Krishna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Krishna
Krishna with Radha, 18th C Rajasthani painting
Devanagari	कृष्ण
Affiliation	Vishnu Avatar
Abode	Vrindavan, Dwarka
Weapon	Discus (Sudarshana Chakra)
Consort	Radha, Rukmini, Satyabhama , Jambavati.
This box: view • talk • edit

This article is about the Hindu deity. For other meanings, see Krishna (disambiguation).

Krishna (कृष्ण in Devanagari, kṛṣṇa in IAST, pronounced [ˈkr̩ʂɳə] in classical Sanskrit) is a deity worshiped across many traditions of Hinduism. Within some of these traditions, Krishna is worshipped as an avatar of Vishnu, who is considered the Supreme God by Vaishnava schools. Among other traditions of Vaisnavism, such as within Gaudiya Vaishnavism,^[1] the Vallabha Sampradaya and the Nimbarka Sampradaya, Krishna is worshiped as svayam bhagavan, the source of all avatars including Vishnu.^[2][3][4][5] A distinguishing feature of the Vaisnava teachings is that God, Krishna or Vishnu,^[6][7] is a real being and His creation is also real.^[7][8]
Krishna is often described and depicted as having the appearance of a dark-skinned man during his earthly incarnation, often shown as a young cowherd boy playing a flute (as in the Bhagavata Purana) or a youthful prince giving philosophical direction and guidance to others (as in the Bhagavad Gita).^[7]There are a number of perspectives on Krishna within a number of traditions in India.^[9]
Krishna and the stories associated with him appear across a broad spectrum of Hindu philosophical and theological traditions.^[10][8] Though they sometimes differ in details reflecting the concerns of a particular tradition, some core features are shared by all.^[9] These include a divine incarnation, a pastoral childhood and youth, and life as a heroic warrior and teacher.^[6]

[edit] Etymology

Main article: List of titles and names of Krishna

The term Krishna in Sanskrit has the literal meaning of "black" or "dark", and is used as a name to describe someone with dark skin. The Brahma Samhita describes Krishna's complexion as being "tinged with the hue of blue clouds",^[11] and he is often depicted in paintings with blue or dark-blue skin. In murtis, Krishna is more commonly portrayed as being dark skinned or black. For instance the Jagannatha deity (a form of Krishna, whose name means Lord of the World) at Puri is black in colour, with his brother Balarama and sister Subhadra, both having much lighter complexions.

The Gaudiya tradition explains the primary meaning of the name Krishna as being “all-attractive”. This is justified by an interpretation of a verse in the Mahābhārata, as given in the Chaitanya Charitamrita.^[12] Commentators on the Vishnu sahasranama offer explanations on similar lines. According to Adi Sankara's commentary, Krishna is the 57th name of Vishnu and means the "Existence of knowledge and Bliss."

[edit] Literary sources

Yashoda bathing the child Krishna. (Western Indian illustrated Bhagavata Purana Manuscript)

The earliest text to explicitly provide detailed descriptions of Krishna as a personality is the Mahābhārata which depicts Krishna as an incarnation of Vishnu^[13] who is central to many of the main stories of the epic. The eighteen chapters of the sixth book (Bhishma Parva) that constitute the Bhagavad Gita contain the advice of Krishna to Arjuna, on the battlefield. Krishna is already an adult in the epic, although there are allusions to his earlier exploits. The Harivamsa, a later appendix to this epic, contains the earliest detailed version of Krishna's childhood and youth.

Virtually every one of the later Puranas tells Krishna's life-story or some highlights from it. The Mahābhārata and the Harivamsa are considered sacred by Hindus. 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 by the Gaudiya Vaishnava schools.^[7] Roughly one quarter of the Bhagavata Purana is spent extolling his life and philosophy.

See Also: Krishna in Mahābhārata

[edit] Life

Krishna with Gopis - Painting from Smithsonian Institution

This summary is based on details from the Mahābhārata, the Harivamsa, the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana. The scenes from the narrative 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.

[edit] The incarnation

These texts explain the reason for the incarnation. In the words of the Bhagavata Purana:

"Lord Brahma informed the demigods: Before we submitted our petition to the Lord, He was already aware of the distress on earth. Consequently, for as long as the Lord moves on earth to diminish its burden by His own potency in the form of time, all of you demigods should appear through plenary portions as sons and grandsons in the family of the Yadus."^[14]

The Mahābhārata^[15] gives a similar account, although with slight variations in details.

[edit] Birth

Traditional belief based on scriptural details and astrological calculations gives the date of Krishna's birth, known as Janmashtami, as either 19th or 21st July 3228 BCE.^[16]

Krishna was of the royal family of Mathura, and was the eighth son born to the princess Devaki, and her husband Vasudeva. Mathura was the capital of the closely linked clans of Vrishni, Andhaka, and Bhoja. They are generally known as Yadavs after their eponymous ancestor Yadu, and sometimes as Surasenas after another famed ancestor. Vasudeva and Devaki belonged to these clans. The king Kamsa, Devaki's brother, had ascended the throne by imprisoning his father, King Ugrasena. Afraid of a prophecy that predicted his death at the hands of Devaki's eighth son, he had locked the couple into a prison cell, planning to kill all of Devaki's children at their birth. After killing the first six children, and Devaki's apparent miscarriage of the seventh, Krishna took birth. Since he believed Krishna's life was in danger, Krishna was secretly taken out of the prison cell to be raised by his foster parents, Yasoda and Nanda in Gokul, Mahavana. Two of his siblings also survived, Balarama (Devaki's seventh child, transferred to the womb of Rohini, Vasudeva's first wife) and Subhadra (daughter of Vasudeva and Rohini, born much later than Balarama and Krishna).

The place believed by worshippers to mark Krishna's birth is now known as Krishnajanmabhoomi, where a temple is raised in his honour.

Gaudiya Vaishnava scholars identify the form of Krishna who appeared in Mathura as Vasudeva Krishna of the first quadrupal expansion. In this form Krishna appeared before Vasudeva and Devaki without a natural birth, fully grown, with four arms and full parerphernalia.^[17]

Krishna holding Govardhan hill. From the Smithsonian Institution collections.

[edit] Childhood and youth

Nanda was the head of a community of cow-herders, and he settled in Vrindavana. The stories of Krishna's childhood and youth here include that of his life with, and his protection of, the local people. Kamsa learnt about the child's escape and kept sending various demons (such as Aghasura) to put an end to him. The demons were defeated at the hands of Krishna and his brother Balarama. Some of the most popular exploits of Krishna center around these adventures, such as the lifting of Govardhan hill and his play with the gopis of the village, including Radha. The stories of his play with the gopis became known as the Rasa lila and were romanticised in the poetry of Jayadeva, author of the Gita Govinda.

[edit] The prince

Krishna as a young man returned to Mathura, and overthrew and killed his uncle Kamsa. Krishna re-installed Kamsa's father, Ugrasena, as the king of the Yadavas. He himself became a leading prince at the court. In this period he became a friend of Arjuna and the other Pandava princes of the Kuru kingdom, who were his cousins, on the other side of the Yamuna. Later, he took his Yadava subjects to the city of Dwaraka (in modern Gujarat). He married Rukmini, daughter of King Bhishmaka of Vidarbha.

According to some texts, Krishna had 16,108 wives,^[18] of which eight were chief - including Rukmini, Satyabhama and Jambavati. Krishna's other 16,100 wives were previously being held in captivity by Narakasura, until Krishna killed him and released them all. According to strict social custom of the time all of the captive women would be unable to marry as they had been under the control of Narakasura, however Krishna happily took them all as his royal princesses. In Vaishnava traditions, Krishna's wives are believed to be forms of the goddess Lakshmi.

[edit] The Kurukshetra war and the Bhagavad Gita

Krishna reveals his Vishvarupa form to Arjuna during their discourse of the Bhagavad Gita.

Main articles: Kurukshetra war and Bhagavad Gita

Krishna was cousin to both sides in the war between the Pandavas and Kauravas. Once battle seemed inevitable, Krishna offered both sides to choose between having either his army or simply himself, but on the condition that he personally would not raise any weapons. Arjuna on behalf of the Pandavas chose to have Krishna on their side, and Duryodhana chose to have Krishna's army on the side of the Kauravas. At the time of the great battle, Krishna thus acted as Arjuna's charioteer. The Bhagavad Gita is the advice given to Arjuna by Krishna on the battlefield just prior to the start of the fighting.

