Krishna E-Book

Wilfried Huchzermeyer

• Herausgeber: Huchzermeyer, Wilfried
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 181

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Krishna is one of the most famous deities of India. In this biography his complete life story is told based on the sources in the Puranas and the Mahabharata. His early time with the Gopis in Vrindavana is dealt with as well as his later role as tribal leader of the Yadavas and spiritual advisor and teacher of the Pandavas. Due to the thorough documentation with numerous references, the book also facilitates further studies in the field of Hindu religion, mythology and Indology.

Leseprobe

Wilfried Huchzermeyer

Krishna

His Life Story

in the Purānas and the Mahābhārata

edition sawitri

Karlsruhe

Cover Image: Krishna and Rādhā in Vrindāvana

Verlag W. Huchzermeyer

www.edition-sawitri.de

[email protected]

1st E-Book Edition 2024

ISBN 9783931172565

© 2024 edition sawitri - Verlag W. Huchzermeyer, Karlsruhe

Contents

Preface

1 – The Prehistory and Krishna’s Birth

2 – Childhood and Youth

3 – Krishna and the Gopīs

4 – Confrontation with Kamsa and life in Mathurā

5 – Life in Dvārakā

6 – Krishna in the Mahābhārata

7 – The Bhagavadgītā

8 – The Battle: Krishna’s Interventions

9 – After the War

10 – Rādhā and the development of Vaishnavism

Appendix

I – Krishna’s Battle against Shālva and his Airship

II – Dvārakā - Archaeological finds

Glossary – Persons

Glossary – Place Names

108 Names of Krishna

Literature

Preface

Krishna is the best-known deity in the Indian Pantheon, along with Shiva. This biography covers his entire life story in all its stages and also explains his most important spiritual teachings.

The Vishnu Purāna and the Bhāgavata Purāna in particular were used as sources for the first period of life in Vrindāvana. The former text has the advantage of a comparatively brief and clear narrative, with the English translation by Manmatha Nath Dutt serving as a basis.1 For the treatment of the contents of the Bhāgavata Purāna, the English translation by Anand Aadhar has been used.2 The quotations from these sources were slightly modified in some cases.

For the second period of life in Dvārakā, the Mahābhārata serves as an additional important source. The translations from the epic are our own, if not otherwise noted; in part, we have drawn on previously published passages in our title Studies in the Mahābhārata.3 Due to the thorough documentation of the texts with countless references, the book also allows for further studies in the field of religious studies and Indology. For the original Sanskrit text, the Pune Critical Edition was used.

A complete representation of all narratives and myths, especially of the early period in Vrindāvana, was not intended, but our goal was to present only the most important events and to avoid an overabundance of details. In principle, it should be noted that individual episodes are often rendered somewhat differently in the various sources, although the core of the narrative usually remains identical. In a few cases, when there are significant differences, we have noted them in our text.

Wilfried Huchzermeyer

1 See Literature.

2 See Literature, with licence note.

3 See Literature. Our translations are based on the original Sanskrit text of the Pune Critical Edition.

1 – The Prehistory and Krishna’s Birth

According to the ancient Indian tradition, the history of humanity unfolds in certain cycles. The age of Truth, Satya Yuga, is followed by periods in which Truth loses more and more substance until it stands as it were only on three or two feet, and finally on one foot. These ages are called Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali Yuga. Various sources tell us that Krishna’s birth took place at the end of the Dvāpara Yuga at a time when powerful Asuras ruled the earth, among them the tyrannical and cruel king Kamsa1 in Mathurā, a city on the west bank of the Yamunā, located in present-day Uttar Pradesh, north of Agra.

Bhūmi, the Earth, was greatly suffering from the burden of the misdeeds of those demonic rulers. Therefore one day, assuming the shape of a cow, she went to Mount Meru to tell Brahmā, the Creator God, and other celestials about her distress. She said that the demon Kālanemi, killed by Vishnu in a past age, had reincarnated as Kamsa, the son of Ugrasena, in Mathurā and was now “treading” on her with other Asuras. Therefore, she implored the celestials to relieve her of that burden. Brahmā, after hearing her report, found that Vishnu alone would be capable of achieving this difficult task and therefore visited him, accompanied by many gods and sages, in his homestead Vaikuntha, a transcendental celestial region where he is resting on the cosmic serpent Ananda.

