Why is Krishna blue: Mytholgical Reasons
Whenever we see pictures of Lord Krishna and idols in temples we always see them in
blueish colour. Lord Krishna is an avatar of Supreme godhead Lord Vishnu who was born
from the womb of Mata Devaki. Then how can that mortal being be blue, unlike other
mortal beings? So here are the reasons why Lord Krishna is depicted as blue.
According to the scriptures, it is said that when Lord Krishna was an infant then his
maternal uncle and the king of Mathura Kans send a demoness Putana to kill him, Purana
is said to be the demoness who bear poison in her breast. So to kill lord Krishna putana
came to kill Lord Krishna at Vrindavan where Mata Yashoda was upbringing him, She
disguised herself as a beautiful cowgirl and reach his house.
Then she asked Mata Yashoda if she wants to see his divine son, influenced by her divine personality she agrees and allows her to see Lord Krishna she goes into his room and started breastfeeding him to kill him and lord Krishna consumes that poison which lord Krishna becomes blue Subduing Kaliya.
Kaliya, a poisonous snake, came to live in the Yamuna. It is believed that the four leagues of
water around him boiled with poison. One day, when Krishna was playing with His friends,
their ball fell inside the Yamuna. Krishna jumped into the river to get His ball and thus
encountered the venomous Kaliya. At the bottom of the river, Kaliya wrapped himself
around Sri Krishna’s body but He, in turn, assumed such a huge shape that the serpent had
to release Him. Later, Sri Krishna danced on Kaliya’s hoods, beating Him with his feet.
Kaliya’s wives begged Sri Krishna for mercy. Kaliya too realised the greatness of the ‘little
kid’ he was trying to kill and surrendered. Sri Krishna did not kill Kaliya but asked him to
leave the Yamuna and go to Ramanaka Dwipa (modern Fiji).
According to one school of thought, the poison from Kaliya entered Sri Krishna’s body while
fighting the serpent and turned Him blue.
Spiritual front
Lord krishna was the form of supreme godhead lord Maha Vishnu .This blue is the colour of
all-inclusiveness. You will see in the present, that anything vast and beyond your awareness
generally verges to be blue, whether it is the ocean or the sky. Anything larger than your
reasoning tends to be blue because blue is the basis of all-inclusiveness. It is founded on
this that so many gods in India are shown as blue-skinned. Lord Shiva has blue skin,
Krishna has blue skin, and Rama has blue skin. It is not that their skin was blue. They were
referred to as blue gods because they had a blue ambience.
Spiritual front
In the Brahma-samhita also, the color of Krishna’s body is compared to that of a bluish
cloud. The color of the Lord is not poetical imagination. There are authoritative descriptions
in the Brahma-samhita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita and many of the Puranas of
the Lord’s body,
prasanna-vadanāmbhojaṁ
padma-garbhāruṇekṣaṇam
nīlotpala-dala-śyāmaṁ
śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-dharam
SYNONYMS
prasanna—cheerful; vadana—countenance; ambhojam—lotuslike; padma-garbha—the
interior of a lotus; aruṇa—ruddy; īkṣaṇam—with eyes; nīla-utpala—blue lotus;
dala—petals; śyāmam—swarthy; śaṅkha—conch; cakra—discus; gadā—club;
dharam—bearing.
His weapons and all other paraphernalia. The Lord’s appearance is described here as
padma-garbharekshanam. His eyes resemble the inside of a lotus flower, and in His four
hands He holds the four symbols: conchshell, discus, mace and lotus.”
—Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.28.13, Purport
Author
Tanishqua Uniyal, College Student in Delhi University