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Krishna

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This article is about God. For other meanings, see Lord Krishna (disambiguation).

Lord Krishna (IAST kr.s.n.a, the Sanskrit for "all-attractive") (see below), is the eternal, omniscient and Supremely blissful Almighty God.

File:UniversalForm.jpg
Lord Krishna revealing His Universal form to Arjuna Artwork © courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

Major aspects

Lord Krishna has many names, in a multiplicity of stories, among different cultures, and in different traditions.

Among His important or celebrated aspects are:

  • Sri Govinda, the lord of the cow-herders. He is accompanied by His divince brother Balarama (a prakasa of Lord Krishna), who is also known as Halayudha - 'armed with a plough'.
  • Lord Krishna the focus of devotion (the lover, the attractive one, the flute player). He is frequently shown playing the flute, attracting and bewildering the residents of Vrindavana.
  • Lord Krishna the child (Bala Lord Krishna). Stories of His upbringing in Gokula and Vrindavan are a staple of children's tales in India.
  • The incarnation of the Supreme Being, and the divine Guru, who teaches Arjuna how to take the right action in the Bhagavad Gita.

Scriptural Accounts

File:RadhaKrishna manor.JPG
Lord Krishna (left) with Radha
Bhaktivedanta Manor, Watford, England

A large number of scriptures describe Lord Krishna, His pastimes and His divine instructions. 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 transcendental pastimes.

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

  • Lord Krishna the butter-thief (Maakhanchor). Lord Krishna as a child stealing freshly made butter from His mother as a mark of His divine love for His mother.
  • Lord Krishna Giridhari. As a boy, He raised Govardhana hill to protect the residents of Vraja from rain and flood sent by Indra.
  • Lord Krishna the prince of the Yadu dynasty at Dwaraka. As a prince he was also the husband of Rukmini and Satyabhama.
  • Krishna the protector. He protects the dignity of Draupadi when Dushasana tries to strip her naked in the king's court.
  • Paartha-sarathi – the charioteer of Arjuna (Paartha) during the great battle where he instructs Arjuna in dharma and yoga in the Bhagavad Gita.

Summary of the account of Lord Krishna

This summary is derived from the Mahabharata, and the Harivamsaparva, an addendum to it.

File:YoungKrishna.jpg
Lord Krishna and His mother Yasoda Artwork © courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

Birth and childhood

Lord 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. He was born in a prison cell in Mathura, and the place of His birth is now known as Lord Krishnajanmabhoomi, where a temple is raised in His memory. As His life was in danger from His uncle Kamsa the king, he was smuggled out to be raised by His foster parents Yashoda and Nanda in the forest at Vrindavana. Two of His siblings also survived, Balarama and Subhadra.

Boyhood and youth

He reached adolescence in Vrindavana where he performed many charming and wonderful pastimes in the company of the residents of Vrindavana.

Lord Krishna the prince

Lord Krishna as a young man returned to Mathura, overthrew His uncle Kamsa, and became ruler of the Yadavas at Dwarka after installing His maternal grandfather to the throne at Mathura. In this period he became a friend of Arjuna and the other Pandava princes of the Kuru kingdom on the other side of the Yamuna. Later, he returns to His kingdom in Dwaraka (in modern Gujarat). He married Rukmini, daughter of King BHishmaka of Vidarbha.

The Kurukshetra War

In the Mahabharata, Lord Krishna is cousin to both sides in the war between the Pandavas and Kauravas. He asks the sides to choose between His army and himself. The Kauravas pick His army and the Pandavas choose Him. He agrees to be the chariot driver for Arjuna in the great battle. The Bhagavad Gita is a poem that Lord Krishna speaks as instruction to Arjuna before the start of the battle.

Dwarka

Lord Krishna rules the Yadavas at Dwarka. Later, the Yadavas kill themselves through infighting. Lord Krishna dwells for a time in the forest, and disappears from earth.

