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Krishna: The History and Legacy of the Popular Hindu Deity
*Includes pictures
*Includes a bibliography for further reading
In the West, Hinduism is a religion that everyone has heard of but one that few non-practitioners truly understand. Today it is widely regarded as one of the world’s great religions and considered the indigenous religion of India, with practices and beliefs stretching back thousands of years.
Hinduism as a religion spans more than 3,000 years, and now it includes nearly 1 billion people. At the same time, it is not a specific term, since there are clear sectarian boundaries, the same way there are differences between Protestantism and Catholicism, and even differences between the various Protestant sects and the various Catholic sects, Hinduism may be broken down into many major sub-groupings that may or may not have much in common at all. Additionally, in the same way Christianity contains many smaller, spirituality heterodox groups like Gnostic Christianity (which are sometimes called cults), Hinduism also contains many groups that have beliefs that do not fit easily within the common corpus of Hindu belief systems. All of these divisions came well after the time of the Aryans, and Hinduism likely began to divide around the 1st century CE, about 1,000 years after the arrival of the Aryans into the Indian subcontinent.
Sri Krishna, believed to be the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, is without question one of the most popular and instantly recognizable deities within the Hindu pantheon, which encompasses hundreds of Puranic divine beings, coupled with approximately 33 Vedic gods and goddesses or “devas,” and a sea of other lower-ranking demigods and legendary figures. The likeness of the blue-skinned, flute-toting god, blessed with an unspeakably beautiful face and midnight-black curls, has been replicated in countless sculptures, often clad in colorful clothes and adorned with gold and silver jewelry, relief carvings, paintings, and other artistic mediums, otherwise known as “murti.” Hindus and subscribers of the Bhagavad Gita, as well as practitioners of bhakti yoga, ashtanga yoga, jñana yoga, and karma yoga are intimately familiar with this god of unconditional love, compassion, and tenderness, who has also been crowned “Yogesvara,” the master of yogis and all things mystical.
While Hinduism has always seemed complicated to outsiders, even those not terribly familiar with the faith and those unpracticed in the art of yoga know of Krishna, or at the very least they have heard his name in the course of conversation. It is particularly difficult, if not impossible to escape the deity's omnipresence in India. In all likelihood, tourists privileged enough to experience the enchanting republic firsthand have visited (or marveled at in passing) one of the innumerable temples dedicated to Krishna peppered throughout India, and this is excluding the shrines erected in his honor in other parts of the world.
Perhaps it was the Radha Parthasarathi in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh that caught their a vibrant temple built in the shape of a chariot and painted entirely in the dainty shade of watermelon-pink, complete with wheels and a quartet of colossal stallions that towered over its visitors. Or perhaps it was the Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi Mandir in New Delhi that stopped them in their a stunning and sprawling complex dominated by lace-white pointed oval domes and embellished with wooden, marble, and stone lattice carvings, which houses the 1,764-pound Astounding Bhagavad Gita, the “largest principle sacred text ever to be printed.” The Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir, currently under construction, is slated to be the tallest religious monument ever built. Needless to say, the existence of these shrines alone is proof enough that Krishna is no ordinary divinity.
*Includes a bibliography for further reading
In the West, Hinduism is a religion that everyone has heard of but one that few non-practitioners truly understand. Today it is widely regarded as one of the world’s great religions and considered the indigenous religion of India, with practices and beliefs stretching back thousands of years.
Hinduism as a religion spans more than 3,000 years, and now it includes nearly 1 billion people. At the same time, it is not a specific term, since there are clear sectarian boundaries, the same way there are differences between Protestantism and Catholicism, and even differences between the various Protestant sects and the various Catholic sects, Hinduism may be broken down into many major sub-groupings that may or may not have much in common at all. Additionally, in the same way Christianity contains many smaller, spirituality heterodox groups like Gnostic Christianity (which are sometimes called cults), Hinduism also contains many groups that have beliefs that do not fit easily within the common corpus of Hindu belief systems. All of these divisions came well after the time of the Aryans, and Hinduism likely began to divide around the 1st century CE, about 1,000 years after the arrival of the Aryans into the Indian subcontinent.
Sri Krishna, believed to be the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, is without question one of the most popular and instantly recognizable deities within the Hindu pantheon, which encompasses hundreds of Puranic divine beings, coupled with approximately 33 Vedic gods and goddesses or “devas,” and a sea of other lower-ranking demigods and legendary figures. The likeness of the blue-skinned, flute-toting god, blessed with an unspeakably beautiful face and midnight-black curls, has been replicated in countless sculptures, often clad in colorful clothes and adorned with gold and silver jewelry, relief carvings, paintings, and other artistic mediums, otherwise known as “murti.” Hindus and subscribers of the Bhagavad Gita, as well as practitioners of bhakti yoga, ashtanga yoga, jñana yoga, and karma yoga are intimately familiar with this god of unconditional love, compassion, and tenderness, who has also been crowned “Yogesvara,” the master of yogis and all things mystical.
While Hinduism has always seemed complicated to outsiders, even those not terribly familiar with the faith and those unpracticed in the art of yoga know of Krishna, or at the very least they have heard his name in the course of conversation. It is particularly difficult, if not impossible to escape the deity's omnipresence in India. In all likelihood, tourists privileged enough to experience the enchanting republic firsthand have visited (or marveled at in passing) one of the innumerable temples dedicated to Krishna peppered throughout India, and this is excluding the shrines erected in his honor in other parts of the world.
Perhaps it was the Radha Parthasarathi in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh that caught their a vibrant temple built in the shape of a chariot and painted entirely in the dainty shade of watermelon-pink, complete with wheels and a quartet of colossal stallions that towered over its visitors. Or perhaps it was the Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi Mandir in New Delhi that stopped them in their a stunning and sprawling complex dominated by lace-white pointed oval domes and embellished with wooden, marble, and stone lattice carvings, which houses the 1,764-pound Astounding Bhagavad Gita, the “largest principle sacred text ever to be printed.” The Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir, currently under construction, is slated to be the tallest religious monument ever built. Needless to say, the existence of these shrines alone is proof enough that Krishna is no ordinary divinity.
62 pages, Paperback
Published September 15, 2020
16 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 8, 2025
Si hay una deidad del panteón Indio que yo deteste, ese es Krishna. Astuto, manipulador, brutalmente encantador, inteligente y guapo, Krishna tuvo un papel más que importante en la guerra del Mahabharata donde llevo a la ¿victoria? a sus primos los Pandavas contra los primos de estos, los Kurus. Y aunque yo lo deteste tengo que aceptar que lo que Krishna estaba haciendo tenía que hacerse.
Este libro nos da una introducción muy interesante a la visión de los dioses de la India para después enfocarse en la leyenda, vida y obra de Krishna (siempre amenazada por demonios y criaturas espectrales). Lo que yo no sabía es que existe un Krishna histórico del cual no se habla mucho en el libro. Deberé investigarlo por otro lado.
Este libro nos da una introducción muy interesante a la visión de los dioses de la India para después enfocarse en la leyenda, vida y obra de Krishna (siempre amenazada por demonios y criaturas espectrales). Lo que yo no sabía es que existe un Krishna histórico del cual no se habla mucho en el libro. Deberé investigarlo por otro lado.
November 23, 2020
It's an interesting book about a Hindu god. The book goes into the history of Hinduism and
the origins of Krishna. It goes into the subject of Vedic gods and goddesses, demigods and legendary figures and the group of people known as the Aryans.
It also covers the caste system, Shudras, Vedas, the Upanishads, Indra, Brama, Indian temples and many other topics.
The caste system is interesting as it has the Brahams, the priests, at the top, Kings and warriors next, then merchants and finally servants. Then it discusses the pursuits of people which include religion, economics, sense gratification and liberation. The book notes that Krishna may have been an actual person and may be linked to a city that is now underwater. It also covers some of the stories about Krishna and those are very good reading. If you check online you can find a number of articles that support the idea that Krishna was an actual living person.
the origins of Krishna. It goes into the subject of Vedic gods and goddesses, demigods and legendary figures and the group of people known as the Aryans.
It also covers the caste system, Shudras, Vedas, the Upanishads, Indra, Brama, Indian temples and many other topics.
The caste system is interesting as it has the Brahams, the priests, at the top, Kings and warriors next, then merchants and finally servants. Then it discusses the pursuits of people which include religion, economics, sense gratification and liberation. The book notes that Krishna may have been an actual person and may be linked to a city that is now underwater. It also covers some of the stories about Krishna and those are very good reading. If you check online you can find a number of articles that support the idea that Krishna was an actual living person.
December 5, 2023
Pretty helpful introduction to Krishna, a major Hindu deity. The first chapter on Hinduism more broadly was great, then a chapter about Vishnu (as Krishna is one of his avatars), and then about four chapters that tell Krishna’s life story. Interestingly, there is evidence that the one whom Hindus identify as Krishna may have actually been a historical person (all be it, less fantastical than his myths go).
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews