The Importance of the Krishna Deity in Hinduism

Title: The Importance of the Krishna Deity in Hinduism

By: Ravita Choudhury

Advisor: Dr. Urmila Mohan

Bard Graduate Center Object Study Paper, Fall 2017

December 28th, 2017

This paper is an object study on a Krishna figurine found in the study collection at the Bard Graduate Center. The figurine has been given to the Bard Graduate Center by the retired professor and scholar, David Curzon. Not much information was available on the object, except for the fact that it is a souvenir piece with very little commercial value. The object, made of a metal that could be brass or bronze, fits into the palm of one’s hand and stands in the traditional tribhanga posture, where it is bent in three different areas; the neck, waist, and knee. The size of the figurine invokes a sentimental and intimate feeling; however, it is clear that this object is not suitable for worship seeing that the Krishna’s hands are not aligned in a way in which a flute, which is missing, would pass . This particular object was chosen for this research project because it represented a major aspect of Hinduism and that is worship of a deity through a murti. The souvenir itself can never be a murti, however it opens up the conversation on how an idol in a devotional store can transform itself into a murti and how Hindus can demonstrate such an intense devotional love to their murti which non-Hindus often have a hard time comprehending.

Originating from the Vedic period (1500 BCE-500 BCE), Hinduism is regarded as one of the oldest religions to still exist. It is widely practiced in South Asia and its diaspora and has more than 1.5 billion followers worldwide, making up 15-16% of the world’s population. The major aspects of Hindu beliefs are dharma, the ethics and duties a Hindu must fulfill to obtain moksha, which is the liberation from samsara, the cycle of rebirth and reincarnation. The belief is that we attain moksha through the practice of various yogas, puja (worship), and other rituals. Lastly, the belief that our actions and intentions have consequences is known as karma; good actions and intentions lead to good consequences which ultimately leads to a happier life and has an affect on our samsara. One way in which Hindus worship their deities is through the practice of bhakti. Bhakti refers to the love and devotion that Hindus have for their personal god or goddess. A distinct part of bhakti worship consists of performing a number of rituals and ceremonies with a physical representation of one’s personal god, referred to as a murti.

An important aspect of this research project was to better understand how many argue that Hinduism contains a sense of idolatry within its bhakti worship. In “The World’s Religions” by Huston Smith, the author says that the followers of “bhakti yoga” seek to adore and love God with no ulterior motive, with no limitation. Smith explains the importance of this bond as, “Moreover, every strengthening of our affections toward God will weaken the world’s grip” (Smith, 34).  The purpose of using physical representations of gods in Hindu worship is to “introduce the human heart to what they represent but themselves are not” (Smith, 34). Hinduism takes into account that as humans, our minds simply cannot comprehend the power of God and the influence God has on us. However, somehow we must worship God; thus, Hindus find God within human-like images and murtis because as humans we are attuned to making connections with other humans. Bhakti yoga serves as a way Hindus worship God while working within their human limitations. Hindus recognize that God, of course, goes way beyond what their minds can process. Therefore as Smith states, “It is obtuse to confuse Hinduism’s images with idolatry” (Smith, 34).

Krishna serves as a major deity within the religion of Hinduism. The deity is an incarnation of the god Vishnu and functions as the god of compassion, tenderness, and love. Krishna has a number of his own manifestations and incarnations that are worshipped across India in a very particular manner. In the “Art of Loving Krishna: Ornamentation and Devotion”, the author Cynthia Packert writes, “Visual spectacle is the nexus which the majority of Krishna devotional practice is centered. Krishna is particularly admired because he is beautiful; he is the winsome baby who charms the world through divine deceit, and he is also the handsome, boyish cowherd evocatively described in erotic poetry and paintings” (2010: xv). An integral part in worshipping Krishna is understanding the duality of how he is perceived by his worshippers  and the beauty of his nature. The act of worship is embodied in heavy and intricate ornamentation and decoration of the Krishna murtis as seen in temples across Northern India for example. Tactile care and attention, such as the bathing, anointing, feeding and embellishing the Krishna figure, is used to indicate a strong and loving relationship with the deity. Even while being a transcendental figure, Krishna represents everything that is beautiful in the world, which contrasts with other religions like Christianity and Islam, where respectively images of worship may tend to revolve around ideas of suffering and pain and/or imagery itself may be banned. Thus, from a Hindu devotee’s perspective it makes complete sense to worship something that represents beauty and pleasure with beautiful and pleasurable objects and that is why material offerings are so popular in the worship of the deity. There are many other processes that go into transforming a figure of stone or brass into a murti that encapsulates the deity’s spirit, but for the sake of this paper I will refer to the anthropologist Alfred Gell (1998: 116-117) who states that the act of clothing a deity plays into the darshanic experience of worshipping a murti.

