|
|
|
These include a divine incarnation, a pastoral childhood and youth and
life as a heroic warrior and teacher. The immense popularity of Krishna
in India also meant that various non-Hindu religions that originated
in India had their own versions of him.
KRISHNA,
one of the avatars of Vishnu is the most glamorous and talked-of character
in Indian mythology. Starting from the tales of his amorous acts with
gopikas and Radha, to his story of valour and wisdom in the battles
with Kamsa etc, and his great preachings to Arjuna in Bhagvad-Gita.
The story of the birth of Krishna goes as follows:
Once upon a time there lived an evil, wicked and ambitious king by name
of Kamsa in Mathura. He plundered the kingdom left and right and lawlessness
prevailed in his state. On one of the days a heavenly prophecy from
the sky came and echoed, "Kamsa! Your end is near! The eighth son
of Devaki, your sister, will be the one responsible for your death."
Kamsa was enraged beyond control and imprisoned Devaki, his sister and
Vasudeva her husband. Then he killed every child of the couple as they
were born. But just the midnight when the eighth child was born, the
skies roared and Lord Vishnu advised Vasudeva to take the child across
the river Yamuna to the other side to the village of Gokul and exchange
with the daughter of Yashoda in Gokul, who was born on the same day.
Vasudeva accordingly put the child in a basket, and as he went out the
doors of the prison parted for him as if in a magic. The river parted
into two to allow for Vasudeva to cross. Vasudeva then crossed into
Gokul and exchanged his son with the daughter of Yashoda who was born
the same day and came back. The baby uttered cries which awakened Kamsa,
and then happily he went to the prison chamber and snatched the girl
baby and as he lifted her in the air, the baby, who was an incarnation
of the Devi herself, laughed in glee "Kamsa, your real enemy is
still alive. The son of Devaki is alive and well and will come back
to kill you", and then disappeared. Kamsa was outraged beyond wits
and started a killing spree of all boys at that age in his kingdom.
It was a terror outbreak.
Krishna led a very pampered and amorous life in the Gokul, along side
thousands of gopikaas, the cowherdesses who were all entralled at his
beauty and were thrilled whenever he played the flute. There are numerous
playful instances of Krishna, playing mischief with the gopikaas including
breaking their butter pots. Many a poets, literarians have described
these amorous and mischievious acts as Raas-Lila of Krishna. Among all
the gopikaas, one Radha was special to Krishna. There are numerous amorous
tales of Radha and Krishna together. Krishna is also known to be a very
mischievious child who annoyed Yashoda a lot. A lot of dohas (poems)
described by Mirabai, an ardent devotee of Krishna, are very popular
which describe the naughty acts of Krishna. Among them the one titled
"Maiya Mori Main nahi makhan khayo" is an all-time favourite.
It describes the excuses which Krishna gives to his mother yashoda explaining
that he was not responsible for stealing of the butter from the gopikaas
Birth and childhood
Krishna was of the royal family of Mathura, and was the eighth son born
to the princess Devaki, and her husband Vasudeva, a noble of the court.
Mathura was the capital of the
closely linked clans of Vrishni, Andhaka and Bhoja. They are generally
known as Yadavas 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 cousin, had ascended the throne
imprisoning his father, the King Ugrasena. Afraid of a prophecy that
predicted his death at the hands of Devaki's son, he had the couple
cast into prison and it is here that Krishna was born.The place of his
birth is now known as Krishnajanmabhoomi, where a temple is raised in
his honour. As his life was in danger he was smuggled out to be raised
by his foster parents Yashoda and Nanda in Gokula. Two of his siblings
also survived, Balarama and Subhadra.
Boyhood and youth
Nanda was the head of a community of cow-herders and moved to Vrindavana.
The stories of his 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 to put an end to him.
All of these failed. Some of the most popular exploits of Krishna centre
around these adventures and his play with the gopis of the village,
including Radha, which later became known as the Rasa lila.
Krishna the prince
Krishna as a young man returned to Mathura, overthrew his uncle Kamsa,
and installed Ugrasena, Kamsa's father who had been imprisoned by Kamsa,
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 takes his Yadava subjects to Dwaraka (in modern
Gujarat). He married Rukmini, daughter of King Bhishmaka of Vidarbha.
He also had seven other wives including Satyabhama and Jambavati.
Krishna revealing his universal form to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita
Artwork © courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
The Kurukshetra war
Krishna was cousin to both sides in the war between the Pandavas and
Kauravas. He asked the sides to choose between his army and himself.
The Kauravas picked the army and he sided with the Pandavas. He agreed
to be the charioteer for Arjuna in the great battle. The Bhagavad Gita
is the advice given to Arjuna by Krishna before the start of the battle.
Later life
Following the war Krishna dwelt at Dwaraka for 36 years. Then at a festival,
a fight broke out between the Yadavas who exterminated each other. The
clan now mostly destroyed, his elder brother Balarama too 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. The Mahabharata (Mausala Parva)
says: (The hunter) ...Regarding himself an offender, and filled with
fear, he touched the feet of Keshava. The high-souled one comforted
him and then ascended upwards, filling the entire sky with splendour.
...the illustrious Narayana of fierce energy, the Creator and Destroyer
of all, that preceptor of Yoga, filling Heaven with his splendour, reached
his own inconceivable region.
|
|
|
|
.
.
.