Krsna: Lord or Avatara?: The Relationship

This is a study of three Sanskrit texts, the Harivamsa, the Visnupurana, and the Bhagavatabelonging to the puranic genre, the chief source of knowledge of the origins of popular Hinduism. It treats them as integrated compositions and displays the theological motives and creative skill which have gone into the making of them. It shows how all three texts contain narratives which present Krishna as one of several subordinate manifestations (avataras) of Vishnu. All three use much the same traditional material, yet each, by arranging this material in its own way, presents a distinctive view of Krishna, and the most influential of them, the Bhagavata , builds up a world view in which Krishna, not Vishnu, is supreme.

Freda Matchett is Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Religious Studies at Lancaster University.

Acknowledgements
Krsna, Visnu and the avatara myth	p. 1
The avatara drama: Krsna as actor and as role	p. 4
Three versions of the avatara drama	p. 9
Epic evaluations of Krsna	p. 23
Krsna and Visnu in the Mahabharata	p. 24
Varying perspectives in the Harivamsa	p. 35
Krsna in the Harivamsa	p. 44
'Visnu disguised as a cowherd' (Hv 46-78)	p. 46
Visnu recognised by his weapons (Hv 79-98)	p. 58
Krsna and Visnu in the Harivamsa	p. 63
The all-pervading Visnu	p. 65
The ideal purana?	p. 65
Visnu as the Supreme Reality	p. 69
The basic forms of Visnu	p. 74
The forms of Visnu manifest in the cosmos	p. 78
Krsna in the Visnupurana	p. 89
Rupa and avatara	p. 89
The paradox of the Visnupurana's Krsnacarita	p. 93
Krsna in the Harivamsa and the Visnupurana	p. 102
The Bible of Krsnaism	p. 107
The Bhagavatapurana in relation to the Harivamsa and the Visnupurana	p. 108
The Krsna-shaped cosmos	p. 112
Krsna in the Bhagavatapurana	p. 125
Retelling the old story	p. 126
New episodes in the Bhagavata's story of Krsna	p. 132
Bhagavata 10 and the other Krsnacaritas	p. 145
The Lord's cosmic play	p. 150
The avatara lists of the Bhagavatapurana	p. 150
The purpose of the avataras	p. 160
The Supreme Reality: Krsna or Visnu?	p. 175
Krsna and Visnu in three perspectives	p. 175
The Lord of the avataras	p. 182
Integrity and creativity	p. 191
Conclusion	p. 199
Notes	p. 202
Bibliography	p. 238
Index	p. 246
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

FREE SHIPPING

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Krsna: Lord or Avatara?: The Relationship Between Krsna and Visnu

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials