Who is Krishna?

Vaishnava (Sri Vaishnava): Ramanuja

For Sri Vaishnavas, Krishna is a descent of Vishnu, the Lord Narayana, who comes of his own free will, keeping all his divine qualities. Ramanuja reads Gita 4.8 to mean that “the good” are devotees who cannot bear to be without the sight of the Lord, and that he protects them by letting them see him and his deeds and speak with him. On 7.19, the wise one's “Vasudeva is all” means that Krishna is the goal, the way and all that the heart longs for.

Sources for this reading

• Bhagavad Gita, 4.8
• Bhagavad Gita, 7.19
• Sri Bhagavad-Gita with Sri Ramanujacharya's Visishtadvaita commentary, translated by A. Govindacharya (Madras, 1898) (Ramanuja's first proem, pp. 7–9 (Narayana, the Lord of Sri, takes forms like his creatures' without giving up his divine nature, as in the avatar as Krishna); commentary on 4.5–8, pp. 138–142 (4.8 on p. 141, leaf n151) and on 7.19, p. 246 (leaf n251); checked on the page images)

Gaudiya Vaishnava (Chaitanya's followers)

The Bhagavata Purana lists many avatars and then says: “All these are either portions or emanations of the Person; but Krishna is the Lord Himself” (Book 1, chapter 3, in Dutt's translation). For the followers of Chaitanya, Krishna is the highest God, not one avatar among others: the usual avatars come from his own forms. He is reached by bhakti alone, and the pure love (preman) of the cowherd women of Vraja for Krishna is what devotees seek.

Sources for this reading

• A Prose English Translation of Srimadbhagabatam, Books I–VI, edited and published by Manmatha Nath Dutt (Calcutta: Elysium Press, 1895–96) (Book I, chapter III (begins p. 7, leaf n10); the quoted line is on p. 9 (leaf n12), checked on the page image. Dutt died 1912: public domain)
• R. G. Bhandarkar, Vaiṣṇavism, Śaivism and Minor Religious Systems (Strassburg: Karl J. Trübner, 1913), § 68, the doctrines attributed to Chaitanya: Krishna “the highest god”; all the usual incarnations spring from his forms; the love (preman) of the cowherd women is what devotees seek; Kṛṣṇa “is to be approached and attained by Bhakti alone”. Bhandarkar died 1925: public domain. Title page leaf n1. Checked on the page images (leaves n86–n87). (§ 68, pp. 84–85 (leaves n86–n87))

Advaita (Shankara)

Shankara also calls Krishna the Lord and reads his teaching as the way to knowledge of the one Self. On Gita 4.6 he says that the Lord, through his own Maya, appears to be born and to have a body, but is not born in reality, as others are. On 7.19 he says the person of mature wisdom comes to Vasudeva as the innermost Self of all, realising that Vasudeva is the All.

Sources for this reading

• The Bhagavad-Gita, with the commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, translated by A. Mahadeva Sastri (2nd ed., Mysore: G. T. A. Printing Works, 1901) (introduction, pp. 3–5 (the aim of the Gita: steady devotion to the knowledge of the Self); commentary on 4.6, p. 106 (leaf n133) and 7.19, p. 195 (leaf n222); checked on the page images; summarised, not quoted)

The Puranas (the life story)

The Vishnu Purana and the Bhagavata Purana (above all its tenth book) tell Krishna's life. In the Vishnu Purana, he is born to Devaki and Vasudeva in Mathura, where the tyrant Kamsa keeps them under guard. Vasudeva carries him across the Yamuna by night and leaves him with Yashoda, and he grows up with Nanda and Yashoda among the cowherds of Gokula. As a boy he lifts the hill Govardhan to shelter the cowherds and their cattle from Indra's storm. He promises to be a friend to Arjuna and to bring Kunti's sons, the Pandavas, safely through the great war. Later he ends Kamsa's rule and gives the throne back to Kamsa's father, Ugrasena, and he builds the city of Dvaraka by the sea for the Yadavas.

Sources for this reading

• The Vishnu Purana, a system of Hindu mythology and tradition, translated by H. H. Wilson (London: John Murray, 1840) (Book V: chapter I, Vasudeva and Devaki held in confinement (p. 498, leaf n596); chapter III, the birth and the crossing of the Yamuna (pp. 502–503, leaves n600–n601); chapter V, Nanda returns to Gokula (p. 506, leaf n604); chapters XI–XII, Govardhan and the promise to befriend Arjuna and restore Kunti's sons (pp. 526–530, leaves n624–n628); chapter XXI, Ugrasena placed on the throne (p. 560, leaf n658); chapter XXIII, Dwaraka built (p. 566, leaf n664). Checked on the page images; summarised in our words)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Krishna” (one of the most widely revered and most popular of all Indian divinities, worshipped as the eighth incarnation of Vishnu and also as a supreme god in his own right; the Puranas, particularly Books X and XI of the Bhagavata-purana, as basic sources of his story; charioteer for Arjuna). Read in the Wayback Machine copy (snapshot September 7, 2026). Cited, not copied.
• Festival guide “Janmashtami” in this library: the birth story with its texts, and the Smarta and Vaishnava rules for the day.

Sources

• Bhagavad Gita, 4.7
• Bhagavad Gita, 4.8
• Bhagavad Gita, 1.21
• Bhagavad Gita, 1.24
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Krishna” (one of the most widely revered and most popular of all Indian divinities; worshipped as an avatar of Vishnu and also as a supreme god in his own right). Read in the Wayback Machine copy (snapshot September 7, 2026). Cited, not copied.
• The Vishnu Purana, a system of Hindu mythology and tradition, translated by H. H. Wilson (London: John Murray, 1840) (Book V, chapters I–XXIII (pp. 498–566))

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