Lord Krishna

   


About Lord Krishna

The Sanskrit word krsna has the literal meaning of "black", "dark" or "dark-blue" and is used as a name to describe someone with dark skin. Krishna is often depicted in murtis (Sculptures/Images) as black, and is generally shown in paintings with a blue skin.

Birth of Lord Krishna


Traditional belief based on scriptural details and astrological calculations gives the date of Krishna's birth, known as Janmashtami, as either 18 or 21 July 3228 BC. Krishna belonged to the royal family of Mathura, and was the eighth son born to the princess Devaki, and her husband Vasudeva. Mathura was the capital of the Yadavas (also called the Surasenas), to which Krishna's parents Vasudeva and Devaki belonged. The king Kansa, Devaki's brother, had ascended the throne by imprisoning his father, King Ugrasena. Afraid of a prophecy that predicted his death at the hands of Devaki's eighth son, he had locked the couple into a prison cell. After Kansa killed the first six children, and Devaki's apparent miscarriage of the seventh, being transferred to Rohini as Balarama, Krishna took birth.
                               

About Childhood and Young Lord Krishna


Nanda was the head of a community of cow-herders, and he settled in Vrindavana. The stories of Krishna's childhood and youth tell of his mischievous pranks as Makhan Chor (butter thief), his foiling of attempts to take his life, and his role as a protector of the people of Vrindavana. Krishna is said to have killed the demons like Putana, sent by Kamsa for Krishna's life. He tamed the serpent Kaliya, who previously poisoned the waters of Yamuna river, thus leading to the death of the cowherds.
The stories of his play with the gopis (milkmaids) of Vrindavana became known as the Rasa lila. Krishna is believed to have lifted the Govardhana hill and taught Indra—the king of the devas and rain a lesson—to protect native people of Vrindavana from persecution by Indra and prevent the devastation of the pasture land of Govardhan.