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Krishna   Listen
noun
Krishna  n.  (Hindu Myth.) The most popular of the Hindu divinities, usually held to be the eighth incarnation of the god Vishnu. Note: Krishna is a well-known Hindu deity. Originally the ethnic god of some powerful confederation of Rajput clans, by fusion with the Vishnu of the older theology Krishna becomes one of the chief divinities of Hinduism. He is indeed an avatar of Vishnu, or Vishnu himself. In his physical character mingle myths of fire, lightning, and storm, of heaven and the sun. In the epic he is a hero invincible in war and love, brave, but above all crafty. He was the son of Vasudeva and Devaki, and born at Mathura, on the Yamuna, between Delhi and Agra, among the Yadavas. Like that of many solar heroes, his birth was beset with peril. On the night when it took place, his parents had to remove him from the reach of his uncle, King Kansa, who sought his life because he had been warned by a voice from heaven that the eighth son of Devaki would kill him, and who had regularly made away with his nephews at their birth. Conveyed across the Yamuna, Krishna was brought up as their son by the shepherd Nanda and his wife Yashoda, together with his brother Balarama, 'Rama the strong,' who had been likewise saved from massacre. The two brothers grew up among the shepherds, slaying monsters and demons and sporting with the Gopis, the female cowherds of Vrindavana. Their birth and infancy, their juvenile exploits, and their erotic gambols with the Gopis became in time the essential portion of the legend of Krishna, and their scenes are today the most celebrated centers of his worship. When grown, the brothers put their uncle Kansa to death, and Krishna became king of the Yadavas. He cleared the land of monsters, warred against impious kings, and took part in the war of the sons of Pandu against those of Dhritarashtra, as described in the Mahabharata. He transferred his capital to Dvaraka ('the city of gates'), the gates of the West, since localized in Gujarat. There he and his race were overtaken by the final catastrophe. After seeing his brother slain, and the Yadavas kill each other to the last man, he himself perished, wounded in the heel, like Achilles, by the arrow of a hunter. The bible of the worshipers of Vishnu in his most popular manifestation, that of Krishna, consists of the Bhagavatapurana and the Bhagavadgita. See these words.
Hare Krishnas A popular name for the group International Society for Krishna Consciousness (abbreviated ISKCON), devotees of Krishna, founded in 1966 by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (born 1896, died 1977). They are called thus because of their frequent public chanting of the words "Hare Krishna".






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Krishna" Quotes from Famous Books



... replied:—"In heaven thou shalt see Thy kinsman and the Queen—these will attain—And Krishna. Grieve no longer for thy dead, Thou chief of men! their mortal covering stripped, These have their places; but to thee the gods Allot an unknown grace; Thou shalt go up, Living and in thy form, to the ...
— Library Of The World's Best Literature, Ancient And Modern, Vol. 2 • Charles Dudley Warner

... (the great Bharata) has nearly the same antiquity as the Ramayana. It describes the greatest Avatar of Vishnu, the incarnation of the god in Krishna, and it presents a vast picture of the Hindu religion. It relates to the legendary history of the Bharata dynasty, especially to the wars between the Pandus and Kurus, two branches of a princely family of ...
— Handbook of Universal Literature - From The Best and Latest Authorities • Anne C. Lynch Botta

... curious dialect and a curious melange. And this was Transcendentalism. The great revelation that the grand Moonsee of the new movement had declared necessary in 1838 had been made; the ninth avatar had descended, and men looked about them for the representative of Krishna, and reverenced him in RALPH WALDO EMERSON. Under his auspices, the Dial, the organ of the new sect, was published, and the next year, 1841, the first collection of his writings appeared under the simple caption Essays, followed by a second ...
— Continental Monthly , Vol I, Issue I, January 1862 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various

... immediate object, is transfigured, and merged in the nature of all love; so too, the devotion which a purely symbolic figure calls forth from the ardently religious nature—whether this figure be the divine Krishna of Hinduism, the Buddhist's Mother of Mercy, the S[u]fi's Beloved, or those objects of traditional Christian piety which are familiar to all of us—this devotion too passes beyond its immediate goal and the relative truth there embodied, and is eternalized. It is characteristic of the ...
— The Life of the Spirit and the Life of To-day • Evelyn Underhill

... escapes the excessive emotionalism, the tendency to an exclusively anthropomorphic devotion, which results from an unrestricted cult of Divine Personality, especially under an incarnational form; seen in India in the exaggerations of Krishna worship, in Europe in the sentimental extravagances of ...
— Songs of Kabir • Rabindranath Tagore (trans.)

