| Balarama | |
|---|---|
God of Agriculture and Strength[1] | |
| Member ofDashavatara[2][3][4] | |
 Early 18th century depiction of Balarama from a wall hanging in a South Indian temple | |
| Affiliation | Avatar ofShesha inBhagavataVaishnavism; eighth avatar of Vishnu in someVaishnava traditions[5] |
| Abode | Vaikuntha,Patala,Vrindavan |
| Weapon | Plough,Mace |
| Festivals | Balarama Jayanti,Ratha Yatra |
| Genealogy | |
| Born | |
| Parents | Vasudeva (father) Devaki (mother) Rohini (surrogate and foster mother) |
| Siblings | Krishna,Subhadra |
| Consort | Revati |
| Children | Nishatha and Ulmuka (sons)[6] |
| Dynasty | Yaduvamsha –Chandravamsha |
Balarama (Sanskrit:बलराम,IAST:Balarāma) is aHindu god, and the elder brother ofKrishna.[7][8] He is particularly significant in theJagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities.[9] He is also known asHaladhara,Halayudha,Baladeva,Balabhadra, andSankarshana.
The first two epithets associate him withhala (langala, "plough")[10] from his strong associations with farming and farmers, as the deity who used farm equipment as weapons when needed, and the next two refer to his strength.[9][11]
Originally an agricultural deity, Balarama is mostly described as an incarnation ofShesha, the serpent associated with the deity Vishnu[9][5] while someVaishnava traditions regard him as the eighth avatar of Vishnu,[5] withJayadeva’sGita Govinda (c.1200) "incorporat[ing] Balarama into the pantheon" as the ninth of the10 principal avatars of Vishnu.[9]
Balarama's significance in Indian culture has ancient roots. His image in artwork is dated to around the start of the common era, and in coins dated to the second-century BCE.[12] In Jainism, he is known as Baladeva, and has been a historically significant farmer-related deity.[13][14]
Balarama is an ancient deity, a prominent one by the epics era of Indian history as evidenced by archeological and numismatic evidence. His iconography appears withNāga (many-headed serpent), a plough and other farm artifacts such as a watering pot, possibly indicating his origins in a bucolic, agricultural culture.[15]
Narratives of Balarama are found inMahabharata,Harivamsha,Bhagavata Purana, and otherPuranas. He is identified with thevyuha avatar ofSankarshana, along with the deities ofShesha andLakshmana.[16] The legend of Balarama as the avatar of Shesha, the demigod-serpent Vishnu rests upon, reflects his role and association with Vishnu.[17] However, Balarama's mythology and his association with the ten avatars of Vishnu is relatively younger and post-Vedic, because it is not found in the Vedic texts.[18]
Balarama's legend appears in manyParva (books) of theMahabharata. Book Three (Vana Parva) states about Krishna and him that Balarama is an avatar of Vishnu, while Krishna is the source of all avatars and existence. In some art works of theVijayanagara Empire, temples of Gujarat and elsewhere, for example, Baladeva is the eighth avatar of Vishnu, prior to theBuddha (Buddhism) orArihant (Jainism).[19][20]
Balarama finds a mention in Kautilya'sArthashastra (4th to 2nd century BCE), where according to Hudson, his followers are described as "ascetic worshippers" with shaved heads or braided hair.[21]
Balarama, as Baladewa, is an important character in the 11th-century Javanese textKakawin Bhāratayuddha, the Kakawin poem based on theMahabharata.[22]
Balarama was anciently a powerful local deity namedSamkarshana, associated with the local cult of theVrishni heroes inMathura from around the 4th century BCE.[26][7] The concept of the avatars of Vishnu formed during theKushan period in the 3rd to 2nd century CE.[27]
Coins dated to about 185-170 BCE belonging to the Indo-Greek KingAgathocles show Balarama's iconography and Greek inscriptions. Balarama-Samkarshana is typically shown standing with a gada in his right hand and holding a plough in his left. On the other side of these coins isVāsudeva-Krishna holding the conch and chakra.
AtChilas II archeological site dated to the first half of 1st-century CE in northwest Pakistan, near Afghanistan border, are engraved two males along with many Buddhist images nearby. The larger of the two males hold a plough and club in his two hands. The artwork also has an inscription with it in Kharosthi script, which has been deciphered by scholars asRama-Krsna, and interpreted as an ancient depiction of the two brothers Balarama and Krishna.[32][33] The early Balarama images found in Jansuti (Mathura, Uttar Pradesh) and two at Tumain (Ashoknagar, Madhya Pradesh) are dated to 2nd/1st-century BCE and these show Balarama holding aHala (plough) and amusala (pestle) in his two hands.[34]
In all of these early depictions, Balarama-Samkarsana seems to hold a senior position over Vāsudeva-Krishna.[28] On the coins ofAgathocles of Bactria, Balarama is on the front of the coin (the side with a legend in Greek), whereas Vāsudeva-Krishna is on the reverse (Brahmi side).[28] At Chilas, Balarama is shown taller and bigger than Vāsudeva-Krishna.[28] The same relationship is also visible in the hierarchy of the Vrishni heroes.[28]
In some Indian ancient arts and texts, Balarama (Sankarsana) and Krishna (Vasudeva) are two of the five heroes (Pancaviras of the Vrishnis).[35] The other three differ by the text. In some those are "Pradyumna, Samba and Aniruddha",[36] in others "Anadhrsti, Sarana and Viduratha".[37][38] The 1st-centuryMora well inscription near Mathura, dated between 10 and 25 CE, mention the installation of five Vrishni heroes in a stone temple.[39]
The earliest surviving southeast Asian artwork related to Balarama is from the Phnom Da collection, near Angkor Borei inCambodia's lowerMekong Delta region.[40][41]
Balarama was the son ofVasudeva. The evil kingKamsa, the tyrant ofMathura, was intent upon killing the children of his cousin,Devaki, because of a prophecy that he would die at the hands of her eighth child.[42] TheHarivamsha states that Kamsa went on to murder the first six children of the imprisoned Devaki by smashing the newborns against a stone floor.[43] When Balarama was conceived, Vishnu intervened, state the Hindu legends; his embryo was transferred from Devaki's womb into the womb ofRohini, Vasudeva's first wife.[9][17][44] In some texts, this transfer gives Balarama the epithetSankarshana (one who was dragged away). Balarama grew up with his younger brother Krishna with his foster-parents, in the household of the head of cowherdsNanda, and his wife,Yashoda.[9] The chapter 10 of the Bhagavata Purana describes it as follows:
The Bhagavan as theSelf of everything tells the creative power of His unified consciousness (yogamaya) about His plan for His own birth as Balarama and Krishna. He begins with Balarama. The whole of Shesha, which is my abode, will become an embryo in Devaki's womb which you shall transplant to Rohini's womb.
— Bhagavata Purana 10.2.8, Tr: D Dennis Hudson[45]
He was named Rama, but because of his great strength, he was called Balarama, Baladeva, or Balabhadra, meaningStrong Rama. He was born onShraavanaPurnima, which coincides with the occasion ofRaksha Bandhan.[46]
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One day, Nanda requested the presence of SageGargamuni, his priest, to name the newbornKrishna and Balarama. When the Garga arrived, Nanda received him well and requested the naming ceremony. Gargamuni then reminded Nanda that Kamsa was looking for the son of Devaki and if he performed the ceremony in opulence, it would come to his attention. Nanda, therefore, asked Garga to perform the ceremony in secret and Garga did so:
Because Balarama, the son of Rohini, increases thetranscendental bliss of others, his name is Rama and because of his extraordinary strength, he is called Baladeva. He attracts the Yadus to follow his instructions and therefore his name is Sankarshana.
