Krishna

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This article is about the Hindu deity. For other meanings, see Krishna (disambiguation).

Krishna (कृष्ण in Devanagari, kṛṣṇa in IAST ) is a deity worshipped across many traditions of Hinduism. He is usually depicted as a young cowherd boy playing a flute (such as in the Bhagavata Purana) or a youthful prince giving philosophical direction (as in the Bhagavad Gita).

Most commonly within Hinduism, Krishna is worshipped as an avatar of Vishnu, who is considered the Supreme God by the Vaishnava schools. Within Gaudiya Vaishnavism Krishna is worshipped as the source of all other avatars (including Vishnu).^[1]

Krishna and the stories associated with him appear across a broad spectrum of Hindu philosophical and theological traditions. Though they sometimes differ in details reflecting the concerns of a particular tradition, some core features are shared by all. These include a divine incarnation, a pastoral childhood and youth, and life as a heroic warrior and teacher.

Contents 1 The name "Krishna" 2 Literary sources 3 The life of Krishna 3.1 The incarnation 3.2 Birth 3.3 Boyhood and youth 3.4 Krishna the prince 3.5 The Kurukshetra war and the Bhagavad-gita 3.6 Later life 4 Early historical references 5 The Bhakti tradition 5.1 Spread of the Krishna-Bhakti movement 5.2 Krishna-bhakti in recent times 6 Academic study of Krishna 6.1 The Journal of Vaishnava studies 7 Religious perspectives 7.1 Krishna in Jainism 7.2 Krishna in Buddhism 7.3 Krishna in the Bahá'í Faith 7.4 Krishna in Thelema 8 Krishna in the performing arts 9 See also 10 Footnotes 11 References 12 External links

[edit] The name "Krishna"

Main article: List of titles and names of Krishna

The term Krishna in Sanskrit has the literal meaning of "black" or "dark", and is used as a name to describe someone with dark skin. The Brahma Samhita describes Krishna's complexion as being "tinged with the hue of blue clouds",^[2] and he is often depicted in paintings with blue or dark-blue skin. In murthis, Krishna is more commonly portrayed as being dark skinned or black. For instance, the Jagannatha (a name meaning: Krishna as 'Lord of the World'), deity at Puri in Orissa shows Krishna as being 'jet black' in colour alongside his brother Balarama, and sister Subhadra, the latter two having much lighter complexions.

The Gaudiya tradition explains the primary meaning of the name Krishna as being “all-attractive”. This is justified by an interpretation of a verse in the Mahabharata, as given in the Chaitanya Charitamrita.^[3] Commentators on the Vishnu sahasranama offer explanations on similar lines. According to Adi Sankara's commentary, Krishna is the 57th name of Vishnu and means the "Existence of knowledge and Bliss."

[edit] Literary sources

The earliest text to explicitly provide detailed descriptions of Krishna as a personality is the Mahabharata which depicts Krishna as an incarnation of Vishnu who is central to many of the main stories of the epic. The eighteen chapters of the sixth book (Bhishma Parva) that constitute the Bhagavad Gita contain the advice of Krishna to Arjuna, on the battlefield. Krishna is already an adult in the epic, even though there are allusions to his earlier exploits. The Harivamsa, an appendix to this epic that was added to it later, contains the earliest detailed version of Krishna's childhood and youth.

Virtually every one of the later Puranas tells Krishna's life-story or some highlights from it. The Mahabharata and the Harivamsa are considered sacred by Hindus. In addition, the two Puranas (the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana) that contain the most elaborate telling of Krishna’s story and teachings are the most theologically venerated by the Gaudiya Vaishnava schools. Roughly one quarter of the Bhagavata Purana (mostly in the tenth book) is spent extolling his life and philosophy.

[edit] The life of Krishna

This summary is based on details from the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa, the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana. The scenes from the narrative are set in north India, mostly in the present states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat. The quotations at the start and end of the summary set the theological framework in which the story is viewed.

