Krishna

This article is about the Hindu deity. For other meanings, see Krishna (disambiguation).

Krishna playing his bansuri Artwork © courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

Krishna (कृष्ण in Devanagari, in IAST ), according to various Hindu traditions is the eighth avatar of Vishnu. In Gaudiya Vaishnavism, he is seen as the Supreme Person, the highest God and thus the origin of all other incarnations.

Krishna and the stories associated with him appear across the spectrum of Hindu philosophical and theological traditions. Though they sometimes differ in details reflecting the concerns of a particular tradition, some core features are shared by all. These include a divine incarnation, a pastoral childhood and youth, and life as a heroic warrior and teacher. The immense popularity of Krishna in India also meant that various non-Hindu religions that originated in India had their own versions of him.

The name 'Krishna'

The term Krishna in Sanskrit has the literal meaning of "black" or "dark one", and this refers to his complexion. In murtis (statues) and pictorial representations, he is often shown as dark skinned. For instance, Jagannatha, Krishna as Lord of the World, at Puri is shown with his brother and sister, the latter two being shown with a distinctly lighter complexion. The name is sometimes said to mean bluish black, rather than simply black, and sometimes his complexion is described to be "that of a storm cloud".

Other meanings of the name are given. The Gaudiya tradition tends to explain the name as meaning "all-attractive". This is justified by an interpretion of a verse in the Mahabharata, as given in the Chaitanya Charitamrita [1] (other translations of this verse give differing meanings). Commentators on the Vishnu sahasranama, offer explanations on similar lines. According to Adi Sankara's commentary, however, Krishna is the 57th name of Vishnu, and also means the "Existence of Knowledge and Bliss."

Krishna is also known by numerous other names and titles. For a full list, see List of titles and names of Krishna.

Literary sources

Yashoda bathing the child Krishna. (Western Indian illustrated Bhagavata Purana Manuscript)

The earliest text to include descriptions of Krishna as a personality is the Mahabharata. Within the text he is described as an incarnation of Vishnu and is one of the most important characters of the epic. The eighteen chapters of the sixth book (Bhishma Parva) that constitute the Bhagavad Gita contain the advice of Krishna to Arjuna, on the battlefield. Krishna is already an adult in the epic, even though there are allusions to his earlier exploits. The Harivamsa, an appendix to this epic that was added to it later, contains the earliest detailed version of Krishna's childhood and youth.

Virtually every one of the later Puranas tells Krishna's full life-story or some highlights from it. While the Mahabharata and the Harivamsa are considered sacred by the Hindus, the two Puranas (the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana) that contain the most elaborate telling of Krishna's story and teachings are the most theologically venerated. Roughly one quarter of the Bhagavata Purana (mostly in the tenth book) is spent extolling his life and philosophy.

The life of Krishna

This summary is based on details from the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa, the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana. The scenes from the narrative are set in north India, mostly in the present states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat. The quotations at the start and end of the summary set the theological framework in which the story is viewed.

Krishna and his mother Yasoda Artwork © courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

The incarnation

These texts explain the reason for the incarnation. In the words of the Mahabharata (Adi Parva, Adivansavatarana section):

The Asuras...began to be born in kingly lines...repeatedly defeated in war by Devas...and deprived also of sovereignty and heaven, they began to be incarnated on the earth...by their strength they began to oppress...all creatures...Terrifying and killing all creatures, they traversed the earth in bands of hundreds and thousands. Devoid of truth and virtue, proud of their strength, and intoxicated with (the wine of) insolence, they even insulted the great Rishis ... And then the earth, oppressed with weight and afflicted with fear, sought the protection of Brahma...He then commanded all the gods saying - To ease the Earth of her burden, go ye and have your births in her according to your respective parts and seek ye strife (with the Asuras already born there)...And all the gods with Indra, on hearing these words accepted them. And they all having resolved to come down on earth in their respected parts, then went to Narayana (Vishnu), the slayer of all foes, at Vaikunth...,the sovereign of all the gods... Him, Indra the most exalted of persons, addressed, saying - Be incarnate. And Hari (Vishnu) replied - Let it be.

