On this No Kings Day II, as people across the country rise to say NO to tyranny,
I find myself remembering an old story told at Diwali.
There once was a king named Naraka – his name itself means hell.
Born of divine parents, he began with promise but lost himself to greed.
Power became his obsession.
He conquered kingdoms, silenced voices, and even sought to rule the heavens.
His cruelty deepened until he imprisoned thousands.
The world trembled under his control.
When power forgets its purpose, even the earth cries out.
And it did.
Krishna answered that cry with his beloved Satyabhama by his side.
Together they entered Naraka’s fortress.
When Krishna was struck down, Satyabhama rose with fierce resolve and faced the tyrant herself.
Together they freed the captives and restored balance.
Their victory was not about conquest but about renewal –
about setting right what had been broken
and remembering what power is meant to serve.
That story is not from another time.
It lives whenever leaders place themselves above truth and conscience,
when greed parades as greatness,
when fear is used to divide,
when compassion is mocked as weakness,
when cruelty masquerades as strength.
But the spirit of Krishna and Satyabhama also lives
wherever people rise with courage and compassion, refusing to submit to tyranny.
It lives wherever the power of love rises to overcome loveless power,
wherever truth steadies trembling hearts
and conscience breaks the grip of fear.
As the Bhagavad Gita teaches:
“Whenever righteousness declines and unrighteousness rises, then I manifest myself.
For the protection of the good, for the destruction of evil,
and for the establishment of what is right,
I come into being age after age.” (Bhagavad Gita 4:7–8)
This is not about gods descending from the heavens —
it is about us rising to answer the call of justice, again and again, in every age.
And Mahatma Gandhi reminds us what that rising looks like:
“Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of humanity.
It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by human ingenuity.
Love is the law of our being.”
We are that force now.
We are that love.
Let us rise together, steady and unafraid.
Let our courage repair what has been damaged.
Let our love restore what power has forgotten.
No kings. Period.
No tyrants. Period.
Only people – equal, free, bound by truth
and led by the love that will not let us go,
let us down,
or let us off the hook.
The struggle is ours.
The love is ours.
Let it live through all we do.
Sarve bhavantu sukhinah,
Sarve santu niraamayah.
Sarve bhadraani pashyantu,
Maa kashchid duhkha bhaag bhavet.
Om Shantih Shantih Shantih.
May all beings be happy.
May all be free from harm.
May all experience what is good.
May no one suffer.
Peace, peace, peace.
