community who worshiped the god
Shiva. The last is portrayed as depraved,
indulging in meat, wine, and sexual
gratification, as well as having a
penchant for violence. Although the
reader may safely assume that this is a
biased perspective, it is instructive in
the attitudes it reveals toward ascetics
and all non-Vaishnava religious groups.
Krishnamurti, Jiddu
(1895–1986) Modern Indian thinker
whose teachings centered on the neces-
sity for personal realization through
critical self-awareness. His teaching had
strong roots in his own life experience.
When he was fourteen years old, one of
the leaders of the Theosophical Society,
Annie Besant, proclaimed him to be an
incarnation of the future Buddha
Maitreya. He later repudiated these
claims, and for the rest of his life
stressed the need to examine and
question all authority, including
himself. Much of his life was spent in
Europe and the United States, where his
books and lectures found their primary
audience. For further information see
Pupul Jayakar, Krishnamurti: A
Biography, 1986.
Krishna Paksha
The dark or waning half of a lunar month.
Krishna River
River running from west to east in south
central India. Its headwaters lie in
Maharashtraon the inland side of the
Western Ghats. It meanders through
Karnatakaand Andhra Pradesh, forti-
fied by the Bhima River and the
Tungabhadra River, before entering the
sea in the Bay of Bengal. The temple of
the god Vithoba in the town of
Pandharpur, considered the most
important sacred site (tirtha) on the
whole river, lies on the Bhima River.
Krittikas
In Hindu mythology, the Krittikas are a
group of six minor goddesses who are
the personification of the constellation
Pleiades. Their important mythic
appearance is as the foster mothers of
the god Skanda. Skanda is considered
the son of the god Shiva, but is born in
an unusual way. When Shiva and Parvati
are disturbed while making love, Shiva
inadvertently spills his semenon the
ground. In Indian culture semen is seen
as a man’s concentrated essence.
Because he is a deity, Shiva’s semen is
inordinately powerful, capable of
destroying the earth. The semen is first
held by the god Agni, who is fireperson-
ified, but it proves too powerful for him.
Agni puts the semen in the river Ganges.
After 10,000 years, a shining child is dis-
covered in the reeds along the riverbank.
The child is discovered by the Krittikas,
each of whom wants to nurse him. To
oblige them, the child Skanda grows five
extra heads. As a mark of their care, one
of his epithets is Karttikeya.Krpacharya
In the Mahabharata, the later of the two
great Hindu epics, Krpacharya is a
famous archer who teaches both the
Pandavas and the Kauravas, the two
competing families in the epic.
Krpacharya is a supporter of the
Kaurava leader Duryodhana. During
the year the Pandavas spend in hiding,
he sends spies to try to find them. In the
Mahabharata war he fights on the side
of the Kauravas. His most important act
is setting fire to the Pandava camp dur-
ing the night attack following the
Pandava victory. All those trying to flee
the flames are killed. After the war he
stays for some time at the court of
Yudhishthira, the eldest Pandava brother,
but later renounces the world to live in
the forest.Krishnamurti, Jiddu