Balarama
Balarama (Devanagri: बलराम) also known as Baladeva, Balabhadra and Halayudha, is the elder brother of the divine being, Krishna from the Puranic texts of Hinduism. The first part of his name derives from the Sanskrit 'bala' referring to strength, and accordingly, Balarama is often described as being very physically strong. Within Vaishnavism (the branch of Hinduism which worships Vishnu) and a number of South Indian traditions, Balarama is worshipped as an avatar (or incarnation) of Vishnu, the preserver god, and he is also listed as such in the Bhagavata Purana.
Balarama in the Context of the Avatar Doctrine
The Bhagavata Purana describes Krishna as the original supreme divinity from whom everything else emanates. As part of this divine 'emanation', Krishna's very first expansion is Balarama, and from Balarama all other incarnations of God then appear. Since both Krishna and Balarama are sons of Vishnu, they are often considered a joint incarnation, and so Balarama is sometimes considered an avatar, that is, a genuine appearance of the divine in the realm of material existence. Although Scriptural lists of these ten divine manifestations frequently differ, the most commonly accepted dasavataras are 1) Matsya, a fish; 2) Kurma, a turtle; 3) Varaha, a boar; 4) Narasimha, a lion-man; 5) Vamana, a dwarf; 6) Parasurama, a man wielding an axe; 7) Rama, a noble man; 8) Krishna, the teacher of the Bhagavadgita; 9) Buddha, a spiritually enlightened being and finally and 10) Kalkin, who has yet to arrive. Some sects substitue Balarama for Rama as the seventh avatar. Beyond this list, Balarama is among the twenty-five avatars of Vishnu listed in the Bhagavata Purana, where he is considered the nineteenth incarnation.[1] He is also acknowledged as being an incarnation of Shesha, the divine serpent upon whom Vishnu rests.
Mythology
The birth of Balarama and his brother Krishna is recorded in the Vishnu Purana. The boys were originally conceived in the womb of of Devaki, wife of Vasudeva. The evil king Kamsa, the brother of Devaki, was intent upon killing all the progeny of his sister because of a prediction that he would die at the hands of her eighth son. Kamsa thus threw his sister Devaki and her husband Vasudeva into prison, and proceeded to kill each of their children as soon as they were born. In order to conceive of Devaki's seventh and eight children, Lord Vishnu is said to have taken two of his hairs, one black and one white, and implanted them in Devaki's womb. Just before their birth the two hairs-turned-offspring were miraculously transferred to the womb of Rohini, a woman who had desired a child of her own so as to save them from Kamsa's tyranny. Rohini gave birth to two boys, one dark in colour and the other one one light. The black child was named Krishna, and the fair child was formally named Rama, but because of his great strength he was called Balarama (Strong Rama). Balarama has also been called Sankarsana which describes his transfer from one womb to another.
It was Rohini who ended up raising Balarama. Balarama spent his childhood as a cowherd boy with his brother Krishna and friends. The two children would undergo many adventures together as they grew, and even quarrelled with one another from time to time. Thus, He later married Revati, the daughter of King Raivata, ruler of the Anarta province.
One day, Nanda Maharaja requested Gargamuni, the family priest to visit their home in order to give names to Krishna and Balarama. When Gargamuni arrived at his house Nanda Maharaja, received him very well and then requested him to perform the naming ceremony. Gargamuni then reminded Nanda Maharaja that Kamsa was looking for the son of Devaki and said that if he performed the ceremony very opulently it would come to the notice of Kamsa, who would then suspect that Krishna was the son of Devaki. Nanda Maharaja therefore asked Gargamuni to perform the ceremony in secret, and Gargamuni did so giving the reasons for Balarama's names as follows:
"Because Balarama, the son of Rohini, increases the transcendental bliss of others, His name is Rama, and because of His extraordinary strength, He is called Baladeva. He attracts the Yadus to follow His instructions, and therefore His name is Sankarshana." Bhagavata Purana 10.8.12
Both Balarama and his brother Krishna are the most human of the human incarnations of Vishnu; while figures like Rama are notable for their perfected morality, both brothers exemplified numerous human weaknesses. An example of this occured when Balarama ordered that the River Yamuna be moved closer to him so that it would be more accessible when he wanted to bathe. When it was not moved, he used his plough to bully the river so that it would do as he wished.
