(krIsh´ne) [Sanskrit,=black], one of the most popular deities
in Hinduism, the eighth avatar, or incarnation of Vishnu . Krishna
appears in the Mahabharata epic as a prince of the Yadava tribe
and the friend and counselor of the Pandava princes. His divinity
is proclaimed in several places in the epic, particularly in the
Bhagavad-Gita . Krishna's childhood and youth are described in the
Harivamsa (a supplement to the Mahabharata ), the Vishnu Purana,
and the Bhagavata Purana, the last being one of the most important
texts of the Bhakti, or devotional, movement. As a young boy Krishna
is the foster child of cowherds and shows his divine nature by conquering
demons. As a youth he is the lover of the gopis (milkmaids), playing
his flute and dancing with them by moonlight. The play of Krishna
and the gopis is regarded in Hinduism as an image of the soul's
relationship with God. The love of Krishna and Radha, his favorite
gopi, is celebrated in a great genre of Sanskrit and Bengali love
poetry. bug´eved-ge´te) [Skt.,=song of the Lord], Sanskrit
poem incorporated into the Mahabharata , one of the greatest religious
classics of Hinduism. The Gita (as it is often called) consists
of a dialogue between Lord Krishna and Prince Arjuna on the eve
of the great battle of Kurukshetra. Arjuna is overcome with anguish
when he sees in the opposing army many of his kinsmen, teachers,
and friends. Krishna persuades him to fight by instructing him in
spiritual wisdom and the means of attaining union with God (see
yoga ). The main doctrines of the Gita are karma-yoga, the yoga
of selfless action performed with inner detachment from its results;
jnana-yoga, the yoga of knowledge and discrimination between the
lower nature of man and his soul, which is identical with the supreme
self; and bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion to a particular god—in
this case, Krishna, who reveals himself to Arjuna as the avatara
(incarnation) of Vishnu, Lord of the Universe. The Bhagavad-Gita
is essentially Upanishadic in content, but it differs significantly
from the brahman-atman doctrine of the Upanishads in teaching that
the highest God is personal and that love and surrender to God's
grace is a better and easier spiritual path than that of pure knowledge.
The Gita has been the subject of many commentaries and has been
much translated. Its translators include Annie Besant, Sir Edwin
Arnold, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and Mohandas Gandhi.
Lord Krishna appeared over five thousand years ago in Mathura,
India to Devaki and Vasudeva in the jail cell of the tyrant Kamsa.
The place of His birth is known as Sri Krishna Janmasthana. He
appeared with His brother Balarama in response to the demigods'
prayers for protection from the widespread influence of demonic
administration on earth.
Previously, the demigods and demons had been at war in the heavens.
When the demons were defeated by the demigods, they decided to
instead attack this planet earth. Thus, they invaded the earth
by discretely taking birth as princes in powerful royal families
of the time.
And as the earth became overrun by militaristic activities of
these kingly demons, the demigods including the Earth goddess
earnestly sought Lord Visnu's protection. Seeing the deteriorating
social and political conditions and hearing the prayers of the
demigods, the all-compassionate Supreme Lord Sri Krishna decided
to descend for the benefit of all.
The Supreme Lord descends from time to time in this material world
to reestablish the teachings of the Vedas. In His Bhagavad-gita,
Lord Krishna promises: "Whenever and wherever there is a
decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a
predominant rise of irreligion--at that time I descend Myself.
To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well
as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear
milleniumm after millenium."
Although eternal the Lord appears in specific circumstances out
of mercy for His devotees. In fact, His principal biography, the
Srimad Bhagavatam states, "the learned men describe the births
and activities of the Unborn and Inactive." Therefore, although
He appears within the material dimensions of time and space, He
is most definitely not of it.
Historically, Lord Krishna appeared on the midnight of the 8th
day of the dark half of the month of Sravana. This corresponds
to July 19th 3228 BC. He exhibited His pastimes for a little over
125 years and dissappeared on February 18th 3102 BC on the new
moon night of Phalguna. (His departure marks the beginning of
the current age of corruption known as Kali.)