In order to gain some real world insight on how an object that some may refer to as an idol transforms into a murti, an object of devotion and worship believed to be the actual personification of the deity, I made a visit to the Butala Emporium, a Hindu devotional store in Queens, NY. The devotional store was in a neighborhood in Queens, known as Jackson Heights, that has a very large population of South Asians and was on one of the busiest streets so it experienced quite a bit of foot traffic. When visiting the store, I was greeted by a very shy shopkeeper named Sahil, a young man around the age of 30, who appeared to be managing the store on his own. I was unsure of my bearings as it was the first time I had entered a Hindu store and so I walked around the store taking in my surroundings, the beautiful colors, patterns, and all. I circled back to the front of the store and paused in front of Sahil who, when I asked, pointed me towards the direction of the murtis. I immediately recognized the Krishna figures amongst the hundreds of other figurines it was surrounded by because of his distinctive features such as the tribhanga posture, and the flute in the hands as well as the signature peacock feather in the hair. The sizes of the Krishna figures ranged from those that would fit into the palm of your hands to those that stood at 2 to 3 feet high. Sahil informed me that the Krishna murti was amongst the most popular of all the ones he sold and were made out of materials such as silver, copper, stone, wood, and many were gold plated. I had noticed that all of the Krishna figures that were presented before me were wearing some article of clothing, usually it was some sort of garment that was draped over the deity’s body and around the waist or some of the figures had the garment as a part of the object. So, I naively asked Sahil, “Are all of the Krishna figures dressed?” He chuckled for a second and answered with a quick, “Of course”. I asked him why and he replied in broken English and Hindi that I roughly translated, “We love Krishna from our hearts because he is beautiful and so we dress him and treat him beautifully”. I found the language that Sahil was using to talk about Krishna very interesting because he was always respectful and used kind words as though speaking about a respected human being. His interaction with the figure urged me to further research the relationship between a devotee and a murti and that is when I came across the concept of darshan. In the article, “Darshan and Abhinyana: An Alternative to the Male Gaze”, the author Uttara Coorlawala describes darshan as, “When devotees visit the temple, it is to have darshan (to see the deity, or to be in the presence of Divinity). Darshan is a transformative experience where the mind becomes engrossed in an experience of the deity’s presence” (1996; 24). Darshan plays a major role in the worshipping of Krishna, specifically in such an ornate and decorative manner. It is because of this visual and sensorial connection and rapport that darshan provides to the deity that Hindus continue to perform rituals of dressing and decorating Krishna.

In my research of Krishna I found it fascinating how the worship of the deity contained such beautiful materials and colors, but what was more fascinating was the reason behind it. Hinduism, at least in its bhakti forms, seems to stress the importance of developing and maintaining a strong relationship with your respective deity form and this emphasis is not often seen in other religions. This relationship is based on a basic understanding that this supreme being will always exist in a metaphysical realm that is too abstract and powerful for humans to fully comprehend; nevertheless, Hindus worship these deities to the best of their abilities by creating these strong and loving relationships. That is precisely what we see in the ornate and decorative nature of Krishna, which is done to develop a visual and sensorial relationship with the deity in an immanent form seeing that it is impossible to create a relationship with the transcendental form of the deity himself.

The Krishna figurine in the Bard Graduate Center’s study collection has offered an opportunity to discuss bhakti worship that incorporates a use of murtis. However, it limits the discussion due to the very little context it provides, it does not stress the importance of touching and having a darshanic relationship with the figure because it is an undressed souvenir. This aspect of the figure is important because a Krishna murti is worshipped through the ornamentation and adornment of the figure which facilitates the darshanic experience. In order to mend the gap between the information given to me by the souvenir and the information I wanted to know about Krishna murtis, I conducted this research project by not only interacting with the figure in the study collection but also going to a Hindu devotional store and studying the Krishna figures in the store that are made for worship. Through this project, I was able to understand the importance of darshan and the dressing and ornamentation of the Krishna deity which allows for a physical and metaphysical relationship with the deity.  

    

Krishna Figurine in the Bard Graduate Center Study Collection

Literature Cited

Coorlawala, Uttara Asha. “Darshan and Abhinaya: An Alternative to the Male Gaze.” Dance Research Journal, vol. 28, no. 1, 1996, pp. 19–27.

Gell, Alfred. Art and Agency: An Anthropological Theory. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1998.

Packert, Cynthia. The Art of Loving Krishna: Ornamentation and Devotion. Indiana University Press, 2010.

Smith, Huston. The World's Religions, Revised and Updated: A Concise Introduction. Harper Collins, 2009.