Balarama famously taught both Duryodhana of the Kauravas and Bhima of the Pandavas the art of fighting with a mace. When war broke between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, Balarama was equally affectionate to both parties and so decided to be neutral. Eventually when Bhima (of greater strength) defeated Duryodhana (of greater skill) by dealing a blow below the navel with his mace, Balarama threatened to kill Bhima. This was only prevented when Krishna reminded Balarama of Bhima's vow to kill Duryodhana by crushing the very thigh he exposed to his wife Draupadi.
In the Bhagavata Purana it is described that after Balarama took part in the battle that caused the destruction of the rest of the Yadu dynasty, and after he witnessed the disappearance of Krishna, he then sat down in a meditative state and departed from this world by producing a great white snake from his mouth, and thus he was carried by Sesha in the form of a serpent.
Depiction
Balarama is almost always depicted as being fair skinned, especially in comparison to his brother, Krishna, who is shown as dark blue or black in hue. He is commonly depicted with two arms, in which he holds his traditional weapons, the plough and the mace. His hair is tied in a topknot and he has earrings, bracelets and armlets. Traditionally Balarama wears blue garments and a garland of forest flowers.
Significance
Gaudiya Vaishnavas believe that Balarama is the Supreme Personality of Godhead himself. He is worshipped as equal in supremacy to Krishna, yet wherever Krishna appears, Baladeva appears as Krishna's brother, sometimes elder, sometimes younger. For the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a modern continuation of the Gaudiya lineage, Balarama is a particularly important character. As the founder, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, writes:
- Lord Balarama is the original Vishnu; therefore anyone remembering these pastimes of Lord Balarama in the morning and the evening will certainly become a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus his life will become successful in all respects.
Despite their mutual godhood, Balarama never became as popular as Krishna. Balarama is constantly serving Krishna in every respect in all of Krishna's incarnations and manifestations. In Rama-lila, Balarama serves Ramachandra as his younger Brother, Lakshmana and in the current age (Kali-yuga), Balarama spreads the 'Sankirtan movement' of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as his close friend Nityananda. The only theological difference between Krishna and Balarama is that the bodily hue of Krishna is dark and that of Balarama is fair. Krishna is the Creator, and Balarama is his creative potency, but they are both worshipped as the Supreme Primeval Lord. Of the three transcendental elements (sat, cit and ananda), Balarama is in charge of sat (Sanskrit: eternity or truth). Hence he worshiped as the supreme teacher or adiguru.
Notes
- ↑ Bhag-P 1.3.23 "In the nineteenth and twentieth incarnations, the Lord advented Himself as Lord Balarama and Lord Krishna"
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Bassuk, Daniel E. Incarnation in Hinduism and Christianity: the myth of the god-man. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press International, 1987. ISBN 0391034529
- Mitchell, A.G. Hindu Gods and Goddesses. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1982. ISBN 011290372X
- Parrinder, Geoffrey. Avatar and incarnation: the Wilde lectures in natural and comparative religion in the University of Oxford. London: Faber, 1970. ISBN 0571093191
See also
- Krishna
- Lakshmana
- Nityananda
- Shesha
External links
- Who is Lord Balarama (Overview)
- 1000 names of Lord Balarama
- Vedic Encyclopedia - Sri Balarama's Pilgrimage
- Balarama avatar - Bhagavata Purana
- Krishna-Balarama Temple
- Krishna & Balarama Deity Gallery - Vrindavan.com
- Krishna & Balarama Deity Gallery - Vrindavan-dham.com
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