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{{short description|Hindu god and brother of Krishna}}
{{Other uses}}
{{use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Hindu
| image = Balarama Mural.jpg
| caption = Early 18th century depiction of Balarama from a wall hanging in a South Indian temple
| deity_of = God of Agriculture and Strength<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrk0AwAAQBAJ&dq=balarama+God+of+agriculture&pg=PT258 | title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide | isbn=9788184752779 | last1=Dalal | first1=Roshen | date=18 April 2014 | publisher=Penguin UK }}</ref>
| birth_place = [[Gokul|Gokula]]
| consort = [[Revati]]
| parents = 
[[Vasudeva]] (father)<br>
[[Devaki]] (mother)<br>[[Rohini Devi|Rohini]] (surrogate and foster mother)
| weapon = [[Plough]], [[Gada (mace)|Mace]]
| siblings = [[Krishna]], [[Subhadra]]
| children = Nishatha and Ulmuka (sons)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp142.htm|title=The Vishnu Purana: Book V: Chapter XXV}}</ref> 
| dynasty = [[Yadava|Yaduvamsha]] – [[Chandravamsha]]
| affiliation = Avatar of [[Shesha]] in [[Bhagavata]] [[Vaishnavism]]; eighth avatar of Vishnu in some [[Vaishnava]] traditions<ref name="EB_Balarama"/>
| abode = [[Vaikuntha]], [[Patala]], [[Vrindavan]]
| festivals = Balarama Jayanti, [[Ratha Yatra]]
| member_of = [[Dashavatara]]<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sEIngqiKOugC&dq=balarama+avatar&pg=PA90 | title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities | isbn=9781135963903 | last1=Coulter | first1=Charles Russell | last2=Turner | first2=Patricia | date=4 July 2013 | publisher=Routledge }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nD5dpTyYdYoC&dq=balarama+avatar&pg=PT128 | title=Hinduism & Its Military Ethos | isbn=9781935501473 | last1=Nehra | first1=Air Marshal R. K. | publisher=Lancer Publishers LLC }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/l3-dashavatara | title=L3 - Dashavatara }}</ref>
}}

'''Balarama''' ({{langx|sa|बलराम}}, {{IAST3|Balarāma}}) is a [[Hindu god]], and the elder brother of [[Krishna]].<ref name="US438" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/448184|title="Balarama and Krishna Fighting the Enemy", Folio from a Harivamsa (The Legend of Hari (Krishna)|publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]|access-date=4 September 2023}}</ref> He is particularly significant in the [[Jagannath]] tradition, as one of the triad deities.<ref name="Lochtefeld2002p82">{{cite book|author=James G. Lochtefeld|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A–M|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5kl0DYIjUPgC |year=2002|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8239-3179-8|pages=82–84, 269}}</ref> He is also known as '''Haladhara''', '''Halayudha''', '''Baladeva''', '''Balabhadra''', and '''Sankarshana'''. 

The first two epithets associate him with ''hala'' (''langala'', "plough")<ref>{{cite book|author=Jan Gonda|author-link=Jan Gonda|title=Aspects of Early Viṣṇuism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b8urRsuUJ9oC |year=1969|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1087-7|pages=100, 152–153}}</ref> from his strong associations with farming and farmers, as the deity who used farm equipment as weapons when needed, and the next two refer to his strength.<ref name="Lochtefeld2002p82"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Lavanya Vemsani|title=Hindu and Mythology of Balarāma |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RXnXAAAAMAAJ |year=2006|location=[[Lewiston, New York]] |publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]]|isbn=978-0-7734-5723-2|pages=30–31, 52–59, 68–69 with footnotes}}</ref>

Originally an agricultural deity, Balarama is mostly described as an incarnation of [[Shesha]], the serpent associated with the deity Vishnu<ref name="Lochtefeld2002p82"/><ref name="EB_Balarama">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Balarama|title=Balarama &#124; Hindu mythology|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=23 August 2023 }}</ref> while some [[Vaishnava]] traditions regard him as the eighth avatar of Vishnu,<ref name="EB_Balarama"/> with [[Jayadeva]]’s [[Gita Govinda]] (c.1200) "incorporat[ing] Balarama into the pantheon" as the ninth of the [[Dashavatara|10 principal avatars]] of Vishnu.<ref name="Lochtefeld2002p82"/>

Balarama's significance in Indian culture has ancient roots. His image in artwork is dated to around the start of the common era, and in coins dated to the second-century BCE.<ref name="Elgood2000p57">{{cite book|author=Heather Elgood|title=Hinduism and the Religious Arts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cj2tAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61|date=1 April 2000|publisher=Bloomsburg Academic|isbn=978-0-304-70739-3|pages=57, 61}}</ref> In Jainism, he is known as Baladeva, and has been a historically significant farmer-related deity.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Vemsani|first1=Lavanya|title=Hindu and Jain Mythology of Balarama|date=2006|location=[[Lewiston, New York]]|publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]]|isbn=9780773457232|edition=1}}</ref><ref name=olivelle391>{{cite book|author=Patrick Olivelle|title=Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=efaOR_-YsIcC&pg=PA391|year=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-977507-1|pages=391 with note 15}}</ref>

