Vasudeva-Krishna

Also called: Vasudeva · Topic: Early Indian Art and Architecture: Stupas, Rock-cut Caves, Temples · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 6 "The Age of Reorganisation"; Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings"

Meaning

Vasudeva-Krishna was a god first worshipped in the region around Mathura. Over the centuries his worship spread to other parts of India, and he came to be seen as a form (avatar) of Vishnu.

He matters because he is the clearest example of how Vaishnavism grew. A local god was not rejected. He was taken in as "another face" of Vishnu, and this helped tie many regional cults into one broad tradition.

Explanation

Background: the saviour idea and bhakti

• Buddhism had the Bodhisatta, a being who saves others. But the saviour idea was not unique to Buddhism.
• The same idea grew inside two Hindu traditions:
• Vaishnavism, where Vishnu is the principal deity.

• Shaivism, where Shiva is the chief god.

• In both, the devotee and the chosen deity were bound by bhakti (loving devotion to one god of your choice).

• Bhakti did not need a priest or a Vedic sacrifice, so it spread fast among ordinary people. Vasudeva-Krishna became one of the most loved gods of this devotion.

From local god to avatar of Vishnu

• Step 1: a regional cult. Vasudeva-Krishna was first worshipped around Mathura.
• Step 2: the avatar idea. Vaishnava worship gathered around the ten avatars. An avatar is a form the god takes when he comes down to earth. Vishnu takes a form to save the world whenever evil threatens to win.
• Step 3: absorbing local gods.
• Local deities were recognised as forms of Vishnu.
• So Vasudeva-Krishna was not a rival to Vishnu. He became one of Vishnu's forms.

• This unified the tradition across regions, and Krishna came to be worshipped all over the country.

• Step 4: a fixed place in the list. The standard list of ten avatars (dashavatara) includes Krishna: Matsya (fish), Kurma (tortoise), Varaha (boar), Narasimha (man-lion), Vamana (dwarf), Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki [3].

How the story reached everyone: texts and images

• Epic. Krishna is a central figure in the Mahabharata. Its Bhagavad Gita section presents his teaching on devotion and duty.
• Puranas. These were compiled by Brahmanas by about the mid-first millennium CE. They were written in simple Sanskrit verse and read aloud to everybody, including women and Shudras, who were excluded from Vedic learning. They carried the avatar stories, Krishna's among them, to ordinary listeners.
• Many voices. Puranic stories grew from interchange between priests, merchants and ordinary travellers, so local tales like those of a Mathura god could enter the written tradition.
• Images. Worshippers told gods apart by headdresses, ornaments, posture and ayudhas (weapons or auspicious objects held in the hands, such as the conch, discus, mace and lotus of Vishnu). The stories behind these clues lie in the Puranas.

Results

• One broad tradition out of many small ones. Taking in local gods like Vasudeva-Krishna built a Vaishnavism that reached across India.
• Wider worship. Bhakti and the Puranas opened worship to women and Shudras.
• New art and buildings. Avatar panels became a main theme of early temple art, as at the Dashavatara temple, Deogarh [2].

Time, place and evidence

• Place of origin: the Mathura region, in present-day Uttar Pradesh.
• Period: the growth of Vaishnavism and Puranic Hinduism, roughly c. 200 BCE – 700 CE. The spread was gradual, over centuries, and cannot be tied to one exact date.
• Inscriptional evidence: the Heliodorus pillar at Besnagar (near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh), usually dated to c. 2nd century BCE.
• It was put up by Heliodorus, a Greek envoy who called himself a Bhagavata (devotee of Bhagavat, that is, Vasudeva).
• It was set up as a Garuda pillar in honour of Vasudeva.

• It shows that the cult had spread beyond Mathura and drew even foreign followers.

• Textual evidence: the Mahabharata (with the Bhagavad Gita) and the Puranas, which were compiled by Brahmanas by about the mid-first millennium CE.

• Art and temple evidence: the Dashavatara temple at Deogarh (UP), NCERT date c. 5th century. It is named after the ten incarnations of Vishnu. It stands on the Betwa river and has one of the earliest surviving shikharas (tower over the shrine room). The Gupta temples of north India are on UNESCO's Tentative List [2].
• NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings"; Class 7, Ch 6 "The Age of Reorganisation".

Don't confuse with

• Vishnu: Vishnu is the principal deity of Vaishnavism. Vasudeva-Krishna began as a local Mathura god and was later recognised as one avatar of Vishnu.
• Bodhisatta: a Buddhist saviour figure. Vasudeva-Krishna is a Vaishnava saviour, worshipped through bhakti. The same saviour idea grew in both traditions.
• Shiva worship: Shiva was mainly worshipped through the linga (a plain upright stone shaft, a symbol) and only occasionally in human form. Krishna and the other Vishnu avatars appear in story-scenes in human or animal form.
• Varaha / Rama (other avatars): Varaha is the boar avatar, famous from the Aihole panel [4]. Krishna is a separate avatar in the dashavatara list [3]. Do not mix up which avatar appears at which site.

Prelims Hooks

• Vasudeva-Krishna cult began around Mathura, then spread all over the country.
• Local deities such as Vasudeva-Krishna were recognised as forms of Vishnu. This is the key unifying move of Vaishnavism.
• Krishna is one of the ten avatars (dashavatara) of Vishnu; the Buddha is also in the standard list [3].
• Heliodorus pillar, Besnagar (MP): a Greek envoy calls himself a Bhagavata and honours Vasudeva. It is early inscriptional proof of the cult.
• Puranas: compiled by Brahmanas, by about the mid-first millennium CE, in simple Sanskrit verse, and read aloud to women and Shudras too.
• Dashavatara temple, Deogarh (UP), c. 5th century (NCERT): named after Vishnu's ten incarnations; on the Betwa river [2].

Mains Points

• Absorption, not conflict. Vasudeva-Krishna shows how Brahmanical religion grew by taking in local gods.
• A Mathura deity became an avatar of Vishnu.

• Village and regional cults were joined into one broad Vaishnava tradition, without being rejected.

• Bhakti as an inclusive move. Devotion to a chosen god like Krishna needed no priest or sacrifice.

• The Puranas, in easy Sanskrit, carried these stories to women and Shudras, who were shut out of Vedic learning.

• Sacred knowledge was opened up to many more people.

• Continuity and change in Indian culture. The cult began as a local Mathura cult and became an all-India tradition.

• The Heliodorus pillar shows its early reach.
• Avatar panels in Gupta temples such as Deogarh show how this devotion shaped art and architecture [2].

Related concepts

• Puranic Hinduism
• Vaishnavism
• Avatar
• Dashavatara
• Varaha
• Shaivism
• Linga
• Garbhagriha
• Antarala
• Shikhara

Read more

• Puranic Hinduism and the first temples