Ghanshyam

Dr Uday Dokras
Krishna Sanskrit: कृष्ण, is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of
Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is perhaps the most popular of all the
heroes of Hindu mythology. Krishna's adventures appear in the Mahabharata, Bhagavad
Gita, Harivamsa, and the sacred texts known as the Puranas where he is described as the
Supreme Being and creator of the universe.
The most ancient tales of Krishna in sacred texts involve his adventures with the Pandava princes
whilst later, stories accumulated over the centuries which describe his eventful youth, when
Krishna used his proficient weapons skills to good effect to defeat a host of fearsome enemies,
demons and monsters.

Painting by Amol Hirwadekar

Family & Adventurous Youth
According to tradition Krishna belonged to the Yadava - a pastoral race - and the god's birth is
picturesquely described in the Mahabharata. One day Vishnu, the great Hindu god pulled two
hairs from his own head, one white and one black. The black hair was planted into the womb of
Devaki, a princess of the city of Mathura, and so Krishna was born into the Pandava family, his
earthly father being Vasudeva. Unfortunately for Krishna his mother's brother, Kamsa, had been
warned that Devaki's eighth child would kill him, and so Kamsa determined to murder the eighth
child, a crime he had already carried out seven times before Krishna was born. Fortunately,
Vasudeva took the precaution of hiding Krishna in the remote village of Vrindavana where the
boy was brought up as a simple cowherd (in this guise he can be referred to as Govinda). There
he spent an idyllic childhood and stirred the hearts of many gopis or herd-women with his dark
good looks, playful charm, and mastery of music and dance.

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Thus the story of Krishna contains a double concealment - Krishna is both a god disguised as a
mortal and a prince disguised as a commoner. Accordingly, the myths contain many metaphors
of disguise, such as a spark within a pile of ashes or a mighty sword in its scabbard, and these
hint at Krishna's dual purpose as the punisher of human deeds but also as a bringer of
enlightenment.

Krishna's foster parents at Vrindavana were Nanda and Yashoda, his sister is Subhadra, and his
brother Balarama. Krishna's favourite wife was Radha, with whom he had a son Pradyumna and
daughter Carumati, but tradition has it that the god actually acquired 16,108 wives and fathered
180,000 sons. Queen Rukmini, an earthly form of the goddess Lakshmi, is considered Krishna's
second most favoured wife after Radha.

Krishna was involved in many escapades in his adventurous youth. Notable amongst these are
his various killings and thrashings of prominent enemies such as the ogress Putana, the giant
bull danava, the giant snake Kaliya, and the king of the Hayas (horses). Also swiftly dealt with
was the scheming tyrant Kamsa – after whose beheading Krishna established himself as king of
Mathura. Krishna slew many demons and demon kings: Muru and his 7,000 sons, Pralamba –
who Krishna beat up using only his fists, Naraka – son of the Earth and who had accumulated a
harem of 16,000 captured women, and the sea-demon Pancajana who looked like a conch shell
and who lost his magic shell to Krishna which the hero carried thereafter and used as a trumpet.
Krishna also found time to lift the mountain Govardhana to foil a terrible deluge sent by Indra,
to conquer Saubha, the floating city of the Titans (daityas), got the better of the sea-god Varuna,
and even managed to steal the divine discuss possessed by the fire-god Agni. Against mere
mortals Krishna also wreaked havoc amongst the Gandharas, Bhojas, and Kalingas, amongst
others.

