RELG 303: Images of Krishna (HC)

Every year thousands of pilgrims travel to Brindavan, the village where Krishna is said to have lived as a child. There, they witness a series of religious dramas called ras lilas, whose central roles are performed by children. By translating four plays that collectively span this cycle, John Hawley provides a lively perspective on the mythology of Krishna as Hindus experience it today.

In the West Krishna is primarily known as the speaker of the Bhagavad Gita. But it is the stories of Krishna's childhood and his later exploits that have provided some of the most important and widespread sources of religious narrative in the Hindu religious landscape. This volume bringstogether new translations of representative samples of Krishna religious literature from a variety of genres -- classical, popular, regional, sectarian, poetic, literary, and philosophical.

The author traces the development of the theme of Krishna as butter thief from its earliest appearance in literature and art until the present. He focuses on the dramas (ras lilas) of Krishna's native Braj and on the Sur Sagar, a collection of verse attributed to the sixteenth-century poet Sur Das that is as familiar to Hindi speakers as Mother Goose is to us.