Nanda or Nandagopa (, ) is a cow-herd chief, and the foster-father of

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

, featured in the Harivamsha and the

Puranas Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
(1995 Editio ...

. Nanda is the son of

Parjanya Parjanya (, ) according to the Vedas is a deity of rain, thunder, lightning, and the one who fertilizes the earth. It is another epithet of Indra, the Vedic deity of the sky and heaven. Description It is assumed Parjanya is the udder and lightning ...

, a ruler of the

Vraja Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhumi, is a region in India on both sides of the Yamuna river with its centre at Mathura district, Mathura-Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state encompassing the area which also includes Palwal, Ballabh ...

region, who is a son of Devamidha. He is the chief of Gokulam, which was one of the mandals of the yadava tribe. He is sometimes referred to as a king but was a cow-herder in real. Nanda was a brother of

Vasudeva Vasudeva (; Sanskrit: वसुदेव ), also called Anakadundubhi (''anakas'' and ''dundubhis'' both refer to ''drums'', after the musicians who played these instruments at the time of his birth), is the father of the Hindu deities Krishna ( ...

. Vasudeva takes his newborn son, Krishna, to Nanda on the night of the child's birth, so that Nanda could raise him and to protect new born

from his maternal uncle

Kamsa Kamsa (, ) was the tyrant ruler of the Vrishni kingdom, with its capital at Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura. He is variously described in Hindu texts, Hindu literature as either a human or an asura; The Puranas describe him as an asura, while ...

. The chief, who is married to

Yashoda Yashoda (, ) is the foster-mother of Krishna and the wife of Nanda. She is described in the Puranic texts of Hinduism as the wife of Nanda, the chieftain of Gokul, and the sister of Rohini. According to the Bhagavata Purana, Krishna was bo ...

, brings up both Krishna, and his brother,

Balarama Balarama (, ) is a Hindu god, and the elder brother of Krishna. He is particularly significant in the Jagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities. He is also known as Haladhara, Halayudha, Baladeva, Balabhadra, and Sankarshana. The fir ...

. Krishna derives his epithet ''Nandanandana'' (son of Nanda) from him.

Legend

Nanda was the foster-father of Krishna. He also helped to raise Balarama. Nanda, identified as King Nanda in many scriptures was a kinsman and a great friend of

. The fact that King Nanda and King Vasudeva were brothers is confirmed both by the

Bhagavata Purana The ''Bhagavata Purana'' (; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam)'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' () or simply ''Bhagavata (Bhāgavata)'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen major Puranas (''Mahapuranas'') and one ...

, Book 10, and the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

King

married

Devaki Devaki (Sanskrit: देवकी, International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Devakī'') is a character in Hindu texts, Hindu literature, most noted for being the mother of the god Krishna. She is one of the seven daughters of ...

, the daughter of King Devaka. Devaki's cousin, an evil tyrant named

, had imprisoned his father,

Ugrasena Ugrasena () is a character mentioned in the Hindu epic, Mahabharata. He is the King of Mathura, a kingdom that was established by the Vrishni tribes from the Yadavamsha clan. His son Kamsa was a cousin of Krishna's mother, Devaki. King Ugrase ...

, and usurped the throne. Owing to a divine prophecy that he would be slain by the eighth child of Devaki,

arranged that all of Devaki's sons should die at birth. Six children thus perished.

's wife,

Rohini Rohini may refer to: People * Rohini (given name), including a list of persons and characters with the name * Rohini (actress) (born 1969), Indian actress, screenwriter, and director * Rohini (Buddha's disciple), female disciple * Rohini (goddes ...

, gave birth to Balarama, and

himself was placed by

into the hands of Nanda. Both Krishna and Balarama were brought up by Nanda, the cowherd-chief, and his wife, Yashoda. A legend from the Bhagavata Purana describes the episode of Nanda's abduction. Having observed a fast during the

ekadashi Ekadashi () is the eleventh lunar day (''tithi'') of the waxing (''Shukla Paksha, Shukla Pakṣa)'' and waning (''Kṛṣṇa Pakṣa)'' lunar cycles in a Hindu calendar, Vedic calendar month. Ekadashi is popularly observed within Vaishnavism one ...

, he entered the waters of the

Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...

the following night to perform ablutions, disregarding the fact that it was a period of the day that was reserved for the

asuras Asuras () are a class of beings in Indian religions, and later Persian and Turkic mythology. They are described as power-seeking beings related to the more benevolent Deva (Hinduism), Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhism, ...