Krishna Manifesting His Full Glory to Arjuna-Steve Jurvetson (CC BY)

Krishna and Arjuna

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Krishna acted as the warrior-prince Arjuna's charioteer in the Great War, the Battle of
Kurukshetra, between the Pandavas (whom Krishna supported) and the Kauravas. It was on the
eve of this battle that Krishna recounted the sacred song of the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. Within,
Lord Krishna highlights that the self is quite separate from the body and continues throughout
time: 'Never was there a time I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future, shall
any of us cease to exist' (Bhagavad Gita). It is in the Bhagavad Gita that Krishna also states that
'All this universe has been created by me; all things exist in me'. Arjuna, in the same work, tells
us that Krishna is 'divine, prior to the gods, unborn, omnipresent'.
In other adventures Krishna built the great fortress city of Dvaraka in Gujarat, known as the 'City
of Gates'. Seven days after Krishna was accidentally killed by a hunter's arrow striking his heel,
Dvaraka was submerged beneath the ocean. Krishna had also stolen the sacred Parijata tree from
Indra, defeating the god in the process. Krishna planted the tree at Dvaraka, but upon his death it
was returned to Indra.

Krishna & Radha-Jean-Pierre Dalbera (CC BY)

Worship & Representation in Art

The worship of Krishna may have started as early as the 5th century BCE. Today he is
worshipped as the supreme Hindu god by many believers, and he is especially revered in Bengal
and Udupi in southern India. One of the many festivals held in his honour is the ratha-
yatra chariot festival in Puri which commemorates Radha's successful attempt to persuade
Krishna to return to Vrindavana.

Krishna is typically portrayed in Hindu art with a dark skin (usually blue-black), and he
may carry the cakra discus Vajranabha and the club Kaumodaki – both given to him by Agni. He
typically wears a yellow robe, has a peacock feather in his long black hair, and commonly plays
a flute. In reference to his occupation as a cowherd in his youth, Krishna is often accompanied
with cows. In Khmer art the most popular scene of Krishna's adventures is the lifting of Mt.
Govardhana, and the god is frequently represented in the architectural sculpture at such famous
sites as Angkor Wat.Alsotherefore known as Ghanashyam or dark blue, we try to solve the
puzzle of this colour on one of the favourite Gods of Hinduism.

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 The concept of Ghanshyam

The concept of Ghanshyam is actually the puzzle of why God Krishna is portrayed in blue color.
The word Ghamshyam means Ghan ( Dark,dense)_ Shyam (blue).The Blur God.

Until about 150 years ago, Krishna was generally depicted with black complexion - jet black or
variations of black. Even the folios from Akber's copy of Shrimaad Bhagvatam commissioned
(1600s) show Kruishna as dark blue. Pics of ShriNathji prior to 1850s are also of dark hue. Most
stone and wooden statues of Krushna were also black at this point. Metal images were the only
ones that were "fair" or golden. By the time of Pahari paintings (1800s), Krushna is light blue in
colour and no longer black. Even in Rajasthan, Krishna becomes lighter shade of black. Even
Shrinathji becomes indigo blue in popular depiction.

KRISHNA lifting the Goverdhan mountain in Angkor

Now-a-days, most stone statues of Krishna are made of white marble and he is depicted white -
despite the fact that marble can be painted in shade of any colour they want. Indeed, most marble
statues are painted with clothes and jewels so they could paint it black if they want. All current
representation of Krishna, even on calendar art, is waterdown version of black / blue.
This "gorification" (making everything ‘fair’ (white)) of our ancient heroes is mainly because
society now values fair skin colour above a dark one. This could be because we were ruled by
fair and white skinned people for a number of centuries, making us - the commoners - consider

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fair skin to be a pre-requisite for power and position. I know - a bit too much pseudo psychology
that smacks of reverse racism but i can't explain it any other way.

As to why Krushna is black –

* Krush + na = He who attracts. Black colour absorbs heat. Black colour absorbs energy. As we
know, black hole even attracts light ! So Krishna is literally, he who attracts and absorbs all
things around him. He attracted the souls of the good and the great and even wicked people when
they died, merged with Krishna. No one – not even the evil is rejected. Such is the compassion of
Krishna !

* Black is the colour of space and ether. Krishna is as boundless and endless as space.
Vishnu has come to earth in many hues and skin tones. According to scriptures, he has even been
white, golden, red and black. God can take on any form, so a specific colour is of no big deal.
God has come as a fish, boar, wild man with lionian head, brahmin, kshtriya, vaishya (Yadava)
to show that divinity exists in any and every form. Species, race, ethnicity, gender, colour, these
are only labels. God exists beyond them all. God is reflected in the soul of every creature in the
universe. Let us embrace God in every hue possible.

