Balarama

Balarama
God of Agriculture and Strength[1]
Member of Dashavatara[2][3][4]
Early 18th century depiction of Balarama from a wall hanging in a South Indian temple
AffiliationAvatar of Shesha in Bhagavata Vaishnavism; eighth avatar of Vishnu in some Vaishnava traditions[5]
AbodeVaikuntha, Patala, Vrindavan
WeaponPlough, Mace
FestivalsBalarama Jayanti, Ratha Yatra
Genealogy
Born
Gokula
ParentsVasudeva (father)
Devaki (mother)
Rohini (surrogate and foster mother)
SiblingsKrishna, Subhadra
ConsortRevati
ChildrenNishatha and Ulmuka (sons)[6]
DynastyYaduvamsha – Chandravamsha

Balarama (Sanskrit: बलराम, IAST: Balarāma) is a Hindu god, and the elder brother of Krishna.[7][8] He is particularly significant in the Jagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities.[9] He is also known as Haladhara, Halayudha, Baladeva, Balabhadra, and Sankarshana.

The first two epithets associate him with hala (langala, "plough")[10] from his strong associations with farming and farmers, as the deity who used farm equipment as weapons when needed, and the next two refer to his strength.[9][11]

Originally an agricultural deity, Balarama is mostly described as an incarnation of Shesha, the serpent associated with the deity Vishnu[9][5] while some Vaishnava traditions regard him as the eighth avatar of Vishnu,[5] with Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda (c.1200) "incorporat[ing] Balarama into the pantheon" as the ninth of the 10 principal avatars of Vishnu.[9]

Balarama's significance in Indian culture has ancient roots. His image in artwork is dated to around the start of the common era, and in coins dated to the second-century BCE.[12] In Jainism, he is known as Baladeva, and has been a historically significant farmer-related deity.[13][14]

  1. ^ Dalal, Roshen (18 April 2014). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin UK. ISBN 9788184752779.
  2. ^ Coulter, Charles Russell; Turner, Patricia (4 July 2013). Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities. Routledge. ISBN 9781135963903.
  3. ^ Nehra, Air Marshal R. K. Hinduism & Its Military Ethos. Lancer Publishers LLC. ISBN 9781935501473.
  4. ^ "L3 - Dashavatara".
  5. ^ a b c "Balarama | Hindu mythology". Encyclopedia Britannica. 23 August 2023.
  6. ^ "The Vishnu Purana: Book V: Chapter XXV".
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference US438 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ ""Balarama and Krishna Fighting the Enemy", Folio from a Harivamsa (The Legend of Hari (Krishna)". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  9. ^ a b c d James G. Lochtefeld (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A–M. The Rosen Publishing Group. pp. 82–84, 269. ISBN 978-0-8239-3179-8.
  10. ^ Jan Gonda (1969). Aspects of Early Viṣṇuism. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 100, 152–153. ISBN 978-81-208-1087-7.
  11. ^ Lavanya Vemsani (2006). Hindu and Mythology of Balarāma. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press. pp. 30–31, 52–59, 68–69 with footnotes. ISBN 978-0-7734-5723-2.
  12. ^ Heather Elgood (1 April 2000). Hinduism and the Religious Arts. Bloomsburg Academic. pp. 57, 61. ISBN 978-0-304-70739-3.
  13. ^ Vemsani, Lavanya (2006). Hindu and Jain Mythology of Balarama (1 ed.). Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 9780773457232.
  14. ^ Patrick Olivelle (2006). Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE. Oxford University Press. pp. 391 with note 15. ISBN 978-0-19-977507-1.
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