Actually, SriKrishna possesses infinite qualities. He possesses so many qualities that even His wife, Lakshmidevi, is not able to calculate the number of qualities of Krishna. Every second She sees a new quality in Krishna, or Lord Vishnu, thus making Him ever new for Her and for everyone. Even the Vedas are tired after telling so many qualities of Krishna, but even then the list of qualities of Krishna isn’t yet complete.
Thus, Krishna is the abode of all auspicious attributes or qualities and possesses no flaws in Him. Now, let me tell you about the 16 kalas of Lord Krishna, but before that we must keep in mind that not only Krishna, but all the avatars of Lord Vishnu and Lord Vishnu Himself are complete with 16 kalas and are full of infinite auspicious attributes. They don’t possess any flaws in them.
SriMadhvacharya says that differentiating between the forms of Bhagavan or making a hierarchy in the forms of Bhagavan is one of the nine forms of hatred, in the Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya. And this leads to Naraka, not Moksha. Considering the incarnations of Bhagavan, or the Bhagavad-roopas, the same and equal in all aspects, like mood, qualities, valour, handsomeness, and strength, etc., is the only correct knowledge and leads to Moksha.
So, keeping in mind that all the avatars, including Krishna and Lord Vishnu Himself are all equal in all sorts of qualities, mood, and are complete. In some avatars, He didn’t show some of the kalas out of the 16 kalas, but that doesn’t mean He lacked them in that particular avatar. It's just that He didn’t show them.
The 16 qualities of Lord Krishna:
- Daya: Krishna is an embodiment of mercy. The person whoever it is, if they approach Krishna with devotion, then Krishna takes Him in His refuge, even if they are sinners. But this doesn’t mean that they got a license to do more sins. They must surrender to Krishna with a clean mind and with the feeling of genuine remorse about the wrong deeds they did. Only then will Krishna show mercy and accept them.
- Dhairya: Krishna, in the Uddhava Gita, defines Dhairya as ‘the conquering of control over one's tongue, stomach, and the body.’ Krishna, throughout His life, had never spoken lies or had never insulted anyone unnecessarily. Whatever Krishna said had a deep meaning. Krishna never uttered any word that went to waste. He had full control over His senses.
- Kshama: Krishna is the ocean of forgiveness. He forgives the wrongdoings of even the sinners if they approach Him with genuine remorse and surrender. Even if you didn’t worship Him from the beginning and at the end you are worshipping Him with devotion, then too He would be pleased with you and would grant you Moksha.
- Nyaaya: In His whole life, Krishna never did any anyaaya or injustice. But you may question that: what He did in the Kurukshetra was right then? The answer is yes. That was right and just. Kauravas were Adharmi; hence, they were killed by Adharma. And this is what the Shaastras teach us: that Adharmis must be killed with Adharma, and this is Dharma.
- Nirapeksha: He doesn’t expect or depend on anything or anyone. In fact, He doesn’t want anything from us. We may offer Him gold, silver, diamond ornaments, or crowns, or lavish food, but actually Krishna doesn’t need any of them. Though He doesn’t need them, out of compassion for the devotee, He accepts those offerings and will only accept them if we offer them with devotion. He doesn’t even need Lakshmi Devi for His ananda or joy. He is Svaramana, or is full of unadulterated, pure bliss in Himself.
- Nirasakta: He is full in Himself, and doesn’t want anyone for His joy. Krishna is full of joy within Himself. When the whole universe works as per His will, then what is difficult to obtain for Him? Therefore, He doesn’t possess anything like ‘I like this too much’ or like that, or isn’t addicted to anything. He blesses all of us as per our competence.
- Tapasya: Though He doesn’t need to do Tapasya, or any other austerities, He does it to teach people that one should have tapasya in their life. In tapasya too, He used to worship Himself. Even if He worshipped any other deity, it was for the delusion of ignorant people, or to teach the world that we must worship other deities too, keeping in mind Krishna as the Supreme. He is all-powerful and can do anything by His mere will.
- Aparajaya: Aparajaya means ‘invincibility’. Nobody in the infinite universe possesses the power to defeat Krishna. Krishna was never defeated and always won. Even if the demons possessed the boons of Brahma or Shiva, Krishna killed them because those demons didn’t deserve that boon; plus, Krishna is even superior to Brahma and Shiva and is the Supreme Bhagavan Himself.
- Daanasheelata: Krishna gives anything the devotee wishes. He never refuses anything a devotee asks Him unless it is beyond the competence of the devotee. Because the problem isn’t that Krishna cannot give it (Krishna can give us anything), but the problem is that the devotee doesn’t possess the competence to get that thing. If the devotee gains that competence, then Krishna gives them that.
