Krishna

This nama is one of the most familiar nama of Sri Vishnu. It has several meanings.

a) One who is always in a state of Bliss (withHis sport of creation etc.).

b) The Dark-hued.

c) He who irresistibly attracts His devotees to Him through His infinite kalyANaguNa-s.

d) He who cultivates the Earth like a plough and makes it suitable for lifeforms to form and
nourish.

e) He who appeared as veda vyAsa or kRshNa dvaipAyana.

f) He who cultivates the minds of devotees by providing the veda-s in His incarnation as kRshNa
dvaipAyana.

g) The Dark, Mysterious, and Unknowable except by deep devotion.

In Vishnu Sahasranamam it occurs as 58th & 554th namam.

a) One who is always in a state of Bliss (withHis sport of creation etc.).

The first interpretation is supported by Sri Sankararacharyar, from the following verse in
MahAbhArata

kirbhvcaka abdo aca nirvti vcaka

viustadbhvayogcca ko bhavati vata

- (MB Udyogaparva 5.68.5)

iti vysavacant saccidanandtmaka ka

Approximately translated, this says: kriShi means bhU, Na means nirvrtti or happiness and bliss,
and BhagavAn Vishnu is called KrShNa because He is the union of these two.

Thus Sri Sankaracharyar interprets the name to mean that He is the union of existence and
bliss.

Sri Bhattar says that krShNa here means the receptacle of extreme joy because of His constant
sport of creation etc. referred to in the previous nAma.

SrI v.v. rAmAnujan observes that unlike in rAma incarnation where bhagavAn went through
enormous difficulties - nATTilpiRandu paDAdana paTTu - nammAzhvAr tiruvAimozhi 7.5.2, in
kRshNa incarnation it was "inbuRum iv-viLaiyATTuDaiyAnaip peRRu (tiruvAimozhi
3.10.7)","kanRinai vAlOlai kaTTi (periAzhvAr tirumozhi 2.4.8)", etc.

[159]

Meaning: You tied a palm leaf to a calfs tail, then threw a calf (an Asura in disguise) against a
tree felling its fruits. You ran after a snake (Kaliyan), grabbed and shook its tail, and danced on
its hood (Kalinga Nardhanam). O Lord, I am no match for you, as today is your auspicious
birthday, O Narayana, do not run away. Come, you must have your bath.

Anotheranubhavam of SrI v.v. rAmAnujan is that bhagavAn is laughing at us mockingly,seeing

that we are not putting to good use the hands and legs and all the indriya-s He gave us to help
us attain Him, but instead we are misusing these and getting into the cycle of birth and rebirth.

b) The Dark-hued.

The second interpretation also has its support in the MahAbhArata -

kmi pthiv prtha bhtv kryaso hala

ko varaca yasmt tasmt koSham arjuna

- Mahabharata, SAnti parva 342.79.

Note the words krshAmi, kArshaNa, and krshNa in the above. Each of these words leads
to a new and different interpretation of the meaning of the nAma here.

The meaning of the first line in the above sloka is "When the earth becomes shelled by
its hard crust, I shall turn myself into an iron plough-share (black-coloured), and shall
plough the earth." The name krshNa can arise out of the fact that He is doing the act
denoted by the word "krshAmi". Sri Chinmaya beautifully points out that this
"ploughing" refers to His ploughing all the stupidities in His devotees and preparing the
heart-field, weeding out all the poisonous growth of sin, and cultivating therein pure
Bliss.

The second part of the verse means "O Arjuna! Because of my dark complexion, I am
called KrshNa". The dark complexion referred to above could be because He is the (dark
colored) iron plough, or because He is dark complexioned like the water-bearing cloud.
Either way, because of His dark complexion, He is called krshNa.

Notice that the dark complexion is associated with "kAr mugil vaNNan" or "nIla megha
syAmalan" - One who has the color of the rain cloud loaded with His limitless mercy.

