Krishna
Speak with Krishna →Also known as: Govinda · Madhava · Kanha · Vasudeva · Mukunda
Krishna is the eighth avatar of Vishnu — the divine cowherd, the lover, the strategist, and the speaker of the Bhagavad Gita.
Tradition
Vaishnavism / Vedic / Puranic
Domain
Love · Dharma · Divine Play (lila) · Strategy · Music
Vahana
Garuda (as Vishnu)
Sacred day
Wednesday
Sacred colors
Blue, Yellow, Peacock green
Number of arms (typical)
2
Weapons / attributes
Sudarshana Chakra, Kaumodaki gada, Panchajanya conch
Consort
Rukmini, Satyabhama, Radha (devotional)
Parents
Vasudeva / Nanda (foster) & Devaki / Yashoda (foster)
The story
Born in a prison cell at midnight to Devaki and Vasudeva while the tyrant Kamsa awaited his prophesied death at his nephew's hand, Krishna was secretly carried across the flooded Yamuna to the cowherd village of Vrindavan, where he grew up among the gopas and gopis. His childhood is the Bal Lila — stealing butter, lifting Mount Govardhan as an umbrella to shelter the village from Indra's rains, dancing the rasa-lila with the gopis on full-moon nights — each act demonstrating the divine playing within ordinary life. As an adult, he became Arjuna's charioteer at Kurukshetra and, on the eve of battle, delivered the Bhagavad Gita — eighteen chapters distilling the paths of action, devotion, and knowledge into a single, integrated dharma. Krishna's teaching that the divine performs all action while the self merely observes is the heart of Vaishnava and broader Hindu thought.
Iconography
Dark-blue or black skinned youth playing the bansuri (bamboo flute); peacock feather in his hair; yellow silk garment; cowherd setting in childhood; charioteer in the Bhagavad Gita.
Mantras
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya
Salutations to the Lord, son of Vasudeva — the twelve-syllable mantra (Dwadashakshari).
Recommended count: 108
हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे। हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे॥
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
The Maha Mantra — invoking the divine through the names Krishna and Rama. Particularly central to the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition.
Festivals
Janmashtami
Bhadrapada Krishna Ashtami (Aug-Sep)
Krishna's midnight birth celebrated with fasting, kirtan, and Dahi Handi (breaking pots of curd hung high — a re-enactment of his butter-stealing childhood).
Govardhan Puja
Kartika Shukla Pratipada (Oct-Nov)
Day after Diwali; celebrates Krishna lifting Mount Govardhan to shelter Vrindavan from Indra's wrath.
Recommended practices
- Read one chapter of the Bhagavad Gita daily; full reading every 18 days.
- Offer butter and curd on Wednesdays for Mercury-related issues.
- Wear a Tulasi mala consecrated at a Krishna temple.
Scriptural references
- · Bhagavad Gita
- · Bhagavata Purana — books 10 & 11
- · Mahabharata
- · Harivamsa