a very few tales are told of Krishna's
early life, but the simple original view of Krishna is that he is a
god, the son of Devak[=i]. The few other tales are late and
adventitious additions, but this is a consistent trait. Modern writers
are fain to see in the antithesis presented by the god Krishna and by
the human hero Krishna, late and early phases. They forget that the
lower side of Krishna is one especially Puranic. In short, they read
history backwards, for theirs is not the Indic way of dealing with
gods. In Krishna's case the tricky, vulgar, human side is a later
aspect, which comes to light most prominently in the Genealogy of
Vishnu and in the Vishnu Pur[=a]na, modern works which in this regard
contrast strongly with the older epic, where Krishna, however he
tricks, is always first the god. It is not till he becomes a very
great, if not the greatest, god that tales about his youthful
performances, when he condescended to be born in low life, begin to
rise. An exact parallel may be seen in the case of Civa, who at first
is a divine character, assuming a more or less grotesque likeness to a
man; but subsequently he becomes anthropomorphized, and is fitted out
with a sheaf of legends which describe his earthly acts.[87] And so
with Krishna. As the chief god, identified with the All-god, he is
later made the object of encomiums which degrade while they are meant
to exalt him. He becomes a cow-boy and acts like one, a god in a mask.
But in the epic he is the invading tribe's chief god, in process of
becoming identified with that god in the Brahmanic pantheon who most
resembles him. For this tribe, the (Yadavas) P[=a]ndavas, succeeded in
overthrowing the Brahmanic stronghold and became absorbed into the
Brahmanic circle. Their god, who, like most of the supreme gods of
this region among the wild tribes, was the tribal hero as sun-god,
became recognized by the priests as one with Vishnu. In the Upanishad
the priest-philosopher identifies Krishna with the sun as the 'dark
side' (_k[r.][s.][n.]a_, 'dark') of Vishnu, the native name probably
being near enough to the Sanskrit word to be represented by it. The
statement that this clan-god Krishna once learned the great truth that
the sun is the All-god, at the mouth of a Brahman, is what might be
expected. 'Krishna, the son of Devaki,' is not only the god, but he is
also the progenitor of the clan, the mystic forefather, who as usual
is deified as the sun. To the priest he