Here’s a book by IT professional Dev Prasad, which takes you through all places of significance in Krishna’s life, making it an excellent travel guide as well

you CaN read it as a religious, spiritual book about the life and times of one of the greatest gods of Hinduism – Krishna. Or you can get engrossed in it as a fascinating travelogue.

There is no dearth of Krishna devotees through the ages. Examples of this devotion include Sudama, Jayadev, Narayana Bhartadari — who authored in Malayalam the Narayaneeyam – and Pondaanam of the Jnaanopana fame. Each one of them overcame the trials and tribulations of their life with pure bhakti and each is said to be miraculously blessed in a unique manner. Thus, Meera Bai, who couldn’t think beyond her Giridhar, survived all torture inflicted on her and breathed her last at Krishna’s temple in Dwarka. Sudama was blessed to be his friend; Bhatadari healed of paralysis the moment he completed his ode with the 1036th verse of his 100th chapter; and for Jayadev, who Krishna impersonated to complete the one verse stopping his compilation when the former went for his bath.

A devotee can find his Krishna in any of the compilations listed above, in Meera’s bhajans, in the seminal Bhagwad Gita, the ISKCON literature... The options are manifold.

But for the electronics and electrical engineer that Dev Prasad is, it made him choose the road less travelled. The book Krishna-A Journey through the Lands & Legends of Krishna is a travelogue of the places and legends associated with Hindu god Krishna. It takes Prasad from Krishna’s birthplace in Brij Bhoomi – Vrindavan — to the place where he is said to have died.

Dev transports the reader through his first-hand experiences of visiting Brij Bhoomi – from Kansa Qila, Krishna Janmsthan Temple, Potara Kund and Dwarkadheesh Temple in Mathura. From Mathura he goes on to nearby Mahavan, stopping by at the Yogamaya Temple, Putana Temple, Trinavarta Temple, Yashoda Bhavan, Nanda Bhavan, Chatti Palana Temple, Revathi Balarama Temple, Patal Devi Temple, Utkal for the grinding-mortar incident, leading you through Gokul, Raval, Baldeo, Vrindavan, Madhuvan and Talvan, Radha Kund, Goverdhan, Barsana on to Nandagaon for the emotional separation of Krishna from Radha and the gopikas.

The writer then moves to Mathura again, and westwards to Dwarka, Porbandar/ Sudamapuri, witnessing the Kurukshetra and Somnath. Prasad has embellished each chapter with a relevant verse from the Bhagwad Gita. Thus, while Kurukshetra has the verse on duty, Sudamapuri carries a verse on devotion. The author points out with his eye for detail that the majority of Krishna temples, except those in the Brij Bhoomi and surrounding areas, depict him as a warrior God with the mace and Sudarshana chakra. In other temples, he is shown as a young boy playing the flute.

The chapters on Sudama and Krishna, and Radha and Krishna are bound to make the eyes moist and are so well described that you feel you are there witnessing it.

Why Krishna, despite being a warrior, fled from the battlefield is not looked on with contempt but revered as a hero and hailed as “Jai Ranchod” with a temple in Gujarat. The author interprets the “Purna Avatar” concept of Krishna who, unlike other avatars who played the one role scripted for them, excelled in all his roles — from being a cowherd boy, son, friend, warrior, statesman, diplomat, king charioteer and lover.

There’s also the Krishna who inevitably accepts Gandhari’s curse of the Yadava dynasty killing each other to death, with a smile. Allowing the law of karma to prevail with Jara the hunter to kill him with an arrow in his Achilles heel after the Kurukshetra war has finished and all the Yadavas have killed themselves. It is worth mentioning here that Jara was Vali in his earlier birth, whom Rama – Vishnu’s other avatar — killed by stealth.

After the author takes the reader through all the places that are of significance in Krishna’s life, he leaves the reader with a thought on how he wants to attain Krishna consciousness — as his evil uncle Kamsa, his two mothers Yashoda and Devaki, his father Vasudeva, his friends the cowherd-boys, his lovers the gopikas, the demons whom he killed, the Guru Sandipani, his mate Sudama, his love Radha, Kamsa’s wrestlers, the hunchbacked garland-seller in Mathura, the cows, the snake Kaliya, the devotee Meera, or his wife Rukmini. Such is the authenticity of the book that it is bound to be referred to by other books on Krishna in future. For instance, the best seller Krishna Key has this book by Dev Prasad in the acknowledgements column.

In addition to maps and other reference material, Prasad also gives tips on the places to visit by way of weather conditions, appropriate clothes, logistics of stay and travel. Here’s one travelogue that blends the present practical with the mystic and mythological past.