Krishnaism


Krishnaism, or Kṛṣṇaism, is an Hindu tradition related to Vaishnavism, but centering on the devotion to Krishna as the Absolute, the ultimate reality and the source of all reality.
Krishnaism originated in the late centuries BCE from the followers of the heroic Vāsudeva Krishna, which amalgamated several centuries later, in the early centuries CE, with the worshipers of the "divine child" Bala Krishna and the Gopala-Krishna traditions. It is closely related to, and find its origin in, Bhagavatism.
Krishnaism is a non-Vedic tradition in origin, but it further developed its appeal towards orthodox believers through the syncretism of these traditions with the Mahabharata epic. In particular Krishnaism incorporated more or less superficially the Vedic supreme deity Vishnu, who appears in the Rigveda. Krishnaism further becomes associated with bhakti yoga in the Medieval period.
The central text of Krishnaism is the Bhagavad Gita.

History

Krishnaism originates in the early centuries CE, arising from an amalgamation of the heroic Vāsudeva Krishna, the "divine child" Bala Krishna and the Gopala traditions, and syncretism of these non-Vedic traditions with the Mahabharata canon, thus affiliating itself with Vedism in order to become acceptable to the orthodox establishment. Krishnaism becomes associated with bhakti yoga in the medieval period.

Origins

Northern India

Early Krishnaism started with the cult of the heroic Vāsudeva Krishna, which, several centuries later, was amalgamated with the cult of the "divine child" Bala Krishna and the Gopala traditions. While Vishnu is attested already in the Rigveda, the development of Krishnaism appears to take place via the worship of Vasudeva in the final centuries BCE. This earliest phase was established the time of Pāṇini who, in his Astadhyayi, explained the word vasudevaka as a bhakta of Vasudeva. At that time, Vāsudeva was already considered as a demi-God, as he appears in Pāṇini's writings in conjunction with Arjuna as an object of worship, since Pāṇini explains that a vāsudevaka is a devotee of Vāsudeva.
A sect which flourished with the decline of Vedism was centred on Krishna, the deified tribal hero and religious leader of the Yadavas. Worship of Krishna, the deified tribal hero and religious leader of the Yadavas, took sectarian form as the Pancaratra and earlier as Bhagavata religions. This sect has at a later stage merged with the sect of Narayana.
The character of Gopala Krishna is often considered to be non-Vedic.
By the time of its incorporation into the Mahabharata canon during the early centuries CE, Krishnaism began to affiliate itself with Vedism in order to become acceptable to orthodoxy, in particular aligning itself with Rigvedic Vishnu. At this stage that Vishnu of the Rig Veda was assimilated into Krishnaism and became the equivalent of the Supreme God. The appearance of Krishna as one of the Avatars of Vishnu dates to the period of the Sanskrit epics in the early centuries CE. The Bhagavad Gita was incorporated into the Mahabharata as a key text for Krishnaism.

Southern India

According to Hardy, there is evidence of early "southern Krishnaism," despite the tendency to allocate the Krishna-traditions to the Northern traditions. South Indian texts show close parallel with the Sanskrit traditions of Krishna and his gopi companions, so ubiquitous in later North Indian text and imagery. Early writings in Dravidian culture such as Manimekalai and the Cilappatikaram present Krishna, his brother, and favourite female companions in the similar terms. Hardy argues that the Sanskrit Bhagavata Purana is essentially a Sanskrit "translation" of the bhakti of the Tamil alvars.
Devotion to southern Indian Mal may be an early form of Krishnaism, since Mal appears as a divine figure, largely like Krishna with some elements of Vishnu. The Alvars, whose name can be translated "sages" or "saints", were devotees of Mal. Their poems show a pronounced orientation to the Vaishnava, and often Krishna, side of Mal. But they do not make the distinction between Krishna and Vishnu on the basis of the concept of the Avatars. Yet, according to Hardy the term "Mayonism" should be used instead of "Krishnaism" when referring to Mal or Mayon.

Early medieval traditions

By the Early Medieval period, Krishnaism had risen to a major current of Vaishnavism.
Vaishnavism in the 8th century came into contact with the Advaita doctrine of Adi Shankara. Vasudeva has been interpreted by Adi Shankara, using the earlier Vishnu Purana as a support, as meaning the "supreme self" or Vishnu, dwelling everywhere and in all things, although many other schools of Hindu philosophy have a different interpretation of this key concept. There were counter-movements in South India to Shankara's theory of Brahman in particular, Ramanuja in the 11th century and Madhva in the 13th, building on the devotional tradition of the Alvars.
The Bhakti movement of late medieval Hinduism emerges in the 9th or 10th century, and is based on the Bhagavata Purana.
In North India, Krishnaism gave rise to various late Medieval movements: Nimbarka and Ramananda in the 14th century, Kabir and Sankaradeva in the 15th and Vallabha and Caitanya in the 16th.
Historically, it was Caitanya Mahaprabhu who founded congregational chanting of holy names of Krishna in the early 16th century after becoming a sannyasi.