Under the current nAma, SrI ParASara BhaTTar gives one more of his anubhava-s of this
nAma, and indicates that the Suddhasattva material which His body is made of has a
fascinating complexion dark like the blue cloud. One of the grammar rules (uNAdi sutra
3.4) states that when the root kRsh - to plough is followed by affix nak, it means one of
the colors -kRsher varNe. It is interesting to note that one name for grapes is kRshNA
because of this connotation of color. So also, iron is called kRshNA because of its black
color. This latter meaning is used to explain the significance of bhagavAn's nAma as
kRshNa in mahAbhArata SAnti parva 143.49 -

kmi medinm prtha! bhtv kyasomahn

ko varaca me yasmt tena ko'ha arjuna

This is a slight variation of the Sloka als uoted from mahAbhArata under the explanation
given under nAma 58. The two Sloka-sare too similar to each other to suggest that
these are variants of the same reference. I do not have the original version of
mahAbhArata to check the authenticity of the references.
Sri Chinmaya points out that the inner meaning behind the "dark" complexion is that
BhagavAn is not easily recognized (i.e., He is veiled behind some darkness) by those who
aspire to reach Him except through single-minded devotion.

In support of interpretation (b), SrI v.v.rAmAnujan gives references to the following:

kaNNan enum karum daivam (nAcciyArtirumozhi 3.1), kariyAn oru kALai (tirumozhi 3.7.),
etc.

c) He who irresistibly attracts His devotees to Him through His infinite kalyANaguNa-s.

saundarya sratay sarvalokakarat ka

niyamandin karacca ka

sasrnmukti prati karacca

tama pratikaracca ka

cakuaiva kauravasenay yu karacca ka

He attracts people by his saundaryam i.e beauty ( of divya mangala vigraha ) and also by
his infinitive good characteristics ( kalyaana guna ).

He irresistibly attracts his devotees, so called Krishna.

Dragging away the devotees from samsaara and dragging devotees towards mukti so he is
called Krishna.
Pulling out the tamas ( ignorance ) from from his devotees. So called Krishna.

He is called Krishna because, he taken the life of kaurava sena by his mere sight.

SrI kRshNa dattabhAradvAj gives the following explanation along the lines of interpretation :

karshati bhagavAn AtmAnam prati vayovarNa rUpaa lAvaNya madhurI rasotkarsheNaiti

kRshNah, or kRshate AtmAnam prati bhaktAn sa-soundaryeNa iti kRshNah,

basedon (kRsha vilekhanam AkarshNam ca). SrI satyadevo vAsishTha and others this
interpretation along with the other two.

d) He who cultivates the Earth like a plough and makes it suitable for lifeforms to form and
nourish.

It's already explained previously.

e) He who appeared as veda vyAsa or kRshNa dvaipAyana.

ka kadvaipyana

Sri Vyasacharya is the incarnation of Vishnu. He is a svaroopa aavesha avatara.

The purva bhagam of Vishnu sahasranama says,

vysya visnurpya vysarpya visnav|

nam vai brahmanidhay vsisthya nam namah||

Meaning: Salutation to Vyas who is in the form of Vishnu and Vishnu who is in the form
of Vyas and one who is the treasure house of the Vedas. Salutation to one who was
born in the noble family of Vasishta. The honour of being equal to Vishnu belonged to
Maharshi Vyasa.

SrI Sa'nkara interprets this instance of thenAma of kRshNah as referring to veda vyAsa
(e), who is none other than anincarnation of bhagavaAn according to SrI vishNupurANa
-

kadvaipyaa vysa viddhi nryaa prabhum

ko hyanya: puarkkt mahbhrata kt bhavet

- Vishnu Puranam.

"Know KrishnadvaipAyana VyAsa to be the Supreme Lord NArAyaNa - who else but the
lotus eyed Lord can be the author of the MahAbhArata?"

This verse is found in both the Vishnu Purana and the Mahabharata. The second half of
it is cited in the Gita Bhashya introduction of Madhvacharya.

g) The Dark, Mysterious, and Unknowable except by deep devotion.

The dharma cakram writer uses the concept of bhagavAn being like a plough (the basis of
interpretation d), combines this with SrI Sankara's interpretation (e), and offers a new
interpretation (f). His anubhavam is that in the form of veda vyAsa, bhagavAn cultivates the
minds of people by providing to us the veda-s, and so vyAsa, who is none other than nArAyaNa,
is referred to by the nAma kRshNa here.

SrI cinmayAnanda uses the meaning"dark" for the word kRshNa, and suggests that this nAma of
bhagavAn signifies the "unknown factor" that expresses through us - whose manifestations are
all our physical, mental, and intellectual capabilities.Except by deep and sincere devotion, He
cannot be comprehended, and so He is kRshNah - Dark and Mysterious.