Editing Krishna (section)

== Outside Hinduism ==
=== Jainism ===
The [[Jainism]] tradition lists 63 ''[[Śalākāpuruṣa]]'' or notable figures which, amongst others, includes the twenty-four ''[[Tirthankara]]s'' (spiritual teachers) and nine sets of triads. One of these triads is Krishna as the ''Vasudeva'', [[Balarama]] as the ''[[Balabhadra|Baladeva]]'', and [[Jarasandha]] as the ''Prati-Vasudeva''. In each age of the Jain cyclic time is born a ''Vasudeva'' with an elder brother termed the ''Baladeva''.  Between the triads, ''Baladeva'' upholds the principle of non-violence, a central idea of Jainism. The villain is the ''Prati-vasudeva'', who attempts to destroy the world. To save the world, ''Vasudeva-Krishna'' has to forsake the non-violence principle and kill the ''Prati-Vasudeva''.<ref>{{citation|last=Jaini|first=P. S.|author-link=Padmanabh Jaini|date=1993|title=Jaina Puranas: A Puranic Counter Tradition|publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-1381-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kZFzHCuiFAC&pg=PA207}}</ref> The stories of these triads can be found in the ''[[Harivamsa Purana]]'' (8th{{nbsp}}century CE) of [[Jinasena]] (not be confused with its namesake, the addendum to ''Mahābhārata'') and the ''Trishashti-shalakapurusha-charita'' of [[Hemachandra]].{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=26}}<ref name = Jer>See Jerome H. Bauer "Hero of Wonders, Hero in Deeds: [https://books.google.com/books?id=0SJ73GHSCF8C&pg=PA151 "Vasudeva Krishna in Jaina Cosmohistory]" in {{Harvnb|Beck|2005|pp=167–169}}</ref>

The story of Krishna's life in the ''Puranas'' of Jainism follows the same general outline as those in the Hindu texts, but in details, they are very different: they include Jain ''Tirthankaras'' as figures in the story, and generally are polemically critical of Krishna, unlike the versions found in the ''Mahabharata'', the ''Bhagavata Purana'', and the ''Vishnu Purana''.<ref>{{citation|last=Cort| first=J. E.|date=1993|editor=Wendy Doniger|title=An Overview of the Jaina Puranas, in Purana Perennis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kZFzHCuiFAC&pg=PA191 |pages=220–233 | publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-1-4384-0136-2}}</ref> For example, Krishna loses battles in the Jain versions, and his ''gopis'' and his clan of Yadavas die in a fire created by an ascetic named Dvaipayana. Similarly, after dying from the hunter Jara's arrow, the Jaina texts state Krishna goes to the [[Naraka (Jainism)|third hell]] in [[Jain cosmology]], while his brother is said to go to the [[Svarga (Jainism)|sixth heaven]].<ref name="Glasenapp1999p317">{{cite book|author=Helmuth von Glasenapp|title=Jainism: An Indian Religion of Salvation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WzEzXDk0v6sC&pg=PA317 |year=1999|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1376-2|pages=316–318}}</ref>

Vimalasuri is attributed to be the author of the Jain version of the ''Harivamsa Purana'', but no manuscripts have been found that confirm this. It is likely that later Jain scholars, probably Jinasena of the 8th{{nbsp}}century, wrote a complete version of Krishna legends in the Jain tradition and credited it to the ancient Vimalasuri.<ref name=Cort1993>{{citation|last=Cort| first=J. E.|date=1993|editor=Wendy Doniger|title=An Overview of the Jaina Puranas, in Purana Perennis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kZFzHCuiFAC&pg=PA191 |page=191 | publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-1-4384-0136-2}}</ref> Partial and older versions of the Krishna story are available in Jain literature, such as in the ''Antagata Dasao'' of the ''[[Svetambara]]'' ''Agama'' tradition.<ref name=Cort1993 />

In other Jain texts, Krishna is stated to be a cousin of the twenty-second ''Tirthankara'', Neminatha. The Jain texts state that Neminatha taught Krishna all the wisdom that he later gave to Arjuna in the ''Bhagavad Gita''. According to [[Jeffery D. Long]], a professor of religion known for his publications on Jainism, this connection between Krishna and Neminatha has been a historic reason for Jains to accept, read, and cite the ''Bhagavad Gita'' as a spiritually important text, celebrate Krishna-related festivals, and intermingle with Hindus as spiritual cousins.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jeffery D. Long|title=Jainism: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JmRlAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 |year= 2009|publisher =I.B. Tauris|isbn= 978-1-84511-625-5|page=42}}</ref>

