Lord Krishna

Krishna was the eighth avatar, or reincarnation, of the god Vishnu. According to tradition, Vishnu appeared as Krishna to rid the world of a tyrannical king named Kamsa, and preserve Sanatan Dharma (i.e. eternal religion) by preaching the Bhagavad-Gita to Arjuna, the warrior.

Krishna took birth at midnight on the ashtami or the 8th day of the Krishnapaksha or dark fortnight in the Hindu month of Shravan (August-September). This auspicious day is called Janmashthami.

Indian as well as Western scholars have now accepted the period between 3200 and 3100 BC as the period in which Lord Krishna lived on earth.

So, Krishna, the black one, is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He grew up in Brindavan, playing many pranks, performing miraculous deeds and sporting with gopis whom he charmed with his flute, making them fall madly in love with him. All this has come to be interpreted as symbolizing the divine lila and as an allegory of the mystical love between God and his devotees. In another role, Krishna appeared as the mature teacher who revealed the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna.

Lord Krishna is one of the most common worshipped deities in the Hindu Religion. It is believed that Lord Krishna was born in jail cell to Devaki and Vasudeva. It is also believed that it was the Eight Avatar of Lord Vishnu. Krishna, along with his brother Balrama appeared with the sole aim of getting rid of evil powers on earth, which were increasing day by day under the rule of evil king, Kansa.

In His Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna promises:

His childhood phase was spent in Gokula under the parentage of Nanda and Yasoda. Till the age of 8-9, he proved to the villagers that he was not an ordinary boy by killing various demons and doing other extraordinary things. Among these was the most popular Raas lila with the girls of village also known as Gopis. God Krishna enjoyed his rasa dance also known as dance of love. This dance normally occurs in autumn season at night under a full moon where, Lord Krishna used to captivate the young gopis with his flute.

Among the Gopis, was Radha, the childhood devotee of Krishna. Due to their eternal love, Lord Krishna is also popularly known as Radha-Krishna. Their love story symbolizes the love between God and human.

After his childhood phase in Gokula, his uncle Karnsa invited him and Balrama to Mathura for wrestling match. But behind this was his master plan to kill both these boys. But Krishna and his brother killed Karnsa along with his 8 brothers. For next 18 years Lord Krishna lived in Mathura.

In later part of their life on Earth, they took part in one of the most historic battle we know as Mahabharta. At the start of this war, Lord Krishna gave his most famous divine message, now known as Bhagvad Gita to his disciple Arjuna, son of Kunti and a famous Pandav. Krishna was charioter to Arjuna in the battle and played an important role in deciding the outcome of the battle.