Arguably one of the most popular gods in the Hindu Culture, Lord Krishna is the eighth avatar of the god Vishnu. Though often known for his mischievous theatrics as butter thief and as the charioteer guide of Arjun in Mahabharat, the god of compassion, tenderness, love is one of the most worshipped gods among Indian divinities. Krishna’s birthday is celebrated every year by Hindus on Krishna Janmashtami which falls in late August or early September of the Gregorian calendar. He is also a central character in the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata Purana and the Bhagavad Gita, and is mentioned in many Hindu philosophical, theological, and mythological texts. Throughout the years, there have been several portrayals of Lord Krishna, He has been portrayed as a god-child, a prankster, a model lover, a divine hero, and as the universal supreme being. In this article, we will be taking a look at some of the fascinating and unknown facts you might have not known about this popular Hindu God
Unknown Facts about Lord Krishna
- The name of Lord Krishna is basically an adjective, which means ‘black’ or ‘dark,’ another popular translation of the name is ‘all attractive’.
- Lord Krishna is a god of many names, it is said that he has 108 names among which the famous ones are Gopal, Govind, Devakinandan, Mohan, Shyam, Ghanshyam, Hari, Girdhari, Baanke Bihari to name a few.
- Shri Krishna was born as the eighth son of Devaki and Vasudeva in Rohini Nakshatra.
- Lord Krishna had 16,108 wives in total, out of which eight were his principal wives. It is believed that once lord Krishna rescued 16,100 women from the clutches of a demon Narakasura who had forcibly kept them in captivity in his palace. However, they all returned to Lord Krishna as none of their families were ready to accept them back and so he married them all to protect their honour.
- According to Bhagavata Purana, Lord Krishna advised people of Brindavan to worship the Govardhan Hill instead of Indra as it brings the rain for agriculture. This made God Indra furious, and he sent out a terrible storm in Brindavan but Lord Krishna rescued the people by lifting the Govardhan Hill and using it as an umbrella to protect the villagers.
- Lord Krishna is also the part of Jain religion. He is represented as one the Triads, named Vasudeva (heroic figure).
- It is believed that Lord Krishna and Draupadi were brothers and sisters. And that Draupadi was born to assist Lord Krishna to destroy the sinful kings. Draupadi is the incarnation of Goddess Parvati and Krishna is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who is the brother of Goddess Parvati.
- Despite the popularity of Radha Krishna love tale, there are no traces of the existence of Radha in Shrimad Bhagavatam or Mahabharata or the Harivansham, which is about the life of Lord Krishna.
- It is believed that there were a number of curses that contributed to the death of Lord Krishna. Some of the curses include Gandhari’s curse on Krishna, which was that he and his clan will vanish in 36 years. Whereas, Sage Durvasa, cursed Lord Krishna when he was enraged of the fact that Krishna did not apply Kheer on his feet. Sage Durvasa cursed Lord Krishna saying he will die by his foot.
- Despite being portrayed in the scriptures and ancient paintings as blue in color, Lord Krishna was dark, though due to his magnetic aura which had blue hues, he was depicted and mentioned as a god with blue skin.
- In Vaibhav Jataka, Lord Krishna is mentioned as the prince of India who beheads his evil uncle Kansa and proves himself legendary by killing all the kings to rule over Jambudiva.
- Krishna granted a boon to Eklavya to be reincarnated so as to seek revenge on Dronacharya, who chopped off his thumb. Eklavya was reincarnated as Dhrishtadyumna who stepped out of the yajna fire for the sole purpose of killing Dronacharya.
- Taking the Radha-Krishna relationship as the basis, in Indian court it has argued that the premarital sex cannot be regarded as an offense.
- Lord Krishna is so powerful that he even brought the dead son of his Guru Sandipani as a way of paying Gurudakshina to Sandipani.
- In the earlier avatar, Lord Rama killed Bali, and he assured Tara (Bali’s widow) that Bali would be able to take revenge in his next birth. Bali was reborn as Jara, and he ended the life of Krishna on earth with a simple arrow. This was the curse of Gandhari.
- Krishna had 80 sons who were born from eight queens, with each queen giving birth to 10 sons. Pradyumna was the most famous among them, he as the son of Rukmini; Samba, the son of Jambavati who had been cursed by sages and became the reason that Yadu clan got destroyed. Shri Krishna had done the penance to Lord Shiva to obtain the son like him.
- When Krishna narrated the Bhagavad Gita, it was not just Arjuna who heard it; Hanuman and Sanjaya also heard the story. Throughout the battle of Kurukshetra, Hanuman was on the top of Arjuna’s chariot, and Veda Vyasa blessed Sanjaya with a divine vision so that he can narrate the events of battle to Dhritarashtra.
- Sudarshan Chakra is perhaps Shri Krishna’s most favourite weapon. He used it to kill Shishupala and also used it to create the illusion of sunset when he killed Jayadratha.
- In the event of Ras Leela, Shri Krishna danced with the Gopis, and it was such that each Gopis thought that she was dancing with the Lord alone
- Lord Krishna is actually related to the Pandavas from the maternal side. It is said that Kunti, the mother of the Pandava princes, was the sister of Vasudev; Krishna’s father.
- Krishna was killed by an arrow from the hunter Jara, who mistook Krishna’s feet to be the body of a deer. Krishna was resting in the forest during this time, where he had gone to observe penance.
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