Krishna

Hindu deity usually considered as the
eighth avatar or incarnation of the god
Vishnu; in certain religious contexts,
however, as in the Gitagovinda, he is
described as the ultimate deity and the
source of all the avatars. In either case,
Krishna is one of the major deities in the
modern Hindu pantheon. Part of his
popularity may stem from the extraordinary breadth of his manifestations,
allowing his devotees (bhakta) to worship him in many different ways. His
earliest appearance comes in the
Mahabharata, the later of the two great
Hindu epics, where he is a friend and
adviser to the five Pandava brothers
who are the epic’s protagonists. His epic
portrayal is highly complex, and his
character is not always truthful or good.
He is a regal king and heroic warrior, a
cunning opponent, and a Machiavellian
politician with his own underlying
agenda. Here Krishna plays the role of
a trickster, although late in the story,
in the section of the epic known as
the Bhagavad Gita, he eventually drops
the mask to reveal himself as the
supreme deity.
The later sectarian literature, particularly the Harivamsha and the
Bhagavata Purana, virtually ignore
this exalted, royal figure, preferring to
concentrate on Krishna’s birth, childhood, and adolescence. This latter
stratum of Krishna’s mythology has
been clearly imposed on the earlier,
heroic image, rendering Krishna a character with unusual mythic depth.
Religiously speaking, the image of
Krishna as child and lover has been far
more important than the stern and
somewhat amoral hero.
The characters in the story of
Krishna’s life, including his parents,
friends, and companions, are not aware
of his divinity, and throughout the story
they confront many surprises and bewildering events. However, none of these
plot twists surprise the readers, since
they are aware that all of the characters
are taking part in Krishna’s divine play
(lila). According to tradition, Krishna is
the eighth son of Devaki and Vasudeva.
He is born in a prison in the city of
Mathura, where his parents have been
confined by his uncle, the wicked king
Kamsa. On Devaki’s wedding day, a
divine voice warns Kamsa that her
eighth child will eventually kill him. In
an effort to forestall this prophecy, he
puts the couple in prison, and kills all of
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Kratu
Devaki’s children as soon as they are
born. Kamsa intends to do the same
with Krishna, but when Krishna is born,
a deep sleep falls on all the jailers, the
locked prison doors are miraculously
opened, and Vasudeva is able to spirit
the infant out of the prison to the home
of his foster parents, Nanda and
Yashoda. Vasudeva returns that night,
bearing Yashoda’s newborn baby girl,
who is really Bhadrakali, the Goddess,
in disguise. The next morning Kamsa
kills the child by dashing it against a
stone. From the body arises the Goddess,
who taunts Kamsa, telling him that the
person who will slay him has escaped.
Krishna lives happily at Nanda and
Yashoda’s home. His mythic images
from that early time stress either his persona as the adorable child or unexpected
feats of strength and heroism. As an
infant he is placed under a cart, which
he strikes with his foot and kicks into the
air; he also slays a variety of demon
assassins sent by his uncle Kamsa, most
notably Putana, Keshi, and Trnavarta.
During all these feats his companions
are amazed but never realize that divinity is in their midst. Nor, for that matter,
do his foster parents. In one story
Yashoda looks in Krishna’s mouth when
he has been eating some dirt and sees
the entire universe inside it. Through
the workings of Krishna’s power of illusion (maya), she immediately forgets
the whole incident. The themes of forgetfulness and hidden divinity are central to Krishna’s childhood mythology.
The people in Braj treat Krishna with
easy familiarity, because they are
unaware of his true identity. Krishna is
said to prefer this sort of natural interaction over all other worship.
As a boy Krishna becomes known for
his mischief, particularly his penchant
for stealing butter from the gopis (milkmaids), although when he is caught he
can usually manage to charm his way
out of punishment. His adolescence is
marked by two heroic episodes—driving
off the serpent Kaliya, and defeating the
storm-god Indra by holding up Mt.
Govardhan—and by the development of
his persona as a lover. On moonlit,
autumn nights, he plays his flute Murali
on the banks of the Yamuna River.
Hearing its irresistible call, the village
women rush to meet him, whiling away
the night in the circle dance known as
the ras lila. Although she is not mentioned in the earliest texts, Radha
appears as Krishna’s special companion
and consort, symbolizing the relationship between deity and devotee using
the imagery of lover and beloved.
Some parts of Krishna’s mythology
relate episodes from later in his life,
including his return to Mathura, the
slaying of Kamsa, taking his rightful
place as ruler, and marrying Rukmini
and a host of other wives. The earlier
strands of his mythic identity—the king,
hero, and cunning diplomat portrayed
in the Mahabharata—can be tied in
here, to make it seem like the account of
a single life. Some of the most poignant
devotional (bhakti) poetry details the
exchange between Krishna’s female
devotees, the gopis, and Uddhava,
Krishna’s companion sent back from
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Krishna
Depiction of Krishna, an incarnation
of the god Vishnu.
Mathura. Uddhava reassures them that
Krishna is the indwelling God and is
omnipresent. For the gopis, this abstract
concept is a poor substitute for the
sweet boy they know so well. Their
attention remains focused on the
charming child of Braj, who never grows
up, never grows old, and who invites his
devotees to share his world.
The worship of Krishna emphasizes
relationship and communion, both
with the deity and one another. In the
most elaborate forms of worship,
Krishna’s devotees envision themselves
as entering Krishna’s world and spending the day doing the ordinary activities
of a village cowhand, such as getting up,
eating, taking the cows to pasture,
and bringing home the cows. Some
devotional manuals give detailed daily
calendars, for which the devotees
can visualize themselves going to particular places and doing particular
things at certain times—building a relationship with God through sharing the
mundane parts of everyday life.
Another common practice is communal
singing, usually collections of the divine
names known as kirtans, as a way to
build relationships and communion
among the devotees.
Another feature of Krishna’s character and worship is the notion of lila or
“play.” As David R. Kinsley points out,
the infant Krishna dispatches the demon
assassins as a form of play, and they
never pose any serious threat. His relationship with the people of Braj is also a
sort of play. He comes as the divine presence in their midst, but keeps them
completely unaware of this, occasionally hinting at it through his wondrous
deeds, but unwilling to ruin their natural interactions with him by revealing
their difference in status. In the same
way, he is believed to be active in the
lives of his devotees, always present, but
dropping only teasing hints of his presence. Finally, lila is the name for a series
of dramas performed during the monsoon season in the town of Brindavan.
These productions, known as the ras lila,
are not mere drama but combine both
liturgy and drama. Krishna and his companions are played by local brahmin
boys. While in costume, the boys are
believed to have become the characters
they portray. Part of the program is worship. The players, known as svarups
(“own-forms”), gather on stage to give
darshan to the audience. The most
common religious act in modern popular Hinduism, darshan allows direct eye
contact between the devotee and the
image of a deity, which is considered to
be a conscious, perceiving being. The
second part of the program is the lila, a
rendition of some episode in Krishna’s
mythology. The audience participates
by virtue of its presence, making
Krishna’s lila part of present-day experience by performing or attending these
productions. Given his stature as a
Hindu deity, there are many works on
Krishna. For further information see
Milton Singer (ed.), Krishna, 1966; David
R. Kinsley, The Sword and the Flute,
1975; Barbara Stoller Miller, The Love
Song of the Dark Lord, 1977; and John
Stratton Hawley, Krishna: The Butter
Thief, 1983. See also Vaishnavism.