“how did he end up being portrayed as predominantly blue.”

The short answer is he is both black and blue, so it’s ok to paint him blue. However, almost all
ancient deities of Krishna are jet black. These deities are much older than any painting. It is also
stated in the Bhagavata Purana that he is crystal clear, and that he is lord and source of color
(Ranganatha).

Krishna dancing over the subdued Kāliya and his wives asking Krishna for his mercy. From a Bhagavata Purana
manuscript, c. 1640./// Kāliya Daman, c. 1880.

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 Poisoneous Fight
The fight with a serpent Kaliya and being bitten by him or imbibing his poison hence the
black colour

Kaliya
Devanagari कालिय
Sanskrit transliteration Kāliya
Affiliation Nāgas
Texts Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Mahābhārata
Gender Male
Festivals Nāga Nathaiyā
Personal information
Parents Kashyapa (father)
Kadrū (mother)
Siblings Śeṣa, Vāsuki, etc./Spouse Surasa

Kaliya : कालिय, in Hindu traditions, was a venomous Nāga or snake living in the Yamunā
river, in Vṛndāvana. The water of the Yamunā for four leagues all around him boiled and
bubbled with poison. No bird or beast could go near, and only one solitary Kadamba tree grew
on the river bank. The celebration of Nāga Nathaiyā or Nāga Nṛitya is associated with the tale of
Lord Krishna dancing upon and subduing Kāliya.The story of Krishna and Kāliya is told in the
sixteenth chapter of the Tenth Canto of the Bhagavata Purana.The proper home of Kāliya was
the island of Ramaṇaka, but he had been driven away from there in fear of Garuḍa, the foe of all
serpents. Garuḍa had been cursed by the yogi Saubhari dwelling at Vrindavan so that he could
not come to Vrindavan without meeting his death. Therefore, Kāliya chose Vrindavan as his
residence, knowing it was the only place where Garuḍa could not come.

Once, the sage Durvasā came as a guest and was served by Rādhā. After this
episode, Rādhā took a walk across the river Yamunā and became terrified upon seeing the giant
serpent. She fled to Vrindavan where she informed the people that she had seen a giant serpent in
a river. Lord Krishna was very angry upon hearing this and wanted to teach a lesson to Kāliya as
he had troubled his Rādhā. He went to the river Yamunā searching for Kāliya, who upon seeing
Krishna, coiled around Krishna's legs and constricted him.

The Gokul people came to see that Krishna was in the river. Yaśodā was afraid of the snake and
ordered Krishna to return at once. Meanwhile, Kāliya attempted to escape, but Krishna stomped
on his tail and warned him to not trouble anyone again before returning to the people. The next
day, Krishna was playing a ball game across the Yamuna with Rādha and friends. After the ball
fell into the Yamunā, Rādhā tried to retrieve it, but Krishna stopped her and offered to do so.
When he went into the Yamunā, Kāliya constricted him and pulled him into the Yamunā.

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The Gokul people heard the commotion and all the people of Nandagokula were concerned and
came running towards the bank of the Yamunā. They heard that Krishna had jumped into the
river where the dangerous Kāliya was staying. At the bottom of the river, Kāliya had ensnared
Krishna in his coils. Krishna expanded himself, forcing Kāliya to release him. Krishna
immediately regained his original form and began to jump on all of Kāliya's heads so as to
release the poison in the snake so that he could no longer pollute the Yamunā.

Krishna suddenly sprang onto Kāliya's head and assumed the weight of the whole universe,
beating him with his feet. Kāliya started vomiting blood and slowly began to die. But then
Kāliya's wives came and prayed to Krishna with joined palms, worshiping him and praying for
mercy for their husband. Kāliya recognized the greatness of Krishna and surrendered, promising
he would not harass anybody again. Krishna pardoned him after performing a final dance upon
his head. After the performance, Krishna asked Kāliya to leave the river and return to Ramaṇaka
island, where he promised that Kāliya would not be troubled by Garuḍa.

