f one Kanha who
became a great sage. This person may be the Krishna of the Rig
Veda, but there is no proof that he is the same as our Krishna.
The Ghata-Jataka (No. 454) gives an account of Krishna's childhood
and subsequent exploits which in many points corresponds with the
Brahmanic legends of his life and contains several familiar incidents
and names, such as Vasudeva, Baladeva, Kamsa. Yet it presents many
peculiarities and is either an independent version or a
misrepresentation of a popular story that had wandered far from its
home. Jain tradition also shows that these tales were popular and were
worked up into different forms, for the Jains have an elaborate system
of ancient patriarchs which includes Vasudevas and Baladevas.
Krishna is the ninth of the Black Vasudevas[373] and is connected
with Dvaravati or Dvaraka. He will become the twelfth tirthankara of
the next world-period and a similar position will be attained by
Devaki, Rohini, Baladeva and Javakumara, all members of his family.
This is a striking proof of the popularity of the Krishna legend
outside the Brahmanic religion.
No references to Krishna except the above have been found in the
earlier Upanishads and Sutras. He is not mentioned in Manu but in one
aspect or another he is the principal figure in the Mahabharata, yet
not exactly the hero. The Ramayana would have no plot without Rama,
but the story of the Mahabharata would not lose its unity if Krishna
were omitted. He takes the side of the Pandavas, and is sometimes a
chief sometimes a god but he is not essential to the action of the
epic.
The legend represents him as the son of Vasudeva, who belonged to the
Sattvata sept[374] of the Yadava tribe, and of his wife Devaki. It had
been predicted to Kamsa, king of Mathura (Muttra), that one of her
sons would kill him. He therefore slew her first six children: the
seventh, Balarama, who is often counted as an incarnation of Vishnu,
was transferred by divine intervention to the womb of Rohini.
Krishna, the eighth, escaped by more natural methods. His father was
able to give him into the charge of Nanda, a herdsman, and his wife
Yasoda who brought him up at Gokula and Vrindavana. Here his youth was
passed in sporting with the Gopis or milk-maids, of whom he is said to
have married a thousand. He had time, however, to perform acts of
heroism, and after killing Kamsa, he transported the inhabitants of
Mathura to the city of Dvaraka which he had built
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