Krishna

== Life and legends ==
This summary is an account based on literary details from the ''[[Mahābhārata]]'', the ''[[Harivamsa]]'', the ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'', and the ''[[Vishnu Purana]]''. The scenes from the narrative are set in ancient India, mostly in the present states of [[Uttar Pradesh]], Bihar, [[Rajasthan]], Haryana, Delhi, and [[Gujarat]]. The legends about Krishna's life are called ''Krishna charitas'' ([[IAST]]: Kṛṣṇacaritas).{{sfn|Matchett|2001|p=145}}

=== Birth ===
[[File: Indischer Maler um 1755 002.jpg|thumb|right|Baby Krishna on a swing, depicted with his foster parents [[Nanda Baba|Nanda]] and [[Yashoda]].]]

In the ''Krishna Charitas'', Krishna is born to [[Devaki]] and her husband, [[Vasudeva]], of the [[Yadava]] clan in [[Mathura]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qmUssUXUFFYC&pg=PA359 |title=The Poems of Sūradāsa|publisher=Abhinav publications|year=1999|isbn=978-8170173694}}</ref> Devaki's brother is a tyrant named [[Kamsa]]. At Devaki's wedding, according to Puranic legends, Kamsa is told by fortune tellers that a child of Devaki would kill him. Sometimes, it is depicted as an [[Akashvani (word)|akashvani]] announcing Kamsa's death. Kamsa arranges to kill all of Devaki's children. When Krishna is born, Vasudeva secretly carries the infant Krishna away across the Yamuna, and exchanges him with [[Yashoda]]'s daughter. When Kamsa tries to kill the newborn, the exchanged baby appears as the Hindu goddess [[Yogmaya|Yogamaya]], warning him that his death has arrived in his kingdom, and then disappears, according to the legends in the Puranas. Krishna grows up with [[Nanda Baba|Nanda]] and his wife, [[Yashoda]], near modern-day [[Mathura]].<ref name="yashoda">{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/07/sss/ho_1982.220.8.htm|title=Yashoda and Krishna|date=2011-10-10|publisher=Metmuseum.org|access-date=2011-10-23|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013214426/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/07/sss/ho_1982.220.8.htm|archive-date=13 October 2008}}</ref><ref name="tkk">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-UiwMRwcT-kC|title=The Krishna key|date=2012|publisher=Westland|isbn=978-9381626689|location=Chennai|page=Key7|language=en|last1=Sanghi|first1=Ashwin|access-date=9 June 2016}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Lok Nath Soni">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wT-BAAAAMAAJ |title=The Cattle and the Stick: An Ethnographic Profile of the Raut of Chhattisgarh|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India, Government of India, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Department of Culture, 2000 Original from the University of Michigan|year=2000|isbn=978-8185579573|location=Anthropological Survey of India, Government of India, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Department of Culture, Delhi|pages=16|author=Lok Nath Soni}}</ref> Two of Krishna's siblings also survive, namely [[Balarama]] and [[Subhadra]], according to these legends.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bryant|2007|pp=124–130, 224}}</ref> 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 [[Sāṁvartaka|devastating rains and floods]].<ref name="MW">{{cite book|author = Lynne Gibson|title = Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions|publisher = Merriam-Webster|year = 1999|page = 503}}</ref>

[[File:Krishna and Balarama Studying with the Brahman Sandipani (1525-1550 CE).jpg|thumb|left|''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 [[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]].<ref>{{cite book|author = Schweig, G. M.|year = 2005|title = Dance of divine love: The Rasa Lila of Krishna from the Bhagavata Purana, India's classic sacred love story.|publisher = [[Princeton University Press]], Princeton, NJ; Oxford|isbn = 978-0-691-11446-0}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Largen">{{cite book|author=Largen|first=Kristin Johnston|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D7_gveSP6-sC|title=God at Play: Seeing God Through the Lens of the Young Krishna|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2011|isbn=978-1608330188|location=India|pages=|oclc=1030901369}}</ref>{{rp|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.<ref name=Largen />{{rp|255}} 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.<ref name=Largen />{{rp|253–261}}

=== Adulthood ===
[[File:Krishna Rukmini Satyabhama Garuda.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Krishna with his consorts [[Rukmini]] and [[Satyabhama]] and his mount [[Garuda]], Tamil Nadu, India, late 12th–13th{{nbsp}}century<ref name="lacma">{{cite web|url=http://collections.lacma.org/node/203163|title=Krishna Rajamannar with His Wives, Rukmini and Satyabhama, and His Mount, Garuda &#124; LACMA Collections|publisher=collections.lacma.org|access-date=2014-09-23|archive-date=16 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716040855/http://collections.lacma.org/node/203163|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]
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, [[Ugrasena]], as the king of the [[Yadava]]s and becomes a leading prince at the court.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bryant|2007|p=290}}</ref> In one version of the Krishna story, as narrated by Shanta Rao, Krishna after Kamsa's death leads the Yadavas to the newly built city of [[Dvārakā|Dwaraka]]. Thereafter Pandavas rise. Krishna befriends [[Arjuna]] and the other [[Pandava]] princes of the [[Kuru (kingdom)|Kuru]] kingdom. Krishna plays a key role in the ''Mahabharata''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rao|first1=Shanta Rameshwar|title=Krishna|date=2005|publisher=Orient Longman|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-8125026969|page=108|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NJ747fOWTRMC&pg=PA1}}</ref>

The Bhagavata Purana describes [[Ashtabharya|eight wives]] of Krishna that appear in sequence as [[Rukmini]], [[Satyabhama]], [[Jambavati]], [[Kalindi]], [[Mitravinda]], [[Nagnajiti]] (also called Satya), [[Bhadra (Krishna's wife)|Bhadra]] and [[Lakshmana (Krishna's wife)|Lakshmana]] (also called Madra).<ref name="Hudson2008">{{cite book|author=D Dennis Hudson|title=The Body of God : An Emperor's Palace for Krishna in Eighth-Century Kanchipuram: An Emperor's Palace for Krishna in Eighth-Century Kanchipuram|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IMCxbOezDi4C&pg=PA264|access-date=28 March 2013|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-970902-1|pages=263–264}}</ref> This has been interpreted as a metaphor where each of the eight wives signifies a different aspect of him.<ref>{{cite book|author=D Dennis Hudson|title=The Body of God : An Emperor's Palace for Krishna in Eighth-Century Kanchipuram: An Emperor's Palace for Krishna in Eighth-Century Kanchipuram|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IMCxbOezDi4C&pg=PA264|access-date=28 March 2013|date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-970902-1|pages=102–103, 263–273}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|author=George Mason Williams|title=Handbook of Hindu Mythology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7LOZfwCDpEC&pg=PA188|access-date=10 March 2013|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-533261-2|pages=188, 222}}</ref>

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 [[avatar]]s of the goddess [[Lakshmi]], the consort of Vishnu.<ref>{{Harvnb|Rosen|2006|p=136}}</ref>{{sfn|Bryant|2007|p=443}} [[Gopi]]s are considered as Lakshmi's or Radha's manifestations.{{sfn|Bryant|2007|p=443}}<ref name=hawley13>{{cite book|title = The Divine Consort: Rādhā and the Goddesses of India|author=John Stratton Hawley, Donna Marie Wulff|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publisher|date= 1982|isbn = 978-0-89581-102-8|page=12}} 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."</ref>

=== Kurukshetra War and ''Bhagavad Gita'' ===
{{Main|Kurukshetra War|Bhagavad Gita}}
[[File:Bhagavad-Gita's_revelation-_Krishna_tells_the_Gita_to_Arjuna.jpg|thumb|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]]''.<ref>Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, by Robert N. Minor in {{Harvnb|Bryant|2007|pp=77–79}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Jeaneane D. Fowler|title=The Bhagavad Gita: A Text and Commentary for Students|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dHX5XwAACAAJ|year=2012|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-84519-520-5|pages=1–7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Eknath Easwaran|title=The Bhagavad Gita: (Classics of Indian Spirituality)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bcnJAAAAQBAJ|year=2007|publisher=Nilgiri Press|isbn=978-1-58638-019-9|pages=21–59}}</ref>

=== Death and ascension ===
{{Main|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 (Mahabharata)|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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bryant|2007|p=148}}</ref><ref name=eck380>{{cite book|author=Diana L. Eck|title=India: A Sacred Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uD_0P6gS-vMC&pg=PA380|year=2012|publisher=Harmony |isbn=978-0-385-53190-0|pages=380–381}}, Quote: "Krishna was shot through the foot, hand, and heart by the single arrow of a hunter named Jara. Krishna was reclining there, so they say, and Jara mistook his reddish foot for a deer and released his arrow. There Krishna died."</ref><ref name="Mani, Vettam 1975 429">{{cite book|author = Mani, Vettam|title = Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary With Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature|url = https://archive.org/details/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft|publisher = Motilal Banarsidass|year = 1975|location = Delhi|isbn = 978-0-8426-0822-0|author-link =Vettam Mani|page=[https://archive.org/details/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft/page/429 429]}}</ref> The pilgrimage (''[[Tirtha (Hinduism)|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".<ref name=eck380 /> 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.{{Sfn|Bryant|2003|p=417-418}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Baby Krishna, Infant Christ: A Comparative Theology of Salvation|last=Largen|first=Kristin Johnston|publisher=Orbis Books|year=2011|isbn=978-1-60833-018-8|page=44}}</ref>

=== Versions and interpretations ===
{{multiple image
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| image1 =  Sri nathji.jpg
| total_width = 380
| image2 = Lord Jagannath Patachitra.jpg
| image3 = Syayambhuvithoba.jpg
| footer = 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''.{{sfn|Matchett|2001|pp=9–14, 145–149}} They share the basic storyline but vary significantly in their specifics, details, and styles.<ref>{{cite book|author=Benjamín Preciado-Solís|title=The Kṛṣṇa Cycle in the Purāṇas: Themes and Motifs in a Heroic Saga |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JvCaWvjGDVEC&pg=PA40 |year=1984|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-0-89581-226-1|page=40}}, Quote: "Within a period of four or five centuries [around the start of the common era], we encounter our major sources of information, all in different versions. The Mahabharata, the Harivamsa, the Visnu Purana, the Ghata Jataka, and the Bala Carita all appear between the first and the fifth century AD, and each of them represents a tradition of a Krsna cycle different from the others".</ref> 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 [[Allusion|allusive]] fantasy. It ends on a triumphal note, not with the death of Krishna.{{sfn|Matchett|2001|pp=44–49, 63–64, 145}} Differing in some details, the fifth book of the ''Vishnu Purana'' moves away from ''Harivamsa'' realism and embeds Krishna in mystical terms and eulogies.{{sfn|Matchett|2001|pp=89–104, 146}} The ''Vishnu Purana'' manuscripts exist in many versions.{{sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=18, 245–249}}

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.{{sfn|Matchett|2001|pp=108–115, 146–147}} 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.{{sfn|Matchett|2001|pp=145–149}} The ''Bhagavata Purana'' manuscripts also exist in many versions, in numerous Indian languages.{{sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=138–149}}{{sfn|Bryant|2007|p=112}}

[[Chaitanya Mahaprabhu]] is considered as the incarnation of Krishna in [[Gaudiya Vaishnavism]] and by the [[ISKCON]] community.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gaura Purnima Mahotsava By International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)
|url=https://www.sentinelassam.com/news/gaura-purnima-mahotsava-by-international-society-for-krishna-consciousness-iskcon/|date=18 March 2019 |newspaper=Sentinelassam |department=City: Guwahati|access-date=30 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Alfred Ford on mission to fund biggest temple
|url=https://telanganatoday.com/alfred-ford-on-mission-to-fund-biggest-temple|date=14 October 2019 |newspaper=Telanganatoday |department=City: Hyderabad|access-date=30 January 2020}}</ref><ref>Benjamin E. Zeller (2010), ''Prophets and Protons'', New York University Press, {{ISBN|978-0814797211}}, pp. 77–79</ref>
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