==History==
{{Vaishnavism}}
[[File:Balarama - Early Mediaeval Period - Maholi - ACCN 18-1515 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5791.JPG|thumb|left|upright=0.85|Balarama from [[Mathura]], [[Medieval India|Early Medieval period]] (8th–13th century CE).]]
Balarama is an ancient deity, a prominent one by the epics era of Indian history as evidenced by archeological and numismatic evidence. His iconography appears with [[Nāga]] (many-headed serpent), a plough and other farm artifacts such as a watering pot, possibly indicating his origins in a bucolic, agricultural culture.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kenneth W. Morgan|title=The Religion of the Hindus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ulz9mO9cK54C |year=1987|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0387-9|page=57}}</ref> 

===Texts===
Narratives of Balarama are found in ''[[Mahabharata]]'', ''[[Harivamsha]]'', ''[[Bhagavata Purana]],'' and other [[Puranas]]. He is identified with the [[vyuha]] avatar of [[Saṃkarṣaṇa|Sankarshana]], along with the deities of [[Shesha]] and [[Lakshmana]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Srimad-Bhagavatam: Bhagavata Purana|isbn=0892132507|author=A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada|author-link=A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada|editor=Bhaktivedanta Book Trust|year=1987}}<!--|access-date=29 July 2013--></ref> The legend of Balarama as the avatar of Shesha, the demigod-serpent Vishnu rests upon, reflects his role and association with Vishnu.<ref name=" JonesRyan2006p65"/> However, Balarama's mythology and his association with the ten avatars of Vishnu is relatively younger and post-Vedic, because it is not found in the Vedic texts.<ref>Padmanabh S. Jaini (1977), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/615287 Jina Ṛṣabha as an "Avatāra" of Viṣṇu], ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', Cambridge University Press, Vol. 40, No. 2 (1977), pp. 321–337</ref>

Balarama's legend appears in many ''Parva'' (books) of the ''[[Mahabharata]]''. Book Three ([[Vana Parva]]) states about Krishna and him that Balarama is an avatar of Vishnu, while Krishna is the source of all avatars and existence. In some art works of the [[Vijayanagara Empire]], temples of Gujarat and elsewhere, for example, Baladeva is the eighth avatar of Vishnu, prior to the [[Buddha]] (Buddhism) or [[Arihant (Jainism)|Arihant]] (Jainism).<ref>{{cite book|author=Roshen Dalal|title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC |year=2010|publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |page=112}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Kenneth W. Morgan|title=The Religion of the Hindus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ulz9mO9cK54C&pg=PA55| year=1987|publisher =Motilal Banarsidass |isbn= 978-81-208-0387-9|page=55}}</ref>

Balarama finds a mention in Kautilya's [[Arthashastra]] (4th to 2nd century BCE), where according to Hudson, his followers are described as "ascetic worshippers" with shaved heads or braided hair.<ref name="Hudson2008p99"/>

Balarama, as Baladewa, is an important character in the 11th-century Javanese text ''[[Kakawin Bhāratayuddha]]'', the Kakawin poem based on the ''Mahabharata''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Helen Creese|title=Women of the Kakawin World: Marriage and Sexuality in the Indic Courts of Java and Bali|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RZ1sBgAAQBAJ |year=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-45179-2|pages=93, 104–105, 110}}</ref>

===Archeology, coins, arts, and epigraphy===
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| header=Balarama on punch-marked coins<br>
<small>(2nd century BCE)</small>
| image1   = MauryanBalaramaCoin3rd-2ndCenturyCE.jpg
| image2   = Mauryan Balarama Coin 3rd-2nd Century CE (detail).jpg
| footer_align = center
| footer=Possible depiction of Balarama on late, post-[[Mauryan Empire|Mauryan]], [[punch-marked coins]].<ref name="MHA"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mishra |first1=Susan Verma |last2=Ray |first2=Himanshu Prabha |title=The Archaeology of Sacred Spaces: The temple in western India, 2nd century BCE–8th century CE |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-19374-6 |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CtDLDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |language=en}}</ref> He is shown wielding a mace and a plough.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bopearachchi |first1=Osmund |title=Emergence of Viṣṇu and Śiva Images in India: Numismatic and Sculptural Evidence |url=https://www.academia.edu/25807197 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="MHA">"Post-Mauryan punch-marked coin" {{cite book |last1=Srinivasan |first1=Doris |title=Many Heads, Arms, and Eyes: Origin, Meaning, and Form of Multiplicity in Indian Art |date=1997 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-10758-8 |page=215 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZheP9dIX9wC&pg=PA215 |language=en}}</ref>
}}
{{main|Saṃkarṣaṇa}}

Balarama was anciently a powerful local deity named [[Samkarshana]], associated with the local cult of the [[Vrishni heroes]] in [[Mathura]] from around the 4th century BCE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rosenfield |first1=John M. |title=The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans |date=1967 |publisher=University of California Press |pages=151–152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udnBkQhzHH4C&pg=PA152 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="US438">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |date=2008 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=978-81-317-1677-9 |page=438 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA438 |language=en}}</ref> The concept of the avatars of Vishnu formed during the [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] period in the 3rd to 2nd century CE.<ref name="US439">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |date=2008 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=978-81-317-1677-9 |page=439 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA439 |language=en}}</ref>

Coins dated to about 185-170 BCE belonging to the Indo-Greek King [[Agathocles of Bactria|Agathocles]] show Balarama's iconography and Greek inscriptions. Balarama-Samkarshana is typically shown standing with a gada in his right hand and holding a plough in his left. On the other side of these coins is [[Vāsudeva-Krishna]] holding the conch and chakra.

