Krishna

===Literary sources===
==== Mahabharata ====
{{See also|Krishna in the Mahabharata|Bhagavad Gita}}
[[File:Krishna advising Pandavas.jpg|thumb|Krishna advising Pandavas]]
The earliest text containing detailed descriptions of Krishna as a personality is the epic ''[[Mahabharata]]'', which depicts Krishna as an incarnation of Vishnu.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url= https://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-357806/Mahabharata|title= Britannica: Mahabharata|access-date=2008-10-13 |encyclopedia = encyclopedia|publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica Online |year= 2008|author = Wendy Doniger}}</ref> Krishna is central to many of the main stories of the epic. The eighteen chapters of the sixth book (''Bhishma Parva'') of the epic that constitute the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'' contain the advice of Krishna to [[Arjuna]] on the battlefield.

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".<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Armstrong |first=Karen |title=A History of God: The 4000-year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam |publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf Inc]] |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-679-42600-4 |location=New York |pages=85–86 |author-link=Karen Armstrong}}</ref> Krishna had "no beginning or end", "fill[ed] 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."<ref name=":0" /> Other forces also existed in his body, such as "hordes of varied creatures" that included "celestial serpents."<ref name=":0" /> He is also "the essence of humanity."<ref name=":0" />

The ''[[Harivamsa]]'', a later appendix to the ''Mahabharata,'' contains a detailed version of Krishna's childhood and youth.<ref>Maurice Winternitz (1981), ''History of Indian Literature'', Vol. 1, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-0836408010}}, pp. 426–431</ref>

==== Other sources ====
[[File:Baby thief Krishna (bazaar art, c.1950's).jpg|thumb|left|Krishna is celebrated in the Vaishnava tradition in various stages of his life.]]
The ''[[Chandogya Upanishad]]'' (verse III.xvii.6) mentions Krishna in ''Krishnaya Devakiputraya'' as a student of the sage Ghora of the Angirasa family. Ghora is identified with [[Neminatha]], the twenty-second ''[[tirthankara]]'' in [[Jainism]], by some scholars.{{sfn|Natubhai Shah|2004|p=23}} This phrase, which means "To Krishna the son of [[Devaki]]", has been mentioned by scholars such as [[Max Müller]]<ref name=maxmuller316>Max Müller, [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads01ml#page/48/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad 3.16–3.17], The Upanishads, Part{{nbsp}}I, Oxford University Press, pp. 50–53 with footnotes</ref> as a potential source of fables and Vedic lore about Krishna in the ''Mahabharata'' and other ancient literature{{snd}} only potential because this verse could have been interpolated into the text,<ref name=maxmuller316 /> or the Krishna Devakiputra, could be different from the deity Krishna.<ref>Edwin Bryant and Maria Ekstrand (2004), ''The Hare Krishna Movement'', Columbia University Press, {{ISBN|978-0231122566}}, pp. 33–34 with note 3</ref> These doubts are supported by the fact that the much later age ''Sandilya Bhakti Sutras'', a treatise on Krishna,<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/ShandilyaBhaktiSutra/shandilya_bhakti_sutras#page/n0/mode/2up Sandilya Bhakti Sutra] SS Rishi (Translator), Sree Gaudia Math (Madras)</ref> cites later age compilations such as the ''[[Narayana Upanishad]]'' but never cites this verse of the Chandogya Upanishad. Other scholars disagree that the Krishna mentioned along with [[Devaki]] in the ancient Upanishad is unrelated to the later Hindu god of the ''Bhagavad Gita'' fame. For example, Archer states that the coincidence of the two names appearing together in the same Upanishad verse cannot be dismissed easily.<ref>WG Archer (2004), ''The Loves of Krishna in Indian Painting and Poetry'', Dover, {{ISBN|978-0486433714}}, p. 5</ref>

[[Yāska]]'s ''[[Nirukta]]'', an etymological dictionary published around the 6th{{nbsp}}century{{nbsp}}BCE, contains a reference to the Shyamantaka jewel in the possession of [[Akrura]], a motif from the well-known Puranic story about Krishna.<ref name = bryant4>{{Harvnb|Bryant|2007|p=4}}</ref> [[Shatapatha Brahmana]] and ''Aitareya-Aranyaka'' associate Krishna with his Vrishni origins.<ref>Sunil Kumar Bhattacharya ''Krishna-cult in Indian Art''. 1996 M. D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. {{ISBN|81-7533-001-5}} p. 128: Satha-patha-brahmana and Aitareya-[[Aranyaka]] with reference to first chapter.</ref>

