I write this on the eve of the prana pratishtha of Ram Lalla in the newly built, grand temple in Ayodhya. It is a joyous occasion not only for Hindus but many Indians.

Hinduism, or sanatana dharma as it is also called, is a complex corpus of thought. The other day, I saw a light-hearted post on social media of Lord Krishna as a child, asking: 'When will I get the same attention?'. To be sure, such distinctions in Hinduism are quite irrelevant. Krishna, like Ram, is also an avatar of Vishnu, and so at the ontological level, there is no difference between them.

However, the description of their incarnational characters is substantially different. Ram is Maryada Purushottam and Krishna is Leela Purushottam. Ram, apart from being the role model for the ideal human being, stands for order and stability, equilibrium and equipoise in the working of the cosmos, where choices are determined not by whim but by the conscious thought of what is right, even when other choices could have been made.

Krishna, on the other hand, is the human incarnation of the playful, whimsy divine who is unconventional, non-conformist, lovingly mischievous and the very embodiment of God delightfully enjoying himself for no other reason than the sheer joy of it. Thus, while Ram is the dutiful son, the caring brother, the devoted husband and the steadfast family man, Krishna is the adorable child who steals butter, the precocious adolescent who flirts........

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