Not one avatar among many but 'the Lord himself' (1.3.28) — and the tenth book spends ninety chapters on his single life.
Appears in
Kunti asks for calamities — Skandha 1, adhyaya 8 — As Krishna's chariot turns for Dvaraka, his aunt stops it and asks for something no one asks for: more trouble.
Krishna is born in Kamsa's prison — Skandha 10, adhyayas 1-4 — A voice warns Kamsa that Devaki's eighth child will kill him; six die, and the eighth is carried across the Yamuna at midnight.
Yashoda sees the universe in his mouth — Skandha 10, adhyaya 8 — Told her toddler ate mud, a mother opens his mouth to check — and sees the whole universe, herself and her village inside it.
Tied with a rope — Skandha 10, adhyayas 9-10 — Every rope Yashoda ties is two fingers short — until she is exhausted, and the child lets himself be bound.
Brahma steals the calves — Skandha 10, adhyayas 13-14 — The creator hides Krishna's calves and cowherd friends for a year to test him, and finds Krishna has quietly become all of them.
Krishna dances on Kaliya — Skandha 10, adhyayas 16-17 — A many-headed serpent poisons a lake of the Yamuna, and a boy jumps in and dances on its hoods until it yields.
Krishna lifts Govardhana — Skandha 10, adhyayas 24-27 — A boy talks his village out of worshipping Indra, Indra sends a week of storms, and the boy holds up a hill on one finger.
The Rasa dance — Skandha 10, adhyayas 29-33 — On an autumn night the flute calls and the gopis leave everything; then Krishna vanishes, and their song of longing is the Gopi Gita.
Akrura, Mathura and Kamsa — Skandha 10, adhyayas 38-44 — The man sent to bring Krishna to his death is a devotee, and the journey to Mathura ends with Kamsa's fall.
Rukmini's letter — Skandha 10, adhyayas 52-54 — A princess about to be married against her will sends a brahmana with a letter: come and take me, or I give up my life.
The poor brahmana friend — Skandha 10, adhyayas 80-81 — A starving schoolfriend visits the king of Dvaraka with a cloth of flattened rice, too ashamed to ask for anything.
The avadhuta's twenty-four teachers — Skandha 11, adhyayas 7-9 — King Yadu asks a carefree wanderer where his joy comes from, and hears of twenty-four teachers, among them a pigeon and a courtesan.
The Uddhava Gita — Skandha 11, adhyayas 6; 10-29 — Krishna's last and longest teaching, given to a friend who asks only to go with him when he leaves the world.
Krishna leaves the world — Skandha 11, adhyayas 30-31 — At Prabhasa the Yadus destroy each other, and a hunter's arrow finds the foot of Krishna resting under a pipal tree.
Embodies
Divine play — A god who steals butter, hides from his mother and dances in the moonlight — the text insists the play is the revelation.
The descents of the Lord — Boar, man-lion, dwarf and fish: the Lord comes down in whatever form the age needs, and Krishna is the Lord himself (1.3.28).
Devotion as the highest dharma — The Bhagavatam's own thesis (1.2.6): the highest dharma is devotion with no motive, which nothing can interrupt.
Love in separation — The gopis love Krishna most when he is gone — and the messenger sent to console them comes back taught by them.
Questions to explore
Why does the Bhagavatam call Krishna "the Lord himself" rather than an avatar?
Why does a god spend his childhood stealing butter and herding cows?
How does the Krishna of the Bhagavatam differ from the Krishna of the Mahabharata?
