Makaranda Madhukar Anand Mahendale Festshrift

Author(s): M A Dhaky, Jitendra B Shah
Publisher: Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre

Page 78

The Justification of Kṛṣṇa's Annihilation of His Own Clan
11.31.26); i.e. they went to the Himalaya (VD on 11.31.26).
Such then are the numerous examples of ingenious interpretations which demonstrate the way in which some of these commentators proceed in showing that Kṛṣṇa does not really destroy the Yadavas, but only makes them enter into the aprakaṭalilā.
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In conclusion, we can see how the commentators go even beyond the BhP in justifying Krsna. These commentators are much later than the BhP.. They range from SS, who is said to be born around 1325 CE, to GS, whose birth is claimed to be in Samvat 1892 [1835 CE] Not coming from a folk background, they have a more sophisticated understanding of what it means to be divine. Further, although the commentators do not mention it, they may have been aware of adverse criticism from Christians and Muslims, and possibly even from other Hindu sects. Hence the changed sociocultural conditions and the further development in the understanding regarding Krsna's divinity impelled the commentators to go beyond even the Bhagavata in their efforts to remove any blemish that they felt tarnished Kṛṣṇa's divine portrait.
Annotations :
1. Originally presented at the 10th World Sanskrit Conference, Bangalore, 1997, this article has been both revised and enlarged, including as it also does much new material.
2. For justifications of Krsna in other matters, see my
(A) Book: The Divinity of Krsna (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1984). under "Justification of Kṛṣṇa's" in the Index; and (B) Articles: (1) "The impeccable Kṛṣṇa", Indica 18: 1 (March 1981): 1-6; (2) "Kṛṣṇa as a portion of the Supreme", Purana 24:1 (January 1982): 79-90; (3) "The Justification of Krsna's Affair with the Hunchbacked Woman", Purana 25:2 (July 1983) 225234; (4) "Krsna's stealing of the Herdsmaidens' clothes", Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 66:1-4(1986): 161-174; (5) "Transformation through Denudation", Indica 23:1-2 (March-September, 1986): 51-62. (6) "The Justification of Kṛṣṇa's Childhood Pranks": (a) proceedings of the VIIth World Sanskrit Conference Leiden, 1987, in Indologica Taurinensia 1516 (1989-90): 325-352; (b) The Journal of Religious Studies 18:1 (Spring 1990):