The Tirthankaras
Krishna Vasudev
कृष्ण वासुदेव · કૃષ્ણ વાસુદેવ
The cowherd boy who became a king, bowed to eighteen thousand monks, and will one day be a Tirthankar
- 4 min full story
- 2 min children's telling
- Best shared with a grown-up
The Jain tradition tells the life of Krishna as the ninth and last Vasudev of our age, the cousin of Bhagwan Neminath, a mighty king of Dwarka whose deep reverence for monks plants a seed that will one day make him a Tirthankar.
What it teaches Devotion Reverence for monks Karma
The opening of the children's telling
Long ago, in the city of Mathura, a baby boy was born. His name was Krishna. A cruel king wanted to hurt him, so in the middle of the night his father carried him far away to a village of cowherds. The gates opened by themselves, and the baby slept peacefully all the way.
In the village, Krishna grew up happy. He played with the cows, danced on the hills and sometimes took a little butter when nobody was looking! Everyone loved him, and his big brother Balram was always by his side.
Read the whole story See plans
To carry into the day
Bowing to the good with a full heart can change a soul's whole future.
To talk about together
Krishna could not become a monk himself, but he helped everyone who wanted to. How can we support someone else's good choices?
Retold for JainStory from the traditional narrative and checked against published Jain sources. Details vary between tellings.