The idea of Krishna – myths and traditions

THE IDEA OF KRISHNA

Swaswati Borkataki

The Neo Vaishnavite movement in Assam pioneered by Srimanta Sankardeva represented a new ideological paradigm in its own sense and led towards a reinterpretation of philosophy, thought and religion at a hitherto unheard level. This new dimension brought forth a change in the perceptions and beliefs in the socio – religious system in Assam.

While the idea of Krishna as a non-Aryan deity that emerged in opposition to the Brahmanical pantheon centering around Indra has been debated over for some time now, Krishna as an imagined Lord full of energy, vibrance, powers and human shortcomings is something that sets the cult apart from that of others that are generally considered to be infallible entities and supernatural beings. While Krishna too is supernatural in many of his attributes, he is human in many others, as he is considered to be a cowherd kid, performing all tricks and making mischief, engaging in dalliances with Radha and other Gopis, he is not free from faults. This makes him all the more relatable to the common people and also sets his cult apart from the rest of the Hindu theistic pantheon. The cult in Assam is peculiar in a number of aspects as it is mainly concerned about the childhood and the youth of Krishna.

This paradigm went through a drastic shift with the occurrence of the Moamaria rebellion. The Moamaria Rebellion or the Moran-Matak Rebellion that took place somewhere between 1769 to 1805, apart from its political significance, in the sense that it actually could overthrow the Ahom Monarchy and set a new ruler on the throne, from amongst the rebels, it also had a great socio-cultural significance. The latter position may be justified by stating that the Moamaria rebellion was the first of its kind in the region where the Moran-Mataks or Moamarias, who were mostly a peasant ethnic community actually took up arms and rose in agitation against the state in their own capacity. Moreover, another significant aspect of the rebellion is that it represented a desire of the rebels to restore the sense of community brotherhood that was threatened by the Ahom crown and its impositions in social, political as well as religious affairs of the community.

However, Krishna Bhakti in Assam sustained, and lives on in the different Satras and Tols located in various parts of Assam, in the Sattriya dance, Ankiya Naat and Bhaona and the musical instruments of Taali, Khol, etc. Krishna Bhakti in Assam which is intertwined with the Bhakti movement in other parts of the subcontinent, especially Northern and Eastern parts of it, has undergone several changes especially under descendants of Sankardeva as Damodardeva and later Gopal Deva, but the essence of it lives on as part of the Oral traditions and folklore, tales and anecdotes, which form part of the thriving life of the community.

The Vaishnava cult in Assam, centering around Krishna, popularized by Sankardeva can be called to be an off-shoot of the pan-Indian Bhakti Movement, which was in essence a Hindu-revivalist movement, launched to counter the growing popularity of other faiths and religions, by working on an internal overhauling of the structure of the Hindu faith. This paper is an attempt to understand the emergence and workings of the Krishna cult in Assam and also to look at the limited role played by women in the movement in a land which has been a hotspot of Goddess worship.

The forms of Lord Krishna in the pan-Indian context, depict varied aspects of his character and disposition. One such idea is that of his portrayal as an average young lad, who is laden in dust and soil, who performs all naughty and mischievous strides from stealing curd to clothes of the ‘Gopis’, who performs dalliance with Radha and other Gopis of Vraja and Vrindavan and is not infallible in his attributes. Also his complexion which is Bluish black and his often compared to the color of the river Yamuna, and his association with agriculture and cattle singles him out from the other Gods of the Hindu Pantheon.One can also be curious about the dichotomy between the Vasudeva Krishna of epic literature and the Gopala Krishna of popular folklore and other legends. It is evident that both were initially separate entities and it is only during the later period of the Epic literature that both are merged into one.

One interesting branch of the Krishna cult is his association with Radha and the portrayal of Radha and Krishna as the two supreme deities around whom the universe thrives. Here, mention may be made of the work, Alternative Krishnas: Regional and vernacular variations of a Hindu deity, edited by Guy L. Beck.

The Krishna cult in Assam can be said to be a conglomerate of a number of aspects, including a greater acceptability among the masses and the aspect of a distinct form of Saguna Bhakti worship, whereby the Lord is enveloped in romance, dalliance, affection, mysticism, magic and a lot more. While it has assumed the form of an indispensable part of the Folklore and Oral Traditions in Assam, in its own peculiar form, one attribute of Krishna is that he is not infallible, like most other Gods in the Hindu pantheon.

A number of attempts have been made to establish his non-Aryan identity and his close connection to pastoral-tribes. While Gopala Krishna became extremely popular among the non-Aryans or the ‘Dasyus’, one important feature is Gopala-Krishna’s association with agriculture, which is indicated by – his partnership with Balarama, who is known as ‘Haladeva’ or the God holding the plough (hala) and his own assumption of the title ‘Go-pala’. This presumably has had far-reaching effects on the society especially when it comes to the taboo on beef-consumption. While along with the influence of the Buddha who apparently preached that – cattle should not be unnecessarily killed as they provide us with milk and help in agricultural production, the emergence of the cult of Krishna in an agriculture-based society of which cattle was an integral and indispensable part contributed to the taboo on beef-eating, which was evidently prevalent among the Hindus earlier, as Krishna apparently stopped the practice of offering sacrificial cattle to Indra.

The Krishna cult acquired importance in the Oral Traditions and Folklore of the Assamese community along with other communities in other parts of the subcontinent.

[Swaswati Borkataki is a PhD Research Scholar in JNU, New Delhi.]