Krishna's infancy mythology is centered on themes of forgetfulness and latent divinity.
Because they are ignorant of Krishna's actual identity, the people of Braj tolerate him with ease.
Krishna is known to favor natural interaction above all other forms of devotion.
Krishna is notorious as a child for his mischief, notably his habit of stealing butter from the gopis (milk maids), yet he is generally able to charm his way out of punishment when caught.
Putana, Keshi, and Trnavarta are among the demon assassins sent by his uncle Kamsa.
Throughout all of these exploits, his friends are awestruck,
but they are unaware that they are in the presence of divinity.
Neither do his foster parents, for that matter.
When Yashoda looks into Krishna's mouth after he has eaten
some dirt in one narrative, he sees the whole cosmos.
She forgets about the occurrence very instantly because to
Krishna's power of illusion (maya).
Two heroic episodes—driving off the snake Kaliya and fighting the storm-god Indra by holding up Mt.
Govardhan—mark his youth, as does the growth of his identity
as a lover.
He plays his flute Murali on the banks of the Yamuna River
on beautiful fall evenings.
The village ladies flock to meet him when they hear its
enticing call, and they spend the night in the ras lila, a circle dance.
Radha emerges as Krishna's particular companion and spouse,
depicting the relationship between divinity and devotee using the imagery of
lover and beloved, despite the fact that she is not mentioned in the oldest
scriptures.
Krishna's mythology includes events from later in his life,
such as his return to Mathura, the murder of Kamsa, assuming his rightful
rulership, and marrying Rukmini and a slew of other wives.
The previous threads of his mythological identity—the
Mahabharata's depictions of him as a king, hero, and crafty diplomat—can be
linked in here to make it appear like the story of a single life.
The gopis, Krishna's female followers, and Uddhava,
Krishna's companion sent back from Mathura, are depicted in some of the most
moving devotional (bhakti) poetry.
Uddhava reassures them that Krishna is the ubiquitous
indwelling God.
This abstract idea is a poor replacement for the charming
guy the gopis are familiar with.
Their gaze is drawn to Braj's endearing kid, who never grows
up, never gets old, and who welcomes his worshippers to join his universe.
Relationship and connection are important to Krishna
devotion, both with the god and with one another.
Krishna's followers see themselves as joining Krishna's
realm and spending the day performing the mundane tasks of a village cowhand,
such as waking up, eating, putting the cows to pasture, and returning the cows
home.
Some devotional guides provide comprehensive daily calendars
that devotees may use to picture themselves visiting certain locations and
doing specific activities at specific times—building a relationship with God
through sharing the mundane aspects of daily life.
Another prevalent activity is community singing, which
generally consists of collections of holy names known as kirtans, as a means of
fostering ties and unity among devotees.
The concept of lila, or "play," is another
characteristic of Krishna's character and devotion.
As David R. Kinsley points out, the demon assassins are sent
by the child Krishna as a game, and they never constitute a real danger.
His interactions with the inhabitants of Braj are likewise a
game.
He appears in their midst as the divine presence, but he
keeps them fully unconscious of this, sometimes hinting at it by his miraculous
works, but hesitant to jeopardize their natural connections with him by
disclosing their status disparity.
Similarly, he is said to be active in the lives of his
believers, constantly there but just teasingly hinting at his presence.
Finally, lila is the name of a series of plays performed in
Brindavan during the monsoon season.
These ras lila shows are more than just theater; they
integrate liturgy with drama.
Local brahmin lads portray Krishna and his companions.
The guys are said to have transformed into the personas they
play when dressed up.
Worship is a component of the curriculum.
The actors, known as svarups ("own-forms"),
assemble on stage to offer the audience darshan.
Darshan, the most prevalent religious act in current popular
Hinduism, permits devotees to make direct eye contact with the image of a god,
who is thought to be a conscious, perceiving entity.
The lila, or reenactment of a scene from Krishna's legend,
is the program's second half.
By performing or witnessing these shows, the audience joins
by virtue of its presence, bringing Krishna's lila into the present.
There are several works about Krishna due to his status as a
Hindu divinity.
Milton Singer (ed. ), Krishna, 1966; David R. Kinsley, The Sword and the Flute, 1975; Barbara Stoller Miller, The Love Song of the Dark Lord, 1977; and John Stratton Hawley, Krishna: The Butter Thief, 1983 for further details.
Also see Vaishnavism.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.
