Horus is one of the oldest and most significant of the deities in the Ancient Egyptian religion who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horuses are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists.^[1] These various forms may possibly be different perceptions of the same multi-layered deity in which certain attributes or syncretic relationships are emphasised, not necessarily in opposition but complementary to one another, consistent with how the Ancient Egyptians viewed the multiple facets of reality.^[2] The earliest recorded form is Horus the Falcon who was the patron deity of Nekhen in Upper Egypt and who is the first known national god, specifically related to the king who in time became to be regarded as a manifestation of Horus in life and Osiris in death.^[1] The most commonly encountered family relationship describes Horus as the son of Isis and Osiris but in another tradition Hathor is regarded as his mother and sometimes as his wife.^[1]

Origin of name

ḥr “Horus” in hieroglyphs

Horus is recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphs as ḥr.w and is reconstructed to have been pronounced *Ḥāru, meaning “Falcon”. As a description it has also typically been thought of as having the meaning “the distant one” or “one who is above, over”^[3] By Coptic times, the name became Hōr. It was adopted into Greek as Ὡρος Hōros. The original name also survives in later Egyptian names such as Har-Si-Ese literally “Horus, son of Isis”.

Mythology

rˁ-ḥr-3ḫty “Re-Harachte” in hieroglyphs

Sky god

Horus was told by his mother, Isis, to protect the people of Egypt from Set, the god of the desert, storms and chaos.^[4][5][6]

Since he was god of the sky, Horus became depicted as a falcon, or as a falcon-headed man, leading to Horus’ name, (in Egyptian, Heru), which meant The distant one. As falcon he may be shown on the Narmer Palette dating from the time of unification of upper and lower Egypt. Horus was also sometimes known as Nekheny (meaning falcon), although it has been proposed that Nekheny may have been another falcon-god, worshipped at Nekhen (city of the hawk), that became identified as Horus very early on. He was married to Hathor, the god of love. In this form, he was sometimes given the title Kemwer, meaning (the) great black (one).

Horus represented in relief with Wadjet and wearing the double crown – temple of Hatshepsut

As Horus was the son of Osiris, and god of the sky, he became closely associated with the Pharaoh of Lower Egypt (where Horus was worshipped), and became their patron. The association with the Pharaoh brought with it the idea that he was the son of Isis, in her original form, who was regarded as a deification of the Queen.

Sun god

Horus represented as a falcon

Since Horus was said to be the sky, he was considered to also contain the sun and moon. It became said that the sun was his right eye and the moon his left, and that they traversed the sky when he, a falcon, flew across it. Thus he became known as Harmerty – Horus of two eyes. Later, the reason that the moon was not as bright as the sun was explained by a tale, known as the contestings of Horus and Set, originating as a metaphor for the conquest of Upper Egypt by Lower Egypt in about 3000 BC. In this tale, it was said that Set, the patron of Upper Egypt, and Horus, the patron of Lower Egypt, had battled for Egypt brutally, with neither side victorious, until eventually the gods sided with Horus (see below).

As Horus was the ultimate victor he became known as Harsiesis, Heru-ur or Har-Wer (ḥr.w wr ‘Horus the Great’), but more usually translated as Horus the Elder. In the struggle Set had lost a testicle, explaining why the desert, which Set represented, is infertile. Horus’ left eye had also been gouged out, which explained why the moon, which it represented, was so weak compared to the sun.

It was also said that during a new-moon, Horus had become blinded and was titled Mekhenty-er-irty (mḫnty r ỉr.ty ‘He who has no eyes’), while when the moon became visible again, he was re-titled Khenty-irty (ḫnty r ỉr.ty ‘He who has eyes’). While blind, it was considered that Horus was quite dangerous, sometimes attacking his friends after mistaking them for enemies.

Horus was occasionally shown in art as a naked boy with a finger in his mouth sitting on a lotus with his mother. In the form of a youth, Horus was referred to as Neferhor. This is also spelled Nefer Hor, Nephoros or Nopheros (nfr ḥr.w) meaning ‘The Good Horus’.

War god

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Horus was also said to be a war god and a hunter’s god, since he was associated with the falcon; (the Horus falcon is shown upon a standard on the predynastic Hunters Palette in the “lion hunt”). Thus he became a symbol of majesty and power as well as the model of the pharaohs.^[7] The Pharaohs were said to be Horus in human form.

Furthermore Nemty (also a war god meaning “He who travels”) was later identified as Horus.^[8]

Saviour god

Shed is a deity whose name means “Saviour” and is first recorded during the Amarna Period.^[9] Representing the concept of salvation he is identified with Horus and in particular “Horus the Child“.^[10]

Along with Bes, whose image has been found in Christian graves, he is associated with Christian artefacts. An amulet has been found depicting Christ on one side and Shed (in the form of Horus) on the reverse.^[11] Shed can be depicted as a young prince overcoming snakes, lions and crocodiles.^[12]

The rise of “Saviour” names in personal piety during the Amarna period has been interpreted as the popular response of ordinary people to the attempts by Akhenaten to proscribe the ancient religion of Egypt. Shed has also been viewed as a form of the ancient Semitic god Reshef. ^[13]

Conqueror of Set

After Set killed Osiris, Horus had many battles with Set, not only to avenge his father, but to choose the rightful ruler of Egypt. One scene stated how Horus was on the verge of killing Set; but his mother (and Set’s sister), Isis, stopped him. Isis injured Horus, but eventually healed him.^[14]

By the Nineteenth dynasty, the enmity between Set and Horus, in which Horus had ripped off one of Set’s testicles, was represented as a separate tale. According to Papyrus Chester-Beatty I, Set is depicted as trying to prove his dominance by seducing Horus and then having intercourse with him. However, Horus places his hand between his thighs and catches Set’s semen, then subsequently throws it in the river, so that he may not be said to have been inseminated by Set. Horus then deliberately spreads his own semen on some lettuce, which was Set’s favorite food (the Egyptians thought that lettuce was phallic). After Set has eaten the lettuce, they go to the gods to try to settle the argument over the rule of Egypt. The gods first listen to Set’s claim of dominance over Horus, and call his semen forth, but it answers from the river, invalidating his claim. Then, the gods listen to Horus’ claim of having dominated Set, and call his semen forth, and it answers from inside Set.^[15]

Wedjat, eye of Horus

But still Set refused to relent, and the other gods were getting tired from over eighty years of fighting and challenges. Horus and Set challenged each other to a boat race, where they each raced in a boat made of stone. Horus and Set agreed, and the race started. But Horus had an edge: his boat was made of wood painted to resemble stone, rather than true stone. Set’s boat, being made of heavy stone, sank, but Horus’s did not. Horus then won the race, and Set stepped down and officially gave Horus the throne of Egypt.^[16] But after the New Kingdom, Set still was considered Lord of the desert and its oases. ^[17]

This myth, along with others, could be seen as an explanation of how the two kingdoms of Egypt (Upper and Lower) came to be united. Horus was seen as the God of Lower Egypt, and Set as the God of Upper Egypt (which happens to be south of the Delta region). In this myth, the respective Upper and Lower deities have a fight, through which Horus is the victor. However, some of Horus (representing Lower Egypt) enters into Set (Upper Egypt) thus explaining why Lower Egypt is dominant over the Upper Egyptians. Set’s regions were then considered to be of the desert.

Heru-p-khart (Horus the Younger)

Horus the Younger, Άρποκράτης to the Greeks, is represented in the form of a youth wearing a lock of hair (a sign of youth) on the right of his head. In addition, he usually wears the united crowns of Egypt. He is a form of the rising sun, representing its earliest light.

This is thought to be the original form of Horus.^[18] His name meaning ‘high’ or ‘distant’ reflects his sky nature.

Heru-ur (Horus the Elder)

Horus, (Louvre Museum), ‘Shen rings‘ in his grasp

In this form he represented the god of light and the husband of Hathor. He was one of the oldest gods of ancient Egypt. He became the patron of Nekhen (Heirakonpolis) and the first national god (God of the Kingdom). Later he also became the patron of the pharaohs, and was called the son of truth.^[19] He was seen as a great falcon with outstretched wings whose right eye was the sun and the left one was the moon.

References

The Mithraic Mysteries or Mysteries of Mithras (also Mithraism) was a mystery religion which became popular among the military in the Roman Empire, from the 1st to 4th centuries AD. It is best attested in the cities of Rome and Ostia and in the Roman provinces of Mauretania, Britain, and in the provinces along the Rhine and Danube frontier.

