Krishna

Who is the most popular and the most colorful among the many gods of Indian Pantheon? The most benevolent? The most adored? The most pragmatic? The most expressive? The most scholarly? The most philosophical?....

No wonder that Lord Krishna, the blue-black, is the choice. In Sanskrit, Krishna is one who is black, or blue black. His is the most colorful of apparels – golden yellow. But his colorfulness is not because of his dress. Nor for his own personal color of blue or blue-black. Everything around him is colorful – his magical flute of mellifluous songs, his boyhood pranks, his romance with milkmaids, his bold and heroic deeds, his friendliness with every one, his achievements in politics and the battlefields, his skills as a negotiator and diplomat and leader, his intelligence and worldly wisdom, his philosophical brilliance, his great discourse to Arjuna in the Battle ground of Kurukshetra, his great concern for his followers, admirers and people at large… everything that the mythologies, epics, puranas and art, performing arts and literature in general in various Indian languages hail have made him the most beloved and trusted of the worshippers and admirers.

Is Krishna a mere myth or reality? Is he from History or from the fertile mind of an ancient poet? These questions have been there for long, especially during the last 200-odd years during which the western scholars went into the Krishna Cult of India, but many of the conclusions that Krishna is just mythical have been challenged by historians and scholars and other researchers, citing undeniable evidences from internal history and advancing effective arguments.  Vedic texts make numerous references to Krishna and his deeds. The epic Mahabharata has Krishna as one of its key players. Historical evidences are available for many of the references made in these literary works. The Bhagavad Gita, the epitome of Hindu concept of Dharma and Karma, has been attributed to Krishna. The Hindus worship him as an incarnation of Vishnu, the Supreme Being.