Krsna: Lord or Avatara?: The Relationship Between Krsna and VisnuThis is a study of three Sanskrit texts, the Harivamsa, the Visnupurana, and the Bhagavatabelonging to the puranic genre, the chief source of knowledge of the origins of popular Hinduism. It treats them as integrated compositions and displays the theological motives and creative skill which have gone into the making of them. It shows how all three texts contain narratives which present Krishna as one of several subordinate manifestations (avataras) of Vishnu. All three use much the same traditional material, yet each, by arranging this material in its own way, presents a distinctive view of Krishna, and the most influential of them, the Bhagavata , builds up a world view in which Krishna, not Vishnu, is supreme. |
Contents
1 | |
2 Epic evaluations of Kṛṣṇa | 23 |
3 Kṛṣṇa in the Harivaṃśa | 44 |
4 The allpervading Viṣṇu | 65 |
5 Kṛṣṇa in the Viṣṇupurāṇa | 89 |
6 The Bible of Kṛṣṇaism | 107 |
7 Kṛṣṇa in the Bhāgavatapurāṇa | 125 |
Common terms and phrases
ams'a appears Arjuna asuras avatara avatara list avatdm bhagavan Bhagavata bhakta Bharata Bhrigavata Biardeau birth boar Book Brahma Brahmanda brother celestial Chapter connection cosmic cosmos cowherd creation Daityas death descended described Devaki devotion dharma Dhruva divine Dvaraka earth earth’s burden episode figure finds first five form of Visnu gives gods gopi's Hari Harivams'a hearer Hiranyakasipu human identified identity Indra Kalanemi Kaliya Kamsa killed king Krsna Krsna and Visnu Krsna’s story Krsnacarita Lord Lord’s Mahabharata Maitreya manifestations manvantara Mathura Matsya mentioned myth Nanda Narada Narasimha Narayana narrative param Parasara Pariksit passages play pradurbhava Prahlada praise presented purana Purusa Rama reference reflecting regarded rsis sacrifice Samkarsana says seen significant Siva story of Krsna suggests Suka Supreme Reality teaching tells three texts traditional Uddhava universe Vaisampayana Vaisnava Vamana Varaha Vasudeva Vayu Vedas verses Visnu Visriu Vrndavana Vrsnis whole worship Yadavas Yasoda yogic yuge