva? They say, "The whole universe is your Jata". The whole universe is the body of Shiva, that is why Shiva is depicted in blue. Blue is not the color of somebody, it is just the energy in which we are always living, and that energy is Shiva.