Also called Vasudeva, Govinda, Madhava, Janardana.
Krishna
कृष्ण
Cousin, envoy and charioteer — the one who shapes the war's course without ever lifting a weapon in it.
Appears in
Draupadi's svayamvara — An archery test won by a supposed dead man in disguise, and a mother's careless word that binds five brothers to one wife.
The Rajasuya sacrifice — Yudhishthira's consecration as emperor — the height of the Pandavas' fortune, and the sight that decides Duryodhana to act.
Abhimanyu inside the wheel — A boy who knows how to break into a formation and not how to break out of it is sent in first, and the gap closes behind him
The night attack on the sleeping camp — The war has been won and the winners are asleep; three survivors of the losing side walk into their camp in the dark
Embodies
Divine counsel — Krishna advises, drives and arranges, but takes up no weapon — a god who works through others' choices.
The impossible choice — Not good against evil, but duty against duty — every open course breaks an obligation the chooser also owes.
Questions to explore
Why does Krishna carry no weapon into the war, yet decide its course?
Krishna asks Duryodhana for five villages instead of a kingdom — was the offer meant to succeed?
Is Krishna in the Mahabharata a god acting as a man, or a man the text later made a god?