[edit] The incarnation

These texts explain the reason for the incarnation. In the words of the Bhagavata Purana:

"Lord Brahma informed the demigods: Before we submitted our petition to the Lord, He was already aware of the distress on earth. Consequently, for as long as the Lord moves on earth to diminish its burden by His own potency in the form of time, all of you demigods should appear through plenary portions as sons and grandsons in the family of the Yadus." - Bhagavata Purana 10.1.22

The Mahabharata (Adi Parva, Adivansavatarana section) gives a similar account, although with slight variations in details.

[edit] Birth

Traditional belief based on scriptural details and astrological calculations gives Krishna's birth date as July 19th 3228 B.C.E.^[4][5] Professor N.S. Rajaram in his article 'Search for the Historical Krishna' states: "We have therefore overwhelming evidence showing that Krishna was a historical figure who must have lived within a century on either side of that date, i.e., in the 3200-3000 BC period".^[6]

Krishna was of the royal family of Mathura, and was the eighth son born to the princess Devaki, and her husband Vasudeva. Mathura was the capital of the closely linked clans of Vrishni, Andhaka, and Bhoja. They are generally known as Yadavs after their eponymous ancestor Yadu, and sometimes as Surasenas after another famed ancestor. Vasudeva and Devaki belonged to these clans. The king Kamsa, Devaki's brother, had ascended the throne by imprisoning his father, King Ugrasena. Afraid of a prophecy that predicted his death at the hands of Devaki's eighth son, he had the couple cast into prison where he planned to kill all of Devaki's children at birth. After killing the first six children, and Devaki's apparent miscarriage of the seventh, Krishna took birth. As his life was in danger he was smuggled out to be raised by his foster parents Yasoda and Nanda in Gokula, Mahavana. Two of his siblings also survived, Balarama (Devaki's seventh child, transferred to the womb of Rohini, Vasudeva's first wife) and Subhadra (daughter of Vasudeva and Devaki born much later than Balarama and Krishna).

The place believed by worshippers to mark Krishna's birth is now known as Krishnajanmabhoomi, where a temple is raised in his honour.

[edit] Boyhood and youth

Nanda was the head of a community of cow-herders, and he settled in Vrindavana. The stories of Krishna's childhood and youth here include that of his life with, and his protection of, the local people. Kamsa learnt about the child's escape and kept sending various demons (such as Aghasura) to put an end to him. The demons were defeated at the hands of Krishna and his brother Balarama. Some of the most popular exploits of Krishna center around these adventures and his play with the gopis of the village, including Radha. The stories of his play with the gopis became known as the Rasa lila.

[edit] Krishna the prince

Krishna as a young man returned to Mathura, and overthrew and killed his uncle Kamsa. Krishna re-installed Kamsa's father, Ugrasena, as the king of the Yadavas. He himself became a leading prince at the court. In this period he became a friend of Arjuna and the other Pandava princes of the Kuru kingdom, who were his cousins, on the other side of the Yamuna. Later, he took his Yadava subjects to the city of Dwaraka (in modern Gujarat). He married Rukmini, daughter of King Bhishmaka of Vidarbha.

According to some texts, Krishna had 16,108 wives, including Satyabhama and Jambavati. In Vaishnava traditions, of Krishna's wives in Dwarka are believed to be forms of the goddess Lakshmi.

[edit] The Kurukshetra war and the Bhagavad-gita

Main article: Kurukshetra war

See also: Bhagavad Gita

Krishna was cousin to both sides in the war between the Pandavas and Kauravas. He asked the sides to choose between his army and himself. The Kauravas picked the army and he sided with the Pandavas. He agreed to be the charioteer for Arjuna in the great battle. The Bhagavad Gita is the advice given to Arjuna by Krishna before the start of the battle.

[edit] Later life

Following the war Krishna lived at Dwaraka for thirty-six years. Then at a festival, a fight broke out between the Yadavas who exterminated each other. The clan now mostly destroyed, his elder brother Balarama then gave up his body using Yoga. Krishna retired into the forest and sat under a tree in meditation. A hunter mistook his partly visible foot for a deer and shot an arrow wounding him mortally. According to the Mahabharata, the death of Krishna was due to a curse by Gandhari. Her bitter anger after witnessing the death of her one hundred sons caused her to utter this curse. Her belief was that Krishna, who was God incarnate, did not do enough to stop the violence and destruction. Upon learning of the curse, according to lore, Krishna smiled and accepted it, stating that his duty was to fight for the righteous side, not to prevent the war.