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The people who had gathered on the banks of Yamunā were terrified, beholding the water that
had changed to a poison colour. Krishna slowly rose up from the bottom of the river while
dancing on Kāliya's head. When the people saw Krishna, everyone was happy and they danced
ecstatically upon Kāliya. At last, Kāliya was pushed into Pātāla where he is said to reside to this
day. This event is often referred to as the Kāliya Nāga Mardan.

Fiji connection
According to the legend, Krishna banished Kaliya to the Ramanik Deep, which the Fiji
Indians believe to be in Fiji. Moreover, native Fijians also believed in a serpent-
god called Dengei.

Hinduism is so scientific, cosmic and universal that it boggles the mind. Every Hindu God or
concept has some parallel in the observable Universe. And even according to modern science,
the universe is not all material. In contrast, baryonic or atomic matter makes up a small portion
of the mostly dark and seemingly infinite universe.
Lord Krishna while being all-attractive, is also majestically radiant. Vishnu is also known as
Surya Narayana, our sun is simultaneously attractive (gravitationally) and radiant, but certainly
not black. So then why is Krishna black?

The irony is that the most powerful, massive, energetic and luminous objects in the universe
ARE black and supremely attractive.

To find out what and who I’m talking about, you have to journey to the center of the milky way
galaxy. Our solar system and billions of other stars, planets etc. are doing “parikrama” around
that supremely massive and powerful center, which in its core contains a supermassive black
hole and a gravitational singularity (which is really an “infinity”).

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Fiji Islands in the Center

Navi folk in the movie AVATAR are

shown as blue

ANGKOR KRISHNA
North Gallery, East Section: Krishna’s Victory over Banasura

The scenes depicted on the bas-relief carved on the eastern section of the north gallery is based
on Krishna’s Victory over Banasura story, which appears in Mahabharata and Vishnu Purana.
This story is about Krishna, who is an avatar of Vishnu, fighting Shiva and becoming victorious.
It is not a well-known story but chosen deliberately to show the dominance of Vishnu

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because King Suryavarman II broke the Shaiva tradition of his predecessors and made Vishnu
the dominant god of the Hindu Trinity.

Legend of Banasura
According to the story, Banasura, an asura king with thousand arms, is an ardent devotee of
Shiva whom he tried to please by doing tapasu (austerity and meditation) for many years.
Pleased with his devotion, Shiva confers upon him with many varas (boons), one of which was
to be his ally in future fights. Once he gets these varas, Banasura becomes arrogant and starts ill-
treating his subjects. When his daughter Usha reaches the marriageable age, many suitors
approach her with an intention to marry. Banasura gets angry at the suitors and builds a fortress
called Agnigraha (house of fire in Sanskrit) and imprisons her there to keep her away from them.

Krishna riding Vishnu’s vehicle Garuda and fighting Banasura

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 Garuda
entering Agnigraha (house of fire) built by Bansaura

One day, Usha dreams of a young man and falls in love with him. When she mentions this to her
maid Chitraleka, who realizes that the young man is Aniruddha, one of the grandsons of Krishna.
Chitraleka with her superpowers summons Aniruddha to Usha’s quarters. When he sees Usha, he
falls in love with her too. Meanwhile, Banasura comes to know of Aniruddha’s presence in
Usha’s quarters. He captures and imprisons him. When Krishna comes to know about his
grandson’s imprisonment, he wages war against Banasura. At the request of Banasura, Shiva
keeps his promise and starts fighting against Krishna. Realizing this, Krishna tricks Shiva by
firing a weapon that puts Shiva to sleep. Krishna then severs all but four arms of Banasura. Shiva
then wakes up and begs Krishna not to kill Banasura. Meanwhile, Banasura realizing his
mistakes begs forgiveness and allows his daughter to marry Aniruddha.
The image shows Garuda facing Agnigraha (house of fire) built by Bansaura to keep his
daughter Usha.

