Hindu deity
Krishna
the Divine cowherd — speaker of the Bhagavad Gita
In short
Krishna is the eighth avatar of Vishnu and one of the most beloved deities in Hinduism — the playful cowherd of Braj, the devoted friend, and the teacher of the Bhagavad Gita. On the battlefield of Kurukshetra he gives Arjuna the timeless counsel on duty, devotion, and the eternal self.
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Significance & stories
Krishna's life spans the tender and the profound: the child who steals butter in Gokul, the youth who plays the flute in Vrindavan, and the charioteer-teacher who reveals the Gita to Arjuna at the hour of his greatest doubt.
As the speaker of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna gives the teaching that anchors much of Hindu spiritual life — to act without attachment to results, to hold the mind even in success and failure, and to take refuge in the Divine. He is celebrated at Janmashtami and in the colours of Holi.
A mantra to Krishna
ॐ कृष्णाय नमः
oṃ kṛṣṇāya namaḥ
I bow to Krishna, beloved of all hearts.
See all Krishna mantras with Devanagari, transliteration, meaning, and how to chant.
A verse
“karmaṇy-evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana”
Bhagavad Gita 2.47 · Chapter 2, Sankhya YogaYou have a right to your actions alone, never to their fruits. Let not the fruits be your motive, nor attachment draw you to inaction.
Spoken by Krishna to the warrior Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra — the Gita sits within the Mahabharata's Bhishma Parva — as Arjuna, overcome with grief and unwilling to fight his own kin, laid down his bow before the war.
Festivals of Krishna
Temples of Krishna
Questions about Krishna
Other deities
About Krishna
Who is Krishna?
Krishna is the eighth avatar of Vishnu — the cowherd of Braj and the teacher of the Bhagavad Gita, which he reveals to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.
What did Krishna teach in the Gita?
To do your duty without attachment to its fruits, to remain even-minded in success and failure, and to take refuge in the Divine — the heart of the Bhagavad Gita.
Bring your heart to Krishna
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