=== Buddhism ===
[[File:Tibetan_Krishna.jpg|thumb|Depiction of Krishna playing the flute, mural of [[Bhutia Busty Monastery]], [[Darjeeling district]], India]]
The story of Krishna occurs in the [[Jataka]] tales in [[Buddhism]].<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.vipassana.info/ay/andhakavenhu_puttaa.htm|title = Andhakavenhu Puttaa|publisher = www.vipassana.info|access-date = 15 June 2008}}</ref> The ''Vidhurapandita Jataka'' mentions ''Madhura'' (Sanskrit: Mathura), the ''Ghata Jataka'' mentions Kamsa, Devagabbha (Sk: Devaki), Upasagara or Vasudeva, Govaddhana (Sk: Govardhana), Baladeva (Balarama), and Kanha or Kesava (Sk: Krishna, Keshava).<ref name=Law1941>{{cite book|author = Law, B. C.|year = 1941|title = India as Described in Early Texts of Buddhism and Jainism|publisher = Luzac|url =https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.513920/2015.513920.India-as#page/n5/mode/2up|pages=99–101}}</ref><ref name=Jaiswal>{{cite journal|author = Jaiswal, S.|year = 1974|title = Historical Evolution of the Ram Legend|journal = Social Scientist|jstor = 3517633|volume = 21|issue = 3–4|pages = 89–97|doi = 10.2307/3517633}}</ref>

Like the Jain versions of the Krishna legends, the Buddhist versions such as one in ''Ghata Jataka'' follow the general outline of the story,<ref>{{cite book|author=G.P. Malalasekera|title=Dictionary of Pali Proper Names|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=x8ObMQ1GGsUC&pg=PA439|year=2003|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1823-7|page=439}}</ref> but are different from the Hindu versions as well.<ref name=Law1941 />{{sfn|Bryant|2007|p=6}} For example, the Buddhist legend describes Devagabbha (Devaki) to have been isolated in a palace built upon a pole after she is born, so no future husband could reach her. Krishna's father similarly is described as a powerful king, but who meets up with Devagabbha anyway, and to whom Kamsa gives away his sister Devagabbha in marriage. The siblings of Krishna are not killed by Kamsa, though he tries. In the Buddhist version of the legend, all of Krishna's siblings grow to maturity.<ref name= Francis314 />

Krishna and his siblings' capital becomes Dvaravati. The Arjuna and Krishna interaction is missing in the Jataka version. A new legend is included, wherein Krishna laments in uncontrollable sorrow when his son dies, and a Ghatapandita feigns madness to teach Krishna a lesson.<ref>{{cite book|author=Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera|title=Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names: A-Dh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=up5O9zrSX80C&pg=PA825 |year=2007|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-3021-9|pages=825–826}}</ref> The Jataka tale also includes internecine destruction among his siblings after they all get drunk. Krishna also dies in the Buddhist legend by the hand of a hunter named Jara, but while he is traveling to a frontier city. Mistaking Krishna for a pig, Jara throws a spear that fatally pierces his feet, causing Krishna great pain and then his death.<ref name= Francis314>{{cite book|author1=H. T. Francis|author2=E. J. Thomas|title=Jataka Tales|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WYjRAwAAQBAJ |year=1916|publisher=Cambridge University Press (Reprinted: 2014) |isbn=978-1-107-41851-6|pages=314–324}}</ref>

At the end of this ''Ghata-Jataka'' discourse, the Buddhist text declares that [[Sariputta]], one of the revered disciples of the Buddha in the Buddhist tradition, was incarnated as Krishna in his previous life to learn lessons on grief from the Buddha in his prior rebirth:

{{Blockquote|Then he [Master] declared the Truths and identified the Birth: "At that time, Ananda was Rohineyya, Sariputta was Vasudeva [Krishna], the followers of the Buddha were the other persons, and I myself was Ghatapandita."|Jataka Tale No. 454|Translator: W. H. D. Rouse<ref name=cowell57>{{cite book|author1=E.B. Cowell|author2=WHD Rouse|title=The Jātaka: Or, Stories of the Buddha's Former Births|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.553497|year=1901|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.553497/page/n75 57]}}</ref>}}