Rituals and worship

Mithraism was an initiatory order, passed from initiate to initiate, like the Eleusinian Mysteries. It was not based on a body of scripture, and hence very little written documentary evidence survives. Soldiers and the lower nobility appeared to be the most plentiful followers of Mithraism. Until recently, women were generally thought not to have been allowed to join, but it has now been suggested that “women were involved with Mithraic groups in at least some locations of the empire.”^[1] Recently revealed discrepancies such as these suggest that Mithraic beliefs were (contrary to the older supposition) not internally consistent and monolithic,^{cf. [2]} but rather, varied from location to location.

No Mithraic scripture or first-hand account of its highly secret rituals survives, with the possible exception of a liturgy recorded in a 4th century papyrus, thought to be an atypical representation of the cult at best.^[3] Current knowledge of the mysteries is almost entirely limited to what can be deduced from the iconography in the mithraea that have survived.

[edit] The mithraeum

A mithraeum found in the ruins of Ostia Antica, Italy.

Religious practice was centered on the mithraeum (Latin, from Greek mithraion), either an adapted natural cave or cavern or an artificial building imitating a cavern. Mithraea were dark and windowless, even if they were not actually in a subterranean space or in a natural cave. When possible, the mithraeum was constructed within or below an existing building. The site of a mithraeum may also be identified by its separate entrance or vestibule, its “cave”, called the spelaeum or spelunca, with raised benches along the side walls for the ritual meal, and its sanctuary at the far end, often in a recess, before which the pedestal-like altar stood. Many mithraea that follow this basic plan are scattered over much of the Empire’s former area, particularly where the legions were stationed along the frontiers (such as Britain). Others may be recognized by their characteristic layout, even though converted as crypts beneath Christian churches.

From the structure of the mithraea it is possible to surmise that worshippers would have gathered for a common meal along the reclining couches lining the walls. Most temples could hold only thirty or forty individuals.

The mithraeum itself was arranged as an “image of the universe”. It is noticed by some researchers that this movement, especially in the context of mithraic iconography (see below), seems to stem from the neoplatonic concept that the “running” of the sun from solstice to solstice is a parallel for the movement of the soul through the universe, from pre-existence, into the body, and then beyond the physical body into an afterlife.

[edit] Mithraic ranks

The members of a mithraeum were divided into seven ranks. All members were expected to progress through the first four ranks, while only a few would go on to the three higher ranks. The first four ranks represent spiritual progress—the new initiate became a Corax, while the Leo was an adept—the other three have been specialized offices. The seven ranks were:

• Corax (raven)
• Nymphus (bridegroom)
• Miles (soldier)
• Leo (lion)
• Perses (Persian)
• Heliodromus (sun-courier)
• Pater (father)

The titles of the first four ranks suggest the possibility that advancement through the ranks was based on introspection and spiritual growth.

[edit] The tauroctony

Tauroctony of Mithras at the British Museum London

Tauroctony of Mithras at the Brukenthal National Museum

A statue of the tauroctony (of unknown date) in the Vatican Museum.

In every Mithraic temple, the place of honor was occupied by a tauroctony, a representation of Mithras killing a sacred bull which was associated with spring. Mithras is depicted as an energetic young man, wearing a Phrygian cap, a short tunic that flares at the hem, pants and a cloak which furls out behind him. Mithras grasps the bull so as to force it into submission, with his knee on its back and one hand forcing back its head while he stabs it in the neck with a short sword. The figure of Mithras is usually shown at a diagonal angle and with the face turned forward. The representations occur as both reliefs, and as three-dimensional sculpture; however the three dimensional images have a strongly frontal aspect.

A serpent and a dog seem to drink from the bull’s open wound which is sometimes depicted as spilling grain rather than blood, and a scorpion (usually interpreted as a sign for autumn) attacks the bull’s testicles, sapping the bull’s strength. Sometimes, a raven or crow is also present, and sometimes also a goblet and small lion. Cautes and Cautopates, the celestial twins of light and darkness, are torch-bearers, standing on either side with their legs crossed, Cautes with his brand pointing up and Cautopates with his turned down. Above Mithras, the symbols for Sol and Luna are present in the starry night sky.

The Platonic writer Porphyry,^{[citation needed]} recorded, in the 3rd century CE that the cave-like temple Mithraims depicted “an image of the cosmos” or “great cave” of the sky. This interpretation was supported by research by K. B. Stark in 1869, with astronomical support by Roger Beck (1984 and 1988) and David Ulansey (1989).

Detail of sculpture (left) showing scorpion attacking the bull’s testicles

It has been proposed by David Ulansey that, rather than being derived from Iranian animal sacrifice scene with Iranian precedents, the tauroctony is a symbolic representation of the constellations.^[4] The bull is thus interpreted as representing the constellation Taurus, the snake the constellation Hydra, the dog Canis Major or Minor, the crow or raven Corvus, the goblet Crater, the lion Leo, and the wheat-blood for the star Spica, the name of which means “spike of wheat”. Ulansey suggests that the two torch-bearers represent the two equinoxes, and that their crossed legs represent the two intersection points of the zodiac and the celestial equator that define the equinoxes. Ulansey argues that the tauroctony is an astronomical code symbolizing the precession of the equinoxes: the movement of the cosmic sphere, discovered by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus, which caused the spring equinox to move out of the constellation of Taurus (thus ending the “Age of the Bull”).

Mithras is associated by Michael Speidel with the constellation of Orion^[5] because of the proximity to Taurus, and the consistent nature of the depiction of the figure as having wide shoulders, a garment flared at the hem, and narrowed at the waist with a belt, thus taking on the form of the constellation. Ulansey, on the other hand, argues that Mithras was equated with Perseus, whose constellation is directly above that of the Taurus in the sky – the same position occupied by Mithras in the tauroctony.

Cumont hypothesized that this imagery was a Greco-Roman representation of an event in Zoroastrian cosmogony, in which Angra Mainyu (not Mithra) slays the primordial creature Gayomaretan (which in Zoroastrian tradition is represented as a bull).

[edit] Other iconography

Mytra riding bull

Depictions show Mithras (or who is thought to represent Mithras) wearing a cape, that in some examples, has the starry sky as its inside lining. (See image below)

A bronze image of Mithras emerging from an egg-shaped zodiac ring was found associated with a mithraeum along Hadrian’s Wall (now at the University of Newcastle). An inscription from the city of Rome suggests that Mithras may have been seen as the Orphic creator-god Phanes who emerged from the world egg at the beginning of time, bringing the universe into existence. This view is reinforced by a bas-relief at the Estense Museum in Modena, Italy, which shows Phanes coming from an egg, surrounded by the twelve signs of the zodiac, in an image very similar to that at Newcastle.

Reliefs on a cup found in Mainz^[6][7], appear to depict a Mithraic initiation. On the cup, the initiate is depicted as led into a location where a Pater (see Mithraic ranks) would be seated in the guise of Mithras with a drawn bow. Accompanying the initiate is a mystagogue, who explains the symbolism and theology to the initiate. The Rite is thought to re-enact what has come to be called the ‘Water Miracle’, in which Mithras fires a bolt into a rock, and from the rock now spouts water.

[edit] History and development

Mithras and the Bull: This fresco from the mithraeum at Marino, Italy (third century) shows the tauroctony and the celestial lining of Mithras’ cape. (See above)

In antiquity, texts refer to “the mysteries of Mithras”, and to its adherents, as “the mysteries of the Persians.”^[8] This latter epithet is significant, not only for whether the Mithraists considered the object of their devotion a Persian divinity (i.e. Mithra), but for whether the devotees considered their religion to have been founded by Zoroaster.^[8]

It is not possible to state with certainty when “the mysteries of Mithras” developed. Clauss asserts^[9] “the mysteries” were not practiced until the 1st century A.D. Mithraism reached the apogee of its popularity around the 3rd through 4th centuries, when it was particularly popular among the soldiers of the Roman Empire. Mithraism disappeared from overt practice after the Theodosian decree of 391 banned all pagan rites, and it apparently became extinct thereafter.

Although scholars are in agreement with the classical sources that state that the Romans borrowed the name of Mithras from Avestan Mithra,^[10] the origins of the Roman religion itself remain unclear and there is yet no scholarly consensus concerning this issue (for a summary of the various theories, see history, below). Further compounding the problem is the non-academic understanding of what “Persian” means, which, in a classical context is not a specific reference to the Iranian province Pars, but to the Persian (i.e. Achaemenid) Empire and speakers of Iranian languages in general.