[[File:Rama Krishna at Chilas.jpg|thumb|left|upright|(Bala)rama and Krishna with their attributes at [[Chilas]]. The [[Kharoshthi]] inscription nearby reads ''Rama [kri]ṣa''. 1st century CE.<ref name="DS215">{{cite book |last1=Srinivasan |first1=Doris |title=Many Heads, Arms, and Eyes: Origin, Meaning, and Form of Multiplicity in Indian Art |date=1997 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-10758-8 |page=215 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZheP9dIX9wC&pg=PA215 |language=en}}</ref>]]
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| header=Balarama on Indo-Greek coins<br>
<small>(190-180 BCE)</small>
| image1   = Coin of the Bactrian King Agathokles.jpg
| footer_align = center
| footer=Coin of [[Agathocles of Bactria]] with depiction of Balarama, 190-180 BCE.<ref name="books.google.com">Iconography of Balarāma, Nilakanth Purushottam Joshi, Abhinav Publications, 1979, p.22 [https://books.google.com/books?id=5vd-lKzyFg0C&pg=PA22]</ref><ref name="Bopearachchi">[[Osmund Bopearachchi]], 2016, [https://www.academia.edu/25807197/Emergence_of_Vi%E1%B9%A3%E1%B9%87u_and_%C5%9Aiva_Images_in_India_Numismatic_and_Sculptural_Evidence Emergence of Viṣṇu and Śiva Images in India: Numismatic and Sculptural Evidence]</ref> This is "the earliest unambiguous image" of the two deities.<ref name="DS215"/><br>'''Obv''' Balarama-[[Samkarshana]] with Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΓΑΘΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ "King Agathocles".<ref>{{cite book|author=Benjamín Preciado-Solís|title=The Kṛṣṇa Cycle in the Purāṇas: Themes and Motifs in a Heroic Saga|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JvCaWvjGDVEC&pg=PA155 |year=1984|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-0-89581-226-1|pages=155, see Plate 2}}</ref><br>'''Rev''' [[Vāsudeva-Krishna]] with [[Brahmi]] legend ''Rajane Agathukleyasasa'' "King Agathocles".
}}
At [[Chilas]] II archeological site dated to the first half of 1st-century CE in northwest Pakistan, near Afghanistan border, are engraved two males along with many Buddhist images nearby. The larger of the two males hold a plough and club in his two hands. The artwork also has an inscription with it in Kharosthi script, which has been deciphered by scholars as ''Rama-Krsna'', and interpreted as an ancient depiction of the two brothers Balarama and Krishna.<ref>{{cite book|author=Doris Srinivasan|title=Many Heads, Arms, and Eyes: Origin, Meaning, and Form of Multiplicity in Indian Art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZheP9dIX9wC |year=1997|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=90-04-10758-4|pages=214–215 with footnotes}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Jason Neelis|title=Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange Within and Beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GB-JV2eOr2UC |year=2010|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-18159-5|pages=271–272}}</ref> The early Balarama images found in Jansuti (Mathura, Uttar Pradesh) and two at Tumain (Ashoknagar, Madhya Pradesh) are dated to 2nd/1st-century BCE and these show Balarama holding a ''Hala'' (plough) and a ''musala'' (pestle) in his two hands.<ref>{{cite book|author=Julia Shaw|title=Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IUbUDAAAQBAJ |year=2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-315-43263-2|page=lxxix}}</ref>

In all of these early depictions, Balarama-Samkarsana seems to hold a senior position over Vāsudeva-Krishna.<ref name=" DS215"/> On the coins of [[Agathocles of Bactria]], Balarama is on the front of the coin (the side with a legend in Greek), whereas Vāsudeva-Krishna is on the reverse ([[Brahmi]] side).<ref name=" DS215"/> At Chilas, Balarama is shown taller and bigger than Vāsudeva-Krishna.<ref name=" DS215"/> The same relationship is also visible in the hierarchy of the Vrishni heroes.<ref name="DS215"/>

In some Indian ancient arts and texts, Balarama (Sankarsana) and Krishna (Vasudeva) are two of the five heroes (''Pancaviras of the Vrishnis'').<ref name="upinder437">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|author=Upinder Singh|publisher=Pearson|year=2008|isbn=978-81-317-1120-0|pages=437}}</ref> The other three differ by the text. In some those are "Pradyumna, Samba and Aniruddha",<ref>{{cite book|author=T. Richard Blurton|title=Hindu Art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJ-lzU_nj_MC&pg=PA50 |year=1993|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-39189-5|page=50}}</ref> in others "Anadhrsti, Sarana and Viduratha".<ref>{{cite book|author=Parmanand Gupta|title=Geography from Ancient Indian Coins & Seals|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LzHpZ5N5MhcC |year=1989|publisher=Concept |isbn=978-81-7022-248-4|pages=57–59}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Lavanya Vemsani |title=Krishna in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Hindu Lord of Many Names |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4fw2DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA11|year=2016|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-211-3|pages=11, 203, 239}}</ref> The 1st-century [[Mora well inscription]] near Mathura, dated between 10 and 25 CE, mention the installation of five Vrishni heroes in a stone temple.<ref>{{cite book|author=Edwin F. Bryant|title=Krishna: A Sourcebook|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=HVDqCkW1WpUC |year=2007 |publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0-19-972431-4|pages=18 note 19}}</ref>

