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HINDU GOD - KRISHNA
THE COW HERDER
In Hinduism and Indian mythology
Krishna is the eighth avatar or
reincarnation of the god Vishnu. Also
Krishna is one of the most popular Hindu
gods. Tradition holds that Krishna saw
Vishnu in a vision in which the
former deity told Krishna to destroy
Kamsa son of a demon, a tyrannical ruler
of the world. Krishna's mother, Devaki,
was Kamsa's half-sister. Kamsa already
killed her first six sons because he had
been told one of her sons would kill
him. Krishna' brother, Devaki's seventh
child, Balarama was miraculously saved
by Vishnu.
Krishna was also saved when exchanged by
his parents for the daughter of a
herdsman Nanda and his wife Yasoda (the
daughter was also a divine being, an
incarnation of Maya). With his foster
parents Krishna spent a happy life
playing boyish pranks and seducing the
gopis (cow girls) and other rustic
maidens. They found his flute playing
irresistible. Legend has it he may have
had 16,000 wives. But his favorite was
Radha, daughter of his foster father,
and his childhood lover, although they
did not marry.
According to legend Krishna was not only
divine, but heroic as well. He is
alleged to have defeated numerous
dragons and monsters, and eventually as
predicted, killed his half-uncle the
tyrannical king Kamsa.
In the epic poem 'Mahabharata' he helps the Pandavas
against the Kauravas, two families in contention. In the poem
Krishna is depicted as divine. Also in the poem he delivers his
celebrated oration 'Bhagavad-Gita' on duty and life to the troubled
Hero Arjuna, for who he was a charioteer, on the eve of the decisive
battle. This speech persuaded Arjuna that it was right to fight
against his kinsmen. |
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