At this year’s Janmashtmi festivities I was fortunate enough to be attend two separate celebrations. Both of the mandirs which I visited were fast running out of space to sit. Devotees of all ages had travelled from near and far, where they gathered to take part in the celebrations.

What is it about Krishna that makes him so popular? To a sizeable range of age groups? To people with completely different lifestyles and upbringings? To His devotees born at different ages?

I was absorbed in thought throughout the whole week, constantly trying to pin point what it was about Krishna that has captured the hearts and minds of so many people, past and presnt. That had made every individual person leave what they were doing to be present at the celebrations.

Whilst talking to friends and flicking through the Bhagavad Puran, I realised the many roles played by Krishna throughout his active life. He was the disobedient child that the Gopis loved to hate. He was the simple cowherd boy. He was a normal householder with wife and children. He was a great politician and a statesman. He was a loyal friend He was a skilful soldier and also a servant when time demanded that kind of attitude from Him.

Krishna’s popularity may stem from the fact that he appears in all aspects of life, such as childhood, adolescence and adulthood. In a funny kind of way it is almost like he is growing and maturing alongside us. From the days when we were running around the playground at school and then coming home to read the mischief He had been up to in the Krishna comics, to using Him as a role model by watching the Mahabharata and Krishna Leela serials in the teenage years, and possibly in the future as appreciating His advisory role as a parent, as well as a King.

There are many facets of his countless, charming Leelas, out of which each of us has one particular favourite. One Krishna can be seen differently amongst his thousands of devotees. He can be perceived as God, as a friend, as a child to a parent, as a beloved or as a master.

The reason why the vast majority may be drawn towards Krishna is because of the words spoken by Him to Arjun at the advent of war, which now comprise the renowned scripture, the Bhagavad Gita. The teachings that one receives from reading the Gita is unique to each individual. Krishna, for me, made spirituality into something practical and applicable in every day life. He explained Hindu philosophy in such a way that spirituality was not something that could only be taught to a selected few, or something that can only be learnt in a gurukul, and then practised only in the jungles by the Sanyasis, but by everyone, regardless of age, social and gender groups.

The many roles played by Krishna makes him approachable and attractive to his devotees, making him truly an All-comprehensive personality. This personality of His has fascinated not only Indians but also millions of men and women from other lands, and will continue to do so for as long as the world exists.