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Krishna

Krishna (कृष्ण in Devanagari, IAST kṛṣṇa) is according to common Hindu tradition the eighth avatar of Vishnu. In Gaudiya Vaishnavism, he is seen as the Supreme Person (God) and thus the origin of all other incarnations.

Krishna and the stories associated with him appear across the spectrum of Hindu philosophical and theological traditions. Though they sometimes differ in details reflecting the concerns of a particular tradition, some core features are shared by all. These include a divine incarnation, a pastoral childhood and youth and life as a heroic warrior and teacher. The immense popularity of Krishna in India also meant that various non-Hindu religions that originated in India had their own versions of him.

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 has the literal meaning of "black" or "dark". The name is often taken to mean 'the dark one' or as 'the black one' referring to Krishna's dark black/blueish complexion. There are also a number of other meanings to the name referring to Krishna's divine nature, the primary one being He who is 'All-Attractive'.

In depictions, Krishna often appears as a black or dark-skinned figure, for instance in the modern murtis (statues) and pictorial representations of Jagannatha (Krishna as Lord of the World) at Puri. 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 bluish black, rather than simply black, in many devotional writings his exact complexion is described to be like 'that of a black/blueish storm cloud'.

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

krishir bhu-vacakah sabdo nas ca nirvriti-vacakah

tayor aikyam param brahma krishna ity abhidhiyate

(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.

Eminent Hindu philosophers who commented on the name (the 57th) in the Vishnu sahasranama, offer explanations on similar lines. Adi Shankaracharya interprets it as 'The union of existence and bliss' and Parashara Bhattar as the 'The receptacle of extreme joy'.

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:

• Gopala - cowherd; protector of cows

• Govinda - He who gives protection to cows / pleasure to the senses.

• Hari - the fawn (or yellow or gold) coloured one

• Hrshikesha - master of the senses

• Jagannatha - lord of the universe

• Keshava – long haired; in some accounts, the killer of Kesi

• Madhava - bringer of springtime, husband of the goddess of fortune

• Achala - Still Lord

• Janardhana - One Who Bestows Boons On One And All

• Vāsudeva - son of Vasudeva

• Achyuta - Infallible Lord

Literary sources

The earliest text that records the deeds of Krishna is the Mahabharata. He is described as the incarnation of Vishnu and is one of the most important characters of the epic. The 18 chapters of the 6th book (Bhishma Parva) that constitute the Bhagavad Gita contain the advice of Krishna to Arjuna, on the battlefield. These chapters are the best known of the Hindu texts and its importance in Hindu religious thought is immense. Every religious school of Hinduism was expected to produce a commentary on it if it had to make claims to original thought. But Krishna is already an adult in the epic, even though there are allusions to his earlier exploits. The Harivamsa, an appendix to this epic that was added to it later contains the earliest detailed version of Krishna's childhood and youth.

Virtually every one of the later Puranas tells the full life-story or some highlights from it. While the Mahabharata and the Harivamsa are considered sacred by the Hindus, the two Puranas (the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana) that contain the most elaborate telling of Krishna’s story and teachings are the most theologically venerated.Roughly one quarter of the Bhagavata Purana (mostly in the 10th book) is spent extolling his life and philosophy.

A vast body of literature, mostly religious, is thought to have been created in medieval India that dwelt on the whole story or episodes from it. A number of local traditions and regional deities may have been subsumed into the stories and person of Krishna.

The story of Krishna

In the absence of any historical biography, this summary is based on the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa, the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana. The scenes from the tale are set in north India, mostly in the present states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat. The quotations at the start and end of the summary set the theological framework in which the story is viewed.

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