ovde - vera znanje mir

Kesava (Krishna). Patanjali also describes dramatic and mimetic performances (Krishna-
Kamsopacharam) representing the killing of Kamsa by Vasudeva.
Also in the 1st century BCE, there seems to be evidence for a worship of five Vrishni heroes
(Balarama, Krishna, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Samba) for an inscription has been found at Mora
near Mathura, which apparently mentions a son of the great satrap Raj Uvula, probably the satrap
Sodasa, and an image of Vrishni, "probably Vasudeva, and of the "Five Warriors".
From the early centuries of the common era, the inscriptions and references to worship of Krishna
become very numerous.
The Bhakti tradition
Main article: Bhakti
Bhakti, meaning devotion, is not confined to any one deity of Hinduism. However Krishna has
become an important and popular focus of the devotional and ecstatic aspects of Hindu religion,
particularly among the Vaishnava sects.
Devotees of Krishna subscribe to the concept of lila, meaning 'divine play', as the central principle
of the universe. The lilas of Krishna, with their expressions of personal love that transcend the
boundaries of formal reverence, serve as a counterpoint to the lilas of another avatar of Vishnu:
Rama, "He of the straight and narrow path of maryada, or rules and regulations."
The bhakti movements devoted to Krishna became prominent in southern India in the 7th to 9th
centuries CE. The earliest works included those of the Alvar saints of the Tamil country. A major
collection of their works is the Divya Prabandham. The Alvar Andal's popular collection of songs
Tiruppavai, in which she conceives of herself as a Gopi, is perhaps the oldest work of this genre.
Kulashekhara's Mukundamala was another notable offering of this early stage.
Spread of the Krishna-bhakti movement
"Celebration of Spring by Krishna and Radha," 18th Century miniature; in the Guimet Museum,
Paris
The movement spread rapidly from Northern India into the south, with the Gita Govinda of
Jayadeva (12th century CE) becoming a landmark of devotional, Krishna-based, literature. It
elaborated a part of the story of Krishna, that of his love for one particular gopi, called Radha, a
minor character in the Bhagavata Purana but a major one in some others like the Bramhavaivarta-
Purana. The poem is in Sanskrit and soon became famous all across India. Radha henceforth
became inseparable from devotion to Krishna.