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KRISHNA (the Dark One)

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 927 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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KRISHNA (the Dark One) , an incarnation of See also:Vishnu, or rather the See also:form in which Vishnu himself is the most popular See also:object of See also:worship throughout See also:northern See also:India. In origin, Krishna, like Rama, was undoubtedly a deified See also:hero of the Kshatriya See also:caste. In the older framework of the Mahabharata he appears as a See also:great chieftain and ally of the Pandava See also:brothers; and it is only in the interpolated See also:episode of the Bhagavad-gita that he is identified with Vishnu and becomes the revealer of the See also:doctrine of bhakti or religious devotion. Of still later date are the popular developments of the See also:modern cult of Krishna associated with Radha, as found in the Vishnu Purana. Here he is represented as the son of a See also:king saved from a slaughter of the innocents, brought up by a cowherd, sporting with the See also:milk-maids, and performing miraculous feats in his childhood. The See also:scene is laid in the neighbourhood of See also:Muttra, on the right See also:bank of the See also:Jumna, where the whole See also:country to the See also:present See also:day is See also:holy ground. Another See also:place associated with incidents of his later See also:life is Dwarka, the westernmost point in the See also:peninsula of See also:Kathiawar. The two most famous preachers of Krishna-worship and founders of sects in his See also:honour were Vallabha and Chaitanya, both See also:born towards the See also:close of the 15th See also:century. The followers of the former are now found chiefly in See also:Rajputana and See also:Gujarat. They are known as Vallabhacharyas, and their gosains or high priests as maharajas, to whom semi-divine honours are paid. The licentious practices of this See also:sect were exposed in a lawsuit before the high See also:court at Bombay in 1862. Chaitanya was the Vaishnav reformer of See also:Bengal, with his See also:home at Nadiya.

A third influential Krishna-preacher of the loth century was Swami Narayan, who was encountered by See also:

Bishop See also:Heber in Gujarat, where his followers at this day are numerous and wealthy. Among the names of Krishna are Go See also:pal, the cow-See also:herd; Gopinath, the See also:lord of the milkmaids; and Mathuranalh, the lord of Muttra. His legitimate See also:consort was Rukmini, daughter of the king of See also:Berar; but Radha is always associated with him in his temples.

End of Article: KRISHNA (the Dark One)

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