... unquestionably as the first living writer of fiction in his Presidency. His renown is widespread among native readers, who recognize the truthfulness and power of his descriptions, and are especially fond of "Krishna Kanta's Will," "Mrinalini," and this very story of the Bisha Briksha, which belongs to modern days in India, and to the new ideas which are spreading—not always quite happily—among the families of the land. Allowance ...
— The Poison Tree - A Tale of Hindu Life in Bengal • Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

... curse is flagrantly mythological Among the Hindoos, Krishna also, as the incarnation of Vishnu, is represented now as treading on the bruised head of a conquered serpent, and now as entwined by it, and stung in the heel. In Egyptian pictures and sculptures, likewise, the serpent is seen pierced through ...
— Bible Romances - First Series • George W. Foote

... of the translator. The entire translation is practically the work of one hand. In portions of the Adi and the Sabha Parvas, I was assisted by Babu Charu Charan Mookerjee. About four forms of the Sabha Parva were done by Professor Krishna Kamal Bhattacharya, and about half a fasciculus during my illness, was done by another hand. I should however state that before passing to the printer the copy received from these gentlemen I carefully compared every sentence with the ...
— The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa - Translated into English Prose - Adi Parva (First Parva, or First Book) • Kisari Mohan Ganguli (Translator)

... Ayodhya, when Angada challenges them all to fight him, as it is now time to revenge his father's death. A voice from heaven, however, tells him to be pacified, as Bali will be born as hunter in a future age, and kill Rama, who will then be Krishna: he is accordingly appeased. Rama is now seated on the throne of Ayodhya. After some time, he orders the ...
— Tales from the Hindu Dramatists • R. N. Dutta

... the pious Hindoo neighbours who surround him. To strengthen the religious enthusiasm of the people, two of the most famous shrines of Hindoo pilgrimage are contained within the boundaries of Kattiawar. One of them is Dwarka, the birthplace of the god Krishna. The other is the sacred city of Somnauth—sacked, and destroyed as long since as the eleventh century, by the Mahometan conqueror, ...
— The Moonstone • Wilkie Collins

... arrangement of the sounds into a musical scale. She is represented seated on a peacock and playing a stringed instrument of the guitar kind. Brahma, himself, we find depicted as a vigorous man with four handsome heads, beating with his hands upon a small drum. Arid Vishnu, in his incarnation as Krishna, is represented as a beautiful youth playing upon a flute. The Hindoos still possess a peculiar kind of flute which they consider as the favorite instrument of Krishna. Furthermore, they have the divinity of Genesa, the god of wisdom, who is represented as a man with the head ...
— Brave Men and Women - Their Struggles, Failures, And Triumphs • O.E. Fuller

... relatives; shall he shed the blood of those who are nearest and dearest to him upon the earth? This is the agonizing doubt which seizes upon him at this time. And in his distress he turns to his friend and relative, Krishna, who has declined to participate in the war, but who had volunteered to act as Arjuna's charioteer. And he says unto him: "Seeing these kinsmen, O Krishna, standing (here) desirous to engage in battle, my limbs droop down; my mouth is quite dried ...
— India, Its Life and Thought • John P. Jones

... Balasore, he and Thomas landed and "began our labours." For three hours the people of the bazaar listened with great attention to Thomas, and one prepared for them a native dinner with plantain leaf for dish, and fingers for knives and forks. Balasore—name of Krishna—was one of the first settlements of the English in North India in 1642, and there the American Baptist successors of Carey have since carried on his work. On the 11th November, after a five months' voyage, they landed at Calcutta unmolested. The first fortnight's experience ...
— The Life of William Carey • George Smith

... fire of hate, lighted if at all by Buddhism,[63] smouldered till Brahmanism, in the form of Hinduism, had begotten a religion as popular as Buddhism, or rather far more popular, and for two reasons. Buddhism had no such picturesque tales as those that enveloped with poetry the history of the man-god Krishna, Again, Buddhism in its monastic development had separated itself more and more from the people. Not mendicant monks, urging to a pure life, but opulent churches with fat priests; not simple discourses calculated to awaken the moral and religious consciousness, but subtle arguments on discipline ...
— The Religions of India - Handbooks On The History Of Religions, Volume 1, Edited By Morris Jastrow • Edward Washburn Hopkins

... great saints and sages. There is not a delegate present who is not able to show that the work of the Reform Forces is in accordance with the teachings of Christianity. I can also clearly show to you from the teachings of the Zendavesta, of the Koran, of Buddha, of Krishna, of Lord Gauranga, of Seyed, Mohammed Ali, and of Rama Krishna, that the spiritual thought of the Reform Forces is in accordance with those teachings. Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Gauranga, and Rama Krishna, were all the manifestation ...
— A California Girl • Edward Eldridge

... pure truths which were sung by the poet. The theme was Krishna, the lover god, and Radha, the beloved, the Eternal Man and the Eternal Woman, the sorrow that comes from the beginning of time, and the joy without end. The truth of these songs was tested in his inmost heart by everybody ...
— The Hungry Stones And Other Stories • Rabindranath Tagore

... countless generations of living creatures which, slowly differentiating themselves, slowly developing, have peopled this planet from that immeasurable past to the present hour. Love between man and woman must be forever young, even as Eros, Cupid, Krishna, are forever youthful gods. But mother-love is of necessity mature, majestic, ancient from the stamp of primal experience which ...
— The History of Sir Richard Calmady - A Romance • Lucas Malet

