Krishna

[|Krishna]
** [|Krishna and the Gopis] ** > This is an older painting of Krishna with His gopi girlfriends. The gopis love Krishna the most. Our idea of romance is but a mundane perverted imitation of this pure selfless love. They only want to make Krishna happy, but the paradox is that the more they try to please Krishna, the happier they themselves become. > The dearmost of all the Gopis is Radharani, here pictured standing next to Krishna. > The gopis do not get jealous of one another; rather, they encourage one another in loving Krishna because the aim is only to make Krishna happy.  **[|KRISHNA]**. [Source: Dowson's //Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology// ] 'Black.' This name occurs in the Rigveda, but without any relation to the great deity of later times. The earliest mention of Krishna, the son of Devaki, is in the Chhandogya Upanishad, where he appears as a scholar. There was a Rishi of the name who was a son of Viswaka. There was also a great Asura so named, who with 10,000 followers committed fearful devastation, until he was defeated and skinned by Indra. In another Vedic hymn, 50,000 Krishnas are said to have been slain, and it is added in another that his pregnant wives were slain with him that he might leave no posterity. This is supposed to have reference to the Rakshasas or the to dark-colored aborigines of India. The modern deity Krishna is the most celebrated hero of Indian mythology, and the most popular of all the deities. He is said to be the eighthAvatara or incarnation of Vishnu, or rather a direct manifestation of Vishnu himself. This hero, around whom a vast mass of legend and fable has been gathered, probably lived in the Epic age, when the Hindus had not advanced far beyond their early settlements in the north-west. He appears prominently in the Mahabharata, where his character is invested with a certain degree of mysticism. Additions and interpolations have raised him to divinity, and it is in the song, Bhagavad-gita, a production of comparatively late date, now held to be part of the great epic. In this work he distinctly <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> declares himself to be the Supreme Being. He says: -- "All this universe has been created by me; all things exist in me;" and <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arjuna addresses him as "the supreme universal spirit, the supreme dwelling, the eternal person, divine, prior to the gods, unborn, omnipresent." <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The divine character of Krishna having thus been established, it was still further developed in the Harivansa, a later addition to the<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Mahabharata ; and in the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Puranas, especially in the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Bhagavata Purana , it attained full expansion. There the story of the life of Krishna, from his earliest days, is related with minute details, and it is upon this portion of his life that the popular mind delights to dwell. The mischievous pranks of the child, the follies of the boy, and the amours of the youth, are the subject of boundless wonder and delight. All these stories, as told in the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Bhagavata Purana, have been made accessible and popular by the Hindi translation known by the name Prem Sagar, 'ocean of love,' and by other versions. Much of the story of the early days of Krishna is thus of comparatively modern invention, while the incidents of his relations with the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Pandava princes are among the most ancient. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> Krishna was of the Yadava race, being descended from <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Yadu, one of the sons of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Yayati. The Yadavas of old were a pastoral race, and dwelt on the river <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Yamuna (Jumna), in <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Vrindavana, on the western side, and in Gokula on the other. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In those days, <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kansa, Raja of the Bhojas, having deposed his father, <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Ugrasena , ruled in the city of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Mathura , near <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Vrindavana .<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Ugrasena had a brother named Devaka, and Bevaka had a daughter named <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Devaki , who married <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Vasudeva , son of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Sura , also a descendant of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Yadu. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The history of Krishna's birth, as given in the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Mahabharata and followed by the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Vishnu Purana, is that <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Vishnu plucked out two of his own hairs, one white, the other black. These two hairs entered the wombs of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Rohini and <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Devaki ; the white hair became <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Balarama and the black (//krishna)// hair (//kesa)// became Krishna or Kesava. His reputed father, <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Vasudeva, was brother of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kunti , the wife of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Pandu , and so Krishna was cousin of the three elder <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Pandava princes. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Mahabharata gives two summaries of his exploits, of which the following are abridgements: <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">"While Krishna was growing up as a high-souled boy in the tribe of cowherds, the force of his arms was rendered famous by him in the three worlds." He slew the king of the Hayas (horses), dwelling in the woods of the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Yamuna. He slew the direful Danava, who bore the form of a bull. He also slew Pralambha, <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Naraka, <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> Jambha, and Pitha, the great <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Asura , and <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Mura. He overthrew and slew <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kansa, who was supported by <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Jarasandha. With the help of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Balarama he defeated and destroyed <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Sunaman, brother of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kansa and king of the Surasenas. He carried off the daughter of the king of the Gandharas at a swayam-vara, and princes were yoked to his car. He secured the death of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Jarasandha and slew <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Sisupala. He overthrew <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Saubha, the self-supporting or flying city of the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Daityas , on the shore of the ocean. He conquered the Angas and Bangas, and numerous other tribes. Entering the ocean filled with marine monsters, he overcame<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Varuna. In <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Patala he slew <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Panchajana, and obtained the divine shell Panchajanya. With <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arjuna he propitiated <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Agni in the<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Khandava forest, and obtained the fiery weapon the discus. Mounted on <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Garuda, he alarmed <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Amaravati , the city of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Indra , and brought away the<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Parijata tree from thence. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> In another passage, <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arjuna rehearses some of Krishna 's exploits. He destroyed the Khoja kings in battle, and carried off <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Rukmini for his bride. He destroyed the Gandharas, vanquished the sons of Nagnajit, and released King <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Sudarsana, whom they had bound. He slew Pandya with the fragment of a door, and crushed the Kalingas in Dantakura. Through him the burnt city of Benares was restored. He killed <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Ekalavya, king of the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Nishadas , and the demon Jambha. With the aid of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Balarama he killed <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Sunaman, the wicked son of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Ugrasena , and restored the kingdom to the latter. He conquered the flying city of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Saubha and the king of the Salwas, and there he obtained the fiery weapon Sataghni. <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Naraka, son of the earth, had carried off the beautiful jeweled earrings of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Aditi to Pragjyotisha, the impregnable castle of the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Asuras. The gods, headed by <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Indra, were unable to prevail against <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Naraka , so they appointed Krishna to slay him. Accordingly he killed Muru and the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Rakshasa Ogha; and finally he slew <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Naraka and brought back the earrings. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">It further appears in different parts of the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Mahabharata that Krishna, prince of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Dwaraka, was present at the swayamvara of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Draupadi , and gave his judgement that she had been fairly won by <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arjuna. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">While the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Pandavas were reigning at <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Indra -prastha, he paid them a visit, and went out hunting with them in the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Khandava forest. There he and<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arjuna allied themselves with <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Agni, who was desirous of burning the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Khandava forest, but was prevented by <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Indra. <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Agni having secured the help of Krishna and <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arjuna, he gave the former the celebrated <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">chakra (discus) <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Vajranabha , and the club <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kaumodaki. Then <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Indra was defeated and<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Agni burnt the forest. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arjuna afterwards visited Krishna at <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Dwaraka, and was received with great demonstrations of joy. <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arjuna, with the connivance of Krishna, eloped with <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Subhadra , Krishna 's sister, much to the annoyance of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Balarama , her elder brother. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">When <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Yudhishthira was desirous of performing the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Rajasuya sacrifice, Krishna told him that he must first conquer <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Jarasandha, king of Magadha. <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Jarasandha was attacked and slain, and Krishna was thus revenged upon the enemy who had forced him to leave <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Mathura and emigrate to <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Dwaraka. Krishna attended the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Rajasuya sacrifice performed by Yudishthira and the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kauravas. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">When <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Draupadi had been staked and lost, she was dragged into the public hall by <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Duhsasana, who tore off her clothes, but Krishna pitied her, and renewed her clothes as fast as they were torn away. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">After the close of the exile of the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Pandavas, Krishna was present, and took part in the council which preceded the great war, and strongly advised a peaceful settlement. Then he returned to Dwaranka. Thither <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arjuna and <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Duryodhana followed him with the object of enlisting his services in the coming war, but he refused to take any active part because he was related to both parties. He gave them the choice of his personal attendance or of the use of his army. <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arjuna, who had arrived first, and therefore had the first choice, asked for Krishna himself, and <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Duryodhana joyfully accepted the army. Krishna then became the charioteer of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arjuna. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">After this, at the request of the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Pandavas, he went in splendid state to <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Hastinapura as a mediator, but his efforts were unavailing, and he returned. Preparations for action were then made and the forces drawn out. On the eve of the battle, while acting as <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arjuna 's charioteer, he is represented as relating to <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arjuna the Bhagavad-gita or divine song. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">He rendered valuable services to <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arjuna throughout the battle, but on two occasions he suggested unfair dealing. He prompted the lie by which<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Yudhishthira broke down the prowess of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Drona, and he suggested the foul blow by which <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Bhima shattered the thigh of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Duryodhana. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">He afterwards went to <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Hastinapura with the conquerors, and he also attended their <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Aswamedha sacrifice. On returning to <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Dwaraka he issued a proclamation forbidding the use of wine. Portents and fearful signs appeared, and a general <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> feeling of alarm spread among all in Dwaranka. Krishna gave directions that the inhabitants should go out to Prabhasa on the sea-shore and endeavor to propitiate the deity. He gave permission also that wine might be drunk for one day. A drunken brawl followed, in which his son <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Pradyumna was killed in his presence, and nearly all the chiefs of the Yadavas were slain. <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Balarama went out from the fray and died peacefully under a tree, and Krishna himself was killed unintentionally by a hunter named <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Jaras, who shot him with an arrow, mistaking him at a distance for a deer. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arjuna proceeded to <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Dwaraka and performed the obsequies of Krishna. A few days afterwards the city was swallowed up by the sea. Five of Krishna 's widows were subsequently burnt upon a funeral pile in the plain of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kuru -kshetra. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Among the texts of the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Mahabharata ," says Dr. Muir, "there are some in which Krishna is distinctly subordinated to Mahadeva (<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Siva ), of whom he is exhibited as a worshipper, and from whom, as well as from his wife Uma, he is stated to have received a variety of boons. Even in these passages, however, a superhuman character is ascribed to Krishna." <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The popular history of Krishna, especially of his childhood and youth, is given in the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Puranas, and is the subject of many a story. The <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Bhagavata Purana is the great authority, and from that the following account is condensed: <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> The sage <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Narada had foretold to <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kansa that a son of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Devaki, his brother's daughter, should destroy him and overthrow his kingdom. To obviate this danger, <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kansa kept his cousin <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Devaki confined in his own palace, and six children that she bore he caused to be put to death. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">She conceived a seventh time, but the child was an incarnation of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Vishnu, and was miraculously preserved by being transferred from the womb of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Devaki to that of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Rohini , who was <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Vasudeva 's second wife. This child was <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Balarama. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Devaki again conceived, and her eighth child was born at midnight with a very dark skin, whence he was called Krishna. He had a peculiar curl of hair, called srivatsa, upon his breast. The gods interposed to preserve the life of this divinely begotten child. The guards of the palace were overpowered with sleep, and bolts and barriers were removed. <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Vasudeva secretly changed the infants, and carried back the daughter of Yasoda to his wife <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Devaki. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kansa discovered that he had been cheated, and in his wrath he ordered that every male infant that gave signs of vigor should be put to death. <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Vasudeva and <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Devaki, being no longer dangerous, were set at liberty. Nanda, alarmed by the order for the massacre, took the young child and removed with Yasoda and with Rohin and <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Balarama to Gokula. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here Krishna was brought up, and wandered about in company of his elder brother <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Balarama. They played many pranks and passed many practical jokes; but they exhibited such marvelous strength and such godlike powers that they soon became famous. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kansa was continually forming schemes for the death of Krishna. The female demon <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Putana assumed a lovely form, and tried to kill him by suckling him, but the child sucked away her life. Another demon tried to drive a cart over him, but he dashed the cart to pieces. A demon named<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Trinavartta took the form of a whirlwind and flew off with him, but the child brought the demon to the ground with such violence that he died. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">One day Krishna broke the vessels of milk and curds and ate the butter, which made Yasoda angry. She fastened a rope round his body, and tied him to a large bowl, but he dragged the bowl away till it caught between two trees and uprooted them. From this feat he got the name <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> of Damodara (rope-belly). <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">He had a terrible conflict with the great serpent <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kaliya, who lived in the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Yamuna , and he compelled him to go away. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">On one occasion, when the //gopis// or milkmaids were bathing, he took away all their clothes and climbed up a tree, and there he remained until the damsels came to him naked to recover them. He persuaded Nanda and the cowherds to give up their worship of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Indra, and to worship the mountain <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Govardhana , which sheltered them and their cattle. Incensed at the loss of his offerings, <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Indra poured down a heavy rain, which would have deluged them, but Krishna lifted up the mountain <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Govardhana, and held it upon his finger as a shelter for seven days and seven nights, till <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Indra felt that he was foiled. From this feat he obtained the name of Govardhanadhara and Tungisa. As he had protected the kine, <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Indra expressed his satisfaction, and geve him the title of Upendra. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">He was now approaching manhood, and was very handsome. The //gopis// were all enamoured of him, and he dispensed favours very freely. He married seven or eight of them, but his <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> first and favourite wife was <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Radha. At this period of his life he is represented with flowing hair and with a flute in his hand. One of his favourite pastimes was a round dance, called Mandalanritya or Rasamandala, in which he and <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Radha formed the centre whilst the //gopis// danced round them. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">But his happiness was interrupted by the machinations of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kansa, who sent formidable demons to destroy him - <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Arishta in the form of a bull, and Kesin in the form of a horse. These attempts having failed, <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kansa sent his messenger, <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Akrura, to invite Krishna and<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Balarama and <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Mathura to attend some games, and he formed several plans for their destruction. They accepted the invitation, and went to<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Mathura. Near the city they found <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kansa 's washerman engaged in his calling. They threw down some of his clothes, and he addressed them insolently, upon which they killed him, and took such clothes as they liked. In his progress he me Kubja, a crooked damsel, who gave him some unguent, and he repaid her gift by making her straight. In the games he killed <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Chanura, the king's boxer. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Afterwards he killed <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kansa himself, and replaced <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Ugrasena on the throne. He remained in <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Mathura and <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> studied the science of arms under Sandipani. He went down to the infernal regions and brought back his six brothers, whom <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kansa had killed, and these, having tasted the milk of their mother ascended to heaven. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">During this period he killed a demon named <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Panchajana, who had attacked the son of his teacher. This demon lived in the sea in the form of a conch-shell, and Krishna afterwards used this shell, called Panchajanya, as a trumpet. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kansa 's two wives were daughters of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Jarasandha, king of Magadha. This king assembled his forces and marched against <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Mathura to chastise Krishna, but he was defeated. He renewed his attacks eighteen times, and was as often defeated. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">A new enemy then threatened Krishna, a Yavana or foreigner named <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kalayavana, and Krishna had been so weakened that he knew he must succumb either to him or to his old enemy the king of Magadha, so he and all his people migrated to the coast of Guzerat, where he built and fortified the city of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Dwaraka. [The <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Mahabharata makes no mention of this foreign king, and says that Krishna retired before the eighteenth attack of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Jarasandha. The foreign king would, therefore, seem to be an invention of the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Puranas for saving Krishna 's reputation.] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> After his settlement at <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Dwaraka, Krishna carried off and married <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Rukmini , daughter of the Raja of Vidarbha, and the betrothed of<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Sisupala. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">An incident now occurred which brought him two more wives. A Yadava chief named <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Satrajit had a beautiful gem called<span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Syamantaka, which Krishna wished to possess. <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Satrajit, for the sake of security, gave the gem into the charge of his brother Prasena, and Prasena was killed in the forest by a lion, who carried off the jewel in his mouth. This lion was killed by Jambavat, the king of the bears. <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Satrajit suspected Krishna of taking the jewel, and he, to clear himself, went out into the forest, ascertained the manner of Prasena's death, fought with Jambavat, and recovered the jewel. Krishna then married <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Jambavati, the daughter of Jambavat, and Satyabhama, the daughter of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Satrajit. But the number of his wives was practically unlimited, for he had 16,000 and a hundred or so besides, and he had 180,000 sons. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> By <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Rukmini he had a son <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Pradyumna and a daughter Charumati. His son by <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Jambavati was <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Samba, and by Satyabhama he had 10 sons. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Indra came to visit Krishna at <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Dwaraka, and implored him to suppress the evil deeds of the demond <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Naraka. Krishna accordingly went to the city of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Naraka, killed the demon Muru, who guarded the city, and then destroyed <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Naraka himself. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Krisha next went to pay a visit to <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Indra in <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Swarga, taking with him his wife Satyabhama. At her request he requited the hospitality shown him by carrying off the famed <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Parijata tree, which was produced at the churning of the ocean. The tree belonged to <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Sachi, wife of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Indra , and she complained to her husband. <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Indra drew out his forces and tried to recover it, but was defeated by Krishna. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Pradyumna, son of Krishna, had a son named <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Aniruddha , with whom a female <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Daitya , Usha, daughter of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Bana , fell in love. She induced a companion to carry off the young man, and Krishna, <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Balarama, and <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Pradyumna went to rescue him. <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Bana, with the whole <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Daitya host, and assisted by <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Siva and <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Skanda , the god of war, encountered them. Krishna, "with the weapon of yawning, set <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Siva agape," and so overpowered him. <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Skanda was wounded. <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Bana made a fierce combat with Krishna, and was severely wounded, but Krishna spared his life at the intercession of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Siva, and <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Aniruddha was released. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> There was a man named <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Paundraka, who was a <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Vasudeva , or descendant of one <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Vasudeva. Upon the strength of the identity of this name with that of <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Vasudeva, the father of Krishna, this man <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Paundraka assumed the insignia and title of Krishna, and he had the king of Kasi or Benares for an ally. Krishna slew <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Paundraka, and he hurled his flaming discus at Benares and destroyed that city. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Such are the principal incidents of the life of Krishna as given in the Harivansa, the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Puranas, and the Prem Sagar.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Read about **Krishna** at <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Wikipedia, <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Encyclopedia Mythica , <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Kamat's Potpourri or the <span style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Urday website . See also: Historical Krishna, __ Bhagavata Purana __ ||