[edit] Later life

Following the war Krishna lived at Dwaraka for thirty-six years. Then at a festival, a fight broke out between the Yadavas who exterminated each other. His elder brother Balarama then gave up his body using Yoga. Krishna retired into the forest and sat under a tree in meditation. A hunter mistook his partly visible foot for a deer and shot an arrow wounding him mortally. According to the Mahābhārata, the Krishna's death was caused by a curse by Gandhari. Her bitter anger after witnessing the death of her sons caused her to utter this curse, because she believed that Krishna did not do enough to stop the war when he had the full capability to do so. Upon learning of the curse, Krishna smiled and accepted it, stating that his duty was to fight for, and protect, the righteous people, not to prevent the war.

According to Puranic sources^[19], Krishna's death marks the end of Dvapara Yuga and the start of Kali Yuga, which is dated to February 17/18, 3102 BCE.^[20]

[edit] Early historical references

One of the earliest recorded instances of a Krishna who could potentially be identified with the deity can be found in the Chandogya Upanishad, where he is mentioned as the son of Devaki, and to whom Ghora Angirasa imparts secret knowledge; however at this stage Krishna is apparently still regarded as a man.^[21][22] Later Upansihads, namely Nārāyaṇātharvaśirsa and Ātmabodha, specifically regard Krishna as a God and associate him with Vishnu.^[21]

References to Vāsudeva also occur in early Sanskrit literature. Taittiriya Aranyaka (X,i,6) identifies him with Narayana and Vishnu. Panini, ca. 4th century BCE, in his Ashtadhyayi explains the word "Vāsudevaka" as a Bhakta (devotee) of Vāsudeva. This, along with the mention of Arjuna in the same context, indicates that the Vāsudeva here is Krishna.^{[citation needed]} At some stage during the Vedic period, Vasudeva and Krishna became one deity, and by the time of composition of the redaction of Mahabharata that survives till today, Krishna (Vasudeva) was generally acknowledged as an avatar of Vishnu and often as the Supreme God.^[21]

In the 4th century BCE, Megasthenes the Greek ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya says that the Sourasenoi (Surasena), who lived in the region of Mathura worshipped Herakles. This Herakles is usually identified with Krishna ^[23] due to the regions mentioned by Megasthenes as well as similarities between some of the herioc acts of the two. Megasthenes also mentions that his daughter Pandaia ruled in south India. The south indeed had the kingdom of the Pandyas with the capital at Madhura (Madurai), which some researchers have claimed to relate to the kingdom of the Pandavas, and the city of Mathura^{[citation needed]}. Greek ruler Agathocles issuced coins bearing the images of Krishna and Balarama in around 180-165 BCE. ^[23]

Indian-standard silver drachm of the Greco-Bactrian king Agathocles (190-180 BCE)
'Rev: Vasudeva-Krishna, with ornate headdress, earrings, sword in sheath, holding kunda (pear-shaped vase) and chakra (wheel). Brahmi legend: RAJANE AGATHUKLAYASA "King Agathocles".
Obv: Balarama, 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 "Of King Agathocles".

At Ghosundi near Udaipur, engraved about 150 BCE, is an inscription by a devotee mentioning Vasudeva and Narayana.^[23] In the 1st century BCE, Heliodorus from Greece erected the Heliodorus pillar at Besnagar near Bhilsa^[23] with the inscription: This Garuda-column of Vasudeva the god of gods was erected here by Heliodorus, a worshipper of the Lord Bhagavata, the son of Diya Greek Dion and an inhabitant of Taxila, who came as ambassador of the Greeks from the Great King Amtalikita [Greek Antialcidas] to King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra the saviour, who was flourishing in the fourteenth year of his reign… [missing text]… three immortal steps… [missing text]… when practiced, lead to heaven—self-control, charity, and diligence.

Another 1st century BCE inscription from Mathura, records the building of a part of a sanctuary to Vasudeva by the great satrap Sodasa.

The grammarian Patanjali, who wrote his commentary the Mahabhashya upon Panini's grammar about 150 BCE, quotes a verse to the following effect: May the might of Krishna accompanied by Samkarshana increase! One verse speaks of Janardana with himself as fourth (Krishna with three companions, the three possibly being Samkarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha). Another verse mentions musical instruments being played at meetings in the temples of Rama (Balarama) and Kesava (Krishna). Patanjali also describes dramatic and mimetic performances (Krishna-Kamsopacharam) representing the killing of Kamsa by Vasudeva.

Also in the 1st century BCE, there seems to be evidence for a worship of five Vrishni heroes (Balarama, Krishna, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Samba) for an inscription has been found at Mora near Mathura, which apparently mentions a son of the great satrap Raj Uvula, probably the satrap Sodasa, and an image of Vrishni, "probably Vasudeva, and of the "Five Warriors".

