Krishna appears in the sacred literature as both the most intimate of companions and the most expansive of cosmic realities. In the Bhagavad Gita, he stands as Arjuna’s charioteer and spiritual teacher, revealing himself as the Supreme Being who sustains, pervades, and ultimately withdraws the universe. This revelation culminates in the vision of the Vishvarupa, a form with countless mouths, eyes, and arms, containing all worlds and beings, radiant and awe-inspiring. In the Mahabharata more broadly, he is also a royal figure and strategist, guiding the Pandavas and upholding righteousness through counsel and intervention. The Bhagavata Purana and related texts further unfold his divine play, presenting him as Bhagavan, the supreme deity whose nature is love and consciousness expressed through lila.

Alongside this cosmic majesty, the scriptures dwell lovingly on Krishna’s humanly accessible forms. As Bala Krishna, the divine child, he is mischievous and enchanting, stealing butter, crawling or playing, and yet performing miraculous feats that reveal his transcendence. As the youthful cowherd Gopala in Vrindavan, he tends cows, plays the flute, and moves among gopas and gopis, his relationship with them—especially with Radha—symbolizing the soul’s intense devotion and longing for the divine. He is also portrayed as a heroic prince and king, defeating hostile forces and embodying just leadership, particularly in Dwarka. Across these narratives, his roles as teacher, lover, protector, and sovereign are not separate compartments but facets of a single, unified divinity.

Art and iconography translate these scriptural portrayals into highly recognizable visual forms. Krishna is typically shown with dark blue or blackish-blue skin, evoking an infinite, all-pervading presence, and with a youthful, graceful appearance. Yellow garments, a peacock feather in the hair or crown, and garlands of flowers are recurrent features, often accompanied by the flute that draws all beings to him. In many images he stands in the tribhanga posture, body bent in three places, playing the flute under a tree, surrounded by cows, gopis, and the natural beauty of Vrindavan. Other depictions emphasize his Vishnu aspect, placing in his hands the discus, conch, and other royal or martial emblems, or showing him with multiple arms in his cosmic form.

Certain themes recur across painting, sculpture, and temple art, each crystallizing a dimension of his being. Scenes of Krishna dancing with the gopis in the rasa-lila, lifting Mount Govardhan, or standing with Radha on the banks of the Yamuna express a love that is at once humanly tender and metaphysically profound. Images of the child tied to a mortar, or held by Yashoda, highlight the paradox of the boundless made seemingly small and vulnerable. Battlefield scenes show him as Arjuna’s charioteer, conch in hand, or in the act of imparting the Gita’s teaching. Together, these scriptural and artistic depictions present Krishna as both utterly approachable and immeasurably transcendent, inviting contemplation of a divinity who plays in the world while simultaneously containing it.