[edit] Origin theories

[edit] Cumont’s hypothesis

‘Mithras’ was little more than a name until the massive documentation of Franz Cumont‘s Texts and Illustrated Monuments Relating to the Mysteries of Mithra was published in 1894–1900, with the first English translation in 1903. Cumont’s hypothesis, as the author summarizes it in the first 32 pages of his book, was that the Roman religion was a development of a Zoroastrian cult of Mithra (which Cumont supposes is a development from an Indo-Iranian one of *mitra), that through state sponsorship and syncretic influences was disseminated throughout the Near- and Middle East, ultimately being absorbed by the Greeks, and through them eventually by the Romans.

Cumont’s theory was a hit in its day, particularly since it was addressed to a general, non-academic readership that was at the time fascinated by the orient and its hitherto (relatively) uncharted culture. This was the age when great steps were being taken in Egyptology and Indology, preceded as it was by Max Müller‘s “Sacred Books of the East” series that for the first time demonstrated that civilization did not begin and end with Rome and Greece, or even with Assyria and Babylon, which until then were widely considered to be the cradle of humanity. Cumont’s book was a product of its time, and influenced generations of academics such that the effect of Cumont’s syncretism theories are felt even a century later.

Cumont’s ideas, though in many respects valid, had however one serious problem with respect to the author’s theory on the origins of Mithraism: If the Roman religion was an outgrowth of an Iranian one, there would have to be evidence of Mithraic-like practices attested in Greater Iran. However, that is not the case: No mithraea have been found there, and the Mithraic myth of the tauroctony does not conclusively match the Zoroastrian legend of the slaying of Gayomart, in which Mithra does not play any role at all. The historians of antiquity, otherwise expansive in their descriptions of Iranian religious practices, hardly mention Mithra at all (one notable exception is Herodotus i.131, which associates Mithra with other divinities of the morning star).

Further, no distinct religion of Mithra or *mitra had ever (and has not since) been established. As Boyce put it, “no satisfactory evidence has yet been adduced to show that, before Zoroaster, the concept of a supreme god existed among the Iranians, or that among them Mithra – or any other divinity – ever enjoyed a separate cult of his or her own outside either their ancient or their Zoroastrian pantheons.”^[11]

It should however be noted that while it is “generally agreed that Cumont’s master narrative of east-west transfer is unsustainable,” a syncretic Zoroastrian (whatever that might have entailed at the time) influence is a viable supposition.^[12] This does not however imply that the religion practiced by the Romans was the same as that practiced elsewhere; syncretism was a feature of Roman religion, and the syncretic religion known as the Mysteries of Mithras is a product of Roman culture itself. “Apart from the name of the god himself, in other words, Mithraism seems to have developed largely in and is, therefore, best understood from the context of Roman culture.”^[13]

[edit] Other theories

Other theories propose that Mithraism originated in Asia Minor, which though once within the sphere of Zoroastrian influence, by the second century BC were more influenced by Hellenism than by Zoroastrianism. It was there, at Pergamum on the Aegean Sea, in the second century B.C., that Greek sculptors started to produce the highly standardized bas-relief imagery of Mithra Tauroctonos “Mithra the bull-slayer.”

The Greek biographer Plutarch (46 – 127) was convinced that the pirates of Cilicia, the coastal province in the southeast of Anatolia, were the origin of the Mithraic rituals that were being practiced in the Rome of his day: “They likewise offered strange sacrifices; those of Olympus I mean; and they celebrated certain secret mysteries, among which those of Mithras continue to this day, being originally instituted by them.” (Life of Pompey 24)

Beck suggests a connection through the Hellenistic kingdoms (as Cumont had already intimated) was quite possible: “Mithras — moreover, a Mithras who was identified with the Greek Sun god, Helios, which was one of the deities of the syncretic Graeco-Iranian royal cult founded by Antiochus I, king of the small, but prosperous “buffer” state of Commagene, in the mid first century B.C.”^[8]

Ulansey argues that the Mithraic mysteries began in the Greco-Roman world as a religious response to the discovery by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus of the astronomical phenomenon of the precession of the equinoxes– a discovery that amounted to discovering that the entire cosmos was moving in a hitherto unknown way. This new cosmic motion, he suggests, was seen by the founders of Mithraism as indicating the existence of a powerful new god capable of shifting the cosmic spheres and thereby controlling the universe.

Another possible connection between a Mithra and Mithras, though one not proposed by Cumont, is from a Manichean context. According to Sundermann, the Manicheans adopted the name Mithra to designate one of their own deities. Sundermann determined that the Zoroastrian Mithra, which in Middle Persian is Mihr, is not a variant of the Parthian and Sogdian Mytr or Mytrg; though a homonym of Mithra, those names denote Maitreya. In Parthian and Sogdian however Mihr was taken as the sun and consequently identified as the Third Messenger. This Third Messenger was the helper and redeemer of mankind, and identified with another Zoroastrian divinity Narisaf.^[14] Citing Boyce,^[15] Sundermann remarks, “It was among the Parthian Manicheans that Mithra as a sun god surpassed the importance of Narisaf as the common Iranian image of the Third Messenger; among the Parthians the dominance of Mithra was such that his identification with the Third Messenger led to cultic emphasis on the Mithraic traits in the Manichaean god.”^[16]

Some commentators^[17] surmise that the Mithraists worshipped Mithras as the mediator between Man and the supreme God of the upper and nether world. Other commentators,^[who?] inspired by James Frazer‘s theories, have additionally labeled Mithraism as a mystery religion with a life-death-rebirth deity, comparable to Isis, or Persephone/Demeter, the cult of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

[edit] The early period

Mithraism began to attract attention in Rome around the end of the first century. Statius mentions the typical Mithraic relief in his Thebaid (Book i. 719,720), around 80 A.D. The earliest material evidence for the Roman worship of Mithras dates from that period, in a record of Roman soldiers who came from the military garrison at Carnuntum in the Roman province of Upper Pannonia (near the Danube River in modern Austria, near the Hungarian border). Other legionaries fought the Parthians and were involved in the suppression of the revolts in Jerusalem from 60 A.D. to about 70 A.D. When they returned home, they made Mithraic dedications, probably in the year 71 or 72.

By the year 200, Mithraism had spread widely through the army, and also among traders and slaves. During festivals all initiates were equals, including slaves. The German frontiers have yielded most of the archaeological evidence of its prosperity: small cult objects connected with Mithras turn up in archaeological digs from Romania to Hadrian’s Wall.

[edit] Expansion throughout the empire

Sol Invictus on the reverse of this coin by usurper Victorinus. Mithras (as well as Elagabalus and Sol) was at times referred to as Sol Invictus.

By the third century, Mithraism was officially sanctioned by the Roman emperors.^[18] According to the fourth century Historia Augusta, Commodus participated in its mysteries: Sacra Mithriaca homicidio vero polluit, cum illic aliquid ad speciem timoris vel dici vel fingi soleat “He desecrated the rites of Mithras with actual murder, although it was customary in them merely to say or pretend something that would produce an impression of terror”.^[19]

Concentrations of Mithraic temples are found on the outskirts of the Roman empire: along Hadrian’s wall in northern England three mithraea have been identified, at Housesteads, Carrawburgh and Rudchester. The discoveries are in the University of Newcastle‘s Museum of Antiquities, where a mithraeum has been recreated. Recent excavations in London have uncovered the remains of a Mithraic temple near to the center of the once walled Roman settlement, on the bank of the Walbrook stream. Mithraea have also been found in Poetovio (today Ptuj) in Pannonia, along the Danube and Rhine river frontier, in the province of Dacia (where in 2003 a temple was found in Alba-Iulia) and as far afield as Numidia in North Africa.

As would be expected, Mithraic ruins are also found in the port city of Ostia, and in Rome the capital, where as many as seven hundred mithraea may have existed (a dozen have been identified). Its importance at Rome may be judged from the abundance of monumental remains (despite centuries of attempts to destroy all “pagan” artifacts by Christians): more than 75 pieces of sculpture, 100 Mithraic inscriptions, and ruins of temples and shrines in all parts of the city and its suburbs. A well-preserved late second-century mithraeum, with its altar and built-in stone benches, originally built beneath a Roman house (as was a common practice, the religion being a “secret” one), survives in the crypt over which has been built the Basilica of San Clemente, Rome.