[[File:Balarama Avatar on a brass chariot of Searsole Rajbari, West Bengal, India.jpg|thumb|Balarama Avatar on a brass chariot of Searsole Rajbari, West Bengal, India]]
The earliest surviving southeast Asian artwork related to Balarama is from the Phnom Da collection, near Angkor Borei in [[Cambodia]]'s lower [[Mekong Delta]] region.<ref>Nancy Dowling (1999), [http://hl-128-171-57-22.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/17119/1/AP-v38n1-51-61.pdf A new date for the Phnom Da images and its implications for early Cambodia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331191949/http://hl-128-171-57-22.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/17119/1/AP-v38n1-51-61.pdf |date=31 March 2019 }}, ''Asian Perspectives'', University of Hawaii Press, Volume 38, Number 1, pages 54–57</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=John Guy|author2=Pierre Baptiste|author3=Lawrence Becker|display-authors=et al|title=Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gCw_AwAAQBAJ  |year=2014|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-20437-7|pages=146–148}}</ref>

==Legend==
[[File:Krishna meets parents.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Krishna]] and Balarama meet their parents. 19th-century painting by [[Raja Ravi Varma]]]]
Balarama was the son of [[Vasudeva]]. The evil king [[Kamsa]], the tyrant of [[Mathura]], was intent upon killing the children of his cousin, [[Devaki]], because of a prophecy that he would die at the hands of her eighth child.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dalal |first=Roshen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrk0AwAAQBAJ&dq=kamsa+cousin+devaki&pg=PT632 |title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide |date=2014-04-18 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-81-8475-277-9 |pages=632 |language=en}}</ref> The [[Harivamsa|Harivamsha]] states that Kamsa went on to murder the first six children of the imprisoned Devaki by smashing the newborns against a stone floor.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U26fDwAAQBAJ&dq=kamsa+smashed+newborns&pg=PA156 |title=Krishna's Lineage: The Harivamsha of Vyasa's Mahabharata |date=2019-07-02 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-027919-6 |pages=156 |language=en}}</ref> When Balarama was conceived, Vishnu intervened, state the Hindu legends; his embryo was transferred from Devaki's womb into the womb of [[Rohini Devi|Rohini]], Vasudeva's first wife.<ref name="Lochtefeld2002p82"/><ref name="JonesRyan2006p65"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Kenneth W. Morgan|title=The Religion of the Hindus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ulz9mO9cK54C&pg=PA55|year=1987|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0387-9|page=406}}</ref> In some texts, this transfer gives Balarama the epithet ''Sankarshana'' (one who was dragged away). Balarama grew up with his younger brother Krishna with his foster-parents, in the household of the head of cowherds [[Nanda (mythology)|Nanda]], and his wife, [[Yashoda]].<ref name="Lochtefeld2002p82"/> The chapter 10 of the Bhagavata Purana describes it as follows:

{{Blockquote|
The Bhagavan as the [[Atman (Hinduism)|Self]] of everything tells the creative power of His unified consciousness (yogamaya) about His plan for His own birth as Balarama and Krishna. He begins with Balarama. The whole of Shesha, which is my abode, will become an embryo in Devaki's womb which you shall transplant to Rohini's womb.
|''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' 10.2.8|Tr: D Dennis Hudson<ref name="Hudson2008p34">{{cite book|author=D Dennis Hudson|title= The Body of God: An Emperor's Palace for Krishna in Eighth-Century Kanchipuram|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=IMCxbOezDi4C |year=2008| publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0-19-970902-1|pages=34–35}}</ref>}}

He was named Rama, but because of his great strength, he was called Balarama, Baladeva, or Balabhadra, meaning ''Strong Rama''. He was born on [[Shraavana]] [[Purnima (day)|Purnima]], which coincides with the occasion of [[Raksha Bandhan]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Verma |first=Manish |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z4gzFFLdBoYC&dq=shravan+purnima+raksha+bandhan&pg=PA40 |title=Fasts and Festivals of India |date=2013 |publisher=Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd. |isbn=978-81-7182-076-4 |pages=40 |language=en}}</ref>

===Childhood and marriage===
[[File:Krishna and Balarama Studying with the Brahman Sandipani (1525-1550 CE).jpg|thumb|''[[Krishna]] and Balarama Studying with the Brahman [[Sandipani]]'' (''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'', 1525-1550 CE print).]]
[[File:Balarama with Consort LACMA AC1999.127.33.jpg|thumb|Balarama with his consort Revati (right), [[Nathdwara Painting]].]]

One day, Nanda requested the presence of Sage [[Gargamuni]], his priest, to name the newborn [[Krishna]] and Balarama. When the Garga arrived, Nanda received him well and requested the naming ceremony. Gargamuni then reminded Nanda that Kamsa was looking for the son of Devaki and if he performed the ceremony in opulence, it would come to his attention. Nanda, therefore, asked Garga to perform the ceremony in secret and Garga did so:

{{blockquote|Because Balarama, the son of Rohini, increases the [[transcendence (religion)|transcendental]] bliss of others, his name is Rama and because of his extraordinary strength, he is called Baladeva. He attracts the Yadus to follow his instructions and therefore his name is Sankarshana.|Bhagavata Purana, 10.8.12<ref>{{cite web |title=ŚB 10.8.12 |url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/10/8/12/ |website=vedabase.io |access-date=3 November 2020 |language=en}}</ref>}}

{{blockquote|When his elder brother, fatigued from playing, would lie down with his head upon the lap of a cowherd boy, Lord Kṛiṣṇa would help him relax by personally massaging his feet and offering other services|source=Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 15, Verse 14<ref>{{cite web |title=ŚB 10.15.14 |url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/10/15/14/ |website=vedabase.io |access-date=24 February 2020 |language=en}}</ref>}}
Balarama spent his childhood as a cow herder with his brother Krishna. He killed [[Dhenuka]], an [[Asura (Hinduism)|asura]] sent by Kamsa, as well as [[Pralamba]] and Mushtika wrestlers sent by the king. When Krishna was killing Kamsa, Balarama slew his mighty commander, [[List of characters in the Mahabharata#Kaalvakra|Kalavakra]]. After the evil king was slain, Balarama and Krishna went to the ashrama of sage [[Sandipani]] at [[Ujjain]] for their education. Balarama married [[Revati]], the daughter of King [[Kakudmi]].<ref name=pargiter135>Pargiter, F.E. (1922, reprint 1972). ''Ancient Indian Historical Tradition'', New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p. 135</ref> He had two sons - Nishatha and Ulmuka, and a daughter - Shashirekha also known as Vatsala.

Balarama is the celebrated tiller, one of the embodiments of agriculture along with livestock with whom Krishna is associated with. The plough is Balarama's weapon. In the ''Bhagavata Purana'', he uses it to fight asuras, dig a way for [[Yamuna]] river to bring it closer to [[Vrindavan]], and he also availed it to drag the entire capital of [[Hastinapura]] into the Ganga river.<ref name="Hudson2008p99">{{cite book|author=D Dennis Hudson|title=The Body of God: An Emperor's Palace for Krishna in Eighth-Century Kanchipuram|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IMCxbOezDi4C |year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-970902-1|pages=97–101}}</ref>

===Kurukshetra War ===

Balarama taught both [[Duryodhana]] of the Kauravas and [[Bhima]] of the Pandavas the art of war with a [[Gada (mace)|mace]]. When war broke between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, Balarama carried obligations for both sides and so remained neutral. He went for a pilgrimage with his nephew [[Pradyumna]] and other [[Yadava|Yadavas]] during the war, and returned on the last day, to watch the fight between his disciples. When Bhima defeated Duryodhana by striking him in the thigh with his mace, a traditional violation of the rules of combat, Balarama threatened to kill Bhima. This was prevented when Krishna reminded Balarama of Bhima's vow—to kill Duryodhana by crushing the thigh he had exposed to Bhima's wife, [[Draupadi]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Varkey|first=C.P.|title=A Pilgrimage Through The Mahabharata|year=2001|publisher=St. Paul Society|location=Mumbai|isbn=81-7109-497-X|pages=148–149}}</ref>

===Disappearance===

In the [[Bhagavata Purana]], it is described that after Balarama took part in the battle causing the destruction of the remainder of the [[Yadu dynasty]] and witnessing the disappearance of Krishna, he sat down in a meditative state and departed from this world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/11/30/26/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070326075600/http://vedabase.net/sb/11/30/26/en1|url-status=dead|title=ŚB 11.30.26|archive-date=26 March 2007|website=vedabase.io}}</ref>

Some scriptures describe a great white snake that left the mouth of Balarama, in reference to his identity as Ananta-[[Sesha]], a form of Vishnu. The place where he departed is situated near [[Somnath Temple]] in [[Gujarat]].

The local people of [[Veraval]] believe about the cave near the temple place, that the white snake who came out of Balarama's mouth got into that cave and went back to [[Patala]]''.''

