Alhamdan 1
Theology 105
Professor Seigert
Nora Alhamdan
2/10/2017
Lord Krishna
Lord Krishna, the ‘deity who lived as man’. Hindu’s believe that Krishna was an avatar,
God in the form of man, who lived with humans to save them from the morass they had caused
for themselves. Krishna’s wanted to uphold ‘dharma’. He was humble and pleasing with a
bewitchingly charm, with his trademark smile.
Krishna was the only Hindu God whose childhood is deeply investigated in his
mythology. During his childhood there are a number of stories known that show his power. Sri
Krishna was the child to Devaki and Vasudeva, but they did not raise him. On the wedding day
of Devaki and Vasudeva, there was a prophecy. Kamsa, davaki’s brother, would be killed be
killed by one of her children. Vasudeva promised to give him all the children they conceived if
he didn’t kill Devaki. After surrendering every child to Kamsa, “the auspicious time for the
lord’s birth had come”. The lord was born at midnight on a night that was described to have the
charm of all the seasons. The baby was wrapped by yellow silk and a jewel of Kaustabh hang
from his neck.
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His crown was so splendid it lit the whole palace. Vasudeva was astonished by his
supernatural form. The parents fell down with folded palms and worshipped their lord. The Lord
told Vasudeva to transport the new child to Gokul and take it to Nanda’s house. He was to also
come back with his other’s wife child. It be the hour of alter in the responsibility of the prison
guards, but; because of heavy rain the night guards did not go to work. Vasudeva lay the baby
into a basket, reacheing Gokul by the River Yamuna and placed baby Krishna close to Yashoda.
One day, Yashoda saw Krishna put soil into his mouth. When she saw him she ran to him
to try and make him spit it out but he closed his mouth tightly. After he was threatened to be
flicked he finally opened his mouth, there was no sand in the mouth but she saw “the sun, the
moon, the planets, the stars and the earth, swirling around mountains, oceans, rivers, trees and
other living beings in that tiny baby’s mouth”. Looking at such a sight, Yashoda almost fainted
which caused Krishna to withdraw his cosmic vision. And so when Yashoda looked again, she
simply found mud in her son’s mouth. One of krishnas’ titles when he was a child was “butter”
theif” because he claimed that other peoples’ butter always tasted sweeter.
Even now, most of the pictures that has Krishna in it, it is usually with a jar of butter next
to him. Krishna, even as a child, brought good fortune to those who he felt were genuine and
have performed good deeds all their lives. He once wished to buy fruits from a fruit seller lady,
so he ran inside to get a few grains in exchange for the fruits. Charmed by him, the lady hugged
and kissed him with great love and affection. When she reached home, she removed the cloth
that covered the basket and found nuggets of gold within it. That was when she knew she was
blessed by the lord.
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Krishna’s had an elder brother, Balram. Since childhood, Krishna believed it was his duty
to fight against evil. Both brothers one day, “saw a huge crane like-bird resting on the banks with
its beak wide open”. Krishna guessed that it was a demon which was meant to kill him. Curious
of the creature, he went close to it and got swallowed inside the beak. He stayed put in the long
throat of the bird, which caused the crane to suffocate vomit Krishna out. Krishna then tore the
bird’s beaks apart, causing him to die. The first time people in Krishna’s village acknowledged
him as Lord was when he fought an enormous and ferocious snake called Kalia Naga. Despite
being warned by elders to stay away, Krishna had a deep desire to get rid of the menace.
The waters of the pool were slimy and had tangled weeds, leading to difficulty for
Krishna to swim across and reach Kalia. After a long struggle, he managed to order the snake to
return to the ocean, where he originally belonged. The crowd started chanting ‘Jai Krishna!’.
Among all the gopis who Krishna met, Radha was his favorite. Whenever he got the chance,
Krishna would sit cross-legged and play the flute. “He made the wind dance to his tunes”, which
were called ragas. His favorite melody was dedicated to Radha. He made Radha his Divine
Consort. She occupied the pride of place in his heart as she loved him intensely, yet she never
tried to possess him. By this time Krishna’s philosophy – He belonged to no one exclusively, but
everyone belonged to him. Despite having such a philosophy, Krishna told Radha that her name
would always be taken before his, which is why even today the world refers to them as
‘RadhaKrishna’ and not ‘KrishnaRadha’.
Once Kamsa found out that Devaki’s son was alive, he decided to invite him to
participate in the Bow Sacrifice and the wrestling contests. When Krishna saw the bow, he could
see that it represented Kamsa’s power and arrogance. He wished to show the crowd that this
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symbol of evil could be conquered. He observed the bow and noticed a flaw in the joints of the
bow. He lifted the bow and ended up breaking in into two pieces. Once Kamsa heard of this
incident, he made up his mind to kill Krishna the following day. However, after various attempts
to defeat Krishna, Kamsa failed and ended up dead.
Krishna was meant to live in learned Sandipani’s gurukul. Sandipani was truly fond of
Krishna, “whom he believed to be the creator of the Vedas”. It was customary duty to touch the
feet of elders and asked for bhiksha (alms). When Krishna touched Sandipani’s feet, the ugly
mark on his face disappeared. During his stay at the gurukul, Krishna came to be fond of an
eighteen-year-old boy, named Sudama. He was very intelligent but was picked on because he
was lean and weak. Even after Krishna completed his education and left gurukul, Sudama
remained a faithful friend and devotee. Years passed by during which Krishna became the king
of Dwarka, but Sudama was still a poor man. Tired of their bad living conditions, Sudama’s wife
told him to go seek help from Krishna.