[edit] Decline and demise

There is very little information about the decline of the religion. The edict of Theodosius I in 394 made “paganism” (belief in or practice of any religion other than Christianity) illegal. Official recognition of Mithras in the army stopped at this time, but we have no information on what other effect the edict had on Mithraism. Mithraism may have survived in certain remote cantons of the Alps and Vosges into the fifth century.^[20]

[edit] Places of interest

Sites of interest relating to the Mystery of Mithras include:

• Austria: Carnuntum had at least five mithrea, one of which has been reconstructed and is on display in the archeological park at the excavation site. Cult sites have also been found in other parts of Austria.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: Jajce Mithraeum
• Croatia: The towns of Sisak and Cavtat.
• England: The museum at the University of Newcastle displays findings from the three sites along Hadrian’s Wall (including the Carrawburgh mithraeum and Rudchester mithraeum) and recreates the now exposed mithraeum at Carrawburgh
• England: The London Mithraeum was discovered in 1954 in Walbrook, London. It was moved and is now on Queen Victoria Street, with findings in the Museum of London.
• France: Sarrebourg
• Germany: The museum of Dieburg displays finds from a mithraeum, including ceramics used in the service.
• Germany: The museum of Hanau displays a reconstruction of a mithraeum.
• Hungary: Fertorakos mithraeum. Reconstructed using substantial original remains at Fertőrákos in Hungary.
• Italy: The Basilica of San Clemente in Rome has a preserved mithraeum with the altarpiece still intact in the excavations under the modern church.
• Italy: The Castra Peregrinorum mithraeum in Rome, under the basilica of Santo Stefano Rotondo was excavated in the 20th century.
• Italy: Ostia Antica, the port of Rome, where the remains of 17 mithraea have been found so far; one of them is substantial.
• Slovenia: The museum of Ptuj and town Hajdina near Ptuj with five excavated mithraea.
• Switzerland: The city of Martigny (ancient Octodurus), in the Alps, displays a reconstructed Mithraeum [1]
• United States: The Cincinnati Art Museum displays a relief from a mithraeum in Rome depicting Mithras slaying a bull.

• Google Earth: Map of Mithraea [2]

See also: Notable mithraea

[edit] Mithraism and Christianity

Many commentators of Christiantity have seen a continuity with Paganism, with similarities with Mithraism especially commonly asserted^[21] for instance the Ecclesiastical calendar retains remnants of pre-Christian festivals, notably Christmas, which maintains many aspects of the Pagan mid-winter festival of Saturnalia. Evaluation of the relationship of early Christianity with Mithraism has traditionally been based on the polemical testimonies of the 2nd century Church fathers, such as Justin‘s accusations that the Mithraists were diabolically imitating the Christians.^[22] This led to a picture of rivalry between the two religions, which Ernest Renan set forth in his 1882 The Origins of Christianity by saying “if the growth of Christianity had been arrested by some mortal malady, the world would have been Mithraic,”^[23] However, Renan’s conclusions have been criticised by Christian apologists. Edwin M. Yamauchi comments on Renan’s work which, “published nearly 150 years ago, has no value as a source. He [Renan] knew very little about Mithraism…”^[24]

Martin (1989) characterizes the rivalry between 3rd century Mithraism and Christianity in Rome as primarily one for real estate in the public areas of urban Rome.^[25]

[edit] Iconographical similarities with Christian art in late antiquity

The examples and perspective in this article may not include all significant viewpoints. Please improve the article or discuss the issue on the talk page. (June 2008)

Although Judaism has a rich narrative imagery from which much of biblical history painting in the history of Christian art draws its imagery, Judaism did not give a precedent for pictorial or visual representation in painting or sculpture from which the Early Christians could base the form of its visual imagery. Yet, while some early Christian scenes do make use of the figures from pagan imagery their content is based in most part on the biblical narrative.

However, according to Franz Cumont, after the triumph of the church over paganism, artists continued to make use of stock images originally devised for Mithras in order to depict the new and unfamiliar stories of the bible. The way in which Mithras was depicted shooting arrows at rocks causing fountains to spring up was adapted to represent the biblical story of Moses striking Mount Horeb with his staff to release drinking water, according to Cumont. Likewise the Heavens, the Earth, the Ocean, the Sun, the Moon, the Planets, signs of the Zodiac, the Winds, the Seasons, and the Elements appear on sarcophagi, mosaics, and miniatures in the fourth to fifth centuries using the same sort of iconography used for Mithras earlier. The “stranglehold of the workshop” meant that the first Christian artworks were heavily based on pagan art, and “a few alterations in costume and attitude transformed a pagan scene into a Christian picture”.^[26]

M. J. Vermaseren claimed that the scene of Mithras ascending into the heavens was similarly incorporated into Christian art: after Mithras had accomplished a series of miraculous deeds, he ascended into the heavens in a chariot, which in various depictions is drawn by horses being controlled by Helios-Sol, the pagan sun god. In other depictions a chariot of fire belonging to Helios is led into the water, surrounded by the god Oceanus and sea nymphs. Vermaseren argues that Christian portrayals on sarcophagi of the soul’s ascension into heaven, though ostensibly referencing the biblical scene of Elijah being led into heaven by fiery chariots and horses, were in fact inspired by representations of Mithras’ ascent into the heavens in Helios’ chariot. The sun god, Vermaseren claims, provided inspiration for the flames on Elijah’s chariot and the Jordan River is personified by a figure resembling the god Oceanus.^[27]

A. Deman suggests that rather than attempting to find individual references from Mithraic art in Christian iconography, as Cumont does with the sun and moon, for instance, it is better to look for larger patterns of comparison: “with this method, pure coincidences can no longer be used and so the recognition of Mithras as the privileged pagan inspirer of medieval Christian iconography is forced upon us.”^[28] For example Deman compares what he calls the “creative sacrifice” of Mithras with the creative sacrifice of Christ. In representations of both iconographic scenes the vernal sacrifice is central to the image, with sun and the moon symmetrically arranged above. Beneath the sacrifice two other figures are symmetrically arranged. In mithraic scenes these are Cautes and Cautopates, and in the Christian scenes, which date from the 4th century onwards, the figures are typically Mary and John. In other Christian instances however, these two attendants are other figures, and carry a raised and lowered object reminiscent of the raised and lowered torches of Cautes and Cautopates. Such figures may be two Roman soldiers armed with lances, or Longinus holding a spear and Stephaton offering Jesus vinegar from a sponge. In some instances the clothes of these figures resemble those of Cautes and Cautopates in the earlier Mithraic depictions. Deman also compares the twelve apostles shown in Christian crucifixion scenes with the twelve signs of the zodiac common in Mithraic scenes, as well as identifying a cross-legged posture commonly found in figures in both sets of iconography.^[28]

[edit] Other similarities with Christianity

Some authors have drawn parallels between the circumstances of Mithras’ and Jesus’ birth: Joseph Campbell described it as a virgin birth^[29],^[30] This theory is in contradiction to the traditional understanding of Mithras’ birth. In Mithraic Studies it stated that Mithras was born as an adult from solid rock, “wearing his Phrygian cap, issues forth from the rocky mass. As yet only his bare torso is visible. In each hand he raises aloft a lighted torch and, as an unusual detail, red flames shoot out all around him from the petra genetrix.”^[31] David Ulansey speculates that this was a belief derived from the Perseus’ myths which held he was born from an underground cavern.^[32] Martin A. Larson, as well as Franz Cumont asserted that Mithras was said to have been born on December 25, or the winter solstice.^[33]

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Yamauchi, Edwin Persia and the Bible (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1996)
• Nash, Ronald The Gospel and the Greeks: Did the New Testament Borrow from Pagan Thought? (2003)
• Edwin M. Yamauchi, “Tammuz and the Bible,” Journal of Biblical Literature 84 (1965), 283 – 90.
• Legge, Francis. Forerunners and Rivals of Christianity (1915)
• Beck, Roger “The Mysteries of Mithras: A New Account of Their Genesis,” Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 88, 1998 (1998) , pp. 115–128.
• Ulansey, David, The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries: Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World, Oxford University Press, 1989.
• Walter Burkert, Ancient Mystery Cults, Harvard University Press, 1987.
• Hinnells, John (ed.), Proceedings of The First International Congress of Mithraic Studies, Manchester University Press (1975).
• A. Rehn, The Relation Between Mithraism and Christianity, University of Chicago, Divinity School (1921).
• H Salahi, Mithraism and Its Similarities to Christianity, California State University, (1979).
• RN Wells, A Study of Mithraism and of Its Effects on Christianity, Duke University (1946).
• KP Robinson-Campos, Mithraism and Christianity: Myths and Origins, University of New Mexico (2006).
• DR Morse, Mithraism and Christianity: How Are They Related, Journal of Religion and Psychical Research (1999)
• E Winter, Mithraism and Christianity in Late Antiquity – Ethnicity and culture in Late Antiquity, London/Swansea, 2000
• JJ Hoffmann, Mithraism and Early Christianity, Northwestern University (1923)
• MS Whitman, Similarities in the Content and Practices of Early Christianity and the Mithra Cult, University of Idaho, (1933).
• R Beck, The Mysteries of Mithras: A New Account of Their Genesis, The Journal of Roman Studies (1998).
• Luther H. Martin, Roman Mithraism and Christianity, Numen (1989).
• Kriwaczek, Paul. In Search of Zarathustra. Weidenfeld and Nicholson (2002)
• Malloch, D.K, Christ and the Taurobolium – Lord Mithras in the genesis of Christianity, Lochan Press, 2006

Krishna
Krishna with Radha, 18th C Rajasthani painting
Devanagari	कृष्ण
Affiliation	Avatar of Vishnu, Svayam bhagavan
Abode	Vrindavan, Dwarka
Weapon	Discus (Sudarshana Chakra)
Consort	Radha, Rukmini, Satyabhama, Jambavati, Satya, Lakshmana, Kalindi, Bhadra, Mitravinda.
Mount	Garuda
Texts	Bhagavata Purana, Bhagavad Gita
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Krishna (कृष्ण in Devanagari, kṛṣṇa in IAST, pronounced [ˈkr̩ʂɳə] in classical Sanskrit) is a deity worshiped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of perspectives. While many Vaishnava groups recognize him as an avatar of Vishnu, other traditions within Krishnaism consider Krishna to be svayam bhagavan, or the Supreme Being.

Krishna is often depicted as an infant, as a young boy playing a flute as in the Bhagavata Purana,^[1] or as a youthful prince giving direction and guidance as in the Bhagavad Gita.^[2] The stories of Krishna appear across a broad spectrum of Hindu philosophical and theological traditions.^[3] They portray him in various perspectives: a god-child, a prankster, a model lover, a divine hero and the Supreme Being.^[4] The principal scriptures discussing Krishna’s story are the Mahābhārata, the Harivamsa, the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana.

The various traditions dedicated to different manifestations of Krishna, such as Vasudeva, Bala Krishna and Gopala, existed as early as 4th century BC. The Krishna-bhakti Movement spread to southern India by the 9th century AD, while in northern India Krishnaism schools were well established by 11th century AD. From the 10th century AD, with the growing Bhakti movement, Krishna became a favorite subject in performing arts and regional traditions of devotion developed for forms of Krishna such as Jagannatha in Orissa, Vithoba in Maharashtra and Shrinathji in Rajasthan. Since 1966, the Krishna-bhakti movement has spread in the West, with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Devotion to Krishna is widely diffused and extends to Jains, Buddhists, Bahá’ís and beyond India.

Etymology and names

Krishna as Jaganatha in a typical Oriya style, shown at the far right, with sister Subhadra in the center and brother Balarama on the left.

The Sanskrit word kṛṣṇa has the literal meaning of “black”, “dark” or “dark-blue”^[5] and is used as a name to describe someone with dark skin. Krishna is often depicted in murtis (images) as black, and is generally shown in paintings with a blue skin.

Some Hindu traditions often ascribe varying interpretations and powers to the names. The Mahabharata‘s Udyoga-parva (Mbh 5.71.4) divides kṛṣṇa into elements kṛṣ and ṇa, kṛṣ (a verbal root meaning “to plough, drag”) being taken as expressing bhū “being; earth” and ṇa being taken as expressing nirvṛti “bliss”. In the Brahmasambandha mantra of the Vallabha sampradaya, the syllables of the name Krishna are assigned the power to destroy sin relating to material, self and divine causes.^[6] Mahabharata verse 5.71.4 is also quoted in Chaitanya Charitamrita and Prabhupada in his commentary, translates the bhū as “attractive existence”, thus Krishna is also interpreted as meaning “all-attractive one”.^[7][8] This quality of Krishna is stated in the atmarama verse of Bhagavatam 1.7.10.^[9]

The name Krishna is also the 57th name in the Vishnu Sahasranama and means the Existence of Bliss, according to Adi Sankara‘s interpretation. ^[10] Krishna is also known by various other names, epithets and titles, which reflect his many associations and attributes. Among the most common names are Govinda, “finder of cows”, or Gopala, “protector of cows”, which refer to Krishna’s childhood in Vraja.^[11][12] Some of the distinct names may be regionally important; for instance, Jagannatha (literally “Lord of the Universe”), a popular deity of Puri in eastern India.^[13]

[edit] Iconography

Krishna with Gopis – Painting from Smithsonian Institution

Krishna is easily recognized by his representations. Though his skin colour may be depicted as black or dark in some representations, particularly in murtis, in other images such as modern pictorial representations, Krishna is usually shown with blue skin. He is often shown wearing a yellow silk dhoti and peacock feather headgear. Common depictions show him as a little boy, or as a young man in a characteristic relaxed pose, playing the flute.^[14][15] In this form, he usually stands with one leg bent in front of the other and raises a flute to his lips, accompanied by cows, emphasising his position as the divine herdsman, Govinda, or with the gopis (milkmaids).

The scene on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, notably where he addresses Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, is another common subject for representation. In these depictions, he is shown as a man, often shown with typical god-like characteristics of Hindu religious art, such as multiple arms or heads, denoting power, and with attributes of Vishnu, such as the chakra or in his two-armed form as a charioteer.

Representations in temples often show Krishna as a man standing in an upright, formal pose. He may be alone, or with associated figures:^[16] his brother Balarama and sister Subhadra, or his main queens Rukmini and Satyabhama.

Often, Krishna is pictured with his gopi-consort Radha. Manipuri Vaishnavas do not worship Krishna alone, but as Radha Krishna,^[17] a combined image of Krishna and Radha. This is also a characteristic of the schools Rudra^[18] and Nimbarka sampradaya,^[19] as well as that of Swaminarayan faith. The traditions celebrate Radha Ramana murti, who is viewed by Gaudiyas as a form of Radha Krishna.^[20]

Krishna is also depicted and worshipped as a small child (bāla kṛṣṇa, the child Krishna), crawling on his hands and knees or dancing, often with butter in his hand.^[21][22] Regional variations in the iconography of Krishna are seen in his different forms, such as Jaganatha of Orissa, Vithoba of Maharashtra^[23] and Shrinathji in Rajasthan.

[edit] Literary sources

Yashoda bathing the child Krishna. (Western Indian illustrated Bhagavata Purana Manuscript)

The earliest text to explicitly provide detailed descriptions of Krishna as a personality is the epic Mahābhārata which depicts Krishna as an incarnation of Vishnu.^[24] Krishna is central to many of the main stories of the epic. The eighteen chapters of the sixth book (Bhishma Parva) of the epic that constitute the Bhagavad Gita contain the advice of Krishna to the warrior-hero Arjuna, on the battlefield. Krishna is already an adult in the epic, although there are allusions to his earlier exploits. The Harivamsa, a later appendix to this epic, contains the earliest detailed version of Krishna’s childhood and youth.

Many Puranas tells Krishna’s life-story or some highlights from it. Two Puranas, the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana, that contain the most elaborate telling of Krishna’s story and teachings are the most theologically venerated by the Gaudiya Vaishnava schools.^[25] Roughly one quarter of the Bhagavata Purana is spent extolling his life and philosophy.

Yāska‘s Nirukta, an etymological dictionary around the 5th century BC, contains a reference to the Shyamantaka jewel in the possession of Akrura, a motif from well known Puranic story about Krishna.^[26]Satha-patha-brahmana and Aitareya-Aranyaka, associate Krishna with his Vrishni origins.^[27] In early texts, such as Rig Veda, there are no obvious references to Krishna, however some, like Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar attempted to show that “the very same Krishna” made an appearance, e.g. as the drapsa … krishna “black drop” of RV 8.96.13.^[28][26]

[edit] Life

This summary is based on details from the Mahābhārata, the Harivamsa, the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana. The scenes from the narrative are set in north India, mostly in the present states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat.