— Bhagavata Purana, 10.8.12[47]
When his elder brother, fatigued from playing, would lie down with his head upon the lap of a cowherd boy, Lord Kṛiṣṇa would help him relax by personally massaging his feet and offering other services
— Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 15, Verse 14[48]
Balarama spent his childhood as a cow herder with his brother Krishna. He killedDhenuka, anasura sent by Kamsa, as well asPralamba and Mushtika wrestlers sent by the king. When Krishna was killing Kamsa, Balarama slew his mighty commander,Kalavakra. After the evil king was slain, Balarama and Krishna went to the ashrama of sageSandipani atUjjain for their education. Balarama marriedRevati, the daughter of KingKakudmi.[49] He had two sons - Nishatha and Ulmuka, and a daughter - Shashirekha also known as Vatsala.
Balarama is the celebrated tiller, one of the embodiments of agriculture along with livestock with whom Krishna is associated with. The plough is Balarama's weapon. In theBhagavata Purana, he uses it to fight asuras, dig a way forYamuna river to bring it closer toVrindavan, and he also availed it to drag the entire capital ofHastinapura into the Ganga river.[21]
Balarama taught bothDuryodhana of the Kauravas andBhima of the Pandavas the art of war with amace. When war broke between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, Balarama carried obligations for both sides and so remained neutral. He went for a pilgrimage with his nephewPradyumna and otherYadavas during the war, and returned on the last day, to watch the fight between his disciples. When Bhima defeated Duryodhana by striking him in the thigh with his mace, a traditional violation of the rules of combat, Balarama threatened to kill Bhima. This was prevented when Krishna reminded Balarama of Bhima's vow—to kill Duryodhana by crushing the thigh he had exposed to Bhima's wife,Draupadi.[50]
In theBhagavata Purana, it is described that after Balarama took part in the battle causing the destruction of the remainder of theYadu dynasty and witnessing the disappearance of Krishna, he sat down in a meditative state and departed from this world.[51]
Some scriptures describe a great white snake that left the mouth of Balarama, in reference to his identity as Ananta-Sesha, a form of Vishnu. The place where he departed is situated nearSomnath Temple inGujarat.
The local people ofVeraval believe about the cave near the temple place, that the white snake who came out of Balarama's mouth got into that cave and went back toPatala.
In Hindu tradition, Balarama is depicted as a farmer's patron deity, signifying the one who is "harbinger of knowledge", of agricultural tools and prosperity.[52] He is almost always shown and described with Krishna, such as in the act of stealing butter, playing childhood pranks, complaining to Yashoda that his baby brother Krishna had eaten dirt, playing in cow sheds, studying together at the school ofguruSandipani, and fighting malevolent beasts sent by Kamsa to kill the two brothers.[52] He is the constant companion of Krishna, ever watchful, leading to the epithet"Luk Luk Dauji" (orLuk Luk Daubaba) in thePustimarga tradition ofVaishnavism.[52][53] In the classical Tamil workAkananuru, Krishna hides from Balarama when he steals the clothes of themilkmaids while they bathe, suggesting his brother's vigilance.[54] He is a creative store of knowledge for the agriculturists: the knowledge that dug a water channel to bring Yamuna water to Vrindavan; that restored groves, farms and forests; that produced goods and drinks.[52][55]
In Hindu texts, Balarama almost always supports Krishna in form and spirit. However, there are occasions where the dialogues between Balarama and Krishna present different viewpoints, with Krishna's wisdom establishing him to be the ultimate divinity.[52] Balarama's constant symbolic association with Krishna makes him the protector and supporter ofdharma.[56]
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Balarama is depicted as light-skinned, in contrast to his brother, Krishna, who is dark-skinned; Krishna in Sanskrit means dark.[17] Hisayudha or weapons are theploughhala and themacegadā. The plough is usually called Balachita.[57] He often wears blue garments and agarland of forest flowers. His hair is tied in a topknot and he has earrings, bracelets and armlets; he is known for his strength, the reason for his name; Bala means strength in Sanskrit.[58]
In theJagannath tradition, one particularly popular in eastern and central regions of India, he is more often called Balabhadra. Balarama is one in the triad, wherein Balarama is shown together with his brother Jagannath (Krishna) and sister Subhadra (Subhadra). Jagannath is identifiable from his circular eyes compared to an oval of Shubhadra and almond-shaped eyes of the abstract icon for Balarama. Further, Balarama's face is white, Jagannath's icon is dark, and Subhadra icon is yellow. The third difference is the flat head of Jagannath icon, compared to the semi-circular carved head of abstract Balarama.[59] The shape of Balabhadra's head, also called Balarama or Baladeva in these regions, varies in some temples between somewhat flat and semi-circular.[59][60]
TheJainPuranas, notably, theTriṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacarita ofHemachandra, narrate hagiographical accounts of nine Baladevas orBalabhadras who are believed to beśalākāpuruṣas (literally torch-bearers, great personalities). Balarama was the ninth one.[63] Balarama along with Krishna are considered as cousins of the reveredTirthankaraNeminatha (Aristanemi) by Jains.[64]
The Jainism tradition lists 63Śalākāpuruṣa or notable figures which, amongst others, includes the twenty-fourTirthankaras and nine sets of triads. One of these triads is Krishna as theVasudeva, Balarama as theBaladeva, andJarasandha as thePrati-Vasudeva. In each age of the Jain cyclic time is born aVasudeva with an elder brother termed theBaladeva. Between the triads,Baladeva upholds the principle of non-violence, a central idea of Jainism. The villain is thePrati-vasudeva, who attempts to destroy the world. To save the world,Vasudeva-Krishna has to forsake the non-violence principle and kill thePrati-Vasudeva.[65] The stories of these triads can be found in theHarivamsa Purana (8th century CE) ofJinasena (not be confused with its namesake, the addendum toMahābhārata) and theTrishashti-shalakapurusha-charita of Hemachandra.[66][67]
The story of Krishna's life in thePuranas of Jainism follows the same general outline as those in the Hindu texts, but in details, they are very different: they include JainTirthankaras as characters in the story, and generally are polemically critical of Krishna, unlike the versions found in theMahabharata, theBhagavata Purana, and theVishnu Purana.[69] For example, Krishna loses battles in the Jain versions, and hisgopis 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 thethird hell inJain cosmology, while Balarama is said to go to thesixth heaven.[70]
In other Jain texts, Krishna and Baladeva are stated to be a cousin of the twenty-secondTirthankara, Neminatha. The Jain texts state that Naminatha taught Krishna all the wisdom that he later gave to Arjuna in theBhagavad Gita. According toJeffery 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 theBhagavad Gita as a spiritually important text, celebrate Krishna-related festivals, and intermingle with Hindus as spiritual cousins.[71]
Evidence related to early Jainism, statesPatrick Olivelle and other scholars, suggests Balarama had been a significant farmer deity in Jain tradition in parts of the Indian subcontinent such as near the Mathura region.[14] Jain texts such as theKalpasutra describe the same idea of embryo transfer, as in Hindu texts for Balarama, for the 24th TirthankaraMahavira; in the latter case, the embryo of a Brahmin woman is moved into the womb of a Kshatriya woman.[72] Balarama, statesPratapaditya Pal, was one of the historic deities revered in Jainism along with Ambika, Lakshmi and others.[72][73] As with the Hindu farmers, statePaul Dundas and other scholars, it is likely that Balarama was the patron deity of Jain farmers in the early centuries of the common era, because a large number of Balarama images have been found in early Jain arts.[74][75]
Balarama images have been discovered in central Indian Buddhist sites, such as with Sanchi stupas at Andher, Mehgaon and Chandna. These are dated to around the start of the common era.[76][77] The Ghata Jataka, one of the Jataka Tales that form part of Buddhist scriptures, depicts Krishna as a previous birth of Buddha's disciple Sariputta and has Balarama depicted as the previous birth of one of the Buddha's disciples.[citation needed]
Media related toBalarama at Wikimedia Commons| Dashavatara (for example)1 |  | |
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1 The list of the "ten avatars" varies regionally. Two substitutions[clarification needed] involve Balarama, Krishna, and Buddha. Krishna is almost always included; in exceptions, he is considered the source of all avatars. | ||
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