A Deferential Krsna
The Unstolen Cows of Harivamsa 113
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.24396Keywords:
brahmin–kṣatriya relations, cows, cow protection, Harivaṃśa, kingship, Kṛṣṇa, Mahābhārata, PṛthuAbstract
This paper examines the concluding scene (chapter 113) of the Harivamsa’s Krsna biography, in which Krsna tries to steal some cows, but then chooses not to. I argue that the episode should be understood first in connection with the Mahabharata’s amsavatarana frame of partial incarnations. Secondly, I bring to bear on Harivamsa 113 the multiple meanings of the cow in epic mythology, according to which the animal stands in for both the earth and the brahmin as paradigmatic objects of ksatriya protection. In so doing, I hope to provide a reading of Harivamsa 113 which illustrates its participation in a recurring epic theme of ksatriya transgression against the brahmin and subsequent retreat to a properly deferential position. I then historicize these bovine-encoded anxieties attending brahmin–ksatriya relations in their post-Mauryan context. Recognizing such themes at work in Harivamsa 113 can help us to see that, however much popular traditions may favour the playful and transgressive Krsna, his posture in the latter part of the Harivamsa is characterized by a complex conservatism informed by both historic and epic-mythological concerns.
References
Austin, Christopher R. 2018. ‘The Abducted Male: Sexual Conquest, Lineage and Divinity in the Narratives of Pradyumna and Aniruddha.’ In Diana Dimitrova and Tatiana Oranskaia (eds), Divinizing in South Asian Traditions: 6–26. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351123624-2.
——2019. Pradyumna: Lover, Magician, and Scion of the Avatara. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190054113.001.0001.
——2021. ‘The Corporeal Vamsa: Seizure and Restriction of the Body in the Harivamsa.’ In Diana Dimitrova (ed.), Rethinking the Body in South Asian Traditions: 9–26. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003089582.
Bailey, G. M. 1981. ‘Brahma, Prthu and the Theme of the Earth-Milker in Hindu Mythology.’ Indo-Iranian Journal 23 (2): 105–16. https://doi.org/10.1163/000000081790080872.
Bhagavata Purana. H. G. Shastri et al. (eds), The Bhagavata [Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana], 1st edn. 4 vols. in 6 pts. Ahmedabad: B. J. Institute of Learning and Research, 1996–2002.
Bhandarkar, R. G. 1913. Vaisnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious Systems. Strassburg: Karl J. Trübner. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111551975
Bowles, Adam. 2007. Dharma, Disorder and the Political in Ancient India: The Apaddharmaparvan of the Mahabharata. Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004158153.i-432
Brodbeck, Simon. 2016. ‘Upakhyanas and the Harivamsa.’ In Vishwa Adluri and Joydeep Bagchee (eds), Argument and Design: The Unity of the Mahabharata: 388–427. Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004311404_015.
——(trans.). 2019. Krishna’s Lineage: The Harivamsha of Vyasa’s Mahabharata. New York: Oxford University Press.
Baudhayana Dharmasutra. Patrick Olivelle (ed., trans.), Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana and Vasistha. 1st edn. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2000.
Cecil, Elizabeth A., and Peter C. Bisschop. 2021. ‘Idiom and Innovation in the “Gupta Period”: Revisiting Eran and Sondhni.’ The Indian Economic and Social History Review 58 (1): 29–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/0019464620982258.
Collins, Brian. 2021. The Other Rama: Matricide and Genocide in the Mythology of Parasurama. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Couture, André (trans.). 1991. L’enfance de Krsna: Traduction des chapitres 30 à 78 [du Harivamsa] (éd. cr.). Laval: Les Éditions du Cerf.
——2003. ‘Krsna’s Victory over Bana and Goddess Kotavi’s Manifestation in the Harivamsa.’ Journal of Indian Philosophy 31 (5–6): 593–620. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026329900688. Reprinted in Couture 2017b: 133–66.
——2006. ‘The Emergence of a Group of Four Characters (Vasudeva, Samkarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha) in the Harivamsa: Points for Consideration.’ Journal of Indian Philosophy 34 (6): 571–85. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-006-9009-x. Reprinted in Couture 2017b: 196–214.