. He was captured by an asura who served

Varuna Varuna (; , ) is a Hindu god. He is one of the earliest deities in pantheon, whose role underwent a significant transformation from the Vedic to the Puranic periods. In the early Vedic era, Varuna is seen as the god-sovereign, ruling the sky ...

, the god of water, and took him to his underwater realm. Having heard that his foster-father had been taken captive, Krishna reassured his community of the former's safety, and sought an audience with Varuna. Delighted at the sight of Krishna, Varuna offered his obeisance, as well as apologies for his servant's actions, and returned Nanda from his abode. Astonished at the sight of Varuna's abode as well as his foster-son's actions, Nanda conveyed this incident to the people of Gokulam, who determined that Krishna must be

Ishvara ''Ishvara'' () is a concept in Hinduism, with a wide range of meanings that depend on the era and the school of Hinduism. Monier Monier Williams, Sanskrit-English dictionarySearch for Izvara, University of Cologne, Germany In ancient texts of ...

. When Krishna is enveloped by the serpent

Kaliya Kaliya ( IAST: Kāliya, Devanagari: कालिय), in Hindu traditions, was a venomous Nāga living in the Yamunā river, in Vṛndāvana. The water of the Yamunā for four leagues all around him boiled and bubbled with poison. No bir ...

, Nanda and his men attempt to rescue him by diving into the Yamuna, but he was restrained by Balarama, who knew the true identity of his brother. In an episode, Nanda and all the people of Vraja undertook a pilgrimage to a site named Ambika Vana, where they worshipped

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

and

Parvati Parvati (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, pɑɾʋət̪iː/), also known as Uma (, , IPA: Sanskrit phonology, /ʊmɑː/) and Gauri (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, gə͡ʊɾiː/), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the Devi, ...

, and bathed in the

Sarasvati river The Sarasvati River () is a Apotheosis, deified myth, mythological Rigvedic rivers, river first mentioned in the Rigveda and later in Vedas, Vedic and post-Vedic texts. It played an important role in the Historical Vedic religion, Vedic religio ...

. They spent the night at the banks of the river. A huge python started to swallow Nanda, having caught hold of his leg. Hearing his cries for help, Krishna and the cowherds arrived to rescue him. The men tried to brandish their torches at the snake to free him, but to no avail. Krishna merely tapped the python with his foot, and the creature assumed the form of a

gandharva A ''gandharva'' () is a member of a class of celestial beings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, whose males are divine performers such as musicians and singers, and the females are divine dancers. In Hinduism, they ...

. The gandharva explained that he was named Sudarshana, and due to the fact that he had laughed to mock sages from his

vimana Vimāna are mythological flying palaces or chariots described in Hindu texts and Sanskrit epics. The "Pushpaka Vimana" of Ravana (who took it from Kubera; Rama returned it to Kubera) is the most quoted example of a vimana. Vimanas are also menti ...

, he had been cursed with the form of a python; the touch of Krishna's foot had liberated him from his curse.

Genealogy

Veneration

Nandagaon

Nandagaon is one of the religious places near

Barsana Barsana is a historical town and ''nagar panchayat'' in the Mathura district of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The town holds cultural and religious significance as the birthplace of Hindu goddess Radha, the chief consort of Krishna. Barsa ...

Braj Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhumi, is a region in India on both sides of the Yamuna river with its centre at Mathura-Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state encompassing the area which also includes Palwal, Ballabhgarh and Nuh in ...

. Since the sixteenth century the town has been associated with Nanda and Krishna. The Nanda Bhavan aka Nandrayji ka Mandir houses identical images of Krishna and Balarama flanked by Nanda and Yashoda. The current temple was built in the mid-eighteenth century by Rup Singh, a Sinsinwar Jat. Surrounding the town are several tanks and ponds associated with events from Krishna's life.

Nanda Bhavan (Chaurasi Khamba Mandir)

The residence of Nanda, known as ''Nanda Bhavan'', where Krishna is said to have grown up and spent the first three years of his childhood is a main and most famous temple in Mahavan. This yellow coloured building has many wall paintings depicting pastimes of

has 84 pillars inside. It is believed that there are 84,00,000 species in this material world and each pillar is said to symbolize 100,000 species, thus representing all the life in the universe.

Nanda Ghata

The Nanda Ghata is situated on the banks of the sacred river

. The Ghata (Riverbank) is related to the rescue of Nanda's abduction by the

asura Asuras () are a class of beings in Indian religions, and later Persian and Turkic mythology. They are described as power-seeking beings related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the wor ...

, while Nanda was taking a bath in the holy river,

References

*'' Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend'' () by Anna Dallapiccola {{DEFAULTSORT:Nanda (Mythology) People related to Krishna Characters in the Mahabharata