From the early centuries of the common era, the inscriptions and references to worship of Krishna become very numerous.

[edit] The Bhakti tradition

Main article: Bhakti

Bhakti, meaning devotion, is not confined to any one deity of Hinduism. However Krishna has become an important and popular focus of the devotional and ecstatic aspects of Hindu religion, particularly among the Vaishnava sects.^[5][24]

Devotees of Krishna subscribe to the concept of lila, meaning 'divine play', as the central principle of the universe. The lilas of Krishna, with their expressions of personal love that transcend the boundaries of formal reverence, serve as a counterpoint to the lilas of another avatar of Vishnu: Rama, "He of the straight and narrow path of maryada, or rules and regulations."^[1]

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 Alvar saints of the Tamil country. A major collection of their works is the Divya Prabandham. The Alvar Andal's popular collection of songs Tiruppavai, in which she conceives of herself as a Gopi, is perhaps the oldest work of this genre. Kulashekhara's Mukundamala was another notable offering of this early stage.

[edit] Spread of the Krishna-bhakti movement

"Celebration of Spring by Krishna and Radha," 18th Century miniature; in the Guimet Museum, Paris

The movement spread rapidly from Northern India into the south, with the Gita Govinda of Jayadeva (12th century CE) becoming a landmark of devotional, Krishna-based, literature. It elaborated a part of the story of Krishna, that of his love for one particular gopi, called Radha, a minor character in the Bhagavata Purana but a major one in some others like the Bramhavaivarta-Purana. The poem is in Sanskrit and soon became famous all across India. Radha henceforth became inseparable from devotion to Krishna.^[9]

While the learned sections of the society well versed in Sanskrit could enjoy works like Gita Govinda or Bilvamangala's Krishna-Karnamritam, the masses sang the songs of the devotee-poets who composed in the regional languages of India. These songs expressing intense personal devotion were written by devotees from all walks of life. The songs of Mirabai and Surdas became epitomes of Krishna-devotion in north India.

These devotee-poets, like the Alvars before them, were aligned to specific theological schools only loosely, if at all. But by the 11th century CE, Vaishnava Bhakti schools with elaborate theological frameworks around the worship of Krishna were established in north India. Nimbarka (11th century CE), Vallabhacharya (15th century CE) and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (16th century CE) were the founders of the most influential of these schools. Chaitanya's tradition, called Gaudiya Vaishnavism,^[1] sees Krishna as the supreme God,^[7] rather than as an avatar of Vishnu.^[6][5] Followers of Chaitanya and Vallabha maintain that he is himself an incarnation of Krishna.

In the Maharashtra and Deccan areas, saint poets such as Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Janabai, Eknath and Tukaram (among others) promoted the worship of Krishna (as Vithoba) from the beginning of the 13th century until the late 18th century.^[9] In Southern India Purandara Dasa and Kanakadasa of Karnataka composed songs devoted to Krishna of Udupi. Rupa Goswami has compiled a comprehensive summary of bhakti named Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu.^[24]

[edit] Krishna-bhakti in recent times

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

Since 1966 devotion to Krishna has spread from within India and is now practiced in many places around the globe, including America, Europe, Africa, Russia and South America. This is largely due to the growth of the evangelistic Hare Krishna movement, the largest part of which is officially known as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).^[25] The driving force behind the change was the movement's founder, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who was instructed by his guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, to write about Krishna in the English language and to share Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy with people in the Western world.^[26]

[edit] Academic study

Main article: Krishnology

Vaishnava theology has been a subject of study for many devotees, philosophers and scholars within India for centuries.^[8] In recent decades this study has also been taken on by a number of academic institutions in Europe, such as the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and Bhaktivedanta College. The Vaishnava scholars instrumental in this western discourse include Tamala Krishna Goswami, Hridayananda dasa Goswami, Graham Schweig, Kenneth R. Valpey, Ravindra Svarupa dasa, Sivarama Swami, Satyaraja Dasa, and Guy Beck, among others.^[2]

[edit] In the performing arts

Krishna as depicted in Yakshagana, which emerged as part of Bhakti tradition in Karnataka.

The earliest mention of any performance based on the Krishna story is mentioned in Patanjali's Mahabhashya, though the type of performance is unclear.

