Week 11: Reading Notes A, Epified's Krishna

 Reading Notes: Krishna (Epified's YouTube) 

(A Screenshot from Epified's Youtube Channel)

For this week's reading, I chose Krishna, specifically the Epified videos. I enjoy the Epified videos because they are very informative while still being interesting. For videos to hold my attention they must be fast-paced, and these are! For reading, I like to be able to really take my time and enjoy the moment, but with my hectic schedule, sometimes I can't afford to spend hours reading and enjoying stories. Epified's videos are the solution to this because they are filled with content but still very brief. 

The tales of Krishna (for there are many stories) are incredibly entertaining. For fans of Greek mythology, Krishna is comparable to Hercules. Actually, most of the heroes of Greek mythology (and other mythologies) are involved in similar tropes, such as childhood feats of escaping certain death. 

Epified's retelling of Krishna provided so many engrossing plots and stories within the overall legend. I will discuss my favorites below. There are so many sources for potential retellings!

Krishna Tales: Tropes Within the Myth of Krishna

In the beginning, there is a wicked ruler named Kansa. Kansa is predicted to be taken down by the 8th child of his sister Devaki. Kansa's solution is to imprison Devaki (and husband?) and murder each child she has by throwing them against the walls of the prison right after they are born. This is not a unique trope; many other myths involve women being imprisoned to prevent/control the birth of heroes and evil rulers murdering babies that are said to threaten their power. 

Krishna is born and the gods allow his father to sneak him out of the prison by freezing time around them. The father, Vasudeva must cross a dangerous river to reach his destination. He prays to the river god and walks into the river, only to find it shallow and easily passable. He enters a new village and swaps the baby with another. He returns with the other baby, who is female and leaves her with Devaki. When Kansa tries to kill the baby, a goddess/demon reveals herself and scares Kansa. Meanwhile, this baby's mother awakens to find the daughter she remembers giving birth to is now a son. 

This segment of the story contains many tropes, such as the gods freezing time to allow a hero/person to do their work, river gods allowing safe travels after receiving prayers or sacrifices, and the classic idea of being switched at birth (similar to a changeling tale).

Krishna's new mom loves him despite him being a troublemaker. However, she finds he gets in many dangerous situations, but somehow keeps luckily escaping them. These stories about little Krishna surviving sketchy situations remind me of Hercules and the snakes. One day, Krishna is found eating mud. When his mother demands he open his mouth, she is shocked to see the entire universe within. Reeling, she blinks and sees her son standing in front of her, scared of getting in trouble. This is the moment she realizes he is not a regular child, but a god.

As Krishna grows older, he begins exploring the forest with his friends. At the same time, he develops an interest for music. Music comes naturally to him, and he is able to expertly play instruments. This comes in handy when his friends are slain by a demon in the woods, and he is able to fight off and force the demon to revive them with his musical abilities, which quickly go from beautiful to terrifying. 

Krishna finds a lover as he grows older. Radha is a girl he grew up with. They fall in love and become greatly devoted to each other, causing them to be described as sharing 1 soul. Their devotion is seen in events such as when Radha drinks boiling milk for Krishna, only to come away unharmed, while Krishna suffers the burns or the time Krishna becomes ill and can be cured only by "water off a devotee's feet". When everyone else refuses out of fear of offending the divinities, Radha does not care and gives Krishna the water.