===Significance===

In Hindu tradition, Balarama is depicted as a farmer's patron deity, signifying the one who is "harbinger of knowledge", of agricultural tools and prosperity.<ref name=" Vemsani2016p23">{{cite book|author=Lavanya Vemsani |title=Krishna in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Hindu Lord of Many Names |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=4fw2DAAAQBAJ |year= 2016|publisher =ABC-CLIO|isbn= 978-1-61069-211-3|pages= 23–25}}</ref> He is almost always shown and described with Krishna, such as in the act of stealing butter, playing childhood pranks, complaining to Yashoda that his baby brother Krishna had eaten dirt, playing in cow sheds, studying together at the school of [[guru]] [[Sandipani]], and fighting malevolent beasts sent by Kamsa to kill the two brothers.<ref name="Vemsani2016p23"/> He is the constant companion of Krishna, ever watchful, leading to the epithet ''"Luk Luk Dauji"'' (or ''Luk Luk Daubaba'') in the [[Pushtimarg|Pustimarga]] tradition of [[Vaishnavism]].<ref name="Vemsani2016p23"/><ref>{{cite book|author=A. Whitney Sanford|editor=Guy L. Beck|title=Alternative Krishnas: Regional And Vernacular Variations on a Hindu Deity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8z-v1p2qrwsC&pg=PA91|year=2006|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-6416-8|pages=91–98}}</ref> In the classical Tamil work [[Akanaṉūṟu|Akananuru]], Krishna hides from Balarama when he steals the clothes of the [[Gopi|milkmaids]] while they bathe, suggesting his brother's vigilance.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Padmaja |first=T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzgaS1wRnl8C&dq=balaramar+tamil&pg=RA1-PA36 |title=Temples of Kr̥ṣṇa in South India: History, Art, and Traditions in Tamilnāḍu |date=2002 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=978-81-7017-398-4 |pages=35–36 |language=en}}</ref> He is a creative store of knowledge for the agriculturists: the knowledge that dug a water channel to bring Yamuna water to Vrindavan; that restored groves, farms and forests; that produced goods and drinks.<ref name=" Vemsani2016p23"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Lavanya Vemsani|title=Hindu and Jain Mythology of Balarāma: Change and Continuity in an Early Indian Cult|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RXnXAAAAMAAJ|year=2006|location=[[Lewiston, New York]]|publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]]|isbn=978-0-7734-5723-2|pages=64–66, 94–100, 116–125}}</ref>

In Hindu texts, Balarama almost always supports Krishna in form and spirit. However, there are occasions where the dialogues between Balarama and Krishna present different viewpoints, with Krishna's wisdom establishing him to be the ultimate divinity.<ref name="Vemsani2016p23"/> Balarama's constant symbolic association with Krishna makes him the protector and supporter of [[dharma]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Lavanya Vemsani |title=Krishna in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Hindu Lord of Many Names |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4fw2DAAAQBAJ  |year=2016|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-211-3|page=26}}</ref>

==Iconography==
{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 220
 | footer = Above: 11th-century art showing Balarama with [[Subhadra]] and [[Vāsudeva]] (Krishna). Below: Abstract icons of the three in the Jagannath tradition.
 | image1 = 11th century Balarama, Lakshmi (Shubadra), Vasudeva (Krishna, Jagannath).jpg
 | image2 = 3 icons Jagannath Balabhadra Shubhadra.jpg
 }}
[[File:Popular print, album (BM 2003,1022,0.71 1).jpg|thumb|Late 19th century lithograph from Bengal depicting Krishna & Balarama. Instead of the plough, Balarama holds a bugle made out of buffalo-horn, a characteristic of Shaiva ascetics, based on the description of [[Nityananda]], who is revered by [[Gaudiya Vaishnavism|Gaudiya Vaishnavas]] as Balarama's incarnation.  ]]

Balarama is depicted as light-skinned, in contrast to his brother, Krishna, who is dark-skinned; Krishna in Sanskrit means dark.<ref name="JonesRyan2006p65">{{cite book|author1=Constance Jones|author2=James D. Ryan|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC&pg=PA65 |year=2006|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-7564-5|pages=65–66}}</ref> His ''ayudha'' or weapons are the [[plough]] ''hala'' and the [[Mace (bludgeon)|mace]] ''gadā''. The plough is usually called Balachita.<ref>{{cite book|title=India through the ages|url=https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada|last=Gopal|first=Madan|year= 1990| page= [https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada/page/75 75]|editor=K.S. Gautam|publisher=Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India}}</ref> He often wears blue garments and a [[garland]] of forest flowers. His hair is tied in a topknot and he has earrings, bracelets and armlets; he is known for his strength, the reason for his name; Bala means strength in Sanskrit.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2009-04-26 |title=Bala, Bāla, Balā, Bālā: 78 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/bala |access-date=2022-11-27 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>

In the [[Jagannath]] tradition, one particularly popular in eastern and central regions of India, he is more often called Balabhadra. Balarama is one in the triad, wherein Balarama is shown together with his brother Jagannath (Krishna) and sister Subhadra ([[Subhadra]]). Jagannath is identifiable from his circular eyes compared to an oval of Shubhadra and almond-shaped eyes of the abstract icon for Balarama. Further, Balarama's face is white, Jagannath's icon is dark, and Subhadra icon is yellow. The third difference is the flat head of Jagannath icon, compared to the semi-circular carved head of abstract Balarama.<ref name=donaldson779>{{cite book|author=Thomas E. Donaldson|title=Tantra and Śākta Art of Orissa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2otOAAAAYAAJ|year=2002|publisher=DK Printworld|isbn=978-81-246-0198-3|pages=779–780}}</ref> The shape of Balabhadra's head, also called Balarama or Baladeva in these regions, varies in some temples between somewhat flat and semi-circular.<ref name=donaldson779/><ref>{{cite book|author=O. M. Starza|title=The Jagannatha Temple at Puri: Its Architecture, Art, and Cult|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v4bV3beb0n8C |year=1993|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=90-04-09673-6|pages=61–64 with footnotes}}</ref>