ASTRO PHYSICS

The singularity is where Albert Einstein’s Relativity Theory and all our best mathematics break
down and reach the “monstrosity” of infinitude… even worse these beloved tools (mathematics
and theoretical physics) collapse into recursive infinities while trying to calculate and understand
that universal edge-point known as the singularity.
What we know as the vishnu-nabhi, vaikuntha, goloka, abode of Krishna (the supreme center as
my guru’s guru would call it) is according to bhagavata cosmology, located in the milky way’s
galactic center—what scientists call a “supermassive black hole.” Supermassive black holes are
arguably the greatest, most magnificent “things” in our Universe. They are the
centers/cores/hearts/atmas/souls of galaxies.

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If you study the basics of astrophysics and you have background in any flavor Hinduism (I was
raised with Vaishnavism and read Bhagavata Purana for years) then it quickly becomes clear that
God or Krishna is not just conceptually supreme, but also represents a universal phenomenon
that tends to be supreme in every way you can think of.

Black holes are masters of the universe, essential to the formation of everything, creation,
preservation and destruction. Beyond these processes, inside black holes is something which for
scientists is completely frustrating—the singularity… infinite nature, infinite curvature, density
—and space, time or coordinates have no place inside a singularity.
How can something so black, important and powerful be so tiny and take up precisely zero
space? Ask Lord Krishna! He is after all the trickster. In his mouth/stomach Yashoda saw the
whole universe before her eyes. Brahma tried to search out his origin being going down the lotus
stem into the navel of Vishnu, but he could not find the answer. So he came back up, meditated
on it and within his heart the answer finally manifested. That answer is what bhagavata dharma
is about, for me at least. Knowing the unknowable partially through the mind, but fully with the
heart and acting upon it here on earth. Bhakti Yoga is an amazing system for actualizing this
process. There are many wonderful systems, but the original system is the human form itself.
Our bodies, minds and hearts are capable of understanding the universe with incredible clarity.
The Vedas originated in cosmic sound vibration which ultimately evolved into life.

Krishna was mentioned as “Neela megha shyama” which means Dark blue as rain filled clouds.
The word Krishna itself means DARK. He is a beautiful god by which ancient Indians conveying
that Black is the most beautiful color in the whole Universe. Without Black there is nothing like
Space and without Dark colors there would be no colors.

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 Blue clouds

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Indians do not like Black so we started to paint BLUE COLOR, Lastly Krishna means Black,
Beauty, the Universe beauty, It expresses the beauty of universe.

Sadhguru explains it thus : Blue is the color of all-inclusiveness. You will see in the existence,
anything that is vast and beyond your perception generally tends to be blue, whether it is the
ocean or the sky. Anything which is larger than your perception tends to be blue because blue is
the basis of all-inclusiveness. It is based on this that so many gods in India are shown as blue-
skinned. Shiva has a blue skin, Krishna has a blue skin, Rama has a blue skin. It is not that their
skin was blue. They were referred to as blue gods because they had a blue aura.

What is Aura?
An aura is a certain field of energy that is around every substance. It is a scientific fact that the
whole existence is energy. One part of the energy has manifested itself into a physical form.
Another part of the energy does not manifest itself into a physical form, but it still has a form.
That form which is not yet physical, or refuses to become physical but still maintains a form, is
called aura.

Krishna being blue-bodied need not necessarily mean his skin color was blue. Maybe he was
dark-skinned, but people who were aware saw the blueness of his energy, so they described him
as blue. There are many disputes about who Krishna is and what he is but his all-inclusiveness is
one thing that no one can deny. So the theme of blue remained common, and in every corner of
the country, Krishna is seen as blue.