The Mahabharata (Mausala Parva) says: (The hunter) ...Regarding himself an offender, and filled with fear, he touched the feet of Keshava. The high-souled one comforted him and then ascended upwards, filling the entire sky with splendour. ...the illustrious Narayana of fierce energy, the Creator and Destroyer of all, that preceptor of Yoga, filling Heaven with his splendour, reached his own inconceivable region.

According to references in the Bhagavata Purana and Bhagavad Gita it has been interpreted that Krishna left the earth around 3100 BCE.^[7] This is based on the description of Krishna's leaving Dwarka thirty-six years after the Battle of the Mahabharata. The Matsya Purana says that Krishna was eighty-nine years old when the battle was fought. Thereafter Pandavas ruled for a period of thirty-six years, their rule was in the beginning of the Kali Yuga. It further says that the Kali Yuga began on the day Duryodhana was felled to ground by Bhima meaning that the year 2007 would equate to the year 5108 (or similar) of the current Kali Yuga.^[8]

[edit] Early historical references

The first possible recorded instance of a Krishna who might be identified with the deity can be found in the Chandogya Upanishad (ca. 900 BCE). The teacher Ghora Angirasa discusses the nature of the soul with Krishna, the son of Devaki. However, this teacher is never mentioned in connection with Krishna in later works nor does any ancient or medieval author quote this instance of Krishna, the deity. Classical Vedantic commentaries by Sankara, Madhva, and the tradition of Ramanuja also do not interpret this Upanishadic statement as referring to "The" Krishna, reading it instead as referring to another sage of that name^{[citation needed]}. The exact words that Ghora speaks are treated by some as praise of Krishna and most others as a praise of the Atman. The doctrine taught by Ghora matches closely with the philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita and the name of the mother is the same as found in the later Krishna traditions.

Panini, ca. 5th century BCE, in his Ashtadhyayi explains the word "Vāsudevaka" as a Bhakta (devotee) of Vāsudeva. This, along with the mention of Arjuna in the same context, indicates that the Vāsudeva here is Krishna.

In the 4th century BCE, Megasthenes the Greek ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya says that the Sourasenoi (Surasena), who lived in the region of Mathura worshipped Herakles. This Herakles is usually identified with Krishna due to the regions mentioned by Megasthenes as well as similarities between some of the herioc acts of the two. Megasthenes also mentions that his daughter Pandaia ruled in south India. The south indeed had the kingdom of the Pandyas with the capital at Madhura (Madurai), the name similar to if not the same as Krishna's Mathura.

From 180-165 BCE, the Greek ruler Agathocles issued coins with images of Vasudeva holding a chakra.

At Ghosundi near Udaipur, engraved about 150 BCE, is an inscription of a certain Bhagavata named Gajayana, son of Para-sari, stating that he erected in the Narayana-vata, or park of Narayana, a stone chapel for the worship of the Sankarshana and Vasudeva.

In the 1st century BCE, the Greek Heliodorus erected at Besnagar near Bhilsa a column with the inscription: This Garuda-column of Vasudeva the god of gods was erected here by Heliodorus, a worshipper of the Lord Bagavata, the son of Diya Greek Dion and an inhabitant of Taxila, who came as ambassador of the Greeks from the Great King Amtalikita [Greek Antialcidas] to King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra the saviour, who was flourishing in the fourteenth year of his reign .... (missing text)... three immortal steps . .... (missing text)...when practised, lead to heaven—self-control, charity, and diligence.

Another 1st century BCE inscription from Mathura, records the building of a part of a sanctuary to Vasudeva by the great satrap Sodasa.

The grammarian Patanjali, who wrote his commentary the Mahabhashya upon Panini's grammar about 150 BCE, quotes a verse to the following effect: May the might of Krishna accompanied by Samkarshana increase! One verse speaks of Janardana with himself as fourth (Krishna with three companions, the three possibly being Samkarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha). Another verse mentions musical instruments being played at meetings in the temples of Rama (Balarama) and Kesava (Krishna). Patanjali also describes dramatic and mimetic performances (Krishna-Kamsopacharam) representing the killing of Kamsa by Vasudeva.

Also in the 1st century BCE, there seems to be evidence for a worship of five Vrishni heroes (Balarama, Krishna, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Samba) for an inscription has been found at Mora near Mathura, which apparently mentions a son of the great satrap Raj Uvula, probably the satrap Sodasa, and an image of Vrishni, "probably Vasudeva, and of the "Five Warriors".

From the early centuries of the common era, the inscriptions and references to worship of Krishna become very numerous.

[edit] The Bhakti tradition

Main article: Bhakti

Bhakti, meaning devotion, is not confined to any one deity of Hinduism. However Krishna has become the most important and popular focus of the devotional and ecstatic aspects of Hindu religion.

Devotees of Krishna subscribe to the concept of lila, (meaning 'divine play'), as the central principle of the universe. The lilas of Krishna, with their expressions of personal love that transcend the boundaries of formal reverence, serve as a counterpoint to the lilas of another avatar of Vishnu: Rama, "He of the straight and narrow path of maryada, or rules and regulations."

The bhakti movements devoted to Krishna became prominent in southern India in the 7th to 9th centuries CE. The earliest works included those of the Alvar saints of the Tamil country. A major collection of their works is the Divya Prabandham. The Alvar Andal's popular collection of songs Tiruppavai, in which she conceives of herself as a Gopi, is perhaps the oldest work of this genre. Kulashekhara's Mukundamala was another notable offering of this early stage.

[edit] Spread of the Krishna-Bhakti movement

The movement spread rapidly from Northern India into the south, with the Gita Govinda of Jayadeva (12th century CE) becoming a landmark of devotional, Krishna-based, literature. It elaborated a part of the story of Krishna, that of his love for one particular Gopi, called Radha, a minor character in the Bhagavata Purana but a major one in some others like the Bramhavaivarta-Purana. The poem is in Sanskrit and soon became famous all across India. Radha henceforth became inseparable from devotion to Krishna.

While the learned sections of the society, well versed in Sanskrit, could enjoy works like Gita Govinda or Bilvamangala's Krishna-Karnamritam, the masses sang the songs of the Bhakti devotee-poets who composed in the regional languages of India. These songs expressing intense personal devotion were written by devotees from all walks of life. The songs of Mirabai and Surdas became epitomes of Krishna-devotion in north India.

These devotee-poets, like the Alvars before them, were aligned to specific theological schools only loosely, if at all. But by the 11th century CE, Vaishnava Bhakti schools with elaborate theological frameworks around the worship of Krishna were established in north India. Nimbarka (11th century CE), Vallabhacharya (15th century CE) and especially Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (16th century CE) were the founders of the most influential of these schools. Chaitanya's tradition, called Gaudiya Vaishnavism, sees Krishna as the supreme God, rather than as an avatar of Vishnu. Followers of Chaitanya maintain that he is himself an incarnation of Krishna.

Purandara Dasa and Kanakadasa of Karnataka composed songs devoted to Lord Krishna of Udupi.These songs have become masterpieces now sung by Karnataka ( Carnatic ) style of vocalists.

[edit] Krishna-bhakti in recent times

Since 1966 devotion to Krishna has spread from within India and is now practiced in many places around the globe, including America, Europe, Africa, Russia and South America. This is largely due to the growth of the 'Hare Krishna' movement, the largest part of which is officially known as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). The driving force behind the change was the movement's founder, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who was instructed by his guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, to write about Krishna in the English language and to share Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy with people in the Western world.

[edit] Academic study of Krishna

Main article: Krishnology

Vaishnava theology has been a subject of study for many devotees, philosophers and scholars within India for centuries. In recent decades this study has also been taken on by a number of academic institutions in Europe, such as the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and Bhaktivedanta College. The Vaishnava scholars instrumental in this western discourse include Tamala Krishna Goswami, Hridayananda Goswami, Graham Schweig, Kenneth R. Valpey, Ravindra Svarupa dasa, Sivarama Swami, Satyaraja Dasa, and Guy Beck, among others.