===Sculpture===
<gallery>
File:Chaturvuyha Sankarshan Vasudeva 2nd century CE, Mathura Museum.jpg|[[Chatur-vyūha]]: Balarama, with serpent hood and drinking cup, to the right of [[Vasudeva-Krishna]]. 2nd century CE, [[Art of Mathura]].
File:Diety wearing Chang Kben, Phnom Da, Angkor Borei, Cambodia.jpg|6th century Balarama from Phnom Da, Angkor Borei, Takeo, [[Cambodia]]. Now exhibits at [[National Museum of Cambodia]].
File:Balarama - Mediaeval Period - Swami Ghat - ACCN 49-3210 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5342.JPG|Balarama, Medieval period, Mathura
File:Balarama from Badoh, Medieval period.jpg|Balarama from Badoh, Medieval period
File:Balarama - Circa 18th Century CE - ACCN 80-6 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5347.JPG|Balarama, 18th century, Mathura
</gallery>

===Temples===
* [[Kendrapara]], [[Baladevjew Temple]], Odisha
* [[Ananta Vasudeva Temple]]
* Kathmandu temples, [[Nepal]]<ref>{{cite journal | last=Guy | first=John | title=New Evidence for the Jagannātha Cult in Seventeenth Century Nepal | journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society | publisher=Cambridge University Press | volume=2 | issue=2 | year=1992 | doi=10.1017/s135618630000239x | pages=213–230| s2cid=162316166 }}</ref>
* [[Hathras Fort|Shri Dauji Mandir]], [[Hathras]], [[Uttar Pradesh]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=श्री दाऊजी मंदिर {{!}} Shri Dauji Mandir {{!}} Hathras Uttar Pradesh {{!}} About, Aarti, Timings, History, Photo, How to Reach|url=https://www.bhaktibharat.com/mandir/dauji-hathras|access-date=2020-11-22|website=BhaktiBharat.com|language=hi}}</ref>

==Outside Hinduism==
===Jainism===

The [[Jain]] [[Puranas]], notably, the ''Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacarita'' of [[Hemachandra]], narrate hagiographical accounts of nine Baladevas or [[Balabhadra]]s who are believed to be [[śalākāpuruṣa]]s (literally torch-bearers, great personalities). Balarama was the ninth one.<ref>{{cite book | title=Iconography of Balarāma | publisher=Abhinav Publications | author=Joshi, Nilakanth Purushottam | year=1979 | location=New Delhi | isbn=81-7017-107-5}}, p. 5</ref> Balarama along with Krishna are considered as cousins of the revered [[Tirthankara]] [[Neminatha]] (Aristanemi) by Jains.<ref>{{cite book|author= Umakant Premanand Shah|title=Studies in Jaina Art and Iconography and Allied Subjects |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=fETebHcHKogC |year =1995|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-316-8|pages=75–76}}, Quote: "Krsna (Vasudeva) and Baladeva or Balarama are regarded as cousin brothers of Neminatha".</ref>

The Jainism tradition lists 63 ''Śalākāpuruṣa'' or notable figures which, amongst others, includes the twenty-four ''Tirthankaras'' and nine sets of triads. One of these triads is Krishna as the ''Vasudeva'', Balarama as the ''Baladeva'', and [[Jarasandha]] as the ''Prati-Vasudeva''. In each age of the Jain cyclic time is born a ''Vasudeva'' with an elder brother termed the ''Baladeva''.  Between the triads, ''Baladeva'' upholds the principle of non-violence, a central idea of Jainism. The villain is the ''Prati-vasudeva'', who attempts to destroy the world. To save the world, ''Vasudeva-Krishna'' has to forsake the non-violence principle and kill the ''Prati-Vasudeva''.<ref>{{citation|last=Jaini|first=P. S.|author-link=Padmanabh Jaini|date=1993|title=Jaina Puranas: A Puranic Counter Tradition|publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-1381-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kZFzHCuiFAC&pg=PA207}}</ref> The stories of these triads can be found in the ''[[Harivamsa Purana]]'' (8th{{nbsp}}century CE) of [[Jinasena]] (not be confused with its namesake, the addendum to ''Mahābhārata'') and the ''Trishashti-shalakapurusha-charita'' of Hemachandra.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=26}}<ref name = Jer>See Jerome H. Bauer "Hero of Wonders, Hero in Deeds: [https://books.google.com/books?id=0SJ73GHSCF8C&pg=PA151 "Vasudeva Krishna in Jaina Cosmohistory]" in {{Harvnb|Beck|2005|pp=167–169}}</ref>

[[File:Khajuraho22.jpg|thumb|Balarama with a plough in his left hand, at the [[Khajuraho Group of Monuments|Khajuraho]] Parsvnatha Jain Temple.<ref>{{cite book|author=Devangana Desai|title=Khajuraho|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=amPqAAAAMAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-565391-5|page=73}}</ref>]]
The story of Krishna's life in the ''Puranas'' of Jainism follows the same general outline as those in the Hindu texts, but in details, they are very different: they include Jain ''Tirthankaras'' as characters in the story, and generally are polemically critical of Krishna, unlike the versions found in the ''Mahabharata'', the ''Bhagavata Purana'', and the ''Vishnu Purana''.<ref>{{citation|last=Cort| first=J. E.|date=1993|editor=Wendy Doniger|title=An Overview of the Jaina Puranas, in Purana Perennis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kZFzHCuiFAC&pg=PA191 |pages=220–233 | publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=9781438401362}}</ref> For example, Krishna loses battles in the Jain versions, and his ''gopis'' and his clan of Yadavas die in a fire created by an ascetic named Dvaipayana. Similarly, after dying from the hunter Jara's arrow, the Jaina texts state Krishna goes to the [[Naraka (Jainism)|third hell]] in [[Jain cosmology]], while Balarama is said to go to the [[Svarga (Jainism)|sixth heaven]].<ref name="Glasenapp1999p317">{{cite book|author=Helmuth von Glasenapp|title=Jainism: An Indian Religion of Salvation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WzEzXDk0v6sC&pg=PA317 |year=1999|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1376-2|pages=316–318}}</ref>

