Sri Krishna

Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the son of Vasudeva and Devaki. Krishna appears on earth once in a day of Lord Brahma or once every 4,320,000,000 years. He is the source of Lord Vishnu, who is the source of all other incarnations of God. "Since Krishna is the source of all avataras (incarnations), therefore all the different avataras are present in Krishna. When Krishna incarnates, all the features of the other incarnations are already present within Him." (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.8.13 purport) His complexion is blackish, like the color of a new rain cloud. He stands in a three-fold bending form, dancing and playing on His flute. On the altar many times He will be with His consort, Radha. In paintings, He will be seen dancing with the cowherd girls (gopis), playing with the cowherd boys, or as Arjuna's charioteer on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. He killed the evil king Kamsa and many other demons to protect His devotees. He is the speaker of the Bhagavad-gita. Krishna face is decorated with ornaments, such as earrings resembling sharks. Krishna's ears are beautiful, His cheeks brilliant and Krishna's smiling is attractive to everyone to see." (Srimad Bhagavatam 9.24.65) Krishna's pastime Krishna was born of Vasudeva and Devaki while they were in prison in Mathura. They were imprisoned because their eighth son (Krishna) was destined to kill King Kamsa. Because the evil King Kamsa wanted to kill Krishna, He was transferred to Gokula to be looked after by His foster parents Nanda and Yasoda. Krishna killed many demons sent by King Kamsa to kill him, such as Putana, Trinavarta, Aghasura, Aristasura and Kesi. He also had many pastimes with the cowherd boys, cows, and gopis (the cowherd girls). He then went to Mathura to kill King Kamsa. He stayed in Mathura until He was 28. At the age of 28 He moved to Dwarka. In Dwarka He married 16,108 wives. He became the charioteer of Arjuna at the battle of Kurukshetra. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur explains in the Tika the places where Krishna stayed and for how long. Where Krishna Stayed Krishna stayed for three years and four months in Gokula. Since the residents of Gokula were being harassed by the demon friends of Kamsa such as Putana and Trinavarta they decided to move from Gokula. They first went to Chatikara and Vrindavana. They stayed in Vrindavana until Krishna was six years and eight months old. Vrishabhanu Maharaja, the father of Radharani, and his community moved from Raval to Vasanti. Nanda Maharaja then moved to Dig and then he went to Kamyavana, which is where Yasoda's parents are from. Vrishabhanu Maharaja also came to Kamyavana at this time. They then went to Kelanvan and stayed there for a while. Nanda Maharaja then went to Nandagram and Vrishabhanu Maharaja went to Varsana. Krishna stayed in Nandagram until he was 10 years old. He then went to Mathura and lived there from the ages of 10 to 28 years and four months. He then moved to Dwarka and lived there for 96 years and eight months, until he was 125 years old. Krishna Hand and Feet On Krishna's feet are 19 symbols of Lord Narayana and Lord Vishnu. On Krishna's right hand are the flag, chakra, club, tree, goad, dagger and sword. On His left hand is a lotus, umbrella, swastika, an unstrung bow, plow, fish, column and a crescent moon shape. On Krishna's right foot are a lotus, flag, chakra, umbrella, four swastikas, Uddhava Rekha, barley corn, goad, astakon, four jaman fruits, and vajra. On Krishna's left foot are four water pots, a conch, an unstrung bow, cow's hoof, fish, crescent moon, akash, and a triangle. Krishna's Cows Nanda Maharaja had 900,000 cows. Visvanatha Cakravarti gives this description of the cows of Vrindavana. Krishna knew every cow by name. If any cow was missing Krishna would immediately chase after the missing cow and call her by name. The cows were divided into herds by color, either black, white, red, or yellow. In each color there were 25 further divisions making a total of 100 herds. There were also eight herds of cows that were spotted or speckled or had heads shaped like a mridanga or that had tilak marks on their foreheads. There was a total of 108 different herds of cows. Each of the 108 herds had a herd leader. "Thus when Krishna calls out, 'Hey Dhavali' (the name of a white cow) a whole group of white cows comes forward, and when Krishna calls 'Hamsi, Candani, Ganga, Mukta' and so on, the twenty-four other groups of white cows come. The reddish cows are called 'Aruni, Kunkuma, Sarasvati, etc., the blackish ones 'Shyamala, Dhumala, Yamuna, etc., and the yellowish ones are Pita, Pingala, Haritaki, etc. (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.35.19 purport) "As described in the Brahma Samhita (surabhi apbipalayantam), Lord Krishna on His planet, Goloka Vrindavana, engages in tending the surabhi cows. These cows are the Lord's pet animals." (Srimad Bhagavatam 8.8.2 purport)