Despite refusing constantly due to the fear of being embarrassed, he decided to go. He
carried a handful of puffed rice with him to give to Krishna. Sudama was warmly welcomed by
Krishna. Looking at the splendor of Dwarka, Sudama was in awe and felt embarrassed to ask
Krishna for help. Krishna “washed his friend’s feet and served him food”, the hospitality he
received in Krishna’s kingdom did not allow his conscious to give his friend his small gift.
Noticing the small bag in Sudama’s hand, Krishna immediately asked what it was. As soon as
Sudama unwillingly took it out claiming it’s not a gift he could present to a king, Krishna
understood his problem and gladly accepted his gift. The next day, Krishna saw Sudama off in
his personal chariot. When Sudama reached home he saw a big mansion in place of his old hurt,
Alhamdan 5
his wife and kids in new clothes and knew then, that Krishna had showered blessings on him and
his family.
Nowhere does Krishna speak as a divine person performing miracles, but always as a
human being who has supreme confidence in his own righteousness and moral standing.
Krishna’s main role, to protect and enrich dharma, had been fulfilled. He is one of the few gods
who had to watch suffering of his brethren, his friends and family which caused him great
anguish. This is simply because “when a deity comes as an avatar among humans, he has to live
like one”. During his last stage, he felt sorry for a lot of people who performed evil deeds and
imagined situations which would not have caused any of the fights or war that took place. After
remembering almost everyone, he suddenly heard his flute playing the raga which he dedicated
to Radha. In his semiconscious state, he told Radha that he may be leaving the world but he
would never leave her. He declared that he would be known as ‘Radhakanth’, that “there will be
no Krishna without Radha”. Even though he never married Radha, she will always remain the
true love of his life. He told Radha that she was the only one who knew him and his music, and
with these words Krishna breathed his last.
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References
Prabhupāda, AC Bhaktivedanta Swami. Kṛṣṇa: The Supreme Personality of Godhead; a
Summary Study of Śrīla Vyāsadeva's Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Tenth Canto. Vol. 1. Iskcon Press,
1970.
Frith, Nigel. The legend of Krishna. SPCK Publishing, 1975.
Life of Christ Paper
Part 1
A brief introductory paragraph alerting the reader to the purpose of the paper, which includes a thesis
sentence.
An explanation of the Religious figure including relevant details about the person, and the work of the
person.
Grading criteria
Tell about religious figure (50 points total, 10 points each)
A> Tell about the person (The basic who, where, when details)
B> Tell about the work (What he is said to have done & how do people know he did it)
C> Do not include lengthy explanations of the religion.
D> Do not include evaluation statements Don’t make statements about good or bad, right or
wrong …
E> Do not include statements of your belief or opinion.
Part 2
A brief transition paragraph which alerts the reader that a discussion of Jesus Christ is beginning.
An explanation of Jesus Christ including relevant details about the person, and the work of Jesus Christ.
Person:
- Completely human but with no sin
- Completely God, in a state of humiliation
- In the same place at the same time
Work:
- The ultimate Prophet, the Priest and the King as portrayed in the Old Testament.
- Offering all sinful people the opportunity to be saved from the wrath, judgement and
punishment of a holy God.
Grading criteria
Tell about Jesus Christ (50 points total, 10 points each)
A> Tell about the person (The basic who, where, when details)
B> Tell about the work (What he is said to have done & how do people know he did it)
C> Do not include lengthy explanations of the religion.
D> Do not include evaluation statements Don’t make statements about good or bad, right or
wrong …
E> Do not include statements of your belief or opinion.
Part 3
A brief transition paragraph which alerts the reader that a discussion of significant differences is
beginning.
The final section will be a comparison of some significant differences between the religious figure you
wrote about in Part 1 and Jesus Christ. This section may or may not have more citations, but it
will definitely not reflect your personal bias, opinion or beliefs.
Here are some (not necessarily all) possible points of comparison between your religious figure and
Jesus Christ:
-
-
You might discuss the ways that the work of the two can be verified in history.
You might discuss how each of them is reported to continue living even after experiencing
physical death.
You might discuss how both of them related to the Old Testament, or the Bible in general.
You might discuss the different ways in which both related to God.
If you think that Jesus Christ and your religious figure had different ideas about how to take care
of the poor, you could write about that, as long as you don't say that you think one is better
than the other.
Similarly, you might be able to discuss the different perspectives each had about the purpose of
suffering.
Grading criteria
Discuss points of difference between Parts 1 and 2 (50 points total, 10 points each)
A>
B>
C>
D>
Identify significant differences.
Discuss the differences in detail providing examples as needed.
Do not include comparisons of the religions.
Do not include evaluation statements (Don’t make statements about good or bad, right or
wrong …)
E> Do not include statements of your belief or opinion.
Overall Paper
In addition to the grading criteria listed for each part, these criteria will be used to grade the entire
paper.
Appropriate number and quality of sources (40 points)
A>
B>
C>
D>
Books - at least 3
Journals – at least 1
Cite sources from CUI library. Do not cite web pages or Wikipedia
All sources used appropriately throughout paper
Resources are properly cited and documented (40 points)
A> Properly listed in Bibliography
B> Appropriately referenced (cited) in text of the paper
English grammar & spelling used so that it can be understood. (40 points possible)
A>
B>
C>
D>
Follows conventions of standard written English at a college level
Shows signs of maturing written English
Grammar, punctuation and vocabulary make it difficult to understand
Nearly impossible to understand
2400 to 3000 words; Too long is better than too short (30 points possible)
The entire paper is worth 300 points.
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