The Puranas, such as the Bhagavata Purana give a similar basic account, although sometimes with slight variations in details. SB 10.1.22

Birth

Krishna was of the royal family of Mathura, and was the eighth son born to the princess Devaki, and her husband Vasudeva. Mathura was the capital of the closely linked clans of Vrishni, Andhaka, and Bhoja. They are generally known as Yadavs after their eponymous ancestor Yadu, and sometimes as Surasenas after another famed ancestor. Vasudeva and Devaki belonged to these clans. The king Kamsa, Devaki's brother, had ascended the throne by imprisoning his father, King Ugrasena. Afraid of a prophecy that predicted his death at the hands of Devaki's eighth son, he had the couple cast into prison where he planned to kill all of Devaki's children at birth. After killing the first six children, and Devaki's apparent miscarriage of the seventh, Krishna took birth. As his life was in danger he was smuggled out to be raised by his foster parents Yasoda and Nanda in Gokula, Mahavana. Two of his siblings also survived, Balarama (Devaki's seventh child, transferred to the womb of Rohini, Vasudeva's first wife) and Subhadra (daughter of Vasudeva and Devaki born much later than Balarama and Krishna).

The prison believed by worshippers to mark Krishna's birth is now known as Krishnajanmabhoomi, where a temple is raised in his honour.

Boyhood and youth

Nanda was the head of a community of cow-herders and moved to Vrindavana. The stories of his childhood and youth here include that of his life with, and his protection of, the local people. Kamsa learnt about the child's escape and kept sending various demons to put an end to him. The demons were defeated at the hands of Krishna and his brother Balarama. Some of the most popular exploits of Krishna centre around these adventures and his play with the gopis of the village, including Radha, which later became known as the Rasa lila.

Krishna revealing his universal form to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita Artwork © courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

Krishna the prince

Krishna as a young man returned to Mathura, overthrew his uncle Kamsa, and re-installed Kamsa's father, Ugrasena, as the king of the Yadavas. He himself became a leading prince at the court. In this period he became a friend of Arjuna and the other Pandava princes of the Kuru kingdom, who were his cousins, on the other side of the Yamuna. Later, he takes his Yadava subjects to the city of Dwaraka (in modern Gujarat). He married Rukmini, daughter of King Bhishmaka of Vidarbha. In total, Krishna had 16,108 wives, including Satyabhama and Jambavati.

The Kurukshetra war

Krishna was cousin to both sides in the war between the Pandavas and Kauravas. He asked the sides to choose between his army and himself. The Kauravas picked the army and he sided with the Pandavas. He agreed to be the charioteer for Arjuna in the great battle[citation needed193.174.32.5 16:26, 11 August 2006 (UTC)]. The Bhagavad Gita is the advice given to Arjuna by Krishna before the start of the battle.

Later life

Following the war Krishna lived at Dwaraka for thirty-six years. Then at a festival, a fight broke out between the Yadavas who exterminated each other. The clan now mostly destroyed, his elder brother Balarama too gave up his body using Yoga. Krishna retired into the forest and sat under a tree in meditation. A hunter mistook his partly visible foot for a deer and shot an arrow wounding him mortally.

The Mahabharata (Mausala Parva) says:(The hunter) ...Regarding himself an offender, and filled with fear, he touched the feet of Keshava. The high-souled one comforted him and then ascended upwards, filling the entire sky with splendour. ...the illustrious Narayana of fierce energy, the Creator and Destroyer of all, that preceptor of Yoga, filling Heaven with his splendour, reached his own inconceivable region.

Early historical references

Krishna (left) with Radha Bhaktivedanta Manor, Watford, England

The first possible recorded instance of a Krishna who may be identified with the deity can be found in the Chandogya Upanishad (ca. 900 BCE). The teacher Ghora Angirasa discusses the nature of the soul with Krishna, the son of Devaki. However, this teacher is never mentioned in connection with Krishna in later works nor does any ancient or medieval author quote this instance of Krishna, the deity. The exact words that Ghora speaks are treated by some as praise of Krishna and most others as a praise of the Atman, whose knowledge being imparted to Krishna. The doctrine taught by Ghora matches with the Bhagavad-gita and the name of the mother is the same as in later Krishna traditions.

Panini, ca. 5th century BCE, in his Ashtadhyayi explains the word "Vāsudevaka" as a Bhakta (devotee) of Vāsudeva. This, along with the mention of Arjuna in the same context, indicates that the Vāsudeva here is Krishna.

