KRISHNA (the Dark One)  , an incarnation of Vishnu, or rather the form in which Vishnu himself is the most popular object of worship throughout northern India . In origin, Krishna, like Rama, was undoubtedly a deified hero of the Kshatriya caste . In the older framework of the Mahabharata he appears as a great chieftain and ally of the Pandava brothers; and it is only in the interpolated episode of the Bhagavad-gita that he is identified with Vishnu and becomes the revealer of the doctrine of bhakti or religious devotion . Of still later date are the popular developments of the modern cult of Krishna associated with Radha, as found in the Vishnu Purana . Here he is represented as the son of a king saved from a slaughter of the innocents, brought up by a cowherd, sporting with the milk-maids, and performing miraculous feats in his childhood . The scene is laid in the neighbourhood of Muttra, on the right bank of the Jumna, where the whole country to the present day is holy ground . Another place associated with incidents of his later life is Dwarka, the westernmost point in the peninsula of Kathiawar . The two most famous preachers of Krishna-worship and founders of sects in his honour were Vallabha and Chaitanya, both born towards the close of the 15th century . The followers of the former are now found chiefly in Rajputana and Gujarat . They are known as Vallabhacharyas, and their gosains or high priests as maharajas, to whom semi-divine honours are paid . The licentious practices of this sect were exposed in a lawsuit before the high court at Bombay in 1862 . Chaitanya was the Vaishnav reformer of Bengal, with his home at Nadiya .

A third influential Krishna-preacher of the loth century was Swami Narayan, who was encountered by

Bishop Heber in Gujarat, where his followers at this day are numerous and wealthy . Among the names of Krishna are Go pal, the cow-herd; Gopinath, the lord of the milkmaids; and Mathuranalh, the lord of Muttra . His legitimate consort was Rukmini, daughter of the king of Berar; but Radha is always associated with him in his temples .