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Irresistible Blue
Because his energy or the outermost ring of his aura was blue, he was simply irresistibly
attractive – not because of the shape of the nose or the eyes or whatever. There are any number
of people with good noses, good eyes, and good bodies but they do not exude the same level of
attraction. It is the blueness of one’s aura which suddenly makes a person irresistibly attractive.

Can science explain blue skin of Lord Krishna? Religion interprets blue skin as the aura of a
spiritual body; science considers it a rare genetic disorder. Blue skin is a result of a genetic
disorder wherein hemoglobin is unable to release oxygen effectively to body tissues
The world has depicted Lord Krishna as a baby stealing butter and a charming youth holding a
flute, with a peacock feather on his head. And in all these depictions, there’s one common link:
the blue colour of his skin. The question as to why his skin looked different from ours must have
nudged you? The legends tell us that Lord Krishna had drunk poisoned milk given by a demon
when he was a baby and that had caused the bluish tinge in his skin.
The same theory is floated to explain blue throat (neelkanth) of Lord Shiva, who is believed to
have drunk the poison to save the world from destruction at the time of Samudra Manthan.

Religious interpretation of blue

Etymologically speaking, the Sanskrit word ‘Krishna’ means black or dark. At times, it is also
translated as “all attractive”. According to Vedas, Lord Krishna is a dark-skinned Dravidian
god. Even in traditional patta chitras (cloth art) in Odisha, Lord Krishna and Vishnu are always
shown having black skin. Then why is Lord Krishna universally depicted as someone with blue
skin?
Hindu religion believes in symbolisms and the blue color is a symbol of the infinite and the
immeasurable. According to Swami Chinmayananda, the inspiration behind Chinmaya Mission,
whatever is immeasurable can appear to the mortal eye only as blue, just like the cloudless
summer sky appears blue to the physical eye. Since Lord Krishna is beyond our perception, it
seemed apt to attribute this colour to him.
Blue is the colour of aura
Some are of the opinion that the bluish tinge in Lord Krishna’s skin is not the colour of the
material body but the eternal spiritual body of the Lord that emits blue aura. According to
Bhagavad Gita, the blissful form of Lord Krishna is visible only to pure devotees. He may have
bewildered the non-devotees, but those who offered pure devotional service to Him had always
seen Him in his blue blissful form.
The science of blue skin
But in real life, can people actually have that skin colour? While James Cameron, in his
film Avatar, showed Na’vi having blue skin to imply otherness, there’s nothing alien about being
born with a blue skin.
Blue-tinged skin is the result of methemoglobinemia—a condition wherein hemoglobin, the
molecule in red blood cells that distribute oxygen to the body, is unable to release oxygen
effectively to body tissues. As the blood doesn’t get oxygenated, it makes the skin look blue,
lips purple, and blood chocolate-coloured.
Most of us have less than 1 per cent of methemoglobin. The skin gets the bluish tinge when that
level rises to 10-20 per cent.

Famous Fugate family of Kentucky

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Six generations of the Fugate family, who lived in the hills of Kentucky from 1800 to 1960, had
blue skin. The blue lineage began in the early 1800s when Martin Fugate, a French orphan,
settled on the banks of the Troublesome Creek. He married a red-haired American lady who had
a very pale complexion. Their genetic chemistry resulted in a mutation and the both
unknowingly carried the recessive gene that resulted in their descendants being born with blue
skin.
Due to intermarriage, the next generations were also born with this rare disorder. However, most
of the family members lived into their 80s and 90s with no significant health problems.

Blue Baby syndrome

Methemoglobinemia may be passed down through families or can be caused by exposure to
certain drugs and chemicals. Uranium toxicity because of contaminated water is also believed to
have the potential to cause ‘blue baby syndrome’. Indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers in
Punjab villages saw a surge in blue baby syndrome in 2009. Cases of blue baby syndrome were
reported in villages in Romania and Bulgaria that faced sanitation problem and high level of
nitrates in groundwater.
Hopefully, Lord Krishna wasn’t a victim of groundwater contamination.

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