Krishna

According to the provided summaries, Krishna was born in Mathura to Devakī and Vasudeva but raised by Nanda and Yaśodā in Gokul to protect him from King Kaṁsa. He later killed Kaṁsa, restored order in Mathura, and established the city of Dvārakā. In epic narrative time he served as Arjuna's charioteer in the Kurukṣetra War and delivered the Bhagavad Gītā; his earthly life concludes when he is struck by an arrow (the hunter Jāra) and departs to his heavenly abode (Vaikuṇṭha) as recounted in the sources.

The supplied materials report Krishna is often depicted with dark or dark-blue skin, in accordance with the etymology of his name (kṛṣṇa = 'black, dark, dark-blue'). Iconographic motifs mentioned include the infant eating butter, the youth playing a flute often attended by cowherd companions and female devotees, and the charioteer attending Arjuna. Epithets such as Ghanashyām ('dark like a rain-filled cloud') and Keśava ('one with beautiful hair') are cited as canonical aesthetic descriptors in the sources.

Sources attribute to Krishna a wide range of theological and narrative functions: he is a teacher and instructor of dharma (notably via the Bhagavad Gītā), a protector and savior of righteousness, a divine lover and object of bhakti, and a heroic slayer of demons. Named deeds and epithets in the excerpts include slaying of tyrants/demons (e.g., killing Kaṁsa), lifting the Govardhana hill (Giridhārī), martial prowess in the Mahābhārata, and titles such as Madhusūdana. Some traditions cited treat him as Svayam Bhagavān (the Supreme God) with corresponding divine agency that inspires ritual, liturgy and performance arts.