While the Buddhist Jataka texts co-opt Krishna-Vasudeva and make him a student of the [[Buddha]] in his previous life,<ref name=cowell57 /> the Hindu texts co-opt the Buddha and make him an [[avatar]] of [[Vishnu]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Daniel E Bassuk |title=Incarnation in Hinduism and Christianity: The Myth of the God-Man |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k3iwCwAAQBAJ |date= 1987 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-349-08642-9 |pages=40 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Edward Geoffrey Parrinder|title=Avatar and Incarnation: The Divine in Human Form in the World's Religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VkV5AAAAMAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Oxford: Oneworld|isbn=978-1-85168-130-3|pages=19–24, 35–38, 75–78, 130–133}}</ref> In [[Chinese Buddhism]], [[Taoism]] and [[Chinese folk religion]], the figure of Krishna has been amalgamated and merged with that of [[Nalakuvara]] to influence the formation of the god [[Nezha]], who has taken on iconographic characteristics of Krishna such as being presented as a divine god-child and slaying a [[nāga]] in his youth.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Shahar|first=Meir|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/899138008|title=Oedipal god : the Chinese Nezha and his Indian origins|date=2015|isbn=978-0-8248-4760-9|location=Honolulu|oclc=899138008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Shen|first1=Xuezheng|last2=Li|first2=Jingwen|last3=Zhang|first3=Yunzhuo|last4=Liu|first4=Shanshan|last5=Hong|first5=Jangsun|last6=Lee|first6=Jongyoon|date=2020-03-31|title=Devil or God: Image Transformation of Chinese Mythology Character "Nezha"（1927–2019）|url=http://www.dbpia.co.kr/Journal/ArticleDetail/NODE09330491|journal=Cartoon and Animation Studies|language=en|volume=58|pages=159–200|doi=10.7230/KOSCAS.2020.58.159|s2cid=219661006|issn=1738-009X}}</ref>

=== Other ===
Krishna's life is written about in "Krishna Avtar" of the ''[[Chaubis Avtar]]'', a composition in Dasam Granth traditionally and historically attributed to [[Sikh]] [[Guru Gobind Singh]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.info-sikh.com/VVPage1.html|title=Chaubis Avtar|website=info-sikh.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810182823/http://www.info-sikh.com/VVPage1.html |archive-date=10 August 2017 |url-status=usurped}}</ref>

Within the Sikh-derived 19th-century [[Radha Soami]] movement, the followers of its founder [[Shiv Dayal Singh]] used to consider him the [[Living Master]] and incarnation of God (Krishna/Vishnu).{{refn|group=note|"Various branches of Radhasoami have argued about the incarnationalism of Satguru ([[David C. Lane|Lane]], 1981). Guru Maharaj Ji has accepted it and identifies with Krishna and other incarnations of Vishnu."<ref>{{cite journal |last=DuPertuis |first=Lucy |title=How People Recognize Charisma: The Case of Darshan in Radhasoami and Divine Light Mission |journal=Sociological Analysis |publisher=Oxford University Press |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=111–124 |date=1986 |doi=10.2307/3711456 |jstor=3711456}}</ref>}}

[[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼís]] believe that Krishna was a "[[Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith)|Manifestation of God]]", or one in a line of prophets who have revealed the Word of God progressively for a gradually maturing humanity. In this way, Krishna shares an exalted station with [[Abraham]], [[Moses]], [[Zoroaster]], [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]], [[Jesus]], [[Muhammad]], the [[Báb]], and the founder of the [[Baháʼí Faith]], [[Bahá'u'lláh]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last= Smith |first= Peter |encyclopedia= A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith |title= Manifestations of God |year= 2000 |publisher= Oneworld Publications |location= Oxford |isbn= 978-1-85168-184-6 |page= [https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/231 231] |url= https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/231 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author= Esslemont, J. E. |author-link=John Esslemont |year= 1980 |title= Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era |edition= 5th |publisher=Baháʼí Publishing Trust |location=Wilmette, Illinois|isbn= 978-0-87743-160-2 |url= http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/je/BNE/bne-6.html#gr5 |page = 2}}</ref>