In other Jain texts, Krishna and Baladeva are stated to be a cousin of the twenty-second ''Tirthankara'', Neminatha. The Jain texts state that Naminatha taught Krishna all the wisdom that he later gave to Arjuna in the ''Bhagavad Gita''. According to [[Jeffery D. Long]], a professor of Religion known for his publications on Jainism, this connection between Krishna and Neminatha has been a historic reason for Jains to accept, read, and cite the ''Bhagavad Gita'' as a spiritually important text, celebrate Krishna-related festivals, and intermingle with Hindus as spiritual cousins.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jeffery D. Long|title=Jainism: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JmRlAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 |year= 2009|publisher =I. B. Tauris|isbn= 978-1-84511-625-5|page=42}}</ref>

Evidence related to early Jainism, states [[Patrick Olivelle]] and other scholars, suggests Balarama had been a significant farmer deity in Jain tradition in parts of the Indian subcontinent such as near the Mathura region.<ref name=olivelle391/> Jain texts such as the ''[[Kalpa Sūtra|Kalpasutra]]'' describe the same idea of embryo transfer, as in Hindu texts for Balarama, for the 24th Tirthankara [[Mahavira]]; in the latter case, the embryo of a Brahmin woman is moved into the womb of a Kshatriya woman.<ref name="Pal1997p25"/> Balarama, states [[Pratapaditya Pal]], was one of the historic deities revered in Jainism along with Ambika, Lakshmi and others.<ref name="Pal1997p25">{{cite book|author=Pratapaditya Pal|title=Divine Images, Human Visions: The Max Tanenbaum Collection of South Asian and Himalayan Art in the National Gallery of Canada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PMUp4nxAqwwC&pg=PA25 |year=1997 |publisher=National Gallery of Canada |isbn=978-1-896209-05-0| pages=25–26}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=MNP Tiwari|editor=Umakant Premanand Shah|title=Studies in Jaina Art and Iconography and Allied Subjects in Honour of Dr. U.P. Shah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fETebHcHKogC |year=1995|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-316-8|pages=17–19}}</ref> As with the Hindu farmers, state [[Paul Dundas]] and other scholars, it is likely that Balarama was the patron deity of Jain farmers in the early centuries of the common era, because a large number of Balarama images have been found in early Jain arts.<ref>{{cite book|author=Paul Dundas|title=The Jains|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8iAAgAAQBAJ |year=2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1-134-50165-X|pages=298 note 17}}</ref><ref>MNP Tiwari and K Giri (1985), Balarama – The Deity of Krsikarman in Jaina Art, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay, Volume 60, Issue 1, pages 122-125</ref>

===Buddhism===
Balarama images have been discovered in central Indian Buddhist sites, such as with Sanchi stupas at Andher, Mehgaon and Chandna. These are dated to around the start of the common era.<ref>{{cite book|author=Julia Shaw|title=Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IUbUDAAAQBAJ |year=2016 |publisher= Taylor & Francis|isbn= 978-1-315-43263-2|pages=135–139, Figures 141–144, 150}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Nilakanth Purushottam Joshi|title=Iconography of Balarāma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5vd-lKzyFg0C&pg=PA32|year=1979|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-107-2|pages=32–57}}</ref> The Ghata Jataka, one of the Jataka Tales that form part of Buddhist scriptures, depicts Krishna as a previous birth of Buddha's disciple Sariputta and has Balarama depicted as the previous birth of one of the Buddha's disciples.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
* {{Cite book | title =Alternative Krishnas: Regional and Vernacular Variations on a Hindu Deity | last = Beck| first = Guy L. (Ed.) | author-link = Guy Beck |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0SJ73GHSCF8C | publisher = SUNY Press | year = 2005 | isbn =0-7914-6415-6 }}
*{{cite book|last=Doniger|first=Wendy|author-link=Wendy Doniger|title=Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kZFzHCuiFAC|publisher=[[SUNY Press]]|date=1993|isbn=0-7914-1381-0}}
* {{citation |last=Singh |first=Upinder |author-link=Upinder Singh |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Pearson Education]] |date=2016 |isbn=978-93-325-6996-6 |ref={{sfnref|Upinder Singh|2016}} }}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline}}
{{VishnuAvatars}}
{{Mahabharata}}
{{Jagannath}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:People related to Krishna]]
[[Category:Avatars of Vishnu]]
[[Category:Hindu gods]]
[[Category:Characters in the Mahabharata]]
[[Category:Deities of Jagannath]]
[[Category:Characters in the Bhagavata Purana]]
[[Category:Salakapurusa]]
[[Category:Agricultural gods]]