Bala Krishna

"Balakrishna" redirects here. For the name, see Balakrishna (name).
Bala Krishna holding a butter-ball in his hand, c. 1895 lithograph

Bala Krishna (Sanskrit: बाल कृष्ण, romanized: Bālakṛṣṇa, lit. 'child Krishna/divine child Krishna')[1][2] or Bala Gopala, refers to the boyhood form of the Hindu deity Krishna.[3] The worship of Krishna as a divine child was historically one of the early forms of worship in Krishnaism.

  1. ^ KLOSTERMAIER, Klaus K. (2005). A Survey of Hinduism for Bala Krishna. State University of New York Press; 3 edition. p. 206. ISBN 0-7914-7081-4.. Present day Krishna worship is an amalgam of various elements. According to historical testimonies Krishna-Vasudeva worship already flourished in and around Mathura several centuries before Christ. A second important element is the cult of Krishna Govinda. Still later is the worship of Bala-Krishna, the Divine Child Krishna - a quite prominent feature of modern Krishnaism. The last element seems to have been Krishna Gopijanavallabha, Krishna the lover of the Gopis, among whom Radha occupies a special position. In some books Krishna is presented as the founder and first teacher of the Bhagavata religion.
  2. ^ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 75.
  3. ^ Smith, David (2008-04-15). Hinduism and Modernity. John Wiley & Sons. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-470-77685-8.