——2008. ‘Le Krsna du Harivamsa: Un dieu qui distribue ses richesses.’ In Pierre de Lachaier and Catherine Clémentin-Ojha (eds), Divines richesses: Religion et économie en monde marchand indien: 31–48. Paris: École Française d’Extrême-Orient. For English translation (‘Krsna in the Harivamsa: A God who Shares his Wealth’), see Couture 2017b: 82–104.
——2013. Review of Le Don de voir: Premières représentations krishnaïtes de la région de Mathura, by Charlotte Schmid. History of Religions 52 (4): 405–9. https://doi.org/10.1086/669648.
——2017a. ‘La place d’Indra dans l’épisode du soulèvement du mont Govardhana selon le Harivamsa: Les présupposés d’une interprétation.’ Cahiers des études anciennes 54: 127–56. https://journals.openedition.org/etudesanciennes/945.
——2017b. Krsna in the Harivamsa, Vol. 2: The Greatest of All Sovereigns and Masters. Delhi: D. K. Printworld.
Derrett, Duncan M. 1959. ‘Bhu-Bharana, Bhu-Palana, Bha-Bhojana: An Indian Conundrum.’ Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 22 (1): 108–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X00076163.
Doniger O’Flaherty, Wendy. 1976. The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Fitzgerald, James L. 2002. ‘The Rama Jamadagnya “Thread” of the Mahabharata: A New Survey of Rama Jamadagnya in the Pune Text.’ In Mary Brockington (ed.), Stages and Transitions: Temporal and Historical Frameworks in Epic and Puranic Literature. Proceedings of the Second Dubrovnik International Conference on the Sanskrit Epics and Puranas: 89–132. Zagreb: Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
——(trans.). 2004a. The Mahabharata: 11. The Book of the Women; 12. The Book of Peace, Part One. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
——2004b. ‘Dharma and its Translation in the Mahabharata.’ Journal of Indian Philosophy 32 (5–6): 671–85. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-004-8640-7.
——2006. ‘Negotiating the Shape of “Scripture”: New Perspectives on the Development and Growth of the Mahabharata between the Empires.’ In Patrick Olivelle (ed.), Between the Empires: Society in India 300 bce to 400 ce: 257–86. New York: Oxford University Press.
Fleet, John Faithful. 1888. Inscriptions of the Early Gupta Kings and their Successors. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, 3. Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing.
Gail, Adalbert. 1977. Parasurama, Brahmane und Krieger: Untersuchung über Ursprung und Entwicklung eines Avatara Visnus und Bhakta Sivas in der indischen Literatur. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
Ganguli, Kalyan Kumar. 1983. ‘The Other Krsna.’ In Jayanta Chakrabarti and D. C. Bhattacharyya (eds), Aspects of Indian Art and Culture: S. K. Saraswati Commemoration Volume: 21–30. Calcutta: Rddhi India.
Gautama Dharmasutra. Patrick Olivelle (ed., trans.), Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana and Vasistha. 1st edn. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2000.
Goldman, Robert P. 1970. Gods, Priests and Warriors: The Bhrgus of the Mahabharata. New York: Columbia University Press.
Grierson, George A. 1908. ‘Govinda, Gopendra, Upendra.’ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (2nd series) 40 (1): 163. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0035869X00037333
Harivamsa. Parashuram Lakshman Vaidya (ed.), The Harivamsa: Being the Khila or Supplement to the Mahabharata, for the First Time Critically Edited. 2 vols. Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1969–71. For Harivamsa Vulgate, see Kinjawadekar 1936.
Hiltebeitel, Alf. 2011. Dharma: Its Early History in Law, Religion, and Narrative. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195394238.001.0001.
Hopkins, E. Washburn. 1915. Epic Mythology. Strassburg: Karl. J. Trübner. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111551999
Hultzsch, E. 1905–6. Epigraphia Indica and Record of the Archaeological Survey of India, vol. 8. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co.
——1925. Inscriptions of Asoka. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Huntington, Ronald M. 1960. ‘The Legend of Prithu: A Study in the Process of Individuation.’ Purana 2 (1–2): 188–210.
Jamison, Stephanie W., and Joel P. Brereton (trans.). 2014. The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India. 3 vols. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190633363.001.0001.
Kinjawadekar, Ramachandrashastri (ed.). 1936. Harivanshaparvan with Bharata Bhawadeepa by Neelakantha. Poona: Shankar Narhar Joshi (Citrashala Press).
Lodrick, Deryck O. 2005. ‘Symbol and Sustenance: Cattle in South Asian Culture.’ Dialectical Anthropology 29: 61–84. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10624-005-5809-8.