... road I am not unfaithful; In tents let my dwelling be! I am not longing for Peace or Passion From any one else but thee, My Krishna, ...
— Last Poems • Laurence Hope

... was a redeemer. Zoroaster was born of a virgin. Persephone descended into hell. Osiris rose from the dead. Gotama was tempted by the devil. Moses was transfigured. Elijah ascended into heaven. But in no belief is there a parallel for the crucifixion, although in Hindu legend, Krishna, a divinity whose mythical infancy a mythical prototype of Herod troubled, died, nailed by ...
— The Lords of the Ghostland - A History of the Ideal • Edgar Saltus

... read this wonderful and spirit-thrilling speech, By Krishna and Prince Arjun held, discoursing each with each; So have I writ its wisdom here,—its hidden mystery, For England; O our India! as dear ...
— The Bhagavad-Gita • Sir Edwin Arnold

... instead of a mediator, rather a votive offering to the wounded vanity of the great Jehovah? Was not Prometheus—a light broke in upon Hyzlo. Prometheus, a myth, Buddha a myth. All myths. There were other virgin-born saviours. Krishna, Mithra, Buddha. Vishnu had not one but nine incarnations. Christianity bears alarming resemblances to Mithraism. Mithra, too, was born in a cave. The dates of Christ's birth and death may be astronomical: the winter and vernal equinoxes. But the conflict of the ...
— Visionaries • James Huneker

... Hindus. This ancient city, which is mentioned both by Arrian and by Pliny, is the centre of a small district which is to the worshippers of Vishnu what Palestine is to Christians, and the Western part of Arabia is to the people of the Prophet. Here was born the celebrated Krishna, reported to be an incarnation of the Deity; here was his infant life sought by the tyrant Kans; hence he fled to Gujrat; returning when he came to man's estate, and partially adopting it as his residence after ...
— The Fall of the Moghul Empire of Hindustan • H. G. Keene

... to be hung in due season upon the wooden peg symbolical of his dead wife's spirit in the "devaghar," or gods' room, of his house. And he called thither also Rama the "Gondhali," master of occult ceremonies, Vishram, his disciple, and Krishna the "Bhagat" or medium, who is beloved of the ghosts of the departed and often bears their messages unto ...
— By-Ways of Bombay • S. M. Edwardes, C.V.O.

... the country he loved, and bear all the country that may be laid on him in her service. There can be no doubt that there must be salvation for a country which can count on sons as devoted as Gopal Krishna Gokhale. ...
— Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose - His Life and Speeches • Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose

... majestic arms adorn; Thou art the God who rules the sense And sways with gentle influence; Thou all-pervading Vishnu Lord Who wears the ever-conquering sword; Thou art the Guide who leads aright, Thou Krishna of unequalled might. Thy hand, O Lord, the hills and plains, And earth with all her life sustains; Thou wilt appear in serpent form When sinks the earth in fire and storm. Queen Sita of the lovely brows Is Lakshmi thy celestial spouse. To free the worlds ...
— The Ramayana • VALMIKI

... Krishna Bahadoor, a younger brother of the prime minister, an active and energetic officer. Any complaint of the peasantry is in the first instance brought to his notice, and referred by him to his brother, if his decision does not give satisfaction. His subordinates are a sirdar, ...
— A Journey to Katmandu • Laurence Oliphant

... Savior, Krishna, was born of a virgin 600 years before Christ. A star shone at his birth which took place in a cave. He was adored by cowherds who recognized his greatness, he performed miracles, was crucified, and is to ...
— The Necessity of Atheism • Dr. D.M. Brooks

... Mai Jiew, Only Living Disciple of the great Trailanga Swami Krishnananda with his Tame Lioness Group on the Dining Patio of my Guru's Serampore Hermitage Miss Bletch, Mr. Wright, and myself—in Egypt Rabindranath Tagore Swami Keshabananda, at his Hermitage in Brindaban Krishna, Ancient Prophet of India Mahatma Gandhi, at Wardha Giri Bala, the Woman Yogi Who Never Eats Mr. E. E. Dickinson My Guru and Myself Ranchi Students Encinitas Conference in San Francisco Swami Premananda ...
— Autobiography of a YOGI • Paramhansa Yogananda

... Indian fable Arjoon hears The scorn of a god rebuke his fears "Spare thy pity!" Krishna saith; "Not in thy sword is the power of death! All is illusion,—loss but seems; Pleasure and pain are only dreams; Who deems he slayeth doth not kill; Who counts as slain is living still. Strike, nor fear thy blow is crime; Nothing dies but the cheats of time; Slain or slayer, ...
— The Complete Works of Whittier - The Standard Library Edition with a linked Index • John Greenleaf Whittier



Words linked to "Krishna" :   Hare Krishna, avatar



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