Krishna: Vasudeva’s Eighth Child
Vasudeva’s eighth child. Vishnu among the Vrishnis. Arjuna’s charioteer. The still centre of the war.
Also called Vasudeva · Madhava · Govinda · Keshava · Janardana · Hrishikesha · Yadava · Devakinandana
Speaker of the Gita
Who Krishna is
Krishna is Vasudeva and Devaki’s eighth child, born among the Yadu–Vrishni, and the figure the recitation will not let stand at the edge of any room. In the Mahabharat he is cousin to the Pandavas through Kunti, charioteer to Arjuna, and the friend who keeps Draupadi’s sari from ending in the sabha.
Readers looking for a family-tree answer can start here: he is Nanda and Yashoda’s foster-son as well, Rukmini’s husband, and Subhadra’s brother. The war turns on his refusal to lift a weapon and his willingness to drive the chariot anyway.
Names and spellings
Canonical name in this graph: Krishna. Common Mahabharat spellings and titles stay in the aliases rather than being repeated in every heading.
Children
In the recitation
Narrative role
Adi Parva — swayamvara He is already in Drupada’s hall when Arjuna strings the bow. From that sitting the Pandavas are no longer only Kuru exiles; they are kin the Yadava will not abandon.
Sabha Parva He is away at a sacrifice when the dice are thrown. The unending sari is the later telling of a protection the hall itself refused.
Bhishma Parva — the Gita Between the two armies he holds the reins and speaks. The song is a pause inside the war book, not a separate gospel bolted on.
After the war Gandhari curses his house. Years later a drunken brawl and a pestle born of a mock-pregnancy close the Yadava line. The epic’s still centre does not stay still.
How Krishna is related
How is Krishna related to Arjuna? Krishna and Arjuna are called Nara and Narayana in the recitation: charioteer and bowman, cousin-bond and the pair the Gita is spoken between. Arjuna
How is Krishna related to Draupadi? He is Draupadi’s friend and protector. When the sabha tries to strip her, the later reading is that Krishna’s grace keeps the cloth coming. Draupadi
How is Krishna related to Kunti? Kunti is Vasudeva’s sister, given to Kuntibhoja. That makes Krishna the Pandavas’ first cousin, which is why his embassy to Hastinapura is a family errand as well as a political one. Kunti
How is Krishna related to Gandhari? After the field is empty she curses him: his own kula will die as hers has died. The curse is how the epic ties the war to the later drowning of Dvaraka. Gandhari
Source notes
Mahabharata text (Adi, Sabha, Bhishma, Mausala), Ganguli translation. Foster-parents Nanda and Yashoda and the full list of queens follow the epic’s Yadava books with Harivamsha/Puranic filling where the Bharata names a household without listing every wife. Last reviewed 12 September 2026.
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