The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1.262

v2.c17.s1.262

This description is not at all in keeping with the reality, but it is accepted by the faithful to mean the figures as we have them. Jagannātha is believed to be Viṣṇu himself in his entirety, the same with Kṛṣṇa; and Balabhadra his *alter ego*, representing Baladeva, the brother of Kṛṣṇa. The third is called Subhadrā, which was the name of Baladeva's sister and popularly the image is said to be that of the sister of the two gods. The *Puruṣottama Māhātmya*, however, denies **[ 125 ]** this. It says 'the saying is a mere tradition' unworthy of belief, but that in reality it is that of Lakṣmī, the wife of Viṣṇu and the manifestation of intelligence. In the time of the Kṛṣṇa incarnation she was born in the womb of Rohiṇī and had the appearance of Baladeva, and therefore is she called Subhadrā, his sister. In three or four other places the same opinion is reiterated. Stirling says, she 'is esteemed a form of Devī or Kālī, the female energy of Baladeva', whom he identifies with Mahādeva⁵⁶; but for this statement I have found no authority.