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Publish the Obsidian vault's Knowledge folder as /knowledge (881 notes, 67 folders), with a Knowledge item in the nav and footer. - scripts/import_knowledge.py regenerates data/knowledge from the vault: slugged paths, folder notes as index pages, wikilinks resolved to site links (or plain text), callouts, highlights, and Dataview tables rendered statically. Personal notes are withheld via an exclusion list plus a privacy guard. - tuftecms/core/knowledge.py builds a concept index from note titles and aliases. First mentions on ordinary pages link to their Knowledge note (capped, never in headings, code, links, or sidenotes); Knowledge pages list related notes and where they're mentioned across the site; other pages get a Related Knowledge block. - Knowledge URLs join sitemap.xml (so the sweep test covers them), never displace existing legacy slugs, list alphabetically, and mermaid diagrams render client-side only on pages that have them.
81 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
81 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
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source: obsidian-knowledge
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---
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# Krishna
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**Domain**: Divine love, joy, protection, cosmic play (lila)
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**Symbol**: Flute, peacock feather, blue skin, butter pot
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**Avatar of**: Vishnu (8th avatar)
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**Consort**: Radha (divine love), Rukmini (wife)
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---
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## Overview
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Krishna is the eighth avatar of [Vishnu](/knowledge/mythology/hindu-mythology/vishnu) and one of the most beloved deities in Hinduism. While technically an avatar, many devotees worship him as the supreme deity himself. He is known for his playful childhood, divine love affairs, his role in the Mahabharata, and his teaching of the Bhagavad Gita.
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His blue skin, like Vishnu's, represents the infinite. The peacock feather crowns his head, the flute calls the divine, and yellow silk robes mark his radiance.
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---
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## Life Story
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**Birth and Childhood**: Born to destroy the tyrant Kamsa, Krishna was switched at birth to escape death and raised by cowherds Nanda and Yashoda in Vrindavan. As a child, he was the mischievous butter thief, performing miracles and killing demons as an infant, once revealing the entire universe within his mouth to his foster mother.
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**Youth in Vrindavan**: The divine cowherd played his flute, enchanting all creation. He lifted Govardhan hill to protect the cowherds from Indra's rain, defeated the serpent Kaliya, and danced the Raas Lila with the gopis (cowherd maidens), each of whom believed he danced only with her -- multiplying himself to be present with all of them simultaneously.
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---
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## Krishna and Radha
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Radha is not Krishna's wife but his supreme beloved -- the soul's love for the divine personified, bhakti (devotion) itself. Their love is transcendent rather than physical: Radha represents the devotee/soul, Krishna the divine, and their love the spiritual relationship. Separation is longing for the divine; union is realization. It is the most painted, sung, and celebrated love story in Hinduism.
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---
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## The Mahabharata
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Krishna serves as Arjuna's charioteer in the Kurukshetra war, friend and advisor to the Pandavas, and teacher of the Bhagavad Gita. When Arjuna faces a crisis of conscience before battle, Krishna teaches him about dharma, multiple paths to the divine (karma, bhakti, jnana yoga), surrender to divine will, and reveals his cosmic form (Vishvarupa). The Gita's core teaching: do your duty without attachment to results.
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---
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## Aspects of Krishna
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**Bala Krishna**: The mischievous child, innocent and playful, performing miracles. **Govinda**: The youth in Vrindavan, playing flute, dancing raas, symbol of divine joy. **Parthasarathi**: Arjuna's charioteer, teacher and guide, upholder of dharma. **Jagannath**: Lord of the Universe, the form worshipped at Puri with its annual chariot festival.
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---
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## Philosophy & Teachings
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**Lila (Divine Play)**: All creation is God's play -- not serious and grim but joyful. Playfulness is a divine quality; life is a cosmic dance.
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**Bhakti (Devotion)**: The easiest path in the Kali Yuga. Love and devotion to Krishna, surrender and grace, personal relationship with the divine, ecstatic devotion.
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**Dharma in Action**: Do your duty without attachment to fruits. "Be in the world, not of it." Karma yoga as practical spirituality.
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---
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## Worship & Devotion
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**Janmashtami** (Krishna's birthday) features midnight celebration, fasting and feasting, and dahi handi (butter pot breaking). **Holi** (festival of colors) celebrates Krishna's playfulness with the gopis, with colored powder thrown in spring abandon.
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Core practices include chanting names (kirtan), the "Hare Krishna" mantra, reading the Bhagavad Gita, bhajans (devotional songs), and offering food (prasad).
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## Cultural Impact
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Krishna is the most depicted Hindu deity, inspiring countless paintings, dance dramas (Kathak, Bharatanatyam), classical music, and poetry. The ISKCON movement (Hare Krishna) brought Krishna consciousness worldwide. The Bhagavad Gita remains one of the most influential spiritual texts ever written.
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## Archetypal Significance
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Divine child, trickster (butter thief, multiplying), lover (Radha-Krishna), wise teacher (Gita), the Self (cosmic form). Integration of playfulness and wisdom. Psychologically: joy as spiritual practice, divine romance as the soul's longing, duty without neurosis, multiplicity of self.
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See: Jungian Archetypes
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---
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## Related
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- [Vishnu](/knowledge/mythology/hindu-mythology/vishnu) - Source/avatar of
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- Rama - Another Vishnu avatar
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- [Hindu Mythology Index](/knowledge/mythology/hindu-mythology)
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