Vishnu was pleased to receive the delegation and at once assured them of his help in order to restore the disturbed balance. Once more he would reincarnate himself for this purpose on earth. Then he plucked a white and a black hair from his head and said,

“These my hairs shall go down upon earth and shall relieve her of the burden of her distress. Let all the deities, in their own portions, descend upon earth and fight with the proud Asuras who are there assembled and every one of them shall be slain. Doubt not this – they shall be destroyed by the withering glance of my eyes. This, my black hair, shall be impersonated in the eighth conception of the goddess-like Devakī, the wife of Vasudeva and shall destroy Kansa, who is the demon Kālanemi.“2

The white hair would symbolize Devakī’s seventh child, Balarāma, who was going to kill many Asuras. At the end Vishnu expressed his wish that the gods, sages and celestial maidens should also incarnate at the same time, sharing this great work.3

Krishna’s parents – Vasudeva and Devakī

Kamsa had a sister4 named Devakī, who was very lovely and beautiful and had all the qualities which he himself lacked. She was married to Vasudeva from the Yādava clan, who was a very noble man as well. On the day of their wedding they stepped out of the royal palace, accompanied by many relatives and courtiers. They boarded a carriage and Kamsa himself took the reins to steer it through the crowd amid the sound of fanfares. Devakī was full of happiness at this unexpected gesture, but then something unexpected happened: An invisible voice from the skies addressed Kamsa, telling him that Devakī’s eighth son would kill him and thus free the country from its cruel ruler. In a rage, the tyrant jumped from the carriage, dragging his sister down by her hair to kill her with his sword. But Vasudeva intervened and implored him to spare her life. He assured Kamsa that there would be no danger at all because he would bring him every child Devakī gave birth to, and he could then do as he pleased.

Thus, with great effort Vasudeva was able to change Kamsa’s mind, but the latter ordered the bride and groom to be taken to a dungeon in his palace and to be guarded there. Devakī gave birth to six sons in the course of six years, but all of them were killed by Kamsa, because he wanted to exclude any risk. When the conception of the seventh child was imminent, Vishnu's serpent Ananta took the form of an embryo in Devakī's womb, and Vishnu instructed his Shakti, the goddess Yogamāyā, to go to Gokula, the settlement of the cowherds outside Mathurā. She was to seek out Nanda there, in whose house Vasudeva's first wife, Rohinī, resided, and transfer Devakī's embryo into Rohinī's womb. Thus it happened, and Rohinī became the mother of Krishna's elder brother Balarāma. Kamsa, on the other hand, was told that Devakī had suffered a miscarriage.

Kamsa was now highly worried because the eighth birth was imminent, therefore he got Vasudeva and Devakī chained to pillars so that they could not unite. Desperate, Vasudeva invoked Vishnu, who “entered Vasudeva's mind and filled it with his light.” When Devakī noticed the radiant glow on his face, she inquired as to the cause, and Vasudeva told her of his inner experience of Vishnu's presence. By doing so, the text says, a kind of spiritual transmission of the divine presence took place to Devakī, who thus became pregnant without intercourse.5

When the keeper opened the dungeon the next morning, he noticed that the cell was flooded with a radiant divine light and Devakī as if filled with a luminous fire. He immediately reported this to Kamsa, who rushed down and could hardly bear the bright light emanating from his sister. He thought about killing her, but then decided to wait for the birth of the child and kill it afterwards. Meanwhile, Vasudeva and Devakī were full of bliss due to Vishnu's presence and no longer suffered from Kamsa's measures, which were even more severe now. They were full of confidence that their child would be safe and protected. Kamsa knew that Vishnu's incarnation was imminent now, and he was deeply frightened. Day and night he thought only of Vishnu with exclusive concentration and took all possible precautions to avoid being killed by him.

Krishna's birth and transfer to Gokula

Krishna was born on an astrologically auspicious day. In the Hindu calendar it was the eighth day of the rainy month of Bhadrapadā, in August / September according to our calendar. The universe and nature joyfully participate in this event: the stars shine especially bright in the sky, lotus flowers bloom on the ponds, while chirping birds and buzzing bees are flying around among the magnificent trees and creepers. At midnight Krishna is born. Wordily, the Puranic texts describe him as a wonderful child, dressed in yellow silk, with magnificent eyes, four arms and his attributes of conch, mace, disc and lotus. On his chest he wears the Shrīvatsa emblem of a lock of golden hair, and around his neck hangs the precious Kaustubha jewel.

Vasudeva bowed respectfully to the divine child, who immediately addressed his human parents with loving words, telling them about his mission on earth. Krishna asked Vasudeva to take him across the Yamunā River to Gokula, to Nanda and his wife Yashodā, and to bring back in his place their daughter, who was born at the same time. Miraculous things now happened: Vasudeva's chains loosened and the massive gates of the prison opened as he approached with the child, whom he had wrapped in a cloth. The many guards did not notice anything as they were in deep slumber. When Vasudeva reached the Yamunā, it was storming and raining heavily, so that he worried how he could cross the raging river. But Vishnu's celestial serpent Shesha held a giant umbrella over the divine child. The waters of the Yamunā, in turn, formed a ford for Vasudeva so that he could pass through effortlessly.