In ''Ashṭādhyāyī'', authored by the [[ancient]] grammarian [[Pāṇini]] (probably belonged to the 5th or 6th{{nbsp}}century{{nbsp}}BCE), ''Vāsudeva'' and ''Arjuna'', as recipients of worship, are referred to together in the same ''[[sutra]]''.<ref name="kurukshetra.nic.in">[http://kurukshetra.nic.in/museum-website/archeologicaltreasure.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217161420/http://kurukshetra.nic.in/museum-website/archeologicaltreasure.html|date=17 February 2012}}</ref><ref>Pâṇ. IV. 3. 98, Vâsudevârjunâbhyâm vun. See Bhandarkar, Vaishnavism and Śaivism, p.{{nbsp}}3 and J.R.A.S. 1910, p.{{nbsp}}168. Sûtra{{nbsp}}95, just above, appears to point to bhakti, faith or devotion, felt for this Vâsudeva.</ref><ref>Sunil Kumar Bhattacharya ''Krishna-cult in Indian Art''. 1996 M. D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. {{ISBN|81-7533-001-5}} p. 1</ref>[[File:Dancing Krishna, India, Tanjore, Tamil Nadu, Chola dynasty, 14th century, bronze, HAA.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Bala Krishna]] dancing, 14th{{nbsp}}century{{nbsp}}CE [[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 4th{{nbsp}}century{{nbsp}}BCE, made reference to [[Megasthenes' Herakles|Herakles]] in his famous work [[Indica (Megasthenes)|Indica]]. This text is now lost to history, but was quoted in secondary literature by later Greeks such as [[Arrian]], [[Diodorus]], and [[Strabo]].{{sfn|Bryant|2007|p=5}} 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 (author)|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".{{sfn|Bryant|2007|p=5}} 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|Jamuna]]. Later, when [[Alexander the Great]] launched his campaign in the northwest [[Indian subcontinent]], his associates recalled that the soldiers of [[King Porus|Porus]] were carrying an image of Herakles.{{sfn|Bryant|2007|p=5}}

The Buddhist [[Pali canon]] and the Ghata-Jâtaka (No. {{nbsp}}454) [[polemic]]ally mention the devotees of Vâsudeva and Baladeva. These texts have many peculiarities and may be a garbled and confused version of the Krishna legends.{{sfn|Bryant|2007|pp=5–6}} The texts of [[Jainism]] mention these tales as well, also with many peculiarities and different versions, in their legends about [[Tirthankara]]s. This inclusion of Krishna-related legends in ancient [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] and Jaina literature suggests that Krishna theology was existent and important in the religious landscape observed by non-Hindu traditions of [[Ancient india|ancient India]].{{sfn|Bryant|2007|p=6}}<ref>Hemacandra Abhidhânacintâmani, Ed. Boehtlingk and Rien, p. 128, and Barnett's translation of the Antagada Dasāo, pp.{{nbsp}}13–15, 67–82.</ref>

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.{{sfn|Bryant|2007|p=5}}<ref>{{cite book|title=India through the ages|url=https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada|last=Gopal|first=Madan|publisher=Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India|year=1990|editor=K.S. Gautam|page=[https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada/page/73 73]}}</ref>

====Puranas====
Many [[Puranas]] tell Krishna's life story or some highlights from it. Two Puranas, the ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' and the ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'', contain the most elaborate telling of Krishna's story,<ref name="Elkman1986">{{cite book|author = Elkman, S. M.|author2=Gosvami, J.|year = 1986|title = Jiva Gosvamin's Tattvasandarbha: A Study on the Philosophical and Sectarian Development of the Gaudiya Vaisnava Movement|publisher = Motilal Banarsidass}}</ref> but the life stories of Krishna in these and other texts vary, and contain significant inconsistencies.{{sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=18, 49–53, 245–249}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Gregory Bailey|editor=Arvind Sharma|title=The Study of Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=npCKSUUQYEIC|year=2003|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|isbn=978-1-57003-449-7|pages=141–142}}</ref> The ''Bhagavata Purana'' consists of twelve books subdivided into 332{{nbsp}}chapters, with a cumulative total of between 16,000 and 18,000 verses depending on the version.<ref name=barbaraholdrege109>Barbara Holdrege (2015), Bhakti and Embodiment, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415670708}}, pp.{{nbsp}}109–110</ref><ref>Richard Thompson (2007), ''The Cosmology of the Bhagavata Purana 'Mysteries of the Sacred Universe'', Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120819191}}</ref> The tenth book of the text, which contains about 4,000 verses (~25%) and is dedicated to legends about Krishna, has been the most popular and widely studied part of this text.{{sfn|Bryant|2007|p=112}}{{sfn|Matchett|2001|pages=127–137}}