Vasudeva
Vasudeva ( Sanskrit , m., वसुदेव , vasudeva ) is the father of Krishna in Indian tradition such as in the Indian epic Mahabharata and in the Bhagavata . He belonged to the Yadava dynasty and his sister was Kunti , the mother of the Pandava princes. Many passages in the scriptures refer to Krishna as Vāsudeva (here with a long a), the son of Vasudeva.
Lore
In the 10th book of the Bhagavatapurana it is described how Vasudeva and his wife Devaki were thrown into the dungeon by King Kamsa based on a prediction and spent there for nine years. Devaki gave birth to eight children during this time, of which Kamsa murdered six. Krishna was born the eighth child. To protect him from the persecution, his father took the newborn son across the Yamuna River to the neighboring village of Gokul. There Krishna grew up with foster parents, together with Vasudeva's older son Balarama from his first wife Rohini . A daughter of Vasudeva with Devaki is Subhadra , who was later born in freedom regained. After Kamsa's death, Vasudeva became Crown Prince of Mathura , while the rightful king was able to regain power.
In the Bhagavadgita Krishna also describes himself as Vāsudeva, for example in verse 7.19: Purified by the second
coming, the one who knows
then approaches me,
and “Vāsudeva is the All”, he
thinks, who is difficult to find here.
According to the comment of the Indian philosopher Bhaskara (probably 950 AD), Vāsudeva is not used in this verse as a patronymic for Krishna, but the name is given for a spiritual, philosophical reason. The double etymological derivation denotes namely "Krishna who resides in all beings" ( vasana = to let live) and on the other hand means Krishna as vasana - a container or garment that encloses the world.
Others
- The Heliodoros column was erected in honor of 'Vasudeva, the god of gods'.
- Hermann Hesse uses the name Vasudeva in his literary work Siddhartha and makes him a friend of Siddhartha. In search of a new path, Siddhartha feels drawn to the river and meets the ferryman Vasudeva, whom he asks to accept him as an assistant. Vasudeva, who has also achieved enlightenment, teaches him to listen to the rush of the river and to learn from it.
literature
- JM Sanyal: The Srimad-Bhagavatam , Vol. II, Third Edition, Munshiram Manoharial Publishers Private Ltd. 1984, p. 127 (without ISBN)
- Helmuth von Glasenapp , Bhagavadgita , Verlag Philipp Reclam jun. GmbH 1986, ISBN 978-3150078747