[[Ahmadiyya]], a 20th-century Islamic movement, consider Krishna as one of their ancient prophets.<ref>Siddiq & Ahmad (1995), Enforced Apostasy: Zaheeruddin v. State and the Official Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan, Law & Inequality, Volume 14, pp. 275–324</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Minahan | first=James | title=Ethnic groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia | publisher=ABC-CLIO | location=Santa Barbara, California| year=2012 | isbn=978-1-59884-659-1 | pages=6–8}}</ref><ref>Burhani A. N. (2013), Treating minorities with fatwas: a study of the Ahmadiyya community in Indonesia, Contemporary Islam, Volume 8, Issue 3, pp. 285–301</ref> Ghulam Ahmad stated that he was himself a prophet in the likeness of prophets such as Krishna, Jesus, and Muhammad,<ref>{{cite book|title=Muslims, and Others in Sacred Space|pages=104–105|first=Margaret|last=Cormack|year=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> who had come to earth as a latter-day reviver of religion and morality.

Krishna worship or reverence has been adopted by several [[new religious movements]] since the 19th{{nbsp}}century, and he is sometimes a member of an eclectic pantheon in [[occult]] texts, along with [[Greek mythology|Greek]], [[Buddhism|Buddhist]], [[Bible|biblical]], and even historical figures.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Harvey |first= D. A. |s2cid= 143606373 |year= 2003|title= Beyond Enlightenment: Occultism, Politics, and Culture in France from the Old Regime to the ''Fin-de-Siècle'' |journal= [[The Historian (journal)|The Historian]] |volume= 65 |issue= 3 |pages= 665–694|doi= 10.1111/1540-6563.00035 }}</ref> For instance, [[Édouard Schuré]], an influential figure in [[perennial philosophy]] and occult movements, considered Krishna a ''Great Initiate'', while [[Theosophist]]s regard Krishna as an incarnation of [[Maitreya (Theosophy)|Maitreya]] (one of the [[Ascended master|Masters of the Ancient Wisdom]]), the most important spiritual teacher for humanity along with Buddha.<ref name = Schure>{{cite book|last = Schure| first = Edouard| author-link = Édouard Schuré |title=Great Initiates: A Study of the Secret History of Religions| publisher = Garber Communications| year = 1992|isbn = 978-0-89345-228-5}}</ref><ref name = Others>See for example: {{cite book|last = Hanegraaff |first = Wouter J. | author-link = Wouter Hanegraaff |title = New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought |publisher = [[Brill Publishers]] |year= 1996|page =390 |isbn=978-90-04-10696-3}}, {{cite book|last = Hammer |first =Olav| author-link = Olav Hammer |title = Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age|url = https://archive.org/details/claimingknowledg00hamm_713 |url-access = limited |publisher =Brill Publishers |year=2004 |pages =[https://archive.org/details/claimingknowledg00hamm_713/page/n83 62], 174 |isbn = 978-90-04-13638-0}}, and {{cite book|last = Ellwood |first = Robert S. |title =Theosophy: A Modern Expression of the Wisdom of the Ages | publisher = Quest Books |page= 139 |year =1986 |isbn=978-0-8356-0607-3 }}</ref>

Krishna was canonised by [[Aleister Crowley]] and is recognised as a saint of [[Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica]] in the [[Liber XV, The Gnostic Mass|Gnostic Mass]] of [[Ordo Templi Orientis]].<ref>Crowley associated Krishna with Roman god [[Dionysus]] and [[Magick (Aleister Crowley)|Magickal formulae]] IAO, [[Om|AUM]] and [[INRI]]. See {{Cite book|last = Crowley|first = Aleister| author-link = Aleister Crowley | title = Liber Aleph |publisher = Weiser Books| isbn=978-0-87728-729-2| page = 71|url = http://sacred-texts.com/oto/aleph_3.htm|year = 1991}} and {{cite book | last = Crowley|first = Aleister| author-link = Aleister Crowley| title = The Book of Lies| publisher = Red Wheels| year = 1980|isbn = 978-0-87728-516-8| pages = 24–25|title-link = The Book of Lies (Crowley)}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last = Apiryon |first = Tau |author2=Apiryon |title = Mystery of Mystery: A Primer of Thelemic Ecclesiastical Gnosticism | publisher = Red Flame|location= Berkeley |year = 1995| isbn = 978-0-9712376-1-2}}</ref>