Krishna

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Krishna
God of Protection, Compassion, Tenderness, and Love,
Dvaraka
  • Vaikuntha
    • Mantra
    Weapon
    • Chandravamsha
    Dashavatara Sequence
    PredecessorRama
    SuccessorBuddha
    This article contains special characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols.

    Krishna (

    IAST: Kṛṣṇa [ˈkr̩ʂɳɐ]) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God in his own right.[13] He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love;[14][1] and is widely revered among Hindu divinities.[15] Krishna's birthday is celebrated every year by Hindus on Krishna Janmashtami according to the lunisolar Hindu calendar, which falls in late August or early September of the Gregorian calendar.[16][17][18]

    The anecdotes and narratives of Krishna's life are generally titled as Krishna Līlā. He is a central figure in the

    theological, and mythological texts.[19] They portray him in various perspectives: as a god-child, a prankster, a model lover, a divine hero, and the universal supreme being.[20] His iconography reflects these legends and shows him in different stages of his life, such as an infant eating butter, a young boy playing a flute, a young boy with Radha or surrounded by female devotees, or a friendly charioteer giving counsel to Arjuna.[21]

    The name and synonyms of Krishna have been traced to 1st millennium 

    Guruvayoor in Kerala.[32] Since the 1960s, the worship of Krishna has also spread to the Western world and to Africa, largely due to the work of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).[33]

    Names and epithets

    Main article: List of titles and names of Krishna

    The name "Krishna" originates from the Sanskrit word Kṛṣṇa, which is primarily an adjective meaning "black", "dark", or "dark blue".[34] The waning moon is called Krishna Paksha, relating to the adjective meaning "darkening".[34]

    As a name of

    eastern India.[38][39][40]

    Historical and literary sources

    The tradition of Krishna appears to be an amalgamation of several independent deities of ancient India, the earliest to be attested being Vāsudeva.[41] Vāsudeva was a hero-god of the tribe of the Vrishnis, belonging to the Vrishni heroes, whose worship is attested from the 5th–6th century BCE in the writings of Pāṇini, and from the 2nd century BCE in epigraphy with the Heliodorus pillar.[41] At one point in time, it is thought that the tribe of the Vrishnis fused with the tribe of the Yadavas/Abhiras, whose own hero-god was named Krishna.[41] Vāsudeva and Krishna fused to become a single deity, which appears in the Mahabharata, and they started to be identified with Vishnu in the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita.[41] Around the 4th century CE, another tradition, the cult of Gopala-Krishna of the Ābhīras, the protector of cattle, was also absorbed into the Krishna tradition.[41]

    Early epigraphic sources

    Main article:
    Vāsudeva-Krishna

    Depiction in coinage (2nd century BCE)

    Vāsudeva-Krishna, on a coin of Agathocles of Bactria, c. 180 BCE.[42][43] This is "the earliest unambiguous image" of the deity.[44]

    Around 180 BCE, the

    chattra).[45]

    Inscriptions

    Heliodorus Pillar in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, erected about 120 BCE. The inscription states that Heliodorus is a Bhagvatena, and a couplet in the inscription closely paraphrases a Sanskrit verse from the Mahabharata.[48][49]

    The

    Indo-Greek who served as an ambassador of the Greek king Antialcidas to a regional Indian king, Kasiputra Bhagabhadra.[45][48] The Heliodorus pillar inscription is a private religious dedication of Heliodorus to "Vāsudeva", an early deity and another name for Krishna in the Indian tradition. It states that the column was constructed by "the Bhagavata Heliodorus" and that it is a "Garuda pillar" (both are Vishnu-Krishna-related terms). Additionally, the inscription includes a Krishna-related verse from chapter 11.7 of the Mahabharata stating that the path to immortality and heaven is to correctly live a life of three virtues: self-temperance (damah), generosity (cagah or tyaga), and vigilance (apramadah).[48][50][51] The Heliodorus pillar site was fully excavated by archaeologists in the 1960s. The effort revealed the brick foundations of a much larger ancient elliptical temple complex with a sanctum, mandapas, and seven additional pillars.[52][53] The Heliodorus pillar inscriptions and the temple are among the earliest known evidence of Krishna-Vasudeva devotion and Vaishnavism in ancient India.[54][45][55]

    Kharoshthi inscription nearby reads Rama [kri]ṣa. 1st century CE.[44]

    The

    Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions, all located in the state of Rajasthan and dated by modern methodology to the 1st century BCE, mention Saṃkarṣaṇa and Vāsudeva, also mention that the structure was built for their worship in association with the supreme deity Narayana. These four inscriptions are notable for being some of the oldest-known Sanskrit inscriptions.[56]

    A

    Mathura Museum, has a Brahmi inscription. It is dated to the 1st century CE and mentions the five Vrishni heroes, otherwise known as Saṃkarṣaṇa, Vāsudeva, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, and Samba.[57][58][59]

    The inscriptional record for Vāsudeva starts in the 2nd century BCE with the coinage of Agathocles and the Heliodorus pillar, but the name of Krishna appears rather later in epigraphy. At the Chilas II archaeological site dated to the first half of the 1st-century CE in northwest Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, are engraved two males, along with many Buddhist images nearby. The larger of the two males held a plough and club in his two hands. The artwork also has an inscription with it in Kharosthi script, which has been deciphered by scholars as Rama-Krsna, and interpreted as an ancient depiction of the two brothers, Balarama and Krishna.[60][61]

    The first known depiction of the life of Krishna himself comes relatively late, with

    Yamuna.[62] The relief shows at one end a seven-hooded Naga crossing a river, where a makara crocodile is thrashing around, and at the other end a person seemingly holding a basket over his head.[62]

    Literary sources

    Mahabharata

    See also: Krishna in the Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita
    Krishna advising Pandavas

    The earliest text containing detailed descriptions of Krishna as a personality is the epic Mahabharata, which depicts Krishna as an incarnation of Vishnu.[63] Krishna is central to many of the main stories of the epic. The eighteen chapters of the sixth book (Bhishma Parva) of the epic that constitute the Bhagavad Gita contain the advice of Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield.

    During the ancient times that the Bhagavad Gita was composed in, Krishna was widely seen as an avatar of Vishnu rather than an individual deity, yet he was immensely powerful and almost everything in the universe other than Vishnu was "somehow present in the body of Krishna".[64] Krishna had "no beginning or end", "fill[ed] space", and every god but Vishnu was seen as ultimately him, including Brahma, "storm gods, sun gods, bright gods", light gods, "and gods of ritual."[64] Other forces also existed in his body, such as "hordes of varied creatures" that included "celestial serpents."[64] He is also "the essence of humanity."[64]

    The Harivamsa, a later appendix to the Mahabharata, contains a detailed version of Krishna's childhood and youth.[65]

    Other sources

    Krishna is celebrated in the Vaishnava tradition in various stages of his life.

    The Chandogya Upanishad (verse III.xvii.6) mentions Krishna in Krishnaya Devakiputraya as a student of the sage Ghora of the Angirasa family. Ghora is identified with Neminatha, the twenty-second tirthankara in Jainism, by some scholars.[66] This phrase, which means "To Krishna the son of Devaki", has been mentioned by scholars such as Max Müller[67] as a potential source of fables and Vedic lore about Krishna in the Mahabharata and other ancient literature – only potential because this verse could have been interpolated into the text,[67] or the Krishna Devakiputra, could be different from the deity Krishna.[68] These doubts are supported by the fact that the much later age Sandilya Bhakti Sutras, a treatise on Krishna,[69] cites later age compilations such as the Narayana Upanishad but never cites this verse of the Chandogya Upanishad. Other scholars disagree that the Krishna mentioned along with Devaki in the ancient Upanishad is unrelated to the later Hindu god of the Bhagavad Gita fame. For example, Archer states that the coincidence of the two names appearing together in the same Upanishad verse cannot be dismissed easily.[70]

    Yāska's Nirukta, an etymological dictionary published around the 6th century BCE, contains a reference to the Shyamantaka jewel in the possession of Akrura, a motif from the well-known Puranic story about Krishna.[71] Shatapatha Brahmana and Aitareya-Aranyaka associate Krishna with his Vrishni origins.[72]

    In Ashṭādhyāyī, authored by the

    Honolulu Academy of Arts
    .

    Porus were carrying an image of Herakles.[76]

    The Buddhist

    ancient India.[78][79]

    The ancient Sanskrit grammarian Patanjali in his Mahabhashya makes several references to Krishna and his associates found in later Indian texts. In his commentary on Pāṇini's verse 3.1.26, he also uses the word Kamsavadha or the "killing of Kamsa", an important part of the legends surrounding Krishna.[76][80]

    Puranas

    Many Puranas tell Krishna's life story or some highlights from it. Two Puranas, the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana, contain the most elaborate telling of Krishna's story,[81] but the life stories of Krishna in these and other texts vary, and contain significant inconsistencies.[82][83] The Bhagavata Purana consists of twelve books subdivided into 332 chapters, with a cumulative total of between 16,000 and 18,000 verses depending on the version.[84][85] The tenth book of the text, which contains about 4,000 verses (~25%) and is dedicated to legends about Krishna, has been the most popular and widely studied part of this text.[86][87]

    Iconography

    Krishna is represented in the

    Jamun, a purple-colored fruit).[92]

    Krishna with cows, herdsmen, and Gopis
    .

    Krishna is often depicted wearing a peacock-feather wreath or crown, and playing the bansuri (Indian flute).[93][94] In this form, he is usually shown standing with one leg bent in front of the other in the Tribhanga posture. He is sometimes accompanied by cows or a calf, which symbolise the divine herdsman Govinda. Alternatively, he is shown as a romantic young boy with the gopis (milkmaids), often making music or playing pranks.[95]

    Krishna lifting Govardhana at Bharat Kala Bhavan, recovered from Varanasi. It is dated to the Gupta Empire era (4th/6th century CE).[96]

    In other icons, he is a part of battlefield scenes of the epic

    battlefield of Kurukshetra.[97][98]

    Alternate icons of Krishna show him as a baby (

    Jaganatha in Odisha, Vithoba in Maharashtra,[103] Shrinathji in Rajasthan[104] and Guruvayoorappan in Kerala.[105]

    Guidelines for the preparation of Krishna icons in design and architecture are described in medieval-era Sanskrit texts on Hindu temple arts such as Vaikhanasa agama, Vishnu dharmottara, Brihat samhita, and Agni Purana.[106] Similarly, early medieval-era Tamil texts also contain guidelines for sculpting Krishna and Rukmini. Several statues made according to these guidelines are in the collections of the Government Museum, Chennai.[107]

    Krishna iconography forms an important element in the figural sculpture on 17th–19th century terracotta temples of Bengal. In many temples, the stories of Krishna are depicted on a long series of narrow panels along the base of the facade. In other temples, the important Krishnalila episodes are depicted on large brick panels above the entrance arches or on the walls surrounding the entrance.[108]

    Life and legends

    This summary is an account based on literary details from the

    IAST: Kṛṣṇacaritas).[109]

    Birth

    Nanda and Yashoda
    .

    In the Krishna Charitas, Krishna is born to

    Nanda and his wife, Yashoda, near modern-day Mathura.[111][112][113] Two of Krishna's siblings also survive, namely Balarama and Subhadra, according to these legends.[114] The day of the birth of Krishna is celebrated as Krishna Janmashtami
    .

    Childhood and youth

    The legends of Krishna's childhood and youth describe him as a cow-herder, a mischievous boy whose pranks earn him the nickname Makhan Chor (butter thief), and a protector who steals the hearts of the people in both Gokul and Vrindavana. The texts state, for example, that Krishna lifts the

    Govardhana hill to protect the inhabitants of Vrindavana from devastating rains and floods.[115]

    Krishna and Balarama Studying with the Brahman Sandipani (Bhagavata Purana, 1525–1550 CE print).

    Other legends describe him as an enchanter and playful lover of the gopis (milkmaids) of Vrindavana, especially

    Rasa lila and were romanticized in the poetry of Jayadeva, author of the Gita Govinda. They are also central to the development of the Krishna bhakti traditions worshiping Radha Krishna.[116]

    Krishna's childhood illustrates the Hindu concept of Lila, playing for fun and enjoyment and not for sport or gain. His interaction with the gopis at the rasa dance or

    Yamuna River and join him in singing and dancing. Even those who could not physically be there join him through meditation. He is the spiritual essence and the love-eternal in existence, the gopis metaphorically represent the prakṛti matter and the impermanent body.[117]
    : 256 

    This Lila is a constant theme in the legends of Krishna's childhood and youth. Even when he is battling with a serpent to protect others, he is described in Hindu texts as if he were playing a game.

    Janmashtami, where Hindus in some regions such as Maharashtra playfully mimic his legends, such as by making human gymnastic pyramids to break open handis (clay pots) hung high in the air to "steal" butter or buttermilk, spilling it all over the group.[117]
    : 253–261 

    Adulthood

    Krishna with his consorts Rukmini and Satyabhama and his mount Garuda, Tamil Nadu, India, late 12th–13th century[118]

    Krishna legends then describe his return to Mathura. He overthrows and kills the tyrant king, his maternal uncle Kamsa/Kansa after quelling several assassination attempts by Kamsa. He reinstates Kamsa's father,

    Kuru kingdom. Krishna plays a key role in the Mahabharata.[120]

    The Bhagavata Purana describes

    Kalindi, Mitravinda, Nagnajiti (also called Satya), Bhadra and Lakshmana (also called Madra).[121] This has been interpreted as a metaphor where each of the eight wives signifies a different aspect of him.[122] Vaishnava texts mention all Gopis as wives of Krishna, but this is understood as spiritual symbolism of devotional relationship and Krishna's complete loving devotion to each and everyone devoted to him.[123]

    In Krishna-related Hindu traditions, he is most commonly seen with Radha. All of his wives and his lover Radha are considered in the Hindu tradition to be the avatars of the goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu.[124][11] Gopis are considered as Lakshmi's or Radha's manifestations.[11][125]

    Kurukshetra War and Bhagavad Gita

    Main articles: Kurukshetra War and Bhagavad Gita
    Krishna tells the Gita to Arjuna.

    According to the epic poem Mahabharata, Krishna becomes Arjuna's charioteer for the Kurukshetra War, but on the condition that he personally will not raise any weapon. Upon arrival at the battlefield and seeing that the enemies are his family, his grandfather, and his cousins and loved ones, Arjuna is moved and says his heart will not allow him to fight and kill others. He would rather renounce the kingdom and put down his Gandiva (Arjuna's bow). Krishna then advises him about the nature of life, ethics, and morality when one is faced with a war between good and evil, the impermanence of matter, the permanence of the soul and the good, duties and responsibilities, the nature of true peace and bliss and the different types of yoga to reach this state of bliss and inner liberation. This conversation between Krishna and Arjuna is presented as a discourse called the Bhagavad Gita.[126][127][128]

    Death and ascension

    Main article: Mausala Parva

    It is stated in the Indian texts that the legendary Kurukshetra War led to the death of all the hundred sons of Gandhari. After Duryodhana's death, Krishna visits Gandhari to offer his condolences when Gandhari and Dhritarashtra visited Kurukshetra, as stated in Stree Parva. Feeling that Krishna deliberately did not put an end to the war, in a fit of rage and sorrow, Gandhari said, "Thou were indifferent to the Kurus and the Pandavas whilst they slew each other. Therefore, O Govinda, thou shalt be the slayer of thy own kinsmen!" According to the Mahabharata, a fight breaks out at a festival among the Yadavas, who end up killing each other. Mistaking the sleeping Krishna for a deer, a hunter named Jara shoots an arrow towards Krishna's foot that fatally injures him. Krishna forgives Jara and dies.[129][7][130] The pilgrimage (tirtha) site of Bhalka in Gujarat marks the location where Krishna is believed to have died. It is also known as Dehotsarga, states Diana L. Eck, a term that literally means the place where Krishna "gave up his body".[7] The Bhagavata Purana in Book 11, Chapter 31 states that after his death, Krishna returned to his transcendent abode directly because of his yogic concentration. Waiting gods such as Brahma and Indra were unable to trace the path Krishna took to leave his human incarnation and return to his abode.[131][132]

    Versions and interpretations

    Krishna iconography appears in many versions across India. For example (left to right): Srinath, Jagannath, Vithoba.

    There are numerous versions of Krishna's life story, of which three are most studied: the Harivamsa, the Bhagavata Purana, and the Vishnu Purana.[133] They share the basic storyline but vary significantly in their specifics, details, and styles.[134] The most original composition, the Harivamsa is told in a realistic style that describes Krishna's life as a poor herder but weaves in poetic and allusive fantasy. It ends on a triumphal note, not with the death of Krishna.[135] Differing in some details, the fifth book of the Vishnu Purana moves away from Harivamsa realism and embeds Krishna in mystical terms and eulogies.[136] The Vishnu Purana manuscripts exist in many versions.[137]

    The tenth and eleventh books of the Bhagavata Purana are widely considered to be a poetic masterpiece, full of imagination and metaphors, with no relation to the realism of pastoral life found in the Harivamsa. Krishna's life is presented as a cosmic play (Lila), where his youth is set as a princely life with his foster father Nanda portrayed as a king.[138] Krishna's life is closer to that of a human being in Harivamsa, but is a symbolic universe in the Bhagavata Purana, where Krishna is within the universe and beyond it, as well as the universe itself, always.[139] The Bhagavata Purana manuscripts also exist in many versions, in numerous Indian languages.[140][86]

    ISKCON community.[141][142][143]

    Proposed datings

    See also:
    Vedic-Puranic chronology and History of Hinduism
    14th-century fresco of Radha Krishna in Udaipur, Rajasthan

    The date of Krishna's birth is celebrated every year as

    Janmashtami.[144][page needed
    ]

    According to Guy Beck, "most scholars of Hinduism and Indian history accept the historicity of Krishna – that he was a real male person, whether human or divine, who lived on Indian soil by at least 1000 BCE and interacted with many other historical persons within the cycles of the epic and puranic histories." Yet, Beck also notes that there is an "enormous number of contradictions and discrepancies surrounding the chronology of Krishna's life as depicted in the Sanskrit canon".[145]