As all stories of Krishna are presented as playful activities in which he is fully aware of his divine nature made him a difficult subject for the classical Sanskrit playwrights. These plays usually had scenes where the hero is deep in sorrow before the customary happy ending. While Vishnu's other major incarnation Rama could be made into the protagonist of the plays, it was virtually impossible to write such plays about Krishna. Bhasa's Balacharita and Dutavakya are the only plays by a major classical dramatist. The former dwells only on his childhood exploits and the latter is a one-act play based on a single episode from the Mahābhārata when Krishna tries to make peace between the warring cousins.

Gita Govinda by Jayadeva.

The problem faced by classical drama did not surface in the other performing arts such as music, dance, and narrative enactments of the story of Krishna. From the 10th century BCE, with the growing Bhakti movement, Krishna became a favourite subject of the arts. The songs of the Gita Govinda became popular across India, and had many imitations. The songs composed by the Bhakti poets added to the repository of both folk and classical singing.

The classical dances of India, especially Odissi and Manipuri, draw heavily on the story. The 'Rasa lila' dances performed in Vrindavana shares elements with Kathak, and the Krisnattam, performed now exclusively at the Guruvayur temple, was the precursor of Kathakali. The beautiful classical Sattriya dance form, founded by the Assamese Vaishnava Saint Sankardeva, extols the virtues of Krishna. Among these is the Dashavatar Nritya. Srimanta Sankaradeva wrote various dramas, called Ekankiyas, including 'Chor Dara' and 'Pimpara Gusuwa', on the childhood of Krishna. Krishna also inspired Sankardeva to compose other works. A prominent part of Assamese culture includes Namghars, a congregational gathering, established by Sankardeva for praying to Krishna. There is a namghar in every village of Assam.

Medieval Maharashtra gave birth to a form of storytelling known as the 'Hari-Katha', that told Vaishnava tales and teachings through music, dance, and narrative sequences, and the story of Krishna became a rich source of knowledge to base these narrative sequences on. This tradition spread to Tamil Nadu and other southern states, and is now popular in many places throughout India.

Narayana Tirtha's (17th century CE) Krishna-Lila-Tarangini provided material for the musical plays of the Bhagavata-Mela by telling the tale of Krishna from birth until his marriage to Rukmini.

Tyagaraja (18th century CE) wrote a similar piece about Krishna called Nauka-Charitam.

The narratives of Krishna from the Puranas are performed in Yakshagana, a performance style native to Karnataka's coastal districts.

Many movies in all Indian languages have been made based on these stories. These are of varying quality and usually add various songs, melodrama, and special effects.

[edit] Krishna in other religions

Accounts of Krishna exist in many different belief systems, of which include:

[edit] Indian religions

[edit] Jainism

The most exalted figures in Jainism are the twenty-four Tirthankaras. Krishna, when he was incorporated into the Jain list of heroic figures presented a problem with his activities which are not pacifist or non-violent. The concept of Baladeva, Vasudeva and Prati-Vasedeva was used to solve it. The Jain list of sixty-three Shalakapurshas or notable figures includes amongst others, the twenty-four Tirthankaras and nine sets of this triad. One of these triads is Krishna as the Vasudeva, Balarama as the Baladeva and Jarasandha as the Prati-Vasudeva. He was a cousin of the twenty-second Tirthankara, Neminatha. The stories of these triads can be found in the Harivamsha of Jinasena (not be confused with its namesake, the addendum to Mahābhārata) and the Trishashti-shalakapurusha-charita of Hemachandra.^{[citation needed]}

In each age of the Jain cyclic time is born a Vasudeva with an elder brother termed the Baladeva. The villain is the Prati-vasudeva. Baladeva is the upholder of the Jain principle of non-violence. However, Vasudeva has to forsake this principle to kill the Prati-Vasudeva and save the world. The Vasudeva then has to descend to hell as punishment for this violent act. Having undergone the punishment he is then reborn as a Tirthankara.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Buddhism

The story of Krishna occurs in the Jataka tales in Buddhism^[27] in the Ghatapandita Jataka as a prince and legendary conqueror and king of India.^{[citation needed]} In the Buddhist version, Krishna is called Vasudeva, Kanha and Keshava, and Balarama is his younger brother, Baladeva. These details match that of the story given in the Bhagavata Purana. Vasudeva, along with his nine other brothers (each son a powerful wrestler) and one elder sister (Anjana) capture all of Jambudvipa (many consider this to be India) after beheading their evil uncle, King Kamsa, and later all other kings of Jambudvipa with his Sudarshana Chakra. Much of the story involving the defeat of Kamsa follows the story given in the Bhagavata Purana.^{[citation needed]}