[edit] The Journal of Vaishnava studies

Founded in 1992 by Steven J. Rosen the Journal of Vaishnava Studies (JVS) is an academic journal of Hindu studies, and Vaishnava studies in particular. Dedicated to scholarly research associated with all Vishnu-related traditions. The course has received praise from Indological entities for bringing Vaishnava studies into the Western academic environment. In the year 2002 the Journal affiliated with Christopher-Newport University, in Virginia.

[edit] Religious perspectives

Accounts of Krishna exist in many different belief systems, the major ones of which include:

[edit] Krishna in Jainism

The most exalted figures in Jainism are the twenty-four Tirthankaras. Krishna, when he was incorporated into the Jain list of heroic figures presented a problem with his activities which are not pacifist or non-violent. The concept of Baladeva, Vasudeva and Prati-Vasedeva was used to solve it. The Jain list of sixty-three Shalakapurshas or notable figures includes amongst others, the twenty-four Tirthankaras and nine sets of this triad. One of these triads is Krishna as the Vasudeva, Balarama as the Baladeva and Jarasandha as the Prati-Vasudeva. He was a cousin of the twenty-second Tirthankara, Neminatha. The stories of these triads can be found in the Harivamsha of Jinasena (not be confused with its namesake, the addendum to Mahabharata) and the Trishashti-shalakapurusha-charita of Hemachandra.

In each age of the Jain cyclic time is born a Vasudeva with an elder brother termed the Baladeva. The villain is the Prati-vasudeva. Baladeva is the upholder of the Jain principle of non-violence. However, Vasudeva has to forsake this principle to kill the Prati-Vasudeva and save the world. The Vasudeva then has to descend to hell as punishment for this violent act. Having undergone the punishment he is then reborn as a Tirthankara.

[edit] Krishna in Buddhism

The story of Krishna occurs in the Jataka tales in Buddhism^[9] in the Ghatapandita Jataka as a prince and legendary conqueror and king of India.

In the Buddhist version, Krishna is called Vasudeva, Kanha and Keshava, and Balarama is his younger brother, Baladeva. These details match that of the story given in the Bhagavata Purana. Vasudeva, along with his nine other brothers (each son a powerful wrestler) and one elder sister (Anjana) capture all of Jambudvipa (many consider this to be India) after beheading their evil uncle, King Kamsa, and later all other kings of Jambudvipa with his Sudarshana Chakra. Much of the story follows that given in the Bhagavata Purana in regards to the eventual defeat of Kamsa.

As depicted in the Mahabharata, all of the sons are eventually killed due to a curse of sage Kanhadīpayana (Veda Vyasa, also known as Krishna Dwaipayana). Krishna himself is eventually speared by a hunter in the foot by mistake, leaving the sole survivor of their family being their sister, Añjanadevī of whom no further mention is made.

Since Jataka tales are given from the perspective of Buddha's previous lives (as well as the previous lives of many of Buddha's followers), Krishna appears as one of the lives of Sariputra, one of Buddha's foremost disciples and the "Dhammasenapati" or "Chief General of the Dharma" and is usually shown being Buddha's "right hand man" in Buddhist art and iconography.^[10] The Bodhisattva, is born in this tale as one of his youngest brothers named Ghatapandita, and saves Krishna from the grief of losing his son.

[edit] Krishna in the Bahá'í Faith

Bahá'ís believe that Krishna was a "Manifestation of God," or one in a line of prophets who have revealed the Word of God progressively for a gradually maturing humanity.^[11] In this way, Krishna shares an exalted station with Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, and the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, Bahá'u'lláh.

[edit] Krishna in Thelema

Krishna was canonized by Aleister Crowley and is recognized as a saint in the Gnostic Mass of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica. Crowley writes in Liber Aleph, ch. 71:

Krishna has Names and Forms innumerable, and I know not His true Human Birth, for His Formula is of the Major Antiquity. But His Word hath spread into many Lands, and we know it to-day as INRI with the secret IAO concealed therein. And the Meaning of this Word is the Working of Nature in Her Changes; that is, it is the Formula of Magick whereby all Things reproduce and recreate themselves. Yet this Extension and Specialisation was rather the Word of Dionysus; for the true Word of Krishna was AUM, importing rather a Statement of the Truth of Nature than a practical Instruction in detailed Operations of Magick.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Krishna in the performing arts

See also: Hare Krishna in popular culture

The earliest mention of any performance based on the Krishna story is mentioned in Patanjali's Mahabhashya, though the type of performance is unclear.

