Krishna: Encyclopedia II - Krishna - Texts stories and literature

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.

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