Balarama

Balarama (Sanskrit: बलराम, IAST: Balarāma) is a Hindu god and the elder brother of Krishna. He is particularly significant in the Jagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities.[5] He is also known as Haladhara, Halayudha, Baladeva, Balabhadra, and Sankarshana.

The first two epithets associate him with hala (langala, “plough”)[6] 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.[5][7]

Balarama is sometimes described as incarnation of Shesha, the serpent associated with the deity Vishnu; Krishna is regarded as an incarnation of Vishnu. Some traditions regard him as one of the 10 principal avatars of Vishnu himself.[8][5]

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.[9] In Jainism, he is known as Baladeva, and has been a historically significant farmer-related deity.[10][11]

History[edit]

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Vaishnavism
Closeup of Vishnu, seated in the lotus position on a lotus. From depiction of the poet Jayadeva bowing to Vishnu, Gouache on paper Pahari, The very picture of devotion, bare-bodied, head bowed, legs crossed and hands folded, Jayadeva stands at left, with the implements of worship placed before the lotus-seat of Vishnu who sits there, blessing the poet.
Supreme deity
Vishnu / Krishna / Rama
Important deities
Dashavatara
Matsya Kurma Varaha Narasimha Vamana Parasurama Rama Balarama Krishna Buddha Kalki
Other forms
Dhanvantari Guruvayurappan Hayagriva Jagannath Mohini Nara-Narayana Prithu Shrinathji Venkateswara Vithoba
Consorts
Lakshmi Bhūmi Sita Radha Rukmini Alamelu
Related
Garuda Hanuman Shesha Sastha
Holy scriptures
Vedas Upanishads Agamas Brahma Sutras Bhagavad Gita Mahabharata Ramayana Harivamsa Divya Prabandha Gita Govinda
Puranas
Vishnu Bhagavata Naradiya Garuda Padma Agni
Sampradayas
Sri (Vishishtadvaita) Rudra (Shuddhadvaita) Kumara (Dvaitadvaita) Brahma (Tattvavada or (Dvaita)), Acintyabhedabheda)
Others
Ekasarana Dharma Mahanubhava Pranami Radha Vallabha Ramsnehi Sant Mat Swaminarayan Vaishnava-Sahajiya Warkari
Teachers—acharyas
Chaitanya Chakradhara Dadu Dayal Harivansh Jayatirtha Jiva Goswami Jñāneśvara Kabir Madhavdev Madhvacharya Manavala Mamunigal Namadeva Nammalvar Nathamuni Nimbarka Padmanabha Tirtha Pillai Lokacharya Purandara Dasa Raghuttama Tirtha Raghavendra Tirtha Ram Charan Ramananda Ramanuja Ravidas Satyanatha Tirtha Satyabhinava Tirtha Satyabodha Tirtha Satyadharma Tirtha Satyadhyana Tirtha Samarth Ramdas Sankardev Swaminarayan Sripadaraja Tukaram Tulsidas Vallabha Vedanta Desika Vidyapati Vishnuswami Vyasatirtha Vadiraja Tirtha Yamunacharya
Related traditions
Bhagavatism Vaikhanasas Pancharatra Thenkalais Vadakalais Munitraya Krishnaism Jagannathism Haridasa Sahajiya Baul Pushtimarg Gaudiya ISKCON Ramanandi Kapadi Balmiki Kabir panth Dadu panth Mahanam
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Balarama from Mathura, Early Medieval period (8th–13th century CE).
Balarama is an ancient deity, a prominent one by the epics era of Indian history as evidenced by archeological and numismatic evidence. His iconography appears with Nāga (many-headed serpent), a plough and other farm artifacts such as a watering pot, possibly indicating his origins in a bucolic, agricultural culture.[12] Balarama’s legend appears in many Parva (books) of the Mahabharata. The Book Three (Vana Parva) states about Krishna and him that Balarama is an avatar of Vishnu, while Krishna is the source of all avatars and existence. In some art works of the Vijayanagara Empire, temples of Gujarat and elsewhere, for example, Baladeva is the eighth avatar of Vishnu, prior to the Buddha (Buddhism) or Arihant (Jainism).[13][14]

Texts[edit]

Narratives of Balarama are found in Mahabharata, Harivamsha, Bhagavata Purana, and other Puranas. He is identified with the vyuha avatar of Sankarshana, along with the deities of Shesha and Lakshmana.[15] The legend of Balarama as the avatar of Shesha, the demigod-serpent Vishnu rests upon, reflects his role and association with Vishnu.[16] However, Balarama’s mythology and his association with the ten avatars of Vishnu is relatively younger and post-Vedic, because it is not found in the Vedic texts.[17]

Balarama finds a mention in Kautilya’s Arthashastra (4th to 2nd century BCE), where according to Hudson, his followers are described as “ascetic worshippers” with shaved heads or braided hair.[18]

Balarama, as Baladewa, is an important character in the 11th-century Javanese text Kakawin Bhāratayuddha, the Kakawin poem based on the Mahabharata.[19]

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