Svayam Bhagavan - Related Historical Records

Related Historical Records

While some place Krishna-centered worship as Svayam Bhagavan in the medieval times of Indian history, there is some evidence suggesting the opposite. In the antiquity Krishna images were worshiped at many places. Quoting Curtius, Dr. D.C. Sircar says that an image of Herakles (i.e. Vasudeva-Krishna according to Sircar) was being carried in front of the Paurava army, as it advanced against the Greeks led by Alexander the Great (The Cultural Heritage of India, vol. 4. p. 115) An interesting terracotta plague showing Vasudeva carrying the infant Krishna over his head across the flooded Yamuna river, belonging to c. first century is housed in the Mathura Museum. A Mora stone inscription of about the same time refers to some images of Bhagavata Vrshni Panchaviras, Sankarshana, Vasudeva, Pradyumna, Samba and Aniruddha - which were very beautifully carved in stone. A Gupta period research makes a "clear mention of Vasudeva as the exclusive object of worship of a group of people," who are referred as bhagavatas.

Verifying the antiquity of the exclusive worship of Svayam Bhagavan, Krishna, the early Jaina texts repeatedly stress two categories of Baladevas and Vasudevas that clearly can not be attributed to the Buddhist tradition, and can not be traced to the earlier strata of the Jaina canon itself. The introduction of these novel categories in the Jaina tradition, therefore, can hardly be explained without references to the legends surrounding the two popular figures of the early Vaishnava tradition, namely Balarama and Krishna of Mathura.

Archaeological remains found in the region of Mathura support the fact that the popularity of these two divine figures had reached its zenith in the Mauryan and the Sunga period and associated Bhagavata religion had become widespread throughout Mathura and Western India areas. This period coincides with the large migrations of Jainas from Magadha to Mathura. Baladeva is referred to by Jaina Puranas as Halabhrit, without any support from Brahminical texts. All the Vasudevas are modeled after the description of Krishna found in the Puranas. They are called blue-black (nila) in complexion and are designated by several names that are normally applied exclusively to Krishna e.g. Keshava, Madhava, Govinda, Vishnu and Narayana (which is used as synonym for the name Vasudeva). List of opposites (or prati categories) include most of the names associated with Asuras in Puranas. According to an opinion of some scholars in Patanjali's time identification of Krishna with Vasudeva is an established fact as is surmised from a passage of the Mahabhasya - (jaghana kamsam kila vasudevah). This "supposed earliest phase is though to have been established from the sixth to the fifth centuries BCE at the time of Panini, who in his Astadhyayi explained the word vasudevaka as a bhakta, devotee, of Vasudeva and its believed that Bhagavata religion with the worship of Vasudeva Krishna were at the root of the Vaishnavism in Indian history." Not just Indian Gupta period but also some historical records of the Greeks show existence of the bhakti tradition to Krishna-Vaasudeva, it needs to be noted that, even Panini gives some support to the ancient root of Krishna-Vaasudeva bhakti - (vāsudeva arjunābhyāṁ, or related to Arjuna), its is however only much later (2nd century BC) Patanjali who refer in his definition of the devotee or bhakta as "the follower of Vasudeva, God of gods."