• Puranic World Picture
• Krishna and Dionysos Compared

Puranic world picture

Having attained certainty as to the real purport of the Veda, and gained direct knowledge by experience, you will be supremely content in the realization of the Self, and then . . . you will no longer be frustrated by obstacles. There [will be] peace in [your] heart and goodwill. [Srimad Bhagavatam, Book 11, Chap. 7 (Raghunathan 1976)]

The Puranic world picture is that the earth, Bhurloka, is the level of existence where humankind lives at the centre of a cosmic egg.

The holy mountain Meru rises in the centre also. It is wider at its top than at its base. There is no mountain that is like that - but Meru is "the calyx of the lotus flower that is this world", the old story goes. What is more, "Vishnu's navel-lotus here becomes the earth itself, Mt. Meru its central seed-cup, and the surround lands its petals." [Dimmitt and van Buitenen 1978, 27; 30].

These may be viewed as pictorial, delicately symbolic teachings.

Krishna, a Summing-Up

Krishna in Sanskrit literature may well contain elements of a historical personality, but from what has come down to us he is regarded as mythical character:

First, in the first version of the ancient epic Mahabharata he is portrayed as a young prince and warrior, a model of courage, determination and selfless action. Krishna appears in the oldest form of the text too. And: "The origins of the epic probably fall between the 8th and 9th centuries BCE. The text probably reached its final form by the early Gupta period (c. 4th century CE). According to the Mahabharata itself, the tale is extended from a shorter version of 24,000 verses called simply Bharata." (WP, "Mahabharata")

Second, in a later works, notably the Bhagavata Purana, there are stories of his childhood and youth. The Purana hold he was born in the city of Mathura (south of New Delhi), and then grew up among shepherds in the woods of Vrindavan.

As a small child Krishna was full of pranks, and at the same time showed his mettle by subjugating various demonic beings. Devotion (bhakti) to Krishna in the form of a divine child is central in the religious life of very many Hindus. As a young man Krishna won the hearts of the shepherds' daughters and wives (gopis, dairy maids, dairy women). They left their homes in the village to dance with Krishna in the forest on moonlit nights, lured by the notes of Krishna's flute, but their husbands not . . . Krishna's relation to his chosen lover, Radha, is often depicted in erotic pictures, and taken to symbolise union with God.

Third, Krishna in general is a symbol of divine love and beauty, and his close association with cattle is good for Indian cows still. He has inspired numerous poets and artists and is celebrated with great festivals and plays.

Fourth, Krishna is vital to the Hindu tradition since the teaching poems of Bhagavadgita and Uddhava Gita are put in his mouth.

[Main source: Per Kværne's article "Krishna" in Store norske leksikon, SNL]

"Black, black-blue, dark, dark blue, blue" and with a Harem

In Vishnuvism, Krishna is worshipped as the Supreme Being descending into a human form. Krishna as a manifestation of the supreme deity is also thought to be God Vishnu descended into human form. Vishnu stands for Narayana (Brahman) or God Vishnu, and both in different ancient teachings.

'Krishna' in Sanskrit has many meanings, including "black, black-blue, dark, dark blue and blue". On that basis he is at times depicted as black and blue. Professors Dimmitt and van Buitenen explain the word 'krishna' as "black", but there are other options too, as "black-blue, dark, dark blue, blue", and they are expressed in depictions of him as well. In some he is blue - [Dimmitt and van Buitenen 1978, 101; [◦A wider range of meanings]

Krishna was at a gathering where a wife of five princes was stripped by a king. Krishna helped her, and swore to revenge her. As a result, the warrior caste in ancient Hindustan was wiped out in a horrible war.

In the Mahabharata, after the terrible war, an old woman accused Krishna of being behind it, since he did not stop it.

Thus, in the ancient lore, Krishna lets dynasties go into battle and giant annihilations followed - After the war, Krishna welcomed the idea that his own dynasty was wiped out. [Dimmitt and van Buitenen 1978, 102-5]

He also let his look-alike Uddhava learn another teaching poem, the Uddhava Gita. Krishna himself was later shot dead by a hunter who mistook his moving foot for a lurking deer.

The few friends he had left after the war, felt empty, and then started for Himalaya to die there, the last chapters of the Mahabharata tell. [Why it is good to know]

~ೞ⬯ೞ~

Krishna and Dionysos Compared

An ancient reference that the Dionysos cult reached India

The Latin writer Ovid (43 BC - AD 17) writes in his Metamorphoses that the god Dionysos (later Bacchus) appears both with and without horns. Quote:

He has conquered the East as far as the land where swarthy India is watered by remote Ganges' stream" (Ovid 1955, 94; Compare Metamorphoses, chap. 4, par. 2)

He describes the virile Bacchus cult in several places, such as this one:

Wherever you go, young men's voices are raised in cheering, and women's voices join in the chorus ... hollow cymbals clash to the sound of the ... flute's shrill pipe.

The Theban women offered up their prayer to Bacchus, saying: "May your gracious and gentle presence be with us now!" (Ovid 1955, 95)

Ovid writes that the Dionysos cult reached India. In India many writers composed books that became the sources of one of the greatest changeling stories: The Bhagavatam. The changeling was Krishna.

There are orgies in the woods, and he blows his flute and brings rapture too.

Besides, like Achilles, Krishna has the heel as his week spot too.

Danish Leo Hjortsoe takes us into the ritual ecstasy of Bacchus in a book on Greek gods and heros. The pre-Greek wine-god seems to be a glad giver, like Krishna, in a dreamlike or quite unreal peace, often worshipped by ecstatic dance. It is told that Dionysos came from Mediterranean islands where vines were cultivated. He represents calm in the midst of anger, but not only that. (Hjortsø 1984, 78-85)

What this amounts to is a little comparison.