| The critics often jeer at Sri Krishna because he had sixteen thousand wives. Perhaps, it is more due to jealousy than any moral
sense because he could manage sixteen thousand wives whereas they can hardly manage one ! Since these poor girls had been
deserted by their own people just because they had been in the captivity of the demon
Narakasura, Krishna the rescuer, had no option but to legally accept them as his wives so that he could shelter them. This is one explanation.
Then there is the other, the real explanation, which describes the esoteric significance of this. Sixteen thousand really represents
sixteen. The mind, the five senses of cognition, the five organs of action and the five fundamental elements (like the earth
etc.)-these are the sixteen. The zeros signify the number- less products, variations and manifestations of these sixteen.
Sri Krishna is the Purusha or the self who liberates them from hellish ignorance
(Naraka) and redirects them unto Himself. Contrary to the objectors' contention, Lord Krishna has been the unseen dynamic power guiding the Hindu religion and society
in the right direction through his Gita ever ringing its message for thousands of years. He is the greatest national hero and guides,
and it is a pity that the sons of our own soil often disown Him.
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