As all stories of Krishna are presented as playful activities in which he is fully aware of his divine nature made him a difficult subject for the classical Sanskrit playwrights. These plays usually had scenes where the hero is deep in sorrow before the customary happy ending. While Vishnu's other major incarnation Rama could be made into the protagonist of the plays, it was virtually impossible to write such plays about Krishna. Bhasa's Balacharita and Dutavakya are the only plays by a major classical dramatist. The former dwells only on his childhood exploits and the latter is a one-act play based on a single episode from the Mahabharata when Krishna tries to make peace between the warring cousins.

The problem faced by classical drama did not crop up in other arts like music, dance and narrative enactments of the Krishna legend. From the 10th century BCE, with the growing Bhakti movement, Krishna became a favourite subject. The songs of the Gita Govinda became favoured across India, and had many imitations. The songs composed by the Bhakti poets added to the repository of both folk and classical singing.

The classical dances of India, especially Odissi and Manipuri, draw heavily on them. The 'Rasa lila' dances performed in Vrindavana shares elements with Kathak, and the Krisnattam performed now exclusively at the Guruvayur temple was the precursor of Kathakali. The beautiful classical Sattriya dance form founded by the Assamese Vaishnava saint Sankardeva extols the virtues of Krishna. Among these is the Dashavatar Nritya. Srimanta Sankaradeva wrote various dramas (Ekankiyas)like 'ChorDara', 'Pimpara Gusuwa', on the childhood of Krishna. Krishna also inspired Sankardeva to compose other works. Assamese culture includes Namghars, a congregational gathering, established by Sankardeva for praying to Krishna. There is a namghar in every village of Assam.

Medieval Maharashtra gave birth to Hari-Katha that told Vaishnava tales through music, dance, and narrative sequences and Krishna’s story became a rich source. This tradition then spread to Tamil Nadu and other southern states.

Narayana Tirtha's (17th century CE) Krishna-Lila-Tarangini provided material for the musical plays of the Bhagavata-Mela by telling the tale of Krishna until his marriage to Rukmini.

Tyagaraja (18th century CE) wrote a similar piece called Nauka-Charitam.

Tales of Krishna are performed in Yakshagana played in coastal districts of Karnataka.

Many movies in all Indian languages have been made based on these tales. These are of varying quality and usually take many liberties with the story to add songs, melodrama, and special effects.

[edit] See also

• Radha
• Balarama
• Rama
• Vrindavan
• International Society for Krishna Consciousness
• Hare Krishna
• Bhagavad Gita
• Vishnu
• Hindu deities
• Udupi
• Madhvacharya

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Articles

• All about Krishna (various articles) (krishna.com)
• The Search for the Historical Krishna, by Prof. N.S. Rajaram (veda.harekrsna.cz)
• Sri Krishna - Differences in Realisation & Perception of the Supreme (stephen-knapp.com)
• The full text of the Bhagavata Purana (Srimad-Bhagavatam) (srimadbhagavatam.com)
• A Tribute to Hinduism - Dwarka (atributetohinduism.com)
• A reputed Lord Krishna Temple from North Kerala (parthasaradhi.org)

Miscellaneous

• The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (iskcon.com)
• Shri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math - The bhakti tradition and Gaudiya Vaishnavism (sreecgmath.org)
• Krishna Deity Gallery (vrindavan.com)
• Krishna - His life (krishna.avatara.org)
• Krishna 'Janmashtami' - The celebration of Krishna's birth (krishnajanmashtami.com)
• Article on the chronology of Krishna (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
• Devotional hymns and eulogies on Krishna (stutimandal.com)
• Links to a collection of small stories on Shri Krishna (moralstories.wordpress.com)
• Information on the life and teachings of Lord Krishna by a 7000 strong community originally from orkut.com. (lordkrishna.info)

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