Krishna: Encyclopedia - Krishna

Krishna

Krishna (IAST kṛṣṇa, the Sanskrit for "the all-attractive one") is according to common Hindu tradition the eighth avatar of Vishnu. In Gaudiya Vaishnavism, however, he is seen as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the fountain head of all avatars.

Krishna appears in a number of stories in different cultures and traditions. Sometimes these contradict each other, though there is a common core story that is central to most people's knowledge of Krishna - a pastoral childhood and youth, a celebrated warrior and as the divine incarnation.

Krishna - The name

The Sanskrit name and word is written kṛṣṇa in IAST transliteration (the equivalent of Devanagari कृष्ण; see Sanskrit for pronunciation.)

The term Krishna in Sanskrit means "the all-attractive one".

In depictions, Krishna often appears as a black or dark-skinned figure, for instance in the modern murtis (statues) and pictorial representations of Lord Jaganatha at Puri (Krishna as Lord of the World). In the same representations, his brother and sister are shown with a distinctly lighter complexion. Early pictorial representations also generally show him as dark or black-skinned. Rajasthani miniature paintings of the 16th century are often of a brown or black-skinned figure. The name is sometimes said to mean dark blue, rather than black and by the 19th century, he is almost always shown as blue skinned.

The Mahabharata(Udyogaparva 71.4), gives this analysis of the word 'Krishna':

(Translation) - The word 'krish' is the attractive feature of the Lord's existence, and 'na' means 'spiritual pleasure.' When the verb krish is added to na, it becomes krishna, which indicates the Absolute Truth.

In the Vishnu sahasranama, Krishna is the 57th name of Vishnu, and means the "Existence of Knowledge and Bliss".

He is known by numerous other names or titles and the Gaudiya tradition has a list of 108 names. The most commonly used of these include:

• Acyutah
• Gopala - cowherd; protector of cows
• Govinda - protector of cows
• Hari - the fawn (or yellow or gold) coloured one
• Hrshikesha - master of the senses
• Jaganatha - lord of the universe (see also Juggernaut).
• Keshava – long haired; in some accounts, the killer of Kesi
• Madhava - bringer of springtime
• Panduranga
• Vāsudeva - a patronymic title, as he is the son of Vasudeva

Krishna - Texts stories and literature

A number of local traditions and regional deities may have been subsumed into the stories and person of Krishna. Accounts of or ballads about Krishna occur in a large number of works. These include the Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavata Purana, and the Gita Govinda. Roughly one quarter of the Bhagavata Purana (mostly in the tenth book) is spent extolling his life and philosophy.

The best known, or the most important stories of Krishna, include these:

• Krishna the butter-thief (Maakhanchor). One of the most popular children's stories is that of the butter-thief, the child stealing freshly made butter from his mother.

• The killer of Putana. She was a demoness who was sent to kill him by getting him to suckle her poisoned breasts.

• Krishna Giridhari. As a boy, he raised Govardhana hill to protect villagers from rain and flood sent by Indra.

• Govinda Krishna, the beloved of the gopis. The original stories of Krishna as a boy included his adolescent play with the Gopis or cowgirls of the village of Vrindavana. These were developed to form the basis of the Gita Govinda, and numerous other later works.

• Krishna Vaasudeva the prince, of the Yadavas at Mathura and later at Dwaraka. As a prince he was also the husband of Rukmini.

• Krishna, together with Arjuna, was responsible for the burning of the Khandava forest.

• He plays a major role in the events leading up to the Kurukshetra war in the Mahabharata, helping the Pandavas who accept him as their counsel and guide. He protects the dignity of Draupadi when Dushasana tries to strip her in the court.

• Paartha-sarathi – the charioteer of Arjuna (Paartha) during the great battle where, he instructs Arjuna in dharma and yoga in the Bhagavad Gita.

Krishna - The story of Krishna

The tales of Krishna appear in a number of ancient and medieval Hindu texts - virtually every Purana tells the full life-story or some highlights from it. In the absence of any historical biography, this summary is based on the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa, the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana. The Mahabharata and its addendum Harivamsa are the oldest sources of the tale. Whilst all the four books are considered sacred by the Hindus, the two Puranas are the most theologically venerated. The scenes from the tale are set in north India, in the present states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Delhi and Gujrat. The quotations at the start and end of the summary set the theological framework in which the story is viewed.

Krishna - 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 give a similar account.

Krishna - Birth and childhood

Krishna was of the royal family of Mathura, and was the eighth son born to the princess Devaki, and her husband Vasudeva, a noble of the court. Mathura was the capital of the closely linked clans of Vrishni, Andhaka and Bhoja. They are generally known as Yadavas 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 cousin, had ascended the throne father imprisoning his father, the King Ugrasena. Afraid of a prophecy that predicted his death at the hands of Devaki's son, he had the couple cast into prison and it is here that Krishns was born.The place of his birth is now known as Krishnajanmabhoomi, where a temple is raised in his honour. As his life was in danger he was smuggled out to be raised by his foster parents Yashoda and Nanda in Gokula.Two of his siblings also survived, Balarama and Subhadra.

Krishna - Boyhood and youth

Nanda was the head of a community of cow-herds and soon shifted 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.Needless to say, all these met with a bad end. 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 - Krishna the prince

Krishna as a young man returned to Mathura, overthrew his uncle Kamsa, and installed Ugrasena, Kamsa's father who had been imprisoned by Kamsa, 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 Dwaraka (in modern Gujarat). He married Rukmini, daughter of King Bhishmaka of Vidarbha. He also had seven other wives including Satyabhama and Jambavati.

Krishna - 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. The Bhagavad Gita is the advice given to Arjuna by Krishna before the start of the battle.

Krishna - The last days

Following the war Krishna dwelt at Dwaraka for 36 years. Then at a festival, 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.

Krishna - The worship of Krishna

Krishna - Early references

The first possible recorded instance of a Krishna who may be identified with the deity can be found in the Chandogya Upanishad( circa 900 BCE). The teacher Ghora Angirasa discusses the nature of 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 same as in later Krishna traditions.

Panini, circa 5th century BCE, in his Ashtadhyayi explains the word 'Vasudevaka' as a Bhakta(devotee) of Vasudeva.This along with the mention of Arjuna in the same context indicates that the Vasudeva 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 menations that his daughter Pandaia to have 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 same as Krishna's Mathura.

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

At Ghosundi near Udaipur, engraved about 150 B. C, 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 Lords 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.

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

The grammarian Patanjali, who wrote his commentary the Mahabhashya upon Panin's grammar about 150 B. c., 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.

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 the Lord 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.

Krishna - 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, or divine play as the central principle of the universe. This is counterpoint to another avatar of Vishnu: Rama, "He of the straight and narrow path of maryada, or rules and regulations."

Those bhakti movements devoted to Krishna first became prominent in southern India in the late 1st millennium. Earlier works included those of the Alvar saints of the Tamil country. A major collection of their works is the Divya Prabandham.

Krishna - Gita Govinda - the song of the cowherd

Certain literary works were important to later development of the bhakti traditions, including especially the Gita Govinda. This work was composed by Jayadeva in eastern India, in the 12th century. It elaborated part of the story of Krishna, and of one particular gopi, called Radha,a minor character in the Bhagavata-Purana but a major one in some others like the Bramhavaivarta-Purana. According to one interpretation of this work, Radha represented humanity, and Krishna represented divinity. The desire of Radha for Krishna can be seen as allegory of the desire of humanity for union with the godhead.

Krishna - Recent Krishna bhakti movements

Later bhakti traditions include Gaudiya Vaishnavism in which Krishna is seen as the supreme God, rather than as an avatara of Vishnu. It was first promoted by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who lived in the 16th century in Bengal. Followers of Chaitanya maintain that he is an incarnation of Krishna. A number of modern movements belong in this tradition, including ISKCON, which is sometimes called the Hare Krishna movement. ISKCON has recently been participating in bringing the academic study of Krishna into western academia in the theological discourse on Krishnology.

Krishna - Krishna in Jainism

The most exalted fugures in Jainism are the 24 Tirthankaras. Krishna when he was incorpoarted into the Jain list of herioc 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 63 Shalakapurshas or notable figures includes amongst others, the 24 Tirthankaras and 9 sets of this triad. One of these traids is Krishna as the Vasudeva, Balarama as the Baladeva and Jarasandha as the Prati-Vasudeva. The stories of these triads can be found in 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 - Krishna in Buddhism

Krishna figure 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 have a touch more of folk-tales than epic or mythical ones.

Krishna - Chronology

A paper presented recently^{[citation needed]} at a convention in Prabhas Patan near Somnath, 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 36 years after the Battle of the Mahabharata. The Matsya Purana says that Krishna was 89 years old when the battle was fought. There after Pandavas ruled for a period of 36 years, their rule was in the beginning of 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).

See also

• Balarama
• Bhagavad Gita
• Vishnu
• Hindu deities
• List of Hindu deities
• International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Krishna", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki