Product Code Database
Krishna (; "Krishna". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) 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. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is widely revered among Hindu divinities. 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.
The anecdotes and narratives of Krishna's life are generally titled as Krishna Līlā. He is a central figure in the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata Purana, the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, and the Bhagavad Gita, and is mentioned in many Hindu philosophy, Hindu theology, and Hindu mythology texts. They portray him in various perspectives: as a god-child, a prankster, a model lover, a divine hero, and the universal supreme being. Quote: "Krsna's various appearances as a divine hero, alluring god child, cosmic prankster, perfect lover, and universal supreme being (...)". 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 Venu, a handsome youth with Radha or surrounded by female devotees, or a friendly charioteer giving counsel to Arjuna.
The name and synonyms of Krishna have been traced to 1stmillenniumBCE literature and cults. In some sub-traditions, like Krishnaism, Krishna is worshipped as the Supreme God and Svayam Bhagavan (God Himself). These sub-traditions arose in the context of the medieval era Bhakti movement.Ravi Gupta and Kenneth Valpey (2013), The Bhagavata Purana, Columbia University Press, , pp. 185–200 Krishna-related literature has inspired numerous performance arts such as Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Odissi, and Manipuri dance.ML Varadpande (1987), History of Indian Theatre, Vol 1, Abhinav, , pp. 98–99 He is a pan-Hindu god, but is particularly revered in some locations, such as Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh, Dwarka and Junagadh in Gujarat; the aspect in Odisha, Mayapur in West Bengal; in the form of Vithoba in Pandharpur, Maharashtra, Shrinathji at Nathdwara in Rajasthan, Udupi Krishna in Karnataka, Parthasarathy in Tamil Nadu, Aranmula and Guruvayoorappan (Guruvayoor) in Kerala.
Since the 1960s, the worship of Krishna has also spread to the Western world, largely due to the work of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
As a name of Vishnu, Krishna is listed as the 57th name in the Vishnu Sahasranama. Based on his name, Krishna is often depicted in murti as black- or blue-skinned. Krishna is also known by various other names, epithets, and titles that reflect his many associations and attributes. Among the most common names are Mohan "enchanter"; Govinda "chief herdsman",Monier Monier Williams, Go-vinda, Sanskrit English Dictionary and Etymology, Oxford University Press, p. 336, 3rd column Keev "prankster", and Gopala Krishna "Protector of the 'Go'", which means "soul" or "the cows". Some names for Krishna hold regional importance; Jagannatha, found in the Jagannatha Puri Hindu temple, is a popular incarnation in Odisha state and nearby regions of eastern India.For the historic Jagannath temple in Ranchi, Jharkhand see: Francis Bradley Bradley-Birt (1989). 9788120612877, Asian Educational Services (Orig: 1903). . ISBN 9788120612877
The Heliodorus inscription is not isolated evidence. The Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions, all located in the state of Rajasthan and dated by modern methodology to the 1stcenturyBCE, 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.
A Mora stone slab found at the Mathura-Vrindavan archaeological site in Uttar Pradesh, held now in the Mathura Museum, has a Brahmi inscription. It is dated to the 1stcenturyCE and mentions the five Vrishni heroes, otherwise known as Saṃkarṣaṇa, Vāsudeva, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, and Samba. p. 51: The coins of Rajuvula have been recovered from the Sultanpur District...the Brahmi inscription on the Mora stone slab, now in the Mathura Museum,
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.
The first known depiction of the life of Krishna himself comes relatively late, with a relief found in Mathura, and dated to the 1st–2nd century CE. This fragment seems to show Vasudeva, Krishna's father, carrying baby Krishna in a basket across the Yamuna river. 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.
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". Krishna had "no beginning or end", "filled 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." Other forces also existed in his body, such as "hordes of varied creatures" that included "celestial serpents." He is also "the essence of humanity."
The Harivamsa, a later appendix to the Mahabharata, contains a detailed version of Krishna's childhood and youth.Maurice Winternitz (1981), History of Indian Literature, Vol. 1, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. 426–431
Yāska's Nirukta, an etymological dictionary published around the 6thcenturyBCE, contains a reference to the Shyamantaka jewel in the possession of Akrura, a motif from the well-known Puranic story about Krishna. Shatapatha Brahmana and Aitareya-Aranyaka associate Krishna with his Vrishni origins.Sunil Kumar Bhattacharya Krishna-cult in Indian Art. 1996 M. D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 128: Satha-patha-brahmana and Aitareya-Aranyaka with reference to first chapter.
In Ashṭādhyāyī, authored by the ancient grammarian Pāṇini (probably belonged to the 5th or 6thcenturyBCE), Vāsudeva and Arjuna, as recipients of worship, are referred to together in the same sutra.[9] Pâṇ. IV. 3. 98, Vâsudevârjunâbhyâm vun. See Bhandarkar, Vaishnavism and Śaivism, p.3 and J.R.A.S. 1910, p.168. Sûtra95, just above, appears to point to bhakti, faith or devotion, felt for this Vâsudeva.Sunil Kumar Bhattacharya Krishna-cult in Indian Art. 1996 M. D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 1 dancing, 14thcenturyCE Chola sculpture, Tamil Nadu, in the Honolulu Academy of Arts.]] Megasthenes, a Greek ethnographer and an ambassador of Seleucus I to the court of Chandragupta Maurya towards the end of 4thcenturyBCE, made reference to Herakles in his famous work Indica. This text is now lost to history, but was quoted in secondary literature by later Greeks such as Arrian, Diodorus, and Strabo. According to these texts, Megasthenes mentioned that the Sourasenoi tribe of India, who worshipped Herakles, had two major cities named Methora and Kleisobora, and a navigable river named the Jobares. According to Edwin Bryant, a professor of Indian religions known for his publications on Krishna, "there is little doubt that the Sourasenoi refers to the Shurasenas, a branch of the Yadu dynasty to which Krishna belonged". The word Herakles, states Bryant, is likely a Greek phonetic equivalent of Hari-Krishna, as is Methora of Mathura, Kleisobora of Krishnapura, and the Jobares of Yamuna. Later, when Alexander the Great launched his campaign in the northwest Indian subcontinent, his associates recalled that the soldiers of King Porus were carrying an image of Herakles.
The Buddhist Pali canon and the Ghata-Jâtaka (No. 454) mention the devotees of Vâsudeva and Baladeva. These texts have many peculiarities and may be a garbled and confused version of the Krishna legends. The texts of Jainism mention these tales as well, also with many peculiarities and different versions, in their legends about . This inclusion of Krishna-related legends in ancient Buddhism and Jaina literature suggests that Krishna theology was existent and important in the religious landscape observed by non-Hindu traditions of Ancient india.Hemacandra Abhidhânacintâmani, Ed. Boehtlingk and Rien, p. 128, and Barnett's translation of the Antagada Dasāo, pp.13–15, 67–82.
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.
Krishna is often depicted wearing a peacock-feather wreath or crown, and playing the bansuri (Indian flute). 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 (milkmaids), often making music or playing pranks.
In other icons, he is a part of battlefield scenes of the epic Mahabharata. He is shown as a charioteer, notably when he is addressing the Pandava prince Arjuna, symbolically reflecting the events that led to the Bhagavad Gitaa scripture of Hinduism. In these popular depictions, Krishna appears in the front as the charioteer, either as a counsel listening to Arjuna or as the driver of the chariot while Arjuna aims his arrows in the Kurukshetra war.
Alternate icons of Krishna show him as a baby ( Bala Krishna, the child Krishna), a toddler crawling on his hands and knees, a dancing child, or an innocent-looking child playfully stealing or consuming butter ( Makkan Chor), holding Laddu in his hand ( Laddu Gopal) or as a cosmic infant sucking his toe while floating on a banyan leaf during the Pralaya (the cosmic dissolution) observed by sage Markandeya. Regional variations in the iconography of Krishna are seen in his different forms, such as Jaganatha in Odisha, Vithoba in Maharashtra,Vithoba is not only viewed as a form of Krishna. He is also by some considered that of Vishnu, Shiva and Gautama Buddha according to various traditions. See: and Mokashi, Digambar Balkrishna (1987). 9780887064616, State University of New York Press. . ISBN 9780887064616 Shrinathji in Rajasthan and Guruvayurappan in Kerala.
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. Similarly, early medieval-era Tamil literature also contain guidelines for sculpting Krishna and Rukmini. Several statues made according to these guidelines are in the collections of the Government Museum, Chennai.
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.