Modern traditions

The cult of Krishna later evolved in modern times to form the Hare Krishna Mouvement, founded by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Beliefs

Vishnuism and Krishnaism

The term "Krishnaism" has been used to describe the sects focused on Krishna, while "Vishnuism" may be used for sects focusing on Vishnu in which Krishna is an Avatar, rather than a transcended Supreme Being. Vishnuism believes in Vishnu as the supreme being, manifested himself as Krishna, while Krishnaism accepts Krishna to be Svayam bhagavan or "authentic", that manifested himself as Vishnu. As such Krishnaism is believed to be one of the early attempts to make philosophical Hinduism appealing to the masses. In common language the term Krishnaism is not often used, as many prefer a wider term "Vaishnavism", which appeared to relate to Vishnu, more specifically as Vishnu-ism.
Krishnaismt is often also called Bhagavatism, after the Bhagavata Purana which asserts that Krishna is "Bhagavan Himself," and subordinates to itself all other forms: Vishnu, Narayana, Purusha, Ishvara, Hari, Vasudeva, Janardana, etc.

Krishna

Vaishnavism is a monotheistic religion, centered on the devotion of Vishnu and his avatars. It is sometimes described as a"polymorphic monotheism", since there are many forms of one original deity, with Vishnu taking many forms. In Krishnaism this deity is Krishna, sometimes referred as intimate deity - as compared with the numerous four-armed forms of Narayana or Vishnu.
Krishna is also worshiped across many other traditions of Hinduism. Krishna is often described as having the appearance of a dark-skinned person and is depicted as a young cowherd boy playing a flute or as a youthful prince giving philosophical direction and guidance, as in the Bhagavad Gita.
Krishna and the stories associated with him appear across a broad spectrum of different Hindu philosophical and theological traditions, where it is believed that God appears to his devoted worshippers in many different forms, depending on their particular desires. These forms include the different avataras of Krishna described in traditional Vaishnava texts, but they are not limited to these. Indeed, it is said that the different expansions of the Svayam bhagavan are uncountable and they cannot be fully described in the finite scriptures of any one religious community. Many of the Hindu scriptures sometimes differ in details reflecting the concerns of a particular tradition, while some core features of the view on Krishna are shared by all.

Scriptures

Common scriptures

While every tradition of Krishnaism has its own canon, in all Krishna is accepted as a teacher of the path in the scriptures Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata Purana.
As Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, establishing the basis of Krishnaism himself:
In Gaudiya Vaishnava, Vallabha Sampradaya, Nimbarka sampradaya and the old Bhagavat school, Krishna is believed to be fully represented in his original form in the Bhagavata Purana, that at the end of the list of avataras concludes with the following assertion:
Not all commentators on the Bhagavata Purana stress this verse, however a majority of Krishna-centered and contemporary commentaries highlight this verse as a significant statement. Jiva Goswami has called it Paribhasa-sutra, the "thesis statement" upon which the entire book or even theology is based.
In another place of the Bhagavata Purana those who are named as wives of Krishna all explain to Uraupadi how the 'Lord himself' came to marry them. As they relate these episodes, several of the wives speak of themselves as Krishna's devotees. In the tenth canto the Bhagavata Purana describes svayam bhagavans Krishna's childhood pastimes as that of a much-loved child raised by cowherds in Vrindavan, near to the Yamuna River. The young Krishna enjoys numerous pleasures, such as thieving balls of butter or playing in the forest with his cowherd friends. He also endures episodes of carefree bravery protecting the town from demons. More importantly, however, he steals the hearts of the cowherd girls. Through his magical ways, he multiplies himself to give each the attention needed to allow her to be so much in love with Krishna that she feels at one with him and only desires to serve him. This love, represented by the grief they feel when Krishna is called away on a heroic mission and their intense longing for him, is presented as models of the way of extreme devotion to the Supreme Lord.

Sectarian scriptures

Varkari movement

In the Varkari movement the following scriptures are considered sacred in addition to general body of the common writing:

Holy places

is often considered to be a holy place by majority of traditions of Krishnaism. It's a center of Krishna worship and the area includes places like Govardhana and Gokula associated with Krishna from time immemorial. Many millions of bhaktas or devotees of Krishna visit these places of pilgrimage every year and participate in a number of festivals that relate to the scenes from Krishna's life on Earth.
On the other hand, Goloka is considered the eternal abode of Krishna, Svayam bhagavan according to some Vaishnava schools, including Gaudiya Vaishnavism and the Swaminarayan Sampraday. The scriptural basis for this is taken in Brahma Samhita and Bhagavata Purana.

Traditions

Vishnu worship
Krishna as an avatar
Radha Krishna traditions

Krishna worship
alone without Radha
Mixed modes traditions
Krishna worship as Ishta-deva
South Indian traditions
Krishnaism has a limited following outside of India, especially associated with 1960s counter-culture, including a number of celebrity followers, such as George Harrison, due to its promulgation throughout the world by the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Krishnaism and Christianity

Debaters have often alleged a number of parallels between Krishnaism and Christianity, originating with Kersey Graves' The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors claiming 346 parallels between Krishna and Jesus, theorizing that Christianity emerged as a result of an import of pagan concepts upon Judaism. Some 19th- to early 20th-century scholars writing on Jesus Christ in comparative mythology even sought to derive both traditions from a common predecessor religion.