As depicted in the Mahābhārata, all of the sons are eventually killed due to a curse of sage Kanhadīpayana (Veda Vyasa, also known as Krishna Dwaipayana). Krishna himself is eventually speared by a hunter in the foot by mistake, leaving the sole survivor of their family being their sister, Añjanadevī of whom no further mention is made.^{[citation needed]}

Since Jataka tales are given from the perspective of Buddha's previous lives (as well as the previous lives of many of Buddha's followers), Krishna appears as one of the lives of Sariputra, one of Buddha's foremost disciples and the "Dhammasenapati" or "Chief General of the Dharma" and is usually shown being Buddha's "right hand man" in Buddhist art and iconography.^[28] The Bodhisattva, is born in this tale as one of his youngest brothers named Ghatapandita, and saves Krishna from the grief of losing his son.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Abrahamic religions

[edit] Bahá'í Faith

Bahá'ís 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, Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, and the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, Bahá'u'lláh.^[29]

[edit] Ahmadiyya Islam

Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believe Krishna to be a great prophet of God as described by their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad:

Let it be clear that Lord Krishna, according to what has been revealed to me, was such a truly great man that it is hard to find his like among the rishis and avatars of the Hindus. He was an avatar (i.e. a prophet) of his time upon whom the Holy Spirit would descend from God. He was from God, victorious and prosperous. He cleansed the land of the Arya from sin and was in fact the prophet of his age whose teaching was later corrupted in numerous ways. He was full of love for God, a friend of virtue and an enemy of evil.^[30]

[edit] Other

Krishna worship or reverence has been adopted by several new religious movements since the 19th century, and he is sometimes a member of an eclectic pantheon in occult texts, along with Greek, Buddhist, Biblical and even historical figures.^[31] For instance, Édouard Schuré, an influential figure in perennial philosophy and occult movements, considered Krishna a Great Initiate; while Theosophists regard him as one of the Masters, a spiritual teacher for humanity.^[32][33] Krishna was canonized by Aleister Crowley and is recognized as a saint in the Gnostic Mass of Ordo Templi Orientis.^[34][35]

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Krishna

• Vishnu
• Radha
• Balarama
• Rama
• Vrindavan
• Hare Krishna
• Bhagavad Gita
• Hindu deities
• Udupi
• Mirabai
• Vithoba
• Dnyaneshwar
• Tukaram
• Svayam bhagavan

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Articles

• All about Krishna (various articles) (krishna.com)
• The Search for the Historical Krishna, by Prof. N.S. Rajaram (veda.harekrsna.cz)
• Sri Krishna - Differences in Realisation & Perception of the Supreme (stephen-knapp.com)
• The full text of the Bhagavata Purana (Srimad-Bhagavatam) (srimadbhagavatam.com)
• Hindu Wisdom - Dwarka (http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Dwaraka.htm)
• Vedic Archeology (A Vaishnava Perspective) (gosai.com)
• Good series of articles about Sri Krishna

Miscellaneous

• Shri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math - The bhakti tradition and Gaudiya Vaishnavism (sreecgmath.org)
• The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (iskcon.com)
• Krishna Deity Gallery (vrindavan.com)
• Krishna - His life (krishna.avatara.org)
• Krishna 'Janmashtami' - The celebration of Krishna's birth (krishnajanmashtami.com)
• Article on the chronology of Krishna (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
• Devotional hymns and eulogies on Krishna (stutimandal.com)
• Shri Keshavji Gaudiya Math - The Raganuga (highest form of Prema Bhakti) tradition of Gaudiya Vaishnavism (sevakunj.com)

v • d • e Dashavatara of Vishnu
Matsya · Kurma · Varaha · Narasimha · Vamana · Parashurama · Rama · Krishna · Balarama · Buddha · Kalki

v • d • e Hindu deities and texts
Female deities	Devi · Saraswati · Lakshmi · Sati · Parvati · Durga · Shakti · Kali · Sita · Radha · Mahavidya · Navadurga · Matrikas · more
Male deities	Deva · Brahma · Vishnu · Shiva · Rama · Krishna · Ganesha · Murugan · Hanuman · Indra · Surya · more
Texts	Vedas · Upanishads · Puranas · Ramayana · Mahabharata · Bhagavad Gita
Hinduism · Hindu mythology · Indian epic poetry