Other legends describe him as an enchanter and playful lover of the gopis (milkmaids) of Vrindavana, especially Radha. These metaphor-filled love stories are known as the 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.Schweig, G. M. (2025). 9780691114460, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ; Oxford. ISBN 9780691114460
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 Rasa-lila is an example. Krishna plays his flute and the gopis come immediately, from whatever they were doing, to the banks of the 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.
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. This quality of playfulness in Krishna is celebrated during festivals as Rasa-Lila and 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.
The Bhagavata Purana describes Ashtabharya of Krishna that appear in sequence as Rukmini, Satyabhama, Jambavati, Kalindi, Mitravinda, Nagnajiti (also called Satya), Bhadra and Lakshmana (also called Madra). This has been interpreted as a metaphor where each of the eight wives signifies a different aspect of him. 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.
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 of the goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu. are considered as Lakshmi's or Radha's manifestations.John Stratton Hawley, Donna Marie Wulff (1982). 9780895811028, Motilal Banarsidass Publisher. ISBN 9780895811028 Quote: "The regional texts vary in the identity of Krishna's wife (consort), some presenting it as Rukmini, some as Radha, some as Svaminiji, some adding all gopis, and some identifying all to be different aspects or manifestation of one Devi Lakshmi."
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. 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. The Bhagavata Purana manuscripts also exist in many versions, in numerous Indian languages.
According to Guy Beck, "most scholars of Hinduism and Indian history accept the historicity of Krishnathat 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".
Some scholars believe that, among others, the detailed description of Krishna's peace mission in the 5th Book of the Mahabharata (Udyogaparvan) is likely to be based on real events. The epic's translator J.A.B. van Buitenen in this context assumes “that there was some degree of verisimilitude in the Mahabharata’s depictions of life.”J.A.B. van Buitenen, The Mahabharata, vol. 3, University of Chicago 1978, p.134
Ramanuja, a Hindu theologian and philosopher whose works were influential in Bhakti movement, presented Krishna in terms of qualified monism, or nondualism (namely Vishishtadvaita school). Madhvacharya, a philosopher whose works led to the founding of Haridasa tradition of Vaishnavism, (2025). 9788120815759, Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 9788120815759 presented Krishna in the framework of dualism (Dvaita). group of schools, which teaches that the individual self is both different and not different from the ultimate realitypredates the positions of monism and dualism. Among medieval Bhedabheda thinkers are Nimbarkacharya, who founded the Kumara Sampradaya (Dvaitadvaita philosophical school), and Jiva Goswami, a saint from Gaudiya Vaishnava school, who described Krishna theology in terms of Bhakti yoga and Achintya Bheda Abheda. Krishna theology is presented in a pure monism ( Shuddhadvaita) framework by Vallabha Acharya, the founder of Pushtimarg sect of Vaishnavism. Madhusudana Sarasvati, an India philosopher, presented Krishna theology in nondualism-monism framework (Advaita Vedanta), while Adi Shankara, credited with unifying and establishing the main currents of thought in Hinduism,Johannes de Kruijf and Ajaya Sahoo (2014), Indian Transnationalism Online: New Perspectives on Diaspora, , p. 105, Quote: "In other words, according to Adi Shankara's argument, the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta stood over and above all other forms of Hinduism and encapsulated them. This then united Hinduism; (...) Another of Adi Shankara's important undertakings which contributed to the unification of Hinduism was his founding of a number of monastic centers." Shankara, Student's Encyclopædia Britannica – India (2000), Volume 4, Encyclopædia Britannica (UK) Publishing, , p. 379, Quote: "Shankaracharya, philosopher and theologian, most renowned exponent of the Advaita Vedanta school of philosophy, from whose doctrines the main currents of modern Indian thought are derived.";
David Crystal (2004), The Penguin Encyclopedia, Penguin Books, p. 1353, Quote: "Shankara is the most famous exponent of Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy and the source of the main currents of modern Hindu thought."Christophe Jaffrelot (1998), The Hindu Nationalist Movement in India, Columbia University Press, , p. 2, Quote: "The main current of Hinduism – if not the only one – which became formalized in a way that approximates to an ecclesiastical structure was that of Shankara". mentioned Krishna in his early eighth-century discussions on Panchayatana puja.
The Bhagavata Purana synthesizes an Advaita, Samkhya, and Yoga framework for Krishna, but it does so through loving devotion to Krishna. Bryant describes the synthesis of ideas in Bhagavata Purana as:
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.Tracy Pintchman (1994), The rise of the Goddess in the Hindu Tradition, State University of New York Press, , pp. 132–134
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, 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. Krishna: Hindu Deity, Encyclopædia Britannica (2015) 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.
Other texts that include Krishna such as the Bhagavad Gita have attracted numerous bhasya (commentaries) in the Hindu traditions. Though only a part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita 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. 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.
Madhusudana Sarasvati, known for his contributions to classical Advaita Vedanta, was also a devotee 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 identified as Supreme Deity and as Bhagavan, whom Madhusudana describes as nondual Self, embodying Being, Consciousness, and Bliss, the pure Existence underlying all. In his commentary on the Gita, Krishna is often interpreted as representing nirguna Brahman, thus presenting a transtheistic understanding of deity.
All Vaishnava traditions recognise Krishna as the eighth avatar of Vishnu; others identify Krishna with Vishnu, while Krishnaite traditions such as Gaudiya Vaishnavism,See McDaniel, June, Folk Vaishnavism and : Life and status among village Krishna statues in Ekasarana Dharma, Mahanam Sampraday, Nimbarka Sampradaya and the Pushtimarg regard Krishna not just as an avatar of Vishnu, but as the Svayam Bhagavan, the original form of Lord or the same as the concept of Brahman in Hinduism.Delmonico, N., The History Of Indic Monotheism And Modern Chaitanya Vaishnavism in p. 113: "The Bengal School identifies the Bhagavat with Krishna depicted in the Shrimad-Bhagavata and presents him as its highest personal God." Gitagovinda of Jayadeva considers Krishna to be the supreme lord while the ten incarnations are his forms. Swaminarayan, the founder of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya, also worshipped Krishna as God himself. "Greater Krishnaism" corresponds to the second and dominant phase of Vaishnavism, revolving around the cults of the Vasudeva, Krishna, and Gopala of the late Vedic period., University of Cumbria website Retrieved 21 May 2008 Today the faith has a significant following outside of India as well.
Already in the early Middle Ages, Jagannathism ( Odisha Vaishnavism) originated as the cult of the god Jagannath ()an abstract form of Krishna. Jagannathism was a regional temple-centered version of Krishnaism, 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. According to the Vishnudharma Purana ( 4th century), Krishna is woshipped in the form of Purushottama in Odia (Odisha). The notable Jagannath temple in Puri, Odisha has been particularly significant within the tradition since about 800 CE.
The movement originated in South India during the 7th century CE, spreading northwards from Tamil Nadu through Karnataka and Maharashtra; by the 15thcentury, it was established in Bengal and northern India. Early Krishnaism Bhakti pioneers included Nimbarkacharya (7thcentury CE), Nimbarka, Encyclopædia Britannica and his disciple Srinivasacharya but most emerged later, including Vallabhacharya (15thcentury CE) and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. They started their own schools, namely Nimbarka Sampradaya, Vallabha Sampradaya, and Gaudiya Vaishnavism, with Krishna and Radha as the supreme gods. In addition, since the 15th century, flourished Tantra variety of Krishnaism, Vaishnava-Sahajiya, is linked to the Bengali poet Chandidas.
In the Deccan Plateau, particularly in Maharashtra, saint poets of the Warkari sect such as Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Janabai, Eknath, and Tukaram promoted the worship of Vithoba, a local form of Krishna, from the 13th to 18th century. Before the Warkari tradition, Krishna devotion became well established in Maharashtra due to the rise of the Mahanubhava founded by Sarvajna Chakradhar Swami. The religious system of the Mahānubhāva sect, by Anne Feldhaus, Manohar publications: Delhi, 1983. The Pranami emerged in the 17th century in Gujarat, based on the Krishna-focussed syncretist Hindu- teachings of Devchandra Maharaj and his famous successor, Mahamati Prannath. In southern India, Purandara Dasa and 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.
In South India, the acharyas of the Sri Vaishnavism have written reverently about Krishna in most of their works, including the Thiruppavai by Andal and Gopalavimshati by Vedanta Desika.