Bhakti Traditions

File:AgathoclesSquareCoin.jpg
Indian-standard silver drachm of the Greco-Bactrian king Agathocles (190 BC-180 BC)
Obv: God Balarama-Samkarshana, wearing an ornate headress, earrings, sword in sheath, holding a mace in His right hand and a plow-symbol in the left. Greek legend: BASILEOS AGATOKLEOUS "King Agathocles".
Rev: God Vasudeva-Lord Krishna, with ornate headdress, earrings, sword in sheath, holding sankha (pear-shaped vase) and chakra (wheel). Brahmi legend: RAJANE AGATHUKLAYASA "King Agathocles".

Bhakti, meaning devotion, is confined to Lord Krishna in Sanatana Dharma.

Earlier Traditions

The Bhakti tradition is very ancient and dates back to the verses in the Rig Veda (which dates back to 5,000 years although it is much more ancient than that as it was originally handed down by oral tradition).

Vyasadeva's Vedanta Sutra and Patanjali's Yoga Sutra provide many philosophical and metaphysical references to the worhip of Lord Krishna. These were followed by the main acharya's of the Vedanta school (Sripada Sankaracharya with his famous 'Bhaja Govindam' composition, Sripada Nimbarka Acharya, Sripada Visnusvami, Sripada Ramanujacharya and Sripada Madhvacharya).

Later Bhakti Traditions

All later traditions trace their parampara to one of four sampradayas (schools), as propounded by Sripada Nimbarka Acharya, Sripada Visnusvami, Sripada Ramanujacharya and Sripada Madhvacharya around 1,500 years ago.

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. Later works included those of the Alvar saints of the Tamil country. A major collection of their works is the Divya Prabandham.

Recent bhakti traditions include those promoted by Lord Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (16th century in Bengal). Lord Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is an incarnation of Lord Krishna. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took initiation in the Madhvacharya school although He accepted sannyasa (the renounced order of life) in the Kesava Bharati school of Sripada Sankaracharya.

Lord Krishna's Holy Name

File:Udupi balaKrishna.jpg
Deity of Lord Krishna in Udupi.

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

Lord Sri Krishna

The term Lord Krishna in Sanskrit means "all-attractive"; it is formed from the root krs (to attract).

Other meanings of the Holy Name

The name is sometimes said to mean dark blue, rather than black. THis may be connected to the common modern practice of representing many Hindu deities with blue skin. The blue is meant to represent the deities' holy aura.

krishir bhu-vacakah sabdo nas ca nirvriti-vacakah
tayor aikyam param brahma Lord Krishna ity abhidhiyate
  • "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 Lord Krishna, which indicates the Absolute Truth."
  • According to the Vishnu sahasranama, Lord Krishna is the 57th name of Vishnu, and also means the "Existence of Knowledge and Bliss".
File:Krishngovinda.jpg
Gopala, the protector of cows.

Other names of Lord Krishna

He is known by numerous other names or titles. The most commonly used of these include:

  • Acyutah - one without a second
  • Gopala - cowherd; protector of cows or those who take shelter of Him
  • Govinda - protector of cows or those who take His shelter
  • Hari - the fawn (or yellow or gold) coloured one
  • Hrshikesha - master of the senses
  • Jaganatha - lord of the universe (see also Juggernaut).
  • Keshava – the killer of Kesi or the master of Lord Brahma
  • Madhava - bringer of springtime
  • Panduranga - The friend of the Pandavas
  • Vaasudeva, Lord Krishna Vaasudeva - son of Vasudeva

Chronology

A paper presented recently[citation needed] at a convention in Prabhas Patan near Somnath, demonstrates that Lord Krishna performed His disappearance pastime 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 wherein astronomical observances where recorded. This data was used to compute certain dates using astronomical software that were then used to prepare a kundli (astrological horoscope charts). The Bhagavata Purana and Bhagavad Gita state that Lord Krishna "left" Dwarka 36 years after the Battle of the Mahabharata. The Matsya Purana says that Lord 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. Hindus believe that the year 2005 is the year 5106 of the Kali Yuga (which began with a year 0).

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