Lutgendorf, Philip. 1991. The Life of a Text: Performing the Ramcaritmanas of Tulsidas. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520909342
Mahabharata. Vishnu Sitaram Sukthankar et al. (eds), The Mahabharata for the First Time Critically Edited. 19 vols. Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1933–66.
Manusmrti. Patrick Olivelle (ed., trans.), Manu’s Code of Law: A Critical Edition and Translation of the Manava-Dharmasastra. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Miller, Jeanine. 1990. ‘Predestiny and Evil in Hindu Myth: An Inquiry into the Symbolism of the Vena-Prthu Legend.’ In Karel Werner (ed.), Symbols in Art and Religion: The Indian and the Comparative Perspectives: 103–28. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203036556-6
Mirashi, Vasudev Vishnu. 1955. Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era, Part II. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, 4.2. Ootacamund: Government Epigraphist for India.
Nath, Vijay. 2002. ‘King Vena, Nisada and Prthu: A Recurrent Puranic Myth Re-Examined.’ Indian Historical Review 29 (1–2): 48–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/037698360202900203.
Podzeit, Utz. 1997. Die Wandlungen Krsnas zum höchsten Gott. Philologische Studie zur Krsna-Gopala-Legende. Berlin: Peter Lang.
Raghuvamsa. Dominic Goodall and Harunaga Isaacson (eds), The Raghupañcika of Vallabhadeva: Being the Earliest Commentary on the Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa, vol. 1. Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 2003.
Ramayana. G. H. Bhatt et al. (eds), The Valmiki-Ramayana Critically Edited for the First Time. 7 vols. Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1960–75.
Rgveda. See Jamison and Brereton 2014.
Saindon, Marcelle. 2005. ‘Prthu considéré comme un avatara de Visnu.’ Journal Asiatique 293 (2): 529–57. https://doi.org/10.2143/JA.293.2.2011778.
——2007. ‘Le bon roi Prthu et la traite de la vache Terre: Un plaidoyer en faveur de la Terre nourricière à protéger des violences.’ Studies in Religion / Sciences Religieuses 36 (3–4): 553–69. https://doi.org/10.1177/000842980703600307.
Sathaye, Adheesh. 2010. ‘The Other Kind of Brahman: Rama Jamadagnya and the Psychosocial Construction of Brahman Power in the Mahabharata.’ In Sheldon Pollock (ed.), Epic and Argument in Sanskrit Literary History: Essays in Honour of Robert P. Goldman: 185–207. Delhi: Manohar.
——2015. Crossing the Lines of Caste: Visvamitra and the Construction of Brahmin Power in Hindu Mythology. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199341108.001.0001.
Smith, Brian K. 1990. ‘Eaters, Food and Social Hierarchy in Ancient India: A Dietary Guide to a Revolution of Values.’ Journal of the American Academy of Religion 58 (2): 177–205. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/LVIII.2.177.
Sutton, Nick. 1997. ‘Asoka and Yudhisthira: A Historical Setting for the Ideological Tensions of the Mahabharata?’ Religion 27 (4): 333–41. https://doi.org/10.1006/reli.1997.0092.
Thapar, Romila. 1971. ‘The Image of the Barbarian in Early India.’ Comparative Studies in Society and History 13 (4): 408–36. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417500006393.
Thomas, Lynn. 1996. ‘Parasurama and Time.’ In Julia Leslie (ed.), Myth and Mythmaking: Continuous Evolution in Indian Tradition: 63–85. Richmond: Curzon.
Vaudeville, Charlotte. 1968. ‘Aspects du mythe de Krsna-Gopala dans l’Inde ancienne.’ In Mélanges d’Indianisme à la mémoire de Louis Renou: 737–61. Paris: De Boccard.
——1975. ‘The Cowherd God in Ancient India.’ In Lawrence Saadia Leshnik and Günther-Dietz Sontheimer (eds), Pastoralists and Nomads in South Asia: 92–116. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
——1980. ‘The Govardhan Myth in Northern India.’ Indo-Iranian Journal 22 (1): 1–45. https://doi.org/10.1163/000000080790080431.
——1989. ‘Multiple Approaches to a Living Hindu Myth: The Lord of the Govardhan Hill.’ In Günther-Dietz Sontheimer and Hermann Kulke (eds), Hinduism Reconsidered: 105–25. Delhi: Manohar.