    According to texts in the Jain tradition, Krishna was a cousin of Neminatha.[146] Neminatha is believed in the Jain tradition to have been born 84,000 years before the 9th-century BCE Parshvanatha, the twenty-third tirthankara.[147]

    Philosophy and theology

    12th-century art depicting Krishna playing flute with gathered living beings at Hoysaleswara temple, Karnataka

    A wide range of theological and philosophical ideas are presented through Krishna in Hindu texts. The teachings of the Bhagavad Gita can be considered, according to Friedhelm Hardy, as the first Krishnaite system of theology.[23]

    Vallabha Acharya, the founder of Pushti sect of Vaishnavism.[155][156] Madhusudana Sarasvati, an India philosopher,[157] presented Krishna theology in nondualism-monism framework (Advaita Vedanta), while Adi Shankara, credited with unifying and establishing the main currents of thought in Hinduism,[158][159][160] mentioned Krishna in his early eighth-century discussions on Panchayatana puja.[161]

    The Bhagavata Purana synthesizes an Advaita, Samkhya, and Yoga framework for Krishna, but it does so through loving devotion to Krishna.[162][163][164] Bryant describes the synthesis of ideas in Bhagavata Purana as:

    The philosophy of the Bhagavata is a mixture of Vedanta terminology, Samkhyan metaphysics, and devotionalized Yoga praxis. (...) The tenth book promotes Krishna as the highest absolute personal aspect of godhead – the personality behind the term Ishvara and the ultimate aspect of Brahman.

    — Edwin Bryant, Krishna: A Sourcebook[4]

    While Sheridan and Pintchman both affirm Bryant's view, the latter adds that the Vedantic view emphasized in the Bhagavata is

    non-dualist with a difference. In conventional nondual Vedanta, all reality is interconnected and one, the Bhagavata posits that the reality is interconnected and plural.[165][166]

    Across the various theologies and philosophies, the common theme presents Krishna as the essence and symbol of divine love, with human life and love as a reflection of the divine. The longing and love-filled legends of Krishna and the gopis, his playful pranks as a baby,[167] as well as his later dialogues with other figures, are philosophically treated as metaphors for the human longing for the divine and for meaning, and the play between the universals and the human soul.[168][169][170] Krishna's lila is a theology of love-play. According to John Koller, "love is presented not simply as a means to salvation, it is the highest life". Human love is God's love.[171]

    Other texts that include Krishna such as the

    bhasya (commentaries) in the Hindu traditions.[172] Though only a part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, it has functioned as an independent spiritual guide. It allegorically raises the ethical and moral dilemmas of human life through Krishna and Arjuna. It then presents a spectrum of answers, addressing the ideological questions on human freedoms, choices, and responsibilities towards self and others.[172][173] This Krishna dialogue has attracted numerous interpretations, from being a metaphor for inner human struggle that teaches non-violence to being a metaphor for outer human struggle that advocates a rejection of quietism and persecution.[172][173][174]

    Madhusudana Sarasvati, known for his contributions to classical Advaita Vedanta, was also a devout follower of Krishna and expressed his devotion in various verses within his works,notably in his Bhagavad Gita commentary, Bhagavad Gita Gudarthadipika. In his works, Krishna is often interpreted as representing nirguna Brahman, leading to a transtheistic understanding of deity, where Krishna symbolizes the nondual Self, embodying Being, Consciousness, and Bliss, and the pure Existence underlying all.[175]

    Influence

    Vaishnavism

    Main articles: Vaishnavism and Krishnaism
    Relief from the Chennakeshava Temple of Krishna with flute with humans and cows listening, 1258 CE.

    The worship of Krishna is part of Vaishnavism, a major tradition within Hinduism. Krishna is considered a full avatar of Vishnu, or one with Vishnu himself.[176] However, the exact relationship between Krishna and Vishnu is complex and diverse,[177] with Krishna of Krishnaite sampradayas considered an independent deity and supreme.[23][178] Vaishnavas accept many incarnations of Vishnu, but Krishna is particularly important. Their theologies are generally centered either on Vishnu or an avatar such as Krishna as supreme. The terms Krishnaism and Vishnuism have sometimes been used to distinguish the two, the former implying that Krishna is the transcendent Supreme Being. [179] Some scholars, as Friedhelm Hardy, do not define Krishnaism as a sub-order or offshoot of Vaishnavism, considering it a parallel and no less ancient current of Hinduism.[23]

    All Vaishnava traditions recognise Krishna as the eighth avatar of Vishnu; others identify Krishna with Vishnu, while Krishnaite traditions such as

    Gopala of the late Vedic period.[186] Today the faith has a significant following outside of India as well.[187]

    Early traditions

    The deity

    Gopala, of "Krishna Govinda" (cow-finding Krishna), of Balakrishna (baby Krishna) and of "Krishna Gopivallabha[189]" (Krishna the lover).[190][191] According to Andre Couture, the Harivamsa contributed to the synthesis of various figures as aspects of Krishna.[192]

    Already in the early Middle Ages, the Jagannathism (a.k.a. Odia Vaishnavism) was origined as the cult of the god Jagannath (lit. ''Lord of the Universe'') – an abstract form of Krishna.[193] Jagannathism was a regional temple-centered version of Krishnaism,[23] where Jagannath is understood as a principal god, Purushottama and Para Brahman, but can also be regarded as a non-sectarian syncretic Vaishnavite and all-Hindu cult.[194] According to the Vishnudharma Purana (c. 4th century), Krishna is woshipped in the form of Purushottama in Odia (Odisha).[195] The notable Jagannath temple in Puri, Odisha became particularly significant within the tradition since about 800 CE.[196]

    Bhakti tradition

    Main articles:
    Meera
    (pictured).

    The use of the term bhakti, meaning devotion, is not confined to any one deity. However, Krishna is an important and popular focus of the devotionalism tradition within Hinduism, particularly among the

    lila, meaning 'divine play', as the central principle of the universe. It is a form of bhakti yoga, one of three types of yoga discussed by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.[181][198][199]

    Indian subcontinent

    The bhakti movements devoted to Krishna became prominent in southern India in the 7th to 9th centuries CE. The earliest works included those of the

    Divya Prabandham. Alvar Andal's popular collection of songs Tiruppavai, in which she conceives of herself as a gopi, is the most famous of the oldest works in this genre.[201][202][203]

    The movement originated in South India during the 7th century CE, spreading northwards from Tamil Nadu through Karnataka and Maharashtra; by the 15th century, it was established in Bengal and northern India.

    Vaishnava-Sahajiya, is linked to the Bengali poet Chandidas.[206]

    In the

    Kanakadasa of Karnataka composed songs devoted to the Krishna image of Udupi. Rupa Goswami of Gaudiya Vaishnavism has compiled a comprehensive summary of bhakti called Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu.[197]

    In South India, the acharyas of the

    Tiruppavai by Andal[209] and Gopalavimshati by Vedanta Desika.[210]

    Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala states have many major Krishna temples, and

    Janmashtami is one of the widely celebrated festivals in South India.[211]

    Outside Asia

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

    By 1965, the Krishna-bhakti movement had spread outside India after

    Gaya was the six-word verse of the Kali-Santarana Upanishad, namely "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare; Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare". In the Gaudiya tradition, it is the maha-mantra, or great mantra, about Krishna bhakti.[212][213] Its chanting was known as hari-nama sankirtana.[214]

    The maha-mantra gained the attention of

    Hare Krishna Mantra", the song reached the top twenty on the UK music charts and was also successful in West Germany and Czechoslovakia.[215][217] The mantra of the Upanishad thus helped bring Bhaktivedanta and ISKCON ideas about Krishna into the West.[215] ISCKON has built many Krishna temples in the West, as well as other locations such as South Africa.[218]

    Southeast Asia

    Da Nang, Vietnam, archaeological site[219][220]

    Krishna is found in Southeast Asian history and art, but to a far lesser extent than

    Buddha. In temples (candi) of the archaeological sites in hilly volcanic Java, Indonesia, temple reliefs do not portray his pastoral life or his role as the erotic lover, nor do the historic Javanese Hindu texts.[221] Rather, either his childhood or the life as a king and Arjuna's companion have been more favored. The most elaborate temple arts of Krishna is found in a series of Krsnayana reliefs in the Prambanan Hindu temple complex near Yogyakarta. These are dated to the 9th century CE.[221][222][223] Krishna remained a part of the Javanese cultural and theological fabric through the 14th century, as evidenced by the 14th-century Penataran reliefs along with those of the Hindu god Rama in east Java, before Islam replaced Buddhism and Hinduism on the island.[224]

    The medieval era arts of Vietnam and Cambodia feature Krishna. The earliest surviving sculptures and reliefs are from the 6th and 7th centuries, and these include Vaishnavism iconography.

    Phnom Da cave in Angkor Borei, are some of the most sophisticated of this era.[219]

    Krishna's iconography has also been found in Thailand, along with those of

    Phetchabun region of northern Thailand. These are dated to about the 7th and 8th centuries, from both the Funan and Zhenla period archaeological sites.[225]

    Performance arts

    Rasa Lila where Krishna plays with the gopis in Manipuri dance
    style (center)

    Indian dance and music theatre traces its origins and techniques to the ancient

    Natyasastra texts.[226][227] The stories enacted and the numerous choreographic themes are inspired by the legends in Hindu texts, including Krishna-related literature such as Harivamsa and Bhagavata Purana.[228]

    The Krishna stories have played a key role in the history of Indian theatre, music, and dance, particularly through the tradition of

    Rasaleela. These are dramatic enactments of Krishna's childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. One common scene involves Krishna playing flute in Rasa Leela, only to be heard by certain gopis (cowherd maidens), which is theologically supposed to represent divine call only heard by certain enlightened beings.[229] Some of the text's legends have inspired secondary theatre literature such as the eroticism in Gita Govinda.[230]

    Krishna-related literature such as the Bhagavata Purana accords a metaphysical significance to the performances and treats them as a religious ritual, infusing daily life with spiritual meaning, thus representing a good, honest, happy life. Similarly, Krishna-inspired performances aim to cleanse the hearts of faithful actors and listeners. Singing, dancing, and performing any part of Krishna Lila is an act of remembering the dharma in the text, as a form of para bhakti (supreme devotion). To remember Krishna at any time and in any art, asserts the text, is to worship the good and the divine.[231]

    Classical dance styles such as

    Krisnattam (Krishnattam) traces its origins to Krishna legends, and is linked to another major classical Indian dance form called Kathakali.[233] Bryant summarizes the influence of Krishna stories in the Bhagavata Purana as, "[it] has inspired more derivative literature, poetry, drama, dance, theatre and art than any other text in the history of Sanskrit literature, with the possible exception of the Ramayana.[25][234]

    The Palliyodam, a type of large boat built and used by Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple in Kerala for the annual water processions of Uthrattathi Jalamela and Valla Sadhya has the legend that it was designed by Krishna and were made to look like Sheshanaga, the serpent on which Vishnu rests.[235]

    Major temples

    Krishna outside of Hinduism

    Radha-Krishna

    Jainism

    The

    Śalākāpuruṣa or notable figures which, amongst others, includes the twenty-four Tirthankaras (spiritual teachers) and nine sets of triads. One of these triads is Krishna as the Vasudeva, Balarama as the Baladeva, and Jarasandha as the Prati-Vasudeva. In each age of the Jain cyclic time is born a Vasudeva with an elder brother termed the Baladeva. Between the triads, Baladeva upholds the principle of non-violence, a central idea of Jainism. The villain is the Prati-vasudeva, who attempts to destroy the world. To save the world, Vasudeva-Krishna has to forsake the non-violence principle and kill the Prati-Vasudeva.[236] The stories of these triads can be found in the Harivamsa Purana (8th century CE) of Jinasena (not be confused with its namesake, the addendum to Mahābhārata) and the Trishashti-shalakapurusha-charita of Hemachandra.[237][238]

    The story of Krishna's life in the Puranas of Jainism follows the same general outline as those in the Hindu texts, but in details, they are very different: they include Jain Tirthankaras as figures in the story, and generally are polemically critical of Krishna, unlike the versions found in the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata Purana, and the Vishnu Purana.

    sixth heaven.[240]

    Vimalasuri is attributed to be the author of the Jain version of the Harivamsa Purana, but no manuscripts have been found that confirm this. It is likely that later Jain scholars, probably Jinasena of the 8th century, wrote a complete version of Krishna legends in the Jain tradition and credited it to the ancient Vimalasuri.

    Svetambara Agama tradition.[241]

    In other Jain texts, Krishna is stated to be a cousin of the twenty-second Tirthankara, Neminatha. The Jain texts state that Neminatha taught Krishna all the wisdom that he later gave to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. According to Jeffery D. Long, a professor of religion known for his publications on Jainism, this connection between Krishna and Neminatha has been a historic reason for Jains to accept, read, and cite the Bhagavad Gita as a spiritually important text, celebrate Krishna-related festivals, and intermingle with Hindus as spiritual cousins.[242]

    Buddhism

    Nara
    , Japan
    Depiction of Krishna playing the flute, mural of Bhutia Busty Monastery, Darjeeling district, India

    The story of Krishna occurs in the

    Jataka tales in Buddhism.[243] The Vidhurapandita Jataka mentions Madhura (Sanskrit: Mathura), the Ghata Jataka mentions Kamsa, Devagabbha (Sk: Devaki), Upasagara or Vasudeva, Govaddhana (Sk: Govardhana), Baladeva (Balarama), and Kanha or Kesava (Sk: Krishna, Keshava).[244][245]