The great scholar Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti neatly outlines
Lord Krishna's activities in this way: the first three years and
four months were spent in Gokula, then equal lengths of time in
Vmdavana and Nandagram, eighteen years and four months in Mathura,
and finally ninety-six years and eight months in Dvaraka totalling
125 years of manifest pastimes. See the Krishna-lila chart.
Lord Krishna's early pastimes are briefly summarized at the website
Krishna's Adventures in Vraja"During this childhood time
, He grew up as the son of His foster parents Nanda and Yasoda
in the midst of the idyllic beauty of Gokula, Vrindavana, and
Nandagram. Not only did He destroy numerous demons, but also performed
His famous rasa dance.
Krishna enjoyed the dance of love (rasa-lila) with the gopis many
of whom are expansions of His own internal energies. The supreme
gopi known as Srimati Radharani is the object of Krishna's highest
devotion. This beautiful dance would occur in the autumn season
at night under a full moon when Lord Krsna would captivate the
young gopis with the extraordinary music of His flute . These
esoteric pastimes constitute the most confidential expression
of divinity ever revealed.
Usually the conception of sprirtual perfection consists of overwhelming
feelings only of awe and reverence at God's majesty. However,
in these pastimes each devotee loves God either as a master, a
best freind, a mischievous son, or even as an intimate lover,
thus revealing the infinite possibilities of divine love. These
early pastimes of Lord Krsna in Vrindavana illustrate the extraordinary
intimacy that one can have with God. These pastimes are described
in detail by Sri Visvantha Chakravarti in his Sri Krishna Bhavanamrta
Mahakavya
When Krsna and Balarama were older, They were invited to Mathura,
where Karnsa, Their demonic uncle, was planning Their death in
a wrestling match against two large and powerful wrestlers. When
Kamsa saw his wrestlers defeated, he ordered his friends to drive
the brothers out of Mathura, plunder the riches of Their cowherd
friends, and kill Their fathers, Nanda and Vasudeva. However,
Krishna immediately killed Kamsa and Balarama killed his eight
brothers. Lord Krishna then established the pious King Ugrasena
as the emperor of several kingdoms.
In Mathura, both Krishna and Balarama were initiated by Gargamuni
in the Gayatri mantra> Later They went to live under the care
of Sandipani Muni who instructed Them in all the Vedic arts and
sciences in sixty-four days and nights especially in military
science, politics and spirituality. As an offering (guru-daksina)
to Their teacher, They recovered his son from death. Although
God does not need instruction from anyone else, Lord Krsna and
His brother set the perfect example : one must accept instruction
from and serve a bona-fide spiritual master to advance in spiritual
life.
For the next eighteen years, They continued to live in Mathura
halting the impending threat of many demonic kings. Later in Their
pastimes Lord Balarama married a princess named Revati. Lord Krsna
married many queens, the foremost among them being the extraordinarily
beautiftil Queen Rukmini. (See Sri Rukmini website for the story
of Their marriage). Both Krishna and Balarama established Their
palaces in Dvaraka off the coast of western India, where They
enjoyed married life for many years. Although They were married,
Lord Krsna and Lord Balarama exhibited the quality of detachment
from material life perfectly.
When They were about ninety years old, the great world war of
Kuruksetra took place. This climactic battle brought together
all the major world leaders. Lord Krsna took the role of a charioteer
on the side of the pious Pandavas, while Lord Balarama refusing
to participate went on a pilgrimage tour thereby blessing the
entire land of India.
At the start of the war, Lord Krishna displayed His stupendous
Universal Form delivered His famous message known as the Bhagavad-gita,
literally the Song of God. This Song contains the essence of all
knowledge having been spoken by the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Himself.
This war concluded with the destruction of the demonic kings and
the reinstatement of the righteous Pandava princes.
Having completed Their mission, Balarama and Krsna resumed Their
life in Dvaraka where They spent some thirty-five more years before
ending Their earthly manifest activities The foremost description
of Lord Krishna's activities occurs in the Srimad Bhagavatam,
literally "the Beautiful Book of God."
Source: wikipedia