For example, the people of Vraja once asked Krishna to show Vaikuntha to them. Krishna asked them to have a dip in the Yamuna. As they had a dip in the Yamuna River, they saw Vaikuntha, in which Krishna was sleeping on the couch of Aadishesha as Narayana, and Lakshmidevi was serving Him. The people of Vraja were all devatas and hence had the competence to see Vaikunthaloka. - Saundaryavaan: Krishna is the embodiment of beauty. The Gopikas of Vraja used to remember His face, which resembled that of the full moon in the month of Sharad. Nobody is as beautiful as Krishna. Not only Krishna, but all the other forms of Lord Vishnu, like Rama, Narasimha, Varaha, Matsya, Hayagriva, Vedavyasa, etc., and Lord Vishnu Himself are equally supremely beautiful. There is no hierarchy among them in terms of beauty.
- Nrityajna: Krishna is a master of dancing. When the Yamuna water was filled with the venom of Kaliya, Krishna went down into the Yamuna and subdued Kaliya and came up. At that time, He danced on the hoods of Kaliya. All the devatas gathered there and gave their contribution to Krishna's dance. Brahma played the tabla, Hanuman sang, Lord Shiva played His damarooka and danced along with Krishna, and the apsaras danced with Krishna.
Krishna’s dance was so perfect that the devatas screamed, “ONCE MORE!!! ONCE MORE!!!” and then, on hearing this, the wives of Kaliya said, “Krishna! If you dance on our husband once more, he will become ‘no more’. Please show compassion to us!” and then Krishna showed compassion to Kaliya and left Him. - Sangeetajna: He knew the art of music. He knew all the 64 kalas. He knew how to play different instruments. But the main instrument He used to play was His flute. He was an expert flute player. On hearing His divine and nectar-like music of the flute, the Gopis came to Krishna and gathered around Him to listen to His flute. Even nature responded to the flute of Krishna.
- Neetimaan: He did everything using Neeti, which was correct. Even in the Mahabharata, the Pandavas conquered many things, like when Krishna made Bheemasena kill Jarasandha, or in the Kurukshetra battle, all the Kauravas were killed; there were two main factors: Krishna’s neeti and Bheemasena and Arjuna’s strength, which made the Pandavas conquer the whole Mahabharata battle. Krishna knew what was right and what was wrong. What Krishna did in the Mahabharata war wasn’t kuta neeti, but was suneeti, or justified neeti.
- Satyavaadi: Krishna never lied in His life. When Ashvatthama hit the Brahmashirostra on Uttara’s womb, at that time, Krishna saved Parikshita, but Parikshita came out of Uttara’s womb dead. Krishna took Him in His hand and then said, “If in my life I haven’t spoken any lies, then may this baby come back to life.”
Parikshita instantly came back to life and was named Vishnuraata, which means, ‘The one who was protected by Vishnu (Krishna).’ His sankalpa never goes wrong. If He wishes to protect anyone, then no matter what great power in this world tries to harm His devotees, it cannot kill them. But if Krishna decides to kill anyone, then even Brahma and Shiva cannot protect them from Krishna. - Sarvagyata: Bhagavan is Sarvagya, which means He knows everything, and nothing is hidden from Him. He has the biodata of every soul, be it a human, animal, bird, or even the devatas, including Brahma and Shiva. There is no knowledge that Krishna doesn’t have. In today’s world, we see so many new inventions, research, and so many innovations.
These are the result of human thinking or the human brain. But this brain is inspired by Krishna only, as we say in the Gayatri Mantra (Dhiyo yo nah prachodayat - meaning, ‘O Bhagavan! inspire my mind and senses’). So, imagine what kind of brain Krishna has. Thus, Krishna is Sarvagya. - Sarvaniyanta: He is the controller of everyone. He is present in everyone, inspiring everyone to do their work as per their competencies. He is present in Brahma and makes Him perform the creation. He is present in Shiva and makes Him perform destruction. Since He inspires both Brahma (known as Ka) and Shiva (known as Isha), He is known as Keshava. He is the source of everyone, as He says in the Bhagavad Gita.
So, these are the well-known 16 kalas of ShriKrishna. Remember that all the roopas of Bhagavan, like Rama, Krishna, Vedavyasa, Hayagriva, Narasimha, Varaha, Kurma, Matsya, Vishva, Turya, Taapasa, Taijasa, Praajna, Kapila Vaasudeva, Badavanala, Vaamana, Parashurama, Mohini, Dhanvantari, Vaasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Buddha, Kalki, Aitareya, Rishabhadeva, Narayana Rishi, Vibhu, Vaikuntha, Prushnigarbha, Vaishvaanara, Dattaatreya, Vitthala, Srinivasa, 24 forms of Bhagavan starting from Keshava to Krishna, 50 Maatrika forms, 100 forms starting from Aja, 1000 forms extolled in the Vishnu Sahasranaama starting from Vishva, infinite forms, etc., are full of 16 Kalas. Not only 16 Kalas; they are full of infinite auspicious qualities and are the same and equal in all aspects. There is no difference between them, and they are supreme.
Hope this helps!
Jay SriRam!
ShriKrishnarpanamastu!