    Like the Jain versions of the Krishna legends, the Buddhist versions such as one in Ghata Jataka follow the general outline of the story,[246] but are different from the Hindu versions as well.[244][78] For example, the Buddhist legend describes Devagabbha (Devaki) to have been isolated in a palace built upon a pole after she is born, so no future husband could reach her. Krishna's father similarly is described as a powerful king, but who meets up with Devagabbha anyway, and to whom Kamsa gives away his sister Devagabbha in marriage. The siblings of Krishna are not killed by Kamsa, though he tries. In the Buddhist version of the legend, all of Krishna's siblings grow to maturity.[247]

    Krishna and his siblings' capital becomes Dvaravati. The Arjuna and Krishna interaction is missing in the Jataka version. A new legend is included, wherein Krishna laments in uncontrollable sorrow when his son dies, and a Ghatapandita feigns madness to teach Krishna a lesson.[248] The Jataka tale also includes internecine destruction among his siblings after they all get drunk. Krishna also dies in the Buddhist legend by the hand of a hunter named Jara, but while he is traveling to a frontier city. Mistaking Krishna for a pig, Jara throws a spear that fatally pierces his feet, causing Krishna great pain and then his death.[247]

    At the end of this Ghata-Jataka discourse, the Buddhist text declares that

    Sariputta
    , one of the revered disciples of the Buddha in the Buddhist tradition, was incarnated as Krishna in his previous life to learn lessons on grief from the Buddha in his prior rebirth:

    Then he [Master] declared the Truths and identified the Birth: "At that time, Ananda was Rohineyya, Sariputta was Vasudeva [Krishna], the followers of the Buddha were the other persons, and I myself was Ghatapandita."

    — Jataka Tale No. 454, Translator: W. H. D. Rouse[249]

    While the Buddhist Jataka texts co-opt Krishna-Vasudeva and make him a student of the

    Buddha in his previous life,[249] the Hindu texts co-opt the Buddha and make him an avatar of Vishnu.[250][251] In Chinese Buddhism, Taoism and Chinese folk religion, the figure of Krishna has been amalgamated and merged with that of Nalakuvara to influence the formation of the god Nezha, who has taken on iconographic characteristics of Krishna such as being presented as a divine god-child and slaying a nāga in his youth.[252][253]

    Other

    Krishna's life is written about in "Krishna Avtar" of the

    Sikh Guru Gobind Singh.[254]

    Within the Sikh-derived 19th-century Radha Soami movement, the followers of its founder Shiv Dayal Singh used to consider him the Living Master and incarnation of God (Krishna/Vishnu).[note 4]

    Bahá'u'lláh.[256][257]

    Ahmadiyya, a 20th-century Islamic movement, consider Krishna as one of their ancient prophets.[258][259][260] Ghulam Ahmad stated that he was himself a prophet in the likeness of prophets such as Krishna, Jesus, and Muhammad,[261] who had come to earth as a latter-day reviver of religion and morality.

    Krishna worship or reverence has been adopted by several

    Theosophists regard Krishna as an incarnation of Maitreya (one of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom), the most important spiritual teacher for humanity along with Buddha.[263][264]

    Krishna was canonised by Aleister Crowley and is recognised as a saint of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica in the Gnostic Mass of Ordo Templi Orientis.[265][266]

    Explanatory notes

    Part of a series on
    Vaishnavism
    Closeup of Vishnu, seated in the lotus position on a lotus. From depiction of the poet Jayadeva bowing to Vishnu, Gouache on paper Pahari, The very picture of devotion, bare-bodied, head bowed, legs crossed and hands folded, Jayadeva stands at left, with the implements of worship placed before the lotus-seat of Vishnu who sits there, blessing the poet.
    Supreme deity
    Vishnu / Krishna / Rama
    Important deities
    Dashavatara
    Other forms
    Consorts
    Related
    Holy scriptures
    Puranas
    Sampradayas
    Others
    Teachers—acharyas
    Related traditions
    This article contains special characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols.
    1. ^ The number of Krishna's children varies from one interpretation to another. According to some scriptures like the Bhagavata Purana, Krishna had 10 children from each of his wives (16,008 wives and 160,080 children)[9]
    2. ^ Radha is seen as Krishna's lover-consort. On the other hand, Rukmini and others are married to him. Krishna had eight chief wives, who were referred to as the Ashtabharya. The regional texts vary in the identity of Krishna's wife (consort), some presenting it as Rukmini, some as Radha, all gopis, and some identifying all to be different aspects or manifestation of Devi Lakshmi.[10][11]
    3. ^ "The first Kṛṣṇaite sampradāya was developed by Nimbārka."[23]
    4. ^ "Various branches of Radhasoami have argued about the incarnationalism of Satguru (Lane, 1981). Guru Maharaj Ji has accepted it and identifies with Krishna and other incarnations of Vishnu."[255]

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    General and cited sources

    Further reading

    External links
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