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. (2025). 9788170174158, Abhinav Publication. ISBN 9788170174158
The maha-mantra gained the attention of George Harrison and John Lennon of the Beatles fame, and Harrison produced a 1969 recording of the mantra by devotees from the London Radha Krishna Temple.Peter Lavezzoli (2006), The Dawn of Indian Music in the West, Continuum, , p. 195 Titled "Hare Krishna Mantra", the song reached the top twenty on the UK music charts and was also successful in West Germany and Czechoslovakia.Peter Clarke (2005), Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements, Routledge, , p. 308 Quote: "There they captured the imagination of The Beatles, particularly George Harrison who helped them produce a chart-topping record of the Hare Krishna mantra (1969) and ...". The mantra of the Upanishad thus helped bring Bhaktivedanta and ISKCON ideas about Krishna into the West.Charles Brooks (1989), The Hare Krishnas in India, Princeton University Press, , pp. 83–85 ISKCON has built many Krishna temples in the West, as well as other locations such as South Africa.
The medieval era arts of Vietnam and Cambodia feature Krishna. The earliest surviving sculptures and reliefs are from the 6th and 7thcenturies, and these include Vaishnavism iconography. According to John Guy, the curator and director of Southeast Asian arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Krishna Govardhana art from 6th/7th-century Vietnam at Danang, and 7th-century Cambodia at Phnom Da cave in Angkor Borei, are some of the most sophisticated of this era.
Krishna's iconography has also been found in Thailand, along with those of Surya and Vishnu. For example, a large number of sculptures and icons have been found in the SiThep and Klangnai sites in the Phetchabun region of northern Thailand. These are dated to about the 7th and 8thcenturies, from both the Funan and Zhenla period archaeological sites.
The Krishna stories have played a key role in the history of Indian theatre, music, and dance, particularly through the tradition of Rasa leela. 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. (2025). 9781610692106, ABC-Clio LLC. ISBN 9781610692106 Some of the text's legends have inspired secondary theatre literature such as the eroticism in Gita Govinda.Graham Schweig (2007), Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions (Editor: Yudit Kornberg Greenberg), Volume1, , pp. 247–249
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.
Classical dance styles such as Kathak, Odissi dance, Manipuri dance, Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam in particular are known for their Krishna-related performances. Krisnattam (Krishnattam) traces its origins to Krishna legends, and is linked to another major classical Indian dance form called Kathakali. 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.
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 , the serpent on which Vishnu rests.
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. For example, Krishna loses battles in the Jain versions, and his gopis and his clan of Yadavas die in a fire created by an ascetic named Dvaipayana. Similarly, after dying from the hunter Jara's arrow, the Jaina texts state Krishna goes to the third hell in Jain cosmology, while his brother is said to go to the sixth heaven.
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 8thcentury, wrote a complete version of Krishna legends in the Jain tradition and credited it to the ancient Vimalasuri. Partial and older versions of the Krishna story are available in Jain literature, such as in the Antagata Dasao of the Svetambara Agama tradition.
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.
Like the Jain versions of the Krishna legends, the Buddhist versions such as one in Ghata Jataka follow the general outline of the story, but are different from the Hindu versions as well. 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.
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. 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.
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:
While the Buddhist Jataka texts co-opt Krishna-Vasudeva and make him a student of the Buddha in his previous life, the Hindu texts co-opt the Buddha and make him an avatar of Vishnu. 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.
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).
Baháʼís 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, Zoroaster, Gautama Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, and the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, Bahá'u'lláh.
Ahmadiyya, a 20th-century Islamic movement, consider Krishna as one of their ancient prophets.Siddiq & Ahmad (1995), Enforced Apostasy: Zaheeruddin v. State and the Official Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan, Law & Inequality, Volume 14, pp. 275–324Burhani A. N. (2013), Treating minorities with fatwas: a study of the Ahmadiyya community in Indonesia, Contemporary Islam, Volume 8, Issue 3, pp. 285–301 Ghulam Ahmad stated that he was himself a prophet in the likeness of prophets such as Krishna, Jesus, and Muhammad, who had come to earth as a latter-day reviver of religion and morality.
Krishna worship or reverence has been adopted by several new religious movements since the 19thcentury, and he is sometimes a member of an eclectic pantheon in occult texts, along with Greek mythology, Buddhism, Bible, and even historical figures. For instance, Édouard Schuré, an influential figure in perennial philosophy and occult movements, considered Krishna a Great Initiate, while regard Krishna as an incarnation of Maitreya (one of the Ascended master), the most important spiritual teacher for humanity along with Buddha.See for example: , , and
Krishna was canonised by Aleister Crowley and is recognised as a saint of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica in the Gnostic Mass of Ordo Templi Orientis.Crowley associated Krishna with Roman god Dionysus and Magickal formulae IAO, AUM and INRI. See and
|
|