[edit] Birth

Krishna is carried by his father Vasudeva across river Yamuna to Vrindavana, mid 18th century painting.

Traditional belief based on scriptural details and astrological calculations gives the date of Krishna’s birth, known as Janmashtami,^[29] as either 18 or 21 July 3228 BC.^[30][31][32] Krishna belonged to the royal family of Mathura, and was the eighth son born to the princess Devaki, and her husband Vasudeva. Mathura was the capital of the Yadavas (also called the Surasenas), to which Krishna’s parents Vasudeva and Devaki belonged. The king Kamsa, Devaki’s brother,^[33] had ascended the throne by imprisoning his father, King Ugrasena. Afraid of a prophecy that predicted his death at the hands of Devaki‘s eighth son, he had locked the couple into a prison cell. After Kamsa killed the first six children, and Devaki’s apparent miscarriage of the seventh, being transferred to Rohini as Balarama, Krishna took birth.

Since Vasudeva believed Krishna’s life was in danger, Krishna was secretly taken out of the prison cell to be raised by his foster parents, Yasoda ^[34] and Nanda in Gokula. Two of his other siblings also survived, Balarama (Devaki’s seventh child, transferred to the womb of Rohini, Vasudeva’s first wife) and Subhadra (daughter of Vasudeva and Rohini, born much later than Balarama and Krishna).^[35] According to Bhagavata Purana it is believed that Krishna was born without a sexual union, by “mental transmission” from the mind of Vasudeva into the womb of Devaki. Hindus believe that in that time, this type of union was possible for achieved beings.^[29][36][37]

[edit] Childhood and youth

Krishna holding Govardhan hill

Nanda was the head of a community of cow-herders, and he settled in Vrindavana. The stories of Krishna’s childhood and youth tell of his mischievous pranks as Makhan Chor (butter thief), his foiling of attempts to take his life, and his role as a protector of the people of Vrindavana. Krishna is said to have killed the demons like Putana, sent by Kamsa for Krishna’s life. He tamed the serpent Kaliya, who previously poisoned the waters of Yamuna river, thus leading to the death of the cowherds. In Hindu art, Krishna is often depicted dancing on the multi-hooded Kaliya. Krishna is believed to have lifted the Govardhana hill and taught Indra—the king of the devas and rain a lesson—to protect native people of Vrindavana from persecution by Indra and prevent the devastation of the pasture land of Govardhan. Indra had too much pride and was angry when Krishna advised the people of Vrindavana to take care of their animals and their environment that provide them with all their necessities, instead of Indra. ^[38][39] In the view of some, the spiritual movement started by Krishna had something in it which went against the orthodox forms of worship of the Vedic gods such as Indra.^[40]

The stories of his play with the gopis (milkmaids) of Vrindavana became known as the Rasa lila and were romanticised in the poetry of Jayadeva, author of the Gita Govinda. These became important as part of the development of the Krishna bhakti traditions worshiping Radha Krishna.^[41]

[edit] The prince

On his return to Mathura as a young man, Krishna overthrew and killed his uncle Kamsa after avoiding several assassination attempts from Kamsa’s followers. He reinstated Kamsa’s father, Ugrasena, as the king of the Yadavas and became a leading prince at the court.^[42] During this period, he became a friend of Arjuna and the other Pandava princes of the Kuru kingdom, who were his cousins. Later, he took his Yadava subjects to the city of Dwaraka (in modern Gujarat) and established his own kingdom there.^[43]

Krishna married Rukmini, the princess of Vidarbha, by abducting her from her wedding on her request. According to Srimad Bhagavatam, Krishna married with 16,108 wives,^[44][45] of which eight were chief—including Rukmini, Satyabhama, Jambavati;^[46] Krishna subsequently married 16,100 maidens who were being held in captivity by demon Narakasura, to save their honor. Krishna killed the demon and released them all. According to strict social custom of the time all of the captive women were degraded, and would be unable to marry, as they had been under the control of Narakasura, however Krishna married them to reinstate their status in the society.This wedding with 16100 abadoned daughters was more of a en masse women rehabilitation.^[47] In Vaishnava traditions, Krishna’s wives are believed to be forms of the goddess Lakshmi—consort of Vishnu, or special souls who attained this qualification after many lifetimes of austerity, while his primary queen Satyabhama, is an expansion of Radha.^[48]

[edit] Kurukshetra War and Bhagavad Gita

Once battle seemed inevitable, Krishna offered both sides the opportunity to choose between having either his army or simply himself alone, but on the condition that he personally would not raise any weapon. Arjuna, on behalf of the Pandavas, chose to have Krishna on their side, and Duryodhana, chief of the Kauravas, chose Krishna’s army. At the time of the great battle, Krishna acted as Arjuna’s charioteer, since it was a position that did not require the wielding of weapons.

Krishna displays his Vishvarupa (Universal Form) to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

Upon arriving at the battlefield, and seeing that the enemies are his family, his grandfather, his cousins and loved ones, Arjuna becomes doubtful about fighting. Krishna then advises him about the battle, with the conversation soon extending into a discourse which was later compiled as the Bhagavad Gita.^[49]

[edit] Later life

At a festival, a fight broke out between the Yadavas who exterminated each other. His elder brother Balarama then gave up his body using Yoga. Krishna retired into the forest and sat under a tree in meditation. While Vyasa’s Mahābhārata says that Shri Krishna ascended to heaven, Sarala‘s Mahabhārata narrates the story that a hunter mistook his partly visible left foot for a deer and shot an arrow wounding him mortally.^[50][51][52]

According to Puranic sources,^[53] Krishna’s disappearance marks the end of Dvapara Yuga and the start of Kali Yuga, which is dated to February 17/18, 3102 BC.^[54] Vaishnava teachers such as Ramanujacharya and Gaudiya Vaishnavas held the view that the body of Krishna is completely spiritual and never decays as this appears to be the perspective of the Bhagavata Purana. Krishna never appears to grow old or age at all in the historical depictions of the Puranas despite passing of several decades, but there are grounds for a debate whether this indicates that he has no material body, since battles and other descriptions of the Mahabhārata epic show clear indications that he seems to be subject to the limitations of nature.^[55] While battles apparently seem to indicate limitations, Mahabharatha also shows in many places where Krishna is not subject to any limitations as through episodes Duryodhana trying to arrest Krishna where His body burst into fire showing all creation within Him.^[56] Krishna is also explicitly told to be without deterioration elsewhere. ^[57]

[edit] Early historical references

One of the earliest recorded instances of a Krishna who could potentially be identified with the deity can be found in the Chandogya Upanishad, where he is mentioned as the son of Devaki, and to whom Ghora Angirasa was a teacher.^[58][59] The Upanishads, namely Nārāyaṇātharvaśirsa and Ātmabodha, specifically regard Krishna as a god and associate him with Vishnu.^[58]

References to Vāsudeva also occur in early Sanskrit literature. Taittiriya Aranyaka (X,i,6) identifies him with Narayana and Vishnu. Panini, ca. 4th century BC, in his Ashtadhyayi explains the word “Vāsudevaka” as a Bhakta (devotee) of Vāsudeva.^[26] This, along with the mention of Arjuna in the same context, indicates that the Vāsudeva here is Krishna.^[60] At some stage during the Vedic period, Vasudeva and Krishna became one deity, and by the time of composition of the redaction of Mahabharata that survives till today, Krishna (Vasudeva) was generally acknowledged as an avatar of Vishnu and often as the Supreme God.^[58]

In the 4th century BC, Megasthenes the Greek ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya says that the Sourasenoi (Surasena), who lived in the region of Mathura worshipped Herakles. This Herakles is usually identified with Krishna due to the regions mentioned by Megasthenes as well as similarities between some of the herioc acts of the two.^[61] The Greco-Bactrian ruler Agathocles issued coins bearing the images of Krishna and Balarama in around 180–165 BC.

Three inscriptions from Hāthibādā and one from Ghosundi (near Nāgari, Chittorgarh district) from the 2nd century BC, record the building of a pujā-silā-prākar (stone enclosure for worship) in Nārāyana-vata (park of Nārāyana) by king Gājāyana Sarvatāta for the worship of the gods Sankarshana (Balarama) and Vasudeva (Krishna).^[62][61] From the same century,the Nānāghāt cave (Maharashtra) inscription of the Satavahana queen Nāyanika begins with an invocation to various gods including Sankarshana and Vasudeva.^[63]

The first inscription of the Heliodorus pillar that was made by Heliodorus 110 BC after his conversion to Bhagavata Monotheism.