In the 4th century BCE, Megasthenes the Greek ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya says that the Sourasenoi (Surasenas), who lived in the region of Mathura worshipped Herakles. This Herakles is usually identified with Krishna due to the regions mentioned by Megasthenes as well as similarities between some of the herioc acts of the two. Megasthenes also mentions that his daughter Pandaia ruled in south India. The south indeed had the kingdom of the Pandyas with the capital at Madhura (Madurai), the name similar to if not the same as Krishna's Mathura.

From 180-165 BCE, the Greek ruler Agathocles issued coins with images of Vasudeva holding a chakra.

At Ghosundi near Udaipur, engraved about 150 BCE, is an inscription of a certain Bhagavata named Gajayana, son of Para-sari, stating that he erected in the Narayana-vata, or park of Narayana, a stone chapel for the worship of the Sankarshana and Vasudeva.

In the 1st century BCE, the Greek Heliodorus erected at Besnagar near Bhilsa a column with the inscription:This Garuda-column of Vasudeva the god of gods was erected here by Heliodorus, a worshipper of the Lord Bagavata, the son of Diya Greek Dion and an inhabitant of Taxila, who came as ambassador of the Greeks from the Great King Amtalikita [Greek Antialcidas] to King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra the saviour, who was flourishing in the fourteenth year of his reign ....(missing text)... three immortal steps . ....(missing text)...when practised, lead to heaven�"self-control, charity, and diligence.

Another 1st century BCE inscription from Mathura, records the building of a part of a sanctuary to Vasudeva by the great satrap Sodasa.

The grammarian Patanjali, who wrote his commentary the Mahabhashya upon Panini's grammar about 150 BCE, quotes a verse to the following effect: May the might of Krishna accompanied by Samkarshana increase!One verse speaks of Janardana with himself as fourth (Krishna with three companions, the three possibly being Samkarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha). Another verse mentions musical instruments being played at meetings in the temples of Rama (Balarama) and Kesava (Krishna). Patanjali also describes dramatic and mimetic performances (Krishna-Kamsopacharam) representing the killing of Kamsa by Vasudeva.

Also in the 1st century BCE, there seems to be evidence for a worship of five Vrishni heroes (Balarama, Krishna, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Samba) for an inscription has been found at Mora near Mathura, which apparently mentions a son of the great satrap Raj Uvula, probably the satrap Sodasa, and an image of Vrishni, "probably Vasudeva, and of the "Five Warriors".

From the early centuries of the common era, the inscriptions and references to worship of Krishna become very numerous.

The Bhakti tradition

Bhakti, meaning devotion, is not confined to any one deity of Hinduism. However Krishna has become the most important and popular focus of the devotional and ecstatic aspects of Hindu religion.

Devotees of Krishna subscribe to the concept of lila, (meaning 'divine play'), as the central principle of the universe. The lilas of Krishna, with their expressions of personal love that transcend the boundaries of formal reverence, serve as a counterpoint to the lilas of another avatar of Vishnu: Rama, "He of the straight and narrow path of maryada, or rules and regulations."

The bhakti movements devoted to Krishna first became prominent in southern India in the 7th to 9th centuries CE. The earliest works included those of the Alvar saints of the Tamil country. A major collection of their works is the Divya Prabandham. The Alvar Andal's popular collection of songs Tiruppavai, in which she conceives of herself as a Gopi, is perhaps the oldest work of this genre. Kulashekhara's Mukundamala was another notable offering of this early stage.

"Celebration of Spring by Krishna and Radha," 18th Century miniature; in the Guimet Museum, Paris

Spread of the Krishna-Bhakti movement

The movement spread rapidly from the south, and the Gita Govinda of Jayadeva (12th century CE) in eastern India became a landmark in the movement's literature. It elaborated a part of the story of Krishna, that of his love for one particular Gopi, called Radha, a minor character in the Bhagavata Purana but a major one in some others like the Bramhavaivarta-Purana. The poem is in Sanskrit and soon became famous all across India. Radha henceforth became inseparable from devotion to Krishna.

While the learned sections of the society, well versed in Sanskrit, could enjoy works like Gita Govinda or Bilvamangala's Krishna-Karnamritam, the masses sang the songs of the Bhakti devotee-poets who composed in the regional languages of India. These songs expressing intense personal devotion were written by devotees from all walks of life. The songs of Mirabai and Surdas became epitomes of Krishna-devotion in north India.

These devotee-poets, like the Alvars before them, were aligned to specific theological schools only loosely, if at all. But by the 11th century CE, Vaishnava Bhakti schools with elaborate theological frameworks around the worship of Krishna were established in north India. Nimbarka (11th century CE), Vallabhacharya (15th century CE) and especially Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (16th century CE) were the founders of the most influential of these schools. Chaitanya's tradition, called Gaudiya Vaishnavism, sees Krishna as the supreme God, rather than as an avatar of Vishnu. Followers of Chaitanya maintain that he is himself an incarnation of Krishna.

Krishna-Bhakti in Recent Times

Since 1966 devotion to Krishna has spread from within India and is now practiced in many places around the globe, including America, Europe, Africa, Russia and South America. This is largely due to the growth of the 'Hare Krishna' movement, the largest part of which is officially known as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). The driving force behind the change was the movement's founder, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who was instructed by his guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, to write about Krishna in the English language and to share Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy with people in the Western world.

Religious perspectives

Krishna in Jainism

The most exalted figures in Jainism are the twenty-four Tirthankaras. Krishna, when he was incorporated into the Jain list of heroic figures presented a problem with his activities which are not pacifist or non-violent. The concept of Baladeva, Vasudeva and Prati-Vasedeva was used to solve it. The Jain list of sixty-three Shalakapurshas or notable figures includes amongst others, the twenty-four Tirthankaras and nine sets of this triad. One of these traids is Krishna as the Vasudeva, Balarama as the Baladeva and Jarasandha as the Prati-Vasudeva. He was a cousin of the twenty-second Tirthankara, Neminatha. The stories of these triads can be found in the Harivamsha of Jinasena (not be confused with its namesake, the addendum to Mahabharata) and the Trishashti-shalakapurusha-charita of Hemachandra.

In each age of the Jain cyclic time is born a Vasudeva with an elder brother termed the Baladeva. The villain is the Prati-vasudeva. Baladeva is the upholder of the Jain principle of non-violence. However Vasudeva has to forsake this principle to kill the Prati-Vasudeva and save the world. The Vasudeva then has to descend to hell as punishment for this violent act. Having undergone the punishment he is then reborn as a Tirthankara.

Krishna in Buddhism

Krishna appears as a very minor figure in Buddhism. He appears in the Ghata Jataka as a prince who along with his other brothers captures Dwaraka. Many of the important names found in Hindu versions of the tale are found in conflated forms or with slight variations. The incidents are told more like folk-tales than epic or mythical stories.

Krishna in the Bahá'í Faith

Bahá'ís believe that Krishna was a "Manifestation of God," or one in a line of prophets who have revealed the Word of God progressively for a gradually maturing humanity. In this way, Krishna shares an exalted station with Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, and the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, Bahá'u'lláh.

Krishna in Thelema

Krishna is recognized as a saint in The Gnostic Mass of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica. He was cannonized by Aleister Crowley in consideration of his role as a former magus of the A.'.A.'.. Crowley writes in Liber 111, cap. 71:

"Krishna hath Names and Forms innumerable, and I know not His true human Birth. For His Formula is of the major Antiquity. But His Word hath spread into many Lands, and we know it to-day as INRI with the secret IAO concealed tehrein... the true Word of Krishna was AUM, important rather a Statement of the Truth of Natura than a practical Instruction in detailed Operations of Magick."

Krishna in the performing arts

The earliest mention of any performance based on the Krishna story is mentioned in Patanjali's Mahabhashya. But it is not clear what kind of dance or drama it was, nor what occasion it was performed on.

The fact that all the incidents related to the Krishna story are presented as playful activities in which he is fully aware of his divine nature made him a difficult subject for the classical Sanskrit playwrights. These plays usually had scenes where the hero is deep in sorrow before the customary happy ending. While Vishnu's other major incarnation Rama could be made into the protagonist of the plays, it was virtually impossible to make such plays about Krishna. Perhaps Bhasa's Balacharita and Dutavakya are the only plays by a major classical dramatist. The former dwells only on his childhood exploits and the latter is a one-act play based on a single episode from the Mahabharata when Krishna tries to make peace between the warring cousins.

