Astrospeak Team | Feb 5, 2018, 13:24 IST
The much-loved god, Krishna has made a great impression on mankind. From educating us on Dharma to enlightening us about the realities of life, Lord Krishna has always remained a source of knowledge and wisdom. And whether it's the legends from his childhood or that from Bhagavatam, he is known to be a divine individual that connects well with humankind. Most of us claim to be well-versed with him and his stories, but there are a fact or two that we may not be aware of. This blog brings some of those unknown things about Lord Krishna to add more to your knowledge of him.
The much-loved god, Krishna has made a great impression on mankind. From educating us on Dharma to enlightening us about the realities of life, Lord Krishna has always remained a source of knowledge and wisdom. And whether it's the legends from his childhood or that from Bhagavatam, he is known to be a divine individual that connects well with humankind. Most of us claim to be well-versed with him and his stories, but there are a fact or two that we may not be aware of. This blog brings some of those unknown things about Lord Krishna to add more to your knowledge of him.
1. The much-loved god, Krishna has made a great impression on mankind. From educating us on Dharma to enlightening us about the realities of life, Lord Krishna has always remained a source of knowledge and wisdom. And whether it's the legends from his childhood or that from Bhagavatam, he is known to be a divine individual that connects well with humankind. Most of us claim to be well-versed with him and his stories, but there are a fact or two that we may not be aware of. This blog brings some of those unknown things about Lord Krishna to add more to your knowledge of him.
2. The name of Lord Krishna is basically an adjective, which means ‘black’ or ‘dark,’ another popular meaning of the name is ‘all attractive.’
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3. There are about 108 names of Lord Krishna and popular ones are, Govind, Devakinandan, Mohan, Gopal, Shyam, Ghanshyam, Hari, Baanke Bihari and Girdhari.
4. Once upon a time, Lord Krishna was against the orthodox form of worship of the Vedic Gods like Indra. According to Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna wanted villagers of Brindavan to worship the Govardhan Hill instead of Indra, as it will bring rain, which will help the agriculture. God Indra sent out a huge storm out of immense anger but Lord Krishna rescued the people by lifting the Govardhan Hill and using it as an umbrella to protect the villagers.
5. Lord Krishna had 8 wives including Rukmini, which together were called the Ashtabharya. It is believed that Lord Krishna abducted Rukmini, the Vidarbha Princess because she requested him to save her from marrying Shishupala. The name of other 7 wives of areLakhsmana, Bhadra, Satyabhama, Kalindi, Jambavati, Nagnajiti and Mitravinda.
6. Once, Lord Krishna took his Virat form to kill Shishupal. And, it is believed that even Dhritarashtra got his vision back during this time to be able to see this form of Krishna. During the crowing of Yudhishthira, Shishupal abused Lord Krishna for more than hundred times, but as he had promised Shishupal mother not to harm him, he forgave Shishupal. But, when the abuse crossed the number 100, he killed Shishupal. It is said that Shishupala and Dantavakra were the reincarnations of Vishnu’s gatekeepers Jaya and Vijaya, who were cursed to be born on Earth.
7. Gandhari cursed the Yadu Dynasty that they will perish after 36 years, and Lord Krishna said Tathastu (so be it). Gandhari was furious as she thought if Krishna wanted to solve this issue, he could have done so, but he didn’t. This is because Lord Krishna himself wanted this War to happen, as he felt that the entire kingdom had become sinful.
8. Krishna seems to be beyond the limits of nature or that of death or anything related to human life. He doesn’t seem to grow old in the history despite passing of several decades. Mahabharata many times showed that Lord Krishna is not subject to any limitations. This is proved in one such incident, where Duryodhana tries to arrest Krishna where his body bursts showing all creation within him.
9. Lord Krishna is also the part of Jain religion. He is referred as Vasudeva.
10. The Buddhist Jataka tales also mentions Lord Krishna. In the Vaibhav Jataka, he is showcased as the prince and legendary figure in India who cuts off his evil uncle Kansa’s head and kill all the kings to rule over Jambudvipa.
11. It is also believed that Lord Krishna was a “Manifestation of God”, or one of the prophets who has revealed the ‘Word of God’ to people on earth. Thus, it is said that he shares a powerful image with Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Muhammad and Jesus.
12. It is said that Lord Krishna and Draupadi were brothers and sisters. And Draupadi was born to help Lord Krishna to destroy the sinful kings. It is believed that Draupadi is the incarnation of Goddess Parvati and Lord Krishna is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who is the brother of Goddess Parvati.
13. Lord Krishna granted Eklavya a wish after he sacrificed his thumb to Dronacharya. He was granted another incarnation as Dhrishtadyumna who stepped out of the yajna fire to kill Dronacharya.
14. Despite the popularity of Radha Krishna love tale, there are no signs of the existence of Radha in Shrimad Bhagavatam or Mahabharata or the Harivamsam, which is about the life of Lord Krishna only.
15. Krishna was related to the Pandavas. Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas was actually Vasudev's sister. Vasudev was Krishna's father.
16. When Krishna used to blow his conch, Panchjanya, it was the war cry for the Pandavas in Kurukshetra. Krishna's conch had powerful reverberations all over the world when blown. Krishna used to blow his conch to signal the start of the battle of Kurukshetra and also at the end to symbolise the victory of dharma.
17. With the growing bhakti movement, Krishna became a favourite subject of the arts. The songs of the Gita Govinda became popular across India and it added to the repository of both folk and classical singing. The classical Indian dances, especially Odissi and Manipuri, reveals a lot on the story. The 'Rasa Lila' dances performed in Vrindavan shares elements with Kathak,with some cycles, such as Krishnattam, traditionally restricted to the Guruvayur temple, the precursor of Kathakali.
18. Krishna killed Putana, who transformed herself as a nurse, and the tornado demon Trinavarta both sent by Kansa for Krishna's life. He won over the serpent Kaliya, who poisoned the waters of Yamuna river, leading to the death of so many cows. Hindu art depicts Krishna dancing on the multi-hooded Kaliya.
19. It is believed that there were a number of curses due to which Lord Krishna died. Gandhari’s curse on Krishna was that he and his clan will perish in 36 years. Whereas, Sage Durvasa, cursed Lord Krishna when he was angry at the fact that Krishna did not apply Kheer on his feet. He said Lord Krishna will die by his foot.
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