In the 1st century BC, Heliodorus from Greece erected the Heliodorus pillar at Besnagar near Bhilsa with the inscription:^[61] “This Garuda-column of Vasudeva the god of gods was erected here by Heliodorus, a worshipper of the Lord Bhagavata, the son of Diya Greek Dion and an inhabitant of Taxila, who came as ambassador of the Greeks from the Great King Amtalikita [Greek Antialcidas] to King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra the saviour, who was flourishing in the fourteenth year of his reign [...] three immortal steps [...] when practiced, lead to heaven—self-control, charity, and diligence.”

Another inscription from Besnagar, from the same period, records the setting up of a Garuda pillar in a prasādottama (excellent temple) in the twelfth regnal year of a king called Bhāgavata, usually identified as a Sunga king.^[64][65] A 1st century BC inscription from Mathura records the building of a part of a sanctuary to Vasudeva by the great satrap Sodasa.

The renowned grammar scholar Patanjali, who wrote his commentary on Panini’s grammar rules around 150 BC (known as the Mahabhashya), quotes a verse: “May the might of Krishna accompanied by Samkarshana increase!” Other verses are mentioned. One verse speaks of “Janardana with himself as fourth” (Krishna with three companions, the three possibly being Samkarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha). Another verse mentions musical instruments being played at meetings in the temples of Rama (Balarama) and Kesava (Krishna). Patanjali also describes dramatic and mimetic performances (Krishna-Kamsopacharam) representing the killing of Kamsa by Vasudeva.^[66]

Also in the 1st century BC, there seems to be evidence for a worship of five Vrishni heroes (Balarama, Krishna, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Samba) for an inscription has been found at Mora near Mathura, which apparently mentions a son of the great satrap Rajuvula, probably the satrap Sodasa, and an image of Vrishni, “probably Vasudeva, and of the “Five Warriors”.^[67] Brahmi inscription on the Mora stone slab, now in the Mathura Museum.^[68][69] Many inscriptions and references to worship of Krishna can be found from the early centuries of the Common Era.

[edit] Worship

[edit] Vaishnavism

The worship of Krishna is part of Vaishnavism, which regards Vishnu as the Supreme God and venerates his associated avatars, their consorts, and related saints and teachers. Krishna is especially looked upon as a full manifestation of Vishnu, and as one with Vishnu himself.^[70] However the exact relationship between Krishna and Vishnu is complex and diverse,^[71] where Krishna is sometimes considered an independent deity, supreme in his own right.^[72] Out of many deities Krishna is particularly important, and traditions of Vaishnava lines are generally centered either on Vishnu or on Krishna, as supreme. The term Krishnaism has been used to describe the sects of Krishna, reserving term “Vaishnavism” for sects focusing on Vishnu in which Krishna is an avatar, rather than a transcended being.^[73]

All Vaishnava traditions recognise Krishna as an avatar of Vishnu; others identify Krishna with Vishnu; while traditions, such as Gaudiya Vaishnavism,^[74][75] Vallabha Sampradaya and the Nimbarka Sampradaya, regard Krishna as the svayam bhagavan, original form of God, or the Lord himself.^{[76][77][78][79][80]} Swaminarayan, the founder of the Swaminarayan Sampraday also worshipped Krishna as god himself. “Greater Krishnaism” corresponds to the second and dominant phase of Vaishnavism, revolving around the cults of the Vasudeva, Krishna, and Gopala of late Vedic period.^[81] Today the faith has a significant following outside of India as well.^[82]

[edit] Early traditions

An image of Bala Krishna displayed during Janmashtami celebrations at a Swaminarayan Temple in London

The deity Krishna-Vasudeva (kṛṣṇa vāsudeva “Krishna, the son of Vasudeva“) is historically one of the earliest forms of worship in Krishnaism and Vaishnavism.^[26][83] It is believed to be a significant tradition of the early history of the worship of Krishna in antiquity.^[84][85] This tradition is considered as earliest to other traditions that led to amalgamation at a later stage of the historical development. Other traditions are Bhagavatism and the cult of Gopala, that along with the cult of Bala Krishna form the basis of current tradition of monotheistic religion of Krishna.^[86][87] Some early scholars would equate it with Bhagavatism,^[84] and the founder of this religious tradition is believed to be Krishna, who is the son of Vasudeva, thus his name is Vāsudeva, he is belonged to be historically part of the Satvata tribe, and according to them his followers called themselves Bhagavatas and this religion had formed by the 2nd century BC (the time of Patanjali), or as early as the 4th century BC according to evidence in Megasthenes and in the Arthasastra of Kautilya, when Vāsudeva was worshiped as supreme deity in a strongly monotheistic format, where the supreme being was perfect, eternal and full of grace.^[84] In many sources outside of the cult, devotee or bhakta is defined as Vāsudevaka.^[88] The Harivamsa describes intricate relationships between Krishna Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha that would later form a Vaishnava concept of primary quadrupled expansion, or avatara.^[89]

[edit] Bhakti tradition

Bhakti, meaning devotion, is not confined to any one deity. However Krishna is an important and popular focus of the devotional and ecstatic aspects of Hindu religion, particularly among the Vaishnava sects.^[74][90] Devotees of Krishna subscribe to the concept of lila, meaning ‘divine play’, as the central principle of the Universe. The lilas of Krishna, with their expressions of personal love that transcend the boundaries of formal reverence, serve as a counterpoint to the actions of another avatar of Vishnu: Rama, “He of the straight and narrow path of maryada, or rules and regulations.”^[75]

The Bhakti movements devoted to Krishna became prominent in southern India in the 7th to 9th centuries AD. The earliest works included those of the Alvar saints of the Tamil country.^[91] A major collection of their works is the Divya Prabandham. The Alvar Andal‘s popular collection of songs Tiruppavai, in which she conceives of herself as a gopi, is the most famous of the oldest works in this genre.^{[92][93] [94]} Kulasekaraazhvaar‘s Mukundamala was another notable work of this early stage.

[edit] Spread of the Krishna-Bhakti Movement

The movement spread rapidly from northern India into the south, with the Sanskrit poem Gita Govinda of Jayadeva (12th century AD) becoming a landmark of devotional, Krishna-based literature. It elaborated a part of the Krishna legend—his love for one particular gopi, called Radha, a minor character in Bhagavata Purana but a major one in other texts like Brahma Vaivarta Purana. By the influence of Gita Govinda, Radha became inseparable from devotion to Krishna.^[4]

Gita Govinda by Jayadeva.

While the learned sections of the society well versed in Sanskrit could enjoy works like Gita Govinda or Bilvamangala‘s Krishna-Karnamritam, the masses sang the songs of the devotee-poets, who composed in the regional languages of India. These songs expressing intense personal devotion were written by devotees from all walks of life. The songs of Meera and Surdas became epitomes of Krishna-devotion in north India.

These devotee-poets, like the Alvars before them, were aligned to specific theological schools only loosely, if at all. But by the 11th century AD, Vaishnava Bhakti schools with elaborate theological frameworks around the worship of Krishna were established in north India. Nimbarka (11th century AD), Vallabhacharya (15th century AD) and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (16th century AD) were the founders of the most influential schools. These schools, namely Nimbarka Sampradaya, Vallabha Sampradaya and Gaudiya Vaishnavism respectively, see Krishna as the supreme god, rather than an avatar, as generally seen.

In the Deccan, particularly in Maharashtra, saint poets of the Varkari sect such as Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Janabai, Eknath and Tukaram promoted the worship of Vithoba,^[23] a local form of Krishna, from the beginning of the 13th century until the late 18th century.^[4] In southern India, Purandara Dasa and Kanakadasa of Karnataka composed songs devoted to the Krishna image of Udupi. Rupa Goswami of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, has compiled a comprehensive summary of bhakti named Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu.^[90]

[edit] In the West

Krishna (left) with the flute with gopi-consort Radha, Bhaktivedanta Manor, Watford, England

Since 1966, the Krishna bhakti movement has also spread outside India.^[95] This is largely due to the Hare Krishna movement, the largest part of which is the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).^[96] The movement was founded by Prabhupada, who was instructed by his guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, to write about Krishna in English and to share the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy with people in the Western world.^[97]

[edit] In the performing arts

While discussing the origin of Indian theatre, Horwitz talks about the mention of the Krishna story in Patanjali‘s Mahabhashya (c. 150 BC), where the episodes of slaying of Kamsa (Kamsa Vadha) and “Binding of the heaven storming titan” (Bali Bandha) are described.^[98] Bhasa‘s Balacharitam and Dutavakyam (c. 400 BC) are the only Sanskrit plays centered on Krishna written by a major classical dramatist. The former dwells only on his childhood exploits and the latter is a one-act play based on a single episode from the Mahābhārata when Krishna tries to make peace between the warring cousins.^[99]

From the 10th century AD, with the growing Bhakti movement, Krishna became a favourite subject of the arts. The songs of the Gita Govinda became popular across India, and had many imitations. The songs composed by the Bhakti poets added to the repository of both folk and classical singing.

