The Blue Dove Foundation
The Source for the finest spiritual works
from the world's religions and wisdom traditions
4204 Sorrento Valley Blvd, Suite K
San Diego, CA 92121 USA
Phone: 858-623-3330 Fax: 858-623-3325
Orders: 800-691-1008 E-mail: mail@bluedove.org

 

Just as the call of Krishna's heavenly flute is irresistibly attractive, so this book will enchant and uplift its readers.

Never before has the complete life of Krishna been told in a way that is so engaging and understandable, yet so faithful to the ancient epics of India. Spiritual seekers of all traditions will find inspiration and revitalized faith in these pages.

The Play of God is the account of a spiritual phenomenon. It describes the extraordinary manifestation of the divine that was Krishna, the playful and enchantingly beautiful deity who epitomizes the highest principles of India's spiritual vision. While the usual Western image of God as father or monarch is represented in this story, readers will also find here much more -- a refreshing and powerful picture of God as child, playmate, lover, friend, and teacher. They will discover how India conceived the most intimate and joyous experience of God, using the seductive metaphor of the Divine Beloved. What is evoked here is not a religion of moral law and stern obligation, but a spirituality of joy and true desire, love and beauty, contemplation and inner awakening.

This life of Krishna expands our concept of divinity and raises our thoughts to a higher spiritual plane. What does it mean to conceive of God as warrior and king? What does it mean to relate to the Infinite as friend or husband? Such experiences are vividly portrayed in these pages. We are uplifted as we contemplate the unlimited joy of the Eternal, appearing to us in a form combining beauty, strength, and irrepressible playfulness.

Just as the music from Krishna's heavenly flute is irresistibly attractive, so this book will entrance its readers. Never before has the complete life of Krishna been told in a way that is so engaging and understandable, yet so faithful to the ancient epics of India.

Devi Vanamali, a contemporary Hindu contemplative and teacher, lives in a small ashram in Rishikesh in the foothills of India's Himalaya Mountains. From her balcony, she looks over the Ganges River, roaring and sparkling in the gorge below. Her Krishna is no sectarian deity, and her vision transcends all narrowness. Her charming writing conveys all the wisdom of the Himalayan sages.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Foreword
• Author's Introduction
• Publisher's Introduction
• Benediction
  
  
• THE PLAY OF THE CHILD
  
  • The Advent
  • The Birth of the Unborn
  • The Divine Infant
  • The Butter Thief
  • Bondage of the Boundless
  • Brahma Bemused
  • The Enchanting Flute
  • Krishna Lifts the Mountain
  • The Divine Lover
  • The Lord of Vraja
  
  
• THE ROYAL GAME
  • The Prophecy Fulfilled
  • Uddhava at Gokula
  • Lord of Dwaraka
  • The Abduction of Rukmini
  • The Cursed Gem
  • The Pandavas
  • The Divine Husband
  • The Sons of Krishna
  • The Divine Ruler
  • The Rajasuya Sacrifice
  
  
• THE GAME SUPREME
  • The Gambling Match
  • The Exile
  • The Lord as Ambassador
  • Declaration of War
  • Shrimad Bhagavad Gita
  • The Mahabharata War
  • The End of the War
  • The Advice of Bhishma
  • The Story of Sudama
  • Dharma Rules Supreme
  • The Curse of the Sages
  • Advice to Uddhava
  • The Death of the Deathless
  
  
• Epilogue: Lila—the Cosmic Play
• List of Characters
• Glossary
  
  
• Hari Aum Tat Sat

Blue Dove Press, 4204 Sorrento Valley Blvd, Suite K, San Diego, CA 92121 USA
Phone: 858-623-3330; Fax: 858-623-3325; Orders: 800-691-1008, E-mail: bdp@bluedove.org

Revised: July 28, 2002