Studies in Indian Art c12.s13.40

c12.s13.40

BALARĀMA. Patañjali refers to Balarāma in his Mahābhāshya (Kielhorn, Vol. I. p. 426.) "let the power of Kṛiṣhṇa increase with the assistance of Saṅkarṣhaṇa". Saṅkarṣhaṇa is the name of Balarāma, the elder brother of Kṛiṣhṇa, who is said to have changed the course of the Yamunā near Mathurā by his ploughshare. The legend must have been popular in the days of the Bhāshyakāra in the 2nd century B.C. Again in a quotation given by Patañjali mention is also made of temples dedicated to Kuvera, (Bala) Rāma and Keśava (Kṛiṣhṇa): प्रसादे धनपतिरामकेशवानाम् (ibid. Vol. I. p. 426).