Krishna

     Krishna is a widely worshipped Hindu deity characterized most often as the eighth incarnation or avatar of the god Vishnu. Vishnu is the second in a trio of gods together referred to as the triumvirate. Each of the three gods has a role in creating, preserving, or destroying the world. Vishnu’s role is that of the protector and maintainer of the universe. This is not to say that he entirely eliminates evil; instead, he furthers balance of good in evil. Each of his ten avatars, the tenth foretold, but not yet existent, work toward this object. Krishna is considered a teacher and a warrior; his role is that of a punisher for human evils and also that of a bestower of wisdom. Krishna’s story is related primarily in the epic Mahabharata and its supplement, the Harivamsha. According to legend, Krishna dictated the Mahabharata, which remains the longest discovered epic poem ever written. 

     In her piece Because I am a Woman, Haimabati Sen highlights the importance of religion and of Krishna directly to the setting of her childhood. She begins her first chapter with a description of her great great grandfather’s worship; his sect of Hinduism, Vaishnava, is in part determined by his worship of Krishna. Sen praises him for his piety, calling him (in the translation of the text) “devout and extremely virtuous.” Later, when Sen discusses seeking education despite being a girl —she says that “It is a popular superstition in our country that women, if educated, will become widows.”— she aspires to impresses her relatives by reading the Mahabharata. Of this she says “the grandmothers and grandaunts would not realize how much I had learned unless I could read the…Mahabharata.” The statement makes it clear that the study of Krishna is a part of general education for men in Sen’s community, and also that the Mahabharata is so celebrated that those who read it are held in intellectual and moral high esteem.   

Sources

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Krishna-Hindu-deity

https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195399318/obo-9780195399318-0032.xml 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/holydays/janamashtami.shtml 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/avatar-Hinduism 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/deities/vishnu.shtml#:~:text=Vishnu%20is%20the%20second%20god%20in%20the%20Hindu%20triumvirate%20(orTrimurti).&text=Vishnu%20is%20the%20preserver%20and,balance%20of%20good%20and%20evil. 

https://www.ancient.eu/Krishna/#:~:text=Please%20support%20World%20History%20Encyclopedia,prince%20disguised%20as%20a%20commoner. 

https://www.ancient.eu/Mahabharata/#:~:text=The%20Mahabharata%20is%20an%20ancient,or%20living%2C%20and%20philosophical%20discourses. 

Because I am a Woman by  Haimabati Sen, own summary as well as quotes from pages 3, 15, and 16.