Vasudeva carrying Krishna across the river Yamunā

When Vasudeva reached Gokula, he was able to enter Nanda's house unnoticed, as everyone was fast asleep in the small village. As instructed, he exchanged Krishna with Yashodā's daughter and then went back to Mathurā, entering the dungeon, where the chains closed around him again. Immediately the new-born girl began to scream violently, whereupon the guards woke up and informed Kamsa of the birth. He rushed over, grabbed the child angrily by the legs and smashed her on a stone. But the girl rose to heaven and revealed herself in a giant form as the great goddess, Vishnu's power Yogamāyā, shouting to Kamsa in front of everyone that the Almighty was born who would kill him. She then disappeared and was never seen again. Thereupon Kamsa called a meeting of his Asuric advisors and decided to search the whole region for new-born strong boys in order to kill them immediately. Then he released Vasudeva and Devakī, as they no longer seemed to pose any danger.

Meanwhile, in Gokula, when Yashodā woke up the next morning, she did not notice the exchange of the child and saw Krishna as her own. The reason was, she was very tired after the birth, and sleep had erased the memory of the girl.

1kaṁsa, also spelt „Kansa“ in English texts.

2 Vishnu Purāna, V.1; M.N. Dutt, p. 321

3 In another version of the story Bhūmi directly turns to Vishnu with her request.

4 Bhāgavata Purāna, X.1.31

5 Bhāgavata Purāna, X.2

2 – Childhood and Youth

After the birth of Nanda's son, whose true identity no one in the village knew, all sorts of festivities began and priests were invited to perform the ceremonies intended for such occasions. Guests also came from neighbouring villages and celebrated with the locals for several days. Nanda and Yashodā were filled with happiness due to the birth of their son.

Soon after, Nanda had to go to Mathurā to pay his annual tribute to Kamsa. When he arrived, Vasudeva immediately rushed to his chariot and inquired about the welfare of Rohinī and his son, who was growing up with her in Gokula. He let Nanda believe that the recently born child was his own son, but warned him that danger was in the air and that he should return home immediately to protect him and not lose sight of him.

The first danger that threatened Krishna came in the form of the demoness Pūtanā. She could travel through the heavens and take on any form. She was a child killer who gained access in the form of a pretty young wet nurse and gave her poison-smeared breast to the babies. She was also able to enter Nanda's house unchecked and made Krishna sit on her lap. But when she gave him her breast, Krishna grabbed it so violently and sucked so hard that after a while Pūtanā fell dead on the ground with a loud cry. She then resumed her gigantic form as a horrible demoness and buried countless trees under her in a radius of twelve miles. Gradually the cowherds dared to come closer to the dead body and noticed Yashodā's son playing fearlessly on her chest. Yashodā and Rohinī hurriedly brought him into the house and performed some ceremonies to avert evil from him. Meanwhile, the cowherds and cowherdesses chopped Putanā's body into pieces and burned them outside the village.

In another episode, it is reported that Yashodā once placed Krishna under a cart after a bath and ceremony so that he would rest there. She assigned some boys to watch over him, after which she went into the house where a meeting was taking place. The demon Shakata wanted to use this opportunity to kill Krishna and stepped on the cart to make it fall on Krishna. But the child fended him off with a kick and threw the cart with its load and with Shakata to the other side of the courtyard, killing the demon.

Meanwhile, someone else was waiting to kill Krishna on Kamsa's behalf. Yashodā had just laid him on a mat when a powerful cyclone approached, covering the entire village in a dense cloud of dust. Trinavarta was hiding behind it and was now about to attack. When Yashodā could no longer see anything in the cloud of dust, the demon grabbed Krishna and flew towards heaven. After the dust settled a little, Yashodā noticed the calamity and burst into tears when she could not find her child anywhere. But Krishna managed to make his body heavier and heavier until Trinavarta could no longer support him, fell to the ground and crashed on a rock, while Krishna remained unharmed. The cowherds quickly rushed over and brought the child back to his mother with great amazement.

Krishna and Balarāma

Even from a distance, Vasudeva kept an eye on the well-being of his two sons, and after a while he sent the family priest Garga to Gokula to perform purification rites for the children and to give them names. However, this was done secretly out of fear of Kamsa.

