Studies in the Epics and Puranas c12.37

c12.37

(ii) The next point for consideration is whether there was one Kṛṣṇa or there were more than one persons bearing the same name, and as a result of syncretism legend has grown round the name. It should be made clear at the outset that our investigations concern the historicity and identity of Kṛṣṇa the Yādava (whom we may call the epic Kṛṣṇa), who was also Vāsudeva and Devakīputra, and whose patronymics were Śauri, Vārṣṇeya, Mādhava, Sātvata, Dāśārha, etc. Identification of this Kṛṣṇa with the Devakīputra Kṛṣṇa of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad or with the counsellor of the Pāṇḍavas or with the charioteer of Arjuna, the expounder of the Bhagavadgītā and the founder of Bhāgavatism, the cowherd boy of Gokula, and the incarnation of Nārāyaṇa-Viṣṇu, will also form part of our enquiry, although we shall deal with this aspect in brief.