A Kathakali performer as Krishna.

The classical Indian dances, especially Odissi and Manipuri, draw heavily on the story. The ‘Rasa lila‘ dances performed in Vrindavan shares elements with Kathak, and the Krisnattam, with some cycles, such as Krishnattam, traditionally restricted to the Guruvayur temple, the precursor of Kathakali.^[100] The Sattriya dance, founded by the Assamese Vaishnava saint Sankardeva, extols the virtues of Krishna. Medieval Maharashtra gave birth to a form of storytelling known as the Hari-Katha, that told Vaishnava tales and teachings through music, dance, and narrative sequences, and the story of Krishna one of them. This tradition spread to Tamil Nadu and other southern states, and is now popular in many places throughout India.

Narayana Tirtha‘s (17th century AD) Krishna-Lila-Tarangini provided material for the musical plays of the Bhagavata-Mela by telling the tale of Krishna from birth until his marriage to Rukmini. Tyagaraja (18th century AD) wrote a similar piece about Krishna called Nauka-Charitam. The narratives of Krishna from the Puranas are performed in Yakshagana, a performance style native to Karnataka‘s coastal districts. Many movies in all Indian languages have been made based on these stories. These are of varying quality and usually add various songs, melodrama, and special effects.

[edit] In other religions

[edit] Jainism

The most exalted figures in Jainism are the twenty-four Tirthankaras. Krishna, when he was incorporated into the Jain list of heroic figures presented a problem with his activities which are not pacifist or non-violent. The concept of Baladeva, Vasudeva and Prati-Vasudeva was used to solve it. The Jain list of sixty-three Shalakapurshas or notable figures includes amongst others, the twenty-four Tirthankaras and nine sets of this triad. One of these triads is Krishna as the Vasudeva, Balarama as the Baladeva and Jarasandha as the Prati-Vasudeva. He was a cousin of the twenty-second Tirthankara, Neminatha. The stories of these triads can be found in the Harivamsha of Jinasena (not be confused with its namesake, the addendum to Mahābhārata) and the Trishashti-shalakapurusha-charita of Hemachandra.^[101]

In each age of the Jain cyclic time is born a Vasudeva with an elder brother termed the Baladeva. The villain is the Prati-vasudeva. Baladeva is the upholder of the Jain principle of non-violence. However, Vasudeva has to forsake this principle to kill the Prati-Vasudeva and save the world. The Vasudeva then descends to hell as a punishment for this violent act. Having undergone the punishment he is then reborn as a Tirthankara.^[102][103]

[edit] Buddhism

Depiction of Krishna playing flute in the temple constructed in AD 752 on the order of Emperor Shomu; Todai-ji Temple, Great Buddha Hall in Nara, Japan

The story of Krishna occurs in the Jataka tales in Buddhism,^[104] in the Ghatapandita Jataka as a prince and legendary conqueror and king of India.^[105] In the Buddhist version, Krishna is called Vasudeva, Kanha and Keshava, and Balarama is his younger brother, Baladeva. These details resemble that of the story given in the Bhagavata Purana. Vasudeva, along with his nine other brothers (each son a powerful wrestler) and one elder sister (Anjana) capture all of Jambudvipa (many consider this to be India) after beheading their evil uncle, King Kamsa, and later all other kings of Jambudvipa with his Sudarshana Chakra. Much of the story involving the defeat of Kamsa follows the story given in the Bhagavata Purana.^[106]

As depicted in the Mahābhārata, all of the sons are eventually killed due to a curse of sage Kanhadipayana (Veda Vyasa, also known as Krishna Dwaipayana). Krishna himself is eventually speared by a hunter in the foot by mistake, leaving the sole survivor of their family being their sister, Anjanadevi of whom no further mention is made.^[107]

Since Jataka tales are given from the perspective of Buddha‘s previous lives (as well as the previous lives of many of Buddha’s followers), Krishna appears as one of the lives of Sariputra, one of Buddha’s foremost disciples and the “Dhammasenapati” or “Chief General of the Dharma” and is usually shown being Buddha’s “right hand man” in Buddhist art and iconography.^[108] The Bodhisattva, is born in this tale as one of his youngest brothers named Ghatapandita, and saves Krishna from the grief of losing his son.^[105] The ‘divine boy’ Krishna as an embodiment of wisdom and endearing prankster is forming a part of worshipable pantheon in Japanese Buddhism.^[109]

[edit] Bahá’í Faith

Bahá’ís believe that Krishna was a “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 Buddha, Zoroaster, the Báb, and the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u'lláh.^[110]

[edit] Ahmadiyya Islam

Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believe Krishna to be a great prophet of God as described by their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Ghulam Ahmad also claimed to be the likeness of Krishna as a latter day reviver of religion and morality whose mission was to reconcile man with God.:^[111] Ahmadis maintain that the term Avtar is synonymous with the term ‘prophet’ of the middle eastern religious tradition as God’s intervention with man; as God appoints a man as his vicegerent upon earth.

Let it be clear that Lord Krishna, according to what has been revealed to me, was such a truly great man that it is hard to find his like among the rishis and avatars of the Hindus. He was an avatar (i.e. a prophet) of his time upon whom the Holy Spirit would descend from God. He was from God, victorious and prosperous. He cleansed the land of the Arya from sin and was in fact the prophet of his age. He was full of love for God, a friend of virtue and an enemy of evil.

[edit] Other

Krishna worship or reverence has been adopted by several new religious movements since the 19th century, and he is sometimes a member of an eclectic pantheon in occult texts, along with Greek, Buddhist, Biblical and even historical figures.^[112] For instance, Édouard Schuré, an influential figure in perennial philosophy and occult movements, considered Krishna a Great Initiate; while Theosophists regard him as one of the Masters, a spiritual teacher for humanity.^[113][114] Krishna was canonized by Aleister Crowley and is recognized as a saint in the Gnostic Mass of Ordo Templi Orientis.^[115][116]

[edit] Krishnology

Vaishnava theology has been a subject of study for many devotees, philosophers and scholars within India for centuries.^[3] In recent decades this study called Krishnology, has also been taken on by a number of academic institutions in Europe, such as the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and Bhaktivedanta College. The Vaishnava scholars instrumental in this western discourse include Tamala Krishna Goswami, Hridayananda dasa Goswami, Graham Schweig, Kenneth R. Valpey, Ravindra Svarupa dasa, Sivarama Swami, Satyaraja Dasa, and Guy Beck, among others.^[78]

In a shocking incident today, former National Football League (NFL) star Steve McNair was found shot dead at the Nashville condominium as reported by the police authorities. Along with his body, the authorities also found the body of a woman at the scene. According to the report of the Nashville Tennessean newspaper the NFL star had been found to have suffered several gunshot wounds on his body. The 20 year old woman whose body was found alongside has a single gunshot wound in her head. A pistol has also been recovered near his body.

Based on an apparent view, it’s been reported that the whole incident may be a kind of murder-suicide. While no one has been arrested as a suspect in the incident as mentioned by Don Aaron, the Police spokesperson, Nashville has been quoted reporting to the Reuters, “The circumstances surrounding the shooting deaths remain under active investigation.” Don Aaron has also said that Michelle, McNair’s wife, is “very distraught”. The police is not suspecting her of having any involvement in the murder.

Don Aaron reported that the woman lying dead beside Steve, has been identified as Sahel Kazemi, who is said to be a friend of Steve’s. According the various sources the woman was arrested on Thursday when she was stopped by an officer for speeding her car down the Broadway. McNair was present at the time in the car along with this woman.

Since the death has taken place under unnatural circumstances, autopsy will be conducted which is scheduled for Sunday. McNair who has played 13 seasons before his retirement in 2008 has been famous in Nashville for his huge amount of charity works.