“The eldest son was named Rāma and the other Krishna by the wise Garga, the foremost of the intelligent. In a short time they began to crawl about the ground, supporting themselves on their hands and knees and creeping everywhere, often amidst ashes and filth. Neither Rohinī nor Yashodā was able to prevent them from getting into the cow pens or amongst the calves, where they amused themselves by pulling their tails. When Yashodā could not prevent the two boys, who always rambled together, from playing naughtily, she became angry and taking up a stick remonstrated with Krishna having eyes like lotus-petals. Fastening a cord round his waist she tied him to the wooden mortar and being angry, she said to him: ‘Now you wicked boy, get away from here, if you can.’ Having said this, she went about her domestic affairs. As soon as she had gone, the lotus-eyed Krishna, trying to extricate himself, pulled the mortar after him to the space between the two Arjuna trees that grew near together. Being dragged there the mortar became wedged between the two trees, and Krishna having pulled it, the two huge trees covered with many leaves, were uprooted.”1

When the cowherds and Yashodā came running, they were amazed to see the child's incredible feat of strength. One source says that two Gandharvas2 had become the trees due to a curse and were now freed from it through Krishna's action and could fly towards heaven again.

There was no end to Krishna's pranks, but endless was also Yashodā's love and forbearance. However, once it happened that his playmates told her that he had eaten some clay. When she angrily confronted him and asked him to open his mouth, she had a vision of the infinite universe with all living and inanimate objects, with the earth and all mountains, rivers and seas, fire, moon and stars. Shocked, she wondered if she was hallucinating or if it was a divine spell cast by her child. At that moment Krishna closed his mouth and was the usual mischievous child again, and his mother placed him lovingly on her lap and immediately forgot the vision.

Another time she was busy making butter in a large jug with a stick. Then Krishna asked her to suckle him, but she suddenly remembered that there was a pot of hot milk on the fire and the milk would boil over. When she therefore left him alone, he smashed the pitcher on the ground and munched happily on the butter with his companions, whereupon Yashodā pursued him with feigned anger and a stick in her hand.

Moving to Vrindāvana

After some time, the various supernatural events disturbed the cowherds of Gokula, and it appeared to them that the place was infested with demons that might bring dangerous disaster. Therefore, in a meeting they decided to move to another region, to Vrindāvana, for a safer life.

“Accordingly they started with their waggons and their cattle, driving before them their bulls and cows and calves… Vrindāvana was selected by Krishna, who was above the influence of actions, for the sake of providing for the nourishment of the kine, for there in the hottest seasons the new grass springs up as profusely as the rains. Having gone to Vrindāvana from Vraja, the inhabitants of the latter drew up their waggons in the form of a crescent.”

Balarāma and Krishna spent all their time together and always invented new games and activities. They wove themselves crowns from peacock feathers and garlands from the flowers of the forest, or built musical instruments from reeds and leaves and played on the cowherds’ pipes.

“Their hair was arranged like the wings of the crow, and they looked like young princes and portions of the god of war. They were robust, and walked about always laughing and playing sometimes with each other, sometimes with other boys, driving along with other young cowherds, the calves to the pasture. Thus the two protectors of the universe were keepers of cattle until they became seven years old in the cow-pens of Vrindāvana.”3

New dangers

But new dangers were lurking. An Asura named Vatsāsura assumed the form of a calf and tried to mingle with the herd. But Krishna recognized him, grabbed him by his hind legs and threw him on a tree, whereupon Krishna's companions enthusiastically applauded this act. Next came the demon Bakāsura in the form of a giant stork. He grabbed Krishna and flew away. But Krishna generated such intense heat within himself that the Asura's throat was scorched and he let go of Krishna. When the stork then attacked him again with his beak, Krishna tore it apart and killed it.

Finally came the terrible demon Aghāsura, who wanted to avenge the deaths of his sister Pūtanā and his brother Bakāsura. When Krishna was playing with his companions in the forest, the Asura assumed the form of a gigantic python-snake and lay in their path with his mouth opened wide to the sky. Krishna's companions innocently walked in with the cattle, but Krishna, realizing the danger, went in and enlarged his body so much that the demon could no longer breathe and suffocated. Krishna then brought everyone back to life and they sat down on a river bank to have a happy meal together.4

Another dangerous encounter occurred when one day Krishna was wandering alone on the banks of the Kālindī river. At a certain place the many-headed serpent Kāliya dwelt, contaminating the surrounding water with its poison, so that people or animals who drank it became unconscious. The grass and trees in the area withered and died, even birds that flew over fell lifeless to the ground. Observing this scene, Krishna decided to put an end to the suffering and free all those creatures from this calamity:

“I must slay this serpent, so that the inhabitants of Vraja may live here happily freed from fear. I have descended upon the land of mortals to chastise the wicked, led astray into vicious paths. I shall therefore climb up the neighbouring Kadamba tree and jump down into the pool.”5