divine strength lifted up the mountain, Govard-
hana, to use as an umbrella to protect the people
and thus defeated Indra himself.
As a young man, Krishna began to attract
the interest of the cowherd women as he played
his magical flute day and night. He would flirt
with them and play tricks on them. Once when
the cowherd girls were bathing he took all their
clothes and put them up into a big tree. When the
women left the water and begged him for their
garments, he bent the tree down and let them
retrieve their clothes.
Particularly at night Krishna would work his
divine magic. The women would yearn to see
him and could not find him. They would begin
to think of all his magical deeds and praise him.
When they finally found him, they began to dance
with him; he became many Krishnas, pairing with
each woman as though she were the only one.
This is referred to as the Rasalila dance and is the
metaphor for the way that god is intimate with
each soul while it is only one. Finally, in the sto-
ries of later times (c. 10th century) one cowherd
woman alone, named RADHA, becomes Krishna’s
favorite. Her passionate love for him, her yearn-
ing when he does not appear at their assigned
spot, and their loveplay are all celebrated in the
passionate liturgy of Krishna worship, where the
devotee sees himself or herself as Radha seeking
passionate union with god.
After the death of Kamsa, Krishna becomes an
ally of the Pandavas. He assists them in every way
fair and foul and helps them triumph; the BHAGA-
VA D GITA makes clear that this was divine aid.
We are left here with the mystery of Krishna,
a divinity who is mischievous and naughty as a
child, naughty as a young man—playing games
with the hearts of many women—and who in
war does not hesitate to use stratagems that the
SHASTRAS the authoritative texts, might find inap-
propriate for a warrior. Krishna effects his LILA, his
divine game, in ways that humans cannot grasp,
except through complete devotion. Krishna must
eventually die, as must all the other AVATARS of
Vishnu. While in the forest doing YOGA then, he is
accidentally pierced in the foot with a spear by a
hunter who mistook his foot for a deer’s foot. He
blesses the man who threw the spear that will take
him to heaven.
Many devotional Vaishnavite movements in
India focus on worship of Krishna only. Most
famous of these are the followers of Saint CHAI-
TANYA of Bengal, whose Goswamis, or followers
of Chaitanya’s tradition, moved to Brindavan to
be closer to the place where Krishna lived. The
followers of Chaitanya include Sri Swami Prabhu-
pada BHAKTIVEDANTA, who traveled to the United
States to found the Hare Krishna movement. As
do many Krishnaites, they worship in ecstatic
devotion, while chanting MANTRAS to their god.Further reading: W. G. Archer, The Loves of Krishna in
Indian Painting and Poetry (London: Allen & Unwin,
1957); Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van Buitenen,
eds. and trans., Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in
the Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1978); David Haberman, Journey through the
Twelve Forests: An Encounter with Krishna (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1994); John S. Hawley, Krsna
the Butter Thief (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1983); Alf Hiltebeitel, “Krsna and the Mahab-
harata,” Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research
Institute 60 (1979): 65–107.Krishna, Gopi (1903–1984) master of
Kundalini Yoga
Gopi Krishna was an influential teacher whose
impact depended on conveying his own trans-
formative KUNDALINI YOGA experiences. He was
known for his clear exposition of the awakening
of kundalini. However, he never had his own spir-
itual teacher, was not initiated into any spiritual
lineage, and did not himself train disciples.
Gopi Krishna was born in Kashmir in 1903 as
an only son. In his childhood, his father renounced
the world to lead a religious life and left his wife to
care for three children. Since he was the only son,K 240 Krishna, Gopi