The problem faced by classical drama did not crop up in other arts like music, dance and narrative enactments of the Krishna legend. From the 10th century BCE, with the growing Bhakti movement, Krishna became a favourite. The songs of the Gita Govinda became favoured across India and had many imitations. The songs composed by the Bhakti poets added to the repository of both folk and classical singing.

The classical dances of India, especially Odissi and Manipuri, draw heavily on them. The 'Rasa lila' dances performed in Vrindavana shares elements with Kathak, and the Krisnattam performed now exclusively at the Guruvayoor temple was the precursor of Kathakali.

Medieval Maharashtra gave birth to Hari-Katha that told Vaishnava tales through music, dance, and narrative sequences and Krishna's story became a rich source. This tradition then spread to Tamil Nadu and other southern states.

Narayana Thirtha's (17th century CE) Krishna-Lila-Tharangini provided material for the musical plays of the Bhagavata-Mela by telling the tale of Krishna until his marriage to Rukmini.

Thyagaraja (18th century CE) wrote a similar piece called Nauka-Charitam.

Innumerable movies in all Indian languages have been made based on these tales. These are of varying quality and usually take many liberties with the story to add songs, melodrama, and special effects.

Chronology

A paper presented recently by Swami Gyananand Saraswati at a convention in Prabhas Patan near Somnath, [2] speculates that Krishna "died" at the age of 125 on February 18, 3102 BC at 14:27:30 hours on the banks of river Hiran in Prabhas Patan. As the report goes, he was 125 years, 7 months and 6 days old when he left the earth for his divine abode Goloka.

The finding was based on clues in the Vedic literatures. Certain dates were fed into special software which was used to prepare a kundli (astrological horoscope charts). The Bhagavata Purana and Bhagavad Gita say that Krishna "left" Dwarka thirty-six years after the Battle of the Mahabharata. The Matsya Purana says that Krishna was eighty-nine years old when the battle was fought. There after Pandavas ruled for a period of thirty-six years, their rule was in the beginning of the Kali Yuga. It further says that the Kali Yuga began on the day Duryodhana was felled to ground by Bhima. Some Hindus believe that the year 2005 is the year 5106 of the Kali Yuga (which began with a year 0).

References

* The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli,published between 1883 and 1896
* The Vishnu-Purana, translated by H. H. Wilson, 1840
* The Srimad Bhagavatam, translated by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, 1988 copyright Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
* The Jataka or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births, edited by E. B. Cowell, 1895
* Garuda Pillar of Besnagar, Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report (1908-1909). Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing, 1912, 129.
* Krishna the Divine Lover: Myth and Legend Through Indian Art (London 1982) by A. L. Dallapiccola
* Scientific prediction of Mahabharata war [3]
* For chronology of Krishna's life see "Yahoo! India News, Thu, Sep 16, 2004: Top Stories, Friday September 10, 8:41 AM, Chronicling Krishna's life - to the last second, by Ashish Mehta, Indo-Asian News Service"

Notes

See also

*Radha
*Balarama
*Rama
*Vrindavan
*International Society for Krishna Consciousness
*Hare Krishna
*Bhagavad Gita
*Vishnu
*Hindu deities

External links

Articles
*Krishna.com - All about Krishna (various articles)
*The Search for the Historical Krishna, by Prof. N.S. Rajaram
*Sri Krishna - Differences in Realisation & Perception of the Supreme
*The full text of the Bhagavata Purana (Srimad-Bhagavatam)
*Article: 'Perception of Krishna's Image' by Dr. P. C. Jain
*A Tribute to Hinduism - Dwarka

;Miscellaneous
*The International Society for Krishna Consciousness
*Shri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math - The bhakti tradition and Gaudiya Vaishnavism
*HareKrishna.com - Krishna & His Avatars
*Vrindavan.com - Krishna Deity Gallery
*Krishna - His life
*Krishna 'Janmashtami' - The celebration of Krishna's birth
*Article on the chronology of Krishna from Times of India
*Pro-Krishna site.
*Devotional hymns and eulogies on Krishna