Hindu

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Hindu

Krishna

The Divine Cowherd

Domain: Love, Wisdom & Dharma
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Element: Air
Relics of Power: Bamboo Flute

Speak with Krishna

The full Codex

5 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.

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The People

People

Hindu peoples

Region

Indian subcontinent

Period

c. 1500 BC – present

The Hindu deities have been worshipped for over three thousand years across the Indian subcontinent, from the Vedic hymns to the living Hinduism of today. Billions of devotees dedicate to them temples, festivals such as Diwali and Holi, and daily rituals in the home. It is one of the largest religious traditions still practiced in the world.

Diwali lights up India with oil lamps in honor of Lakshmi, and Holi celebrates spring with clouds of colored powder. At the Kumbh Mela, the largest pilgrimage on Earth, tens of millions bathe in the sacred rivers, and daily puja brings flowers, incense, and food to the altars.

At a glance

Krishna (Kṛṣṇa, universally loved under the exalted titles Govinda, Gopāla, Vāsudeva, and Pārthasārathi) is the eighth canonical avatar of Vishnu and the supreme deity of ecstatic devotion (bhakti) in Hinduism, venerated across multiple traditions as the absolute Supreme Being in personal form (Svayam Bhagavan). His sacred biography, expounded throughout the Harivamsha, the epic Mahabharata, and Book 10 of the Bhagavata Purana, encompasses contrasting and harmonious roles: the miraculous child in Gokula nurtured by foster parents Yashoda and Nanda, baffling the lethal plots of the tyrant King Kamsa; the pastoral youth in the forests of Vrindavan, whose bamboo flute (bansuri) enchanted cowherds and milkmaids (gopis) and who led the mystical circle dance of divine union (Rasa Lila); the protector who hoisted Mount Govardhana upon his little finger to shield his people from Indra's torrential wrath; the statesman and founder of the island citadel of Dvaraka; and the charioteer and philosophical master of Prince Arjuna at Kurukshetra, where he revealed the timeless wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita and unveiled his staggering cosmic form (Vishvarupa).

8 min read · Reviewed on September 28, 2026 · How we research

Sacred symbols

Flute, the blue skin, the peacock feather and the cow

Family

Parents

Vasudeva (prince of the noble Vrishni / Yadava clan)Devaki (royal princess of Mathura)Nanda and Yashoda (foster parents in Gokula)

Siblings

Balarama (elder brother, avatar of the serpent Shesha)Subhadra (sister married to Arjuna)

Krishna

Unions

Radha (supreme mystical consort and eternal soul of devotion in Vrindavan)Rukmini (principal queen consort in Dvaraka, incarnation of Lakshmi)Satyabhama (warrior queen of Dvaraka)

Children

Pradyumna (heroic firstborn son of Rukmini)Samba (son of Jambavati)

Genealogy according to Bhagavad Gita; Mahabharata (Udyoga, Bhishma e Mausala Parvas); Bhagavata Purana (Livro 10); Harivamsha (Vishnu Parva)

Sources and further reading

Primary sources

Veda Vyasa (attributed) / Arthur W. Ryder (trans.), The Bhagavad-Gita (Bhishma Parva, Chapters 25 to 42: The Song of the Lord). translation: Arthur W. Ryder, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1929. read
Veda Vyasa (attributed) / Kisari Mohan Ganguli (trans.), The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (Udyoga, Bhishma and Mausala Parvas). translation: Kisari Mohan Ganguli, Bharata Press, Calcutta, 1896. read
Vyasa (attributed) / Ganesh Vasudeo Tagare (trans.), The Bhagavata Purana (Book 10: The Life and Pastimes of Krishna). translation: Ancient Indian Tradition & Mythology, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1976. read
Vyasa (attributed) / Manmatha Nath Dutt (trans.), The Harivamsha Purana (Section II: Vishnu Parva). translation: Manmatha Nath Dutt, Elysium Press, Calcutta, 1897. read

Studies

Sir Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, Vaisnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious Systems. Karl J. Trübner, Strassburg, 1913. open
David R. Kinsley, The Sword and the Flute: Kali and Krsna, Dark Visions of the Terrible and the Sublime in Hindu Mythology. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1975. open
Heinrich Zimmer, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization (Edited by Joseph Campbell). Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1946. open
Alain Daniélou, The Myths and Gods of India: The Classic Work on Hindu Polytheism. Inner Traditions International, Rochester, 1991. open

Name and epithets

The Sanskrit name Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is primarily a descriptive adjective meaning black, dark, or dark-blue like rain-laden monsoon clouds that bring life to scorched soil.

In the ancient sources

Chandogya Upanishad (छांदोग्योपनिषद्), C. 8th–7th centuries BCE. Earliest surviving Vedic textual reference mentioning Krishna, son of Devaki (Kṛṣṇa Devakīputra), receiving instruction from sage Ghora Angirasa on the in…

The myths

The Stormy Night in Mathura and the Escape to Gokula. According to the accounts preserved in the Harivamsha and Book 10 of the Bhagavata Purana, a divine prophecy warned the cruel tyrant King Kamsa of Mathura that the e…

Worship and archaeology

The liturgical life dedicated to Krishna is defined by the cultivation of pure aesthetic and emotional love (prema-bhakti), viewing the divine as master, comrade, tender infant, or supreme beloved.

How the god was depicted

Classical Indian sculpture and painting codified in the Shilpa Shastras envision Krishna with captivating beauty and aristocratic poise.

What scholars debate

. Within modern Indology and religious studies, scholars have thoroughly researched the historical and composite formation of Krishna.

After antiquity

The cultural and philosophical influence of Krishna expanded globally across centuries. The Bhagavad Gita, first translated into English by Charles Wilkins in 1785, was celebrated by Western intellectuals such as Wilhel…

Did you know?

The Heliodorus Pillar erected in Besnagar (Madhya Pradesh) around 113 BCE by an ambassador from Indo-Greek king Antialcidas bears a Brahmi inscription dedicated to 'Deva-deva Vasudeva' (Krishna), demonstrating the early…

Codex relic

Bamboo Flute. A flute whose melody enchants all creation and calls souls back to divine love.

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