His reputation for divine strength and abilities proved to be somewhat of a mixed blessing, for it made him the constant target of bravos seeking to build or bolster their reputations. One such was Jarasandha, king of Maghdha, a practically invincible warrior who launched an annual campaign against Krishna's people, the Yadavas. Krishna finally dealt with him by using the superhuman strength of his cousin Bhima in later years, but the persecution had become so great that the Yadavas actually migrated almost a thousand kilometers to the present state of Gujarat and set up their city again in Dwarka. This strategic refusal to continue fighting a costly battle earned him the name of Ranchhodrai, the god who leaves battle, an unusual epithet for a born warrior. However, under his guidance the Yadavas became the single most formidable force in India and their friendship determined who was top dog in the Imperial game.

The next phase of Krishna's life deals with his stewardship of the Pandavas, his cousins and the heroes of the Mahabharatha. He was their mentor and friend, and he saved them many times from the scrapes, which their excessively good and forging nature used to land them in. However he was not always on hand and they were cheated out of their kingdom and exiled. When the Pandavas returned, they demanded their land back, which was refused by their cousins, the Kauravas, and a war involving every kingdom in India broke out. Krishna refused to personally fight but his advice was worth many divisions. His cousin Arjuna had some scruples about the justness of a war, which would tear families, and the fabric of society apart. Krishna responded in his finest hour with the discourse known as the Bhagvad Gita, the text that is the most sacred scripture to modern Hinduism. That a warrior, not a Brahmin, has contributed the most sacred holy book the Hindus have, is not regarded as strange. The amateur, the person who does it for love (as opposed to the professional in spirituality) is more likely to see the fresh and the new, rather than be concerned with defending the status quo. The Gita has as many interpretations as the life of Krishna itself, but everybody is agreed that it is one of the most significant pieces of thinking and literature to have emerged from India. Like Krishna, it is a text that seeks to include and reconcile all, not strive for a sterile consistency, which is part of its enduring relevance. The Gita appeals to you at every stage of development precisely because of its many-sidedness.

The successful stewardship of the war transformed Krishna into an institution peculiar to India - he was now a Vasudeva. This was a position traditionally awarded to somebody who had demonstrated unique and exemplary achievements in his life. It was exceedingly rare as a title and a societal acknowledgment that the man in question had accomplished myriad and manifold deeds that took society forward. It is a cultural concept shared by the Jains too, who believe that every Cycle of Time has a Jina, an Enlightened One, who presides over it and in the subdivisions of that Cycle there are always many Vasudevas and Baladevas. Balarama was the Baladeva of his time but all that required was titanic feats of strength. To be a Vasudeva required you to be a complete human being, multifaceted and a great success in many fields of endeavor. It has been theorized that Krishna and his brother may have been originally these particular titular personages who were later transformed into the epic heroes and then into divine status.

In the Mahabharatha itself was appended the Harivamsam, a description of the adventures and exploits of Krishna, and many centuries later was written the Bhagvatam which elaborated the story of Krishna as the avatar of Vishnu to its fullest. A colossal folk literature about Krishna also grew up as well as new theological trends. Krishna was cast as a personal savior - a concept almost unknown to Hinduism. He was also declared, by one enthusiastic sect, to be no longer the fullest and complete avatar of Vishnu, but greater than Vishnu himself who was only a one-sixteenth portion of the perfection that was Krishna. The Krishna worshippers also introduced an alien streak of intolerance and dogmatism in their assertions about Him and created much bad blood. Both the believers in Bhakti and the Tantriks got hold of the Power of Krishna too. For the former it was the love story between Krishna and Radha that served as a metaphor for the souls longing for union with the divine. It is interesting that this popular belief, which has so much dominance in the artistic imagination, has no textual basis. Radha is not even mentioned in the Mahabharatha or the Bhagvatam, but in the popular mind her name is mentioned before Krishna in the famous liberating chant, "Radhe-Shyam!" The Tantriks had much more complicated philosophies behind their espousal of Krishna.

The Mahabharatha being a psychologically astute text does not complete the story of Krishna on a high note. His own son, Sambha, angers a great sage and brings upon the Yadavas their doom. In some schools of thought, one of the parameters of the avatar of Krishna was to reduce the earth of the overpopulation of warriors it was suffering from, so this was all to the good! In the most famous brawl known to Indian Mythology, a seashore party turned into an acrimonious dispute over past actions and soon weapons were being brought into the debate for that keen edge. The Yadavas were the only major warrior group left after the catastrophe of the Mahabharatha war but they went to their fate, heedless to the remonstrance of Balarama and egged on by the curious silence of Krishna. Balarama gave up his ghost in disgust and Krishna withdrew to a copse near the shore and waited for the drama to play itself out. His constant headgear of peacock feather plumes stuck out over the edge of the concealing shrub he was sitting behind, and a hunter let fly a fatal arrow mistaking it for a prize catch of a peacock. The arrow stuck him in the heel, like Achilles his only vulnerable spot, and the end had come. His last act of compassion was to reassure the aghast hunter that he had committed no sin. He was one hundred and sixteen years old, the mandatory fullness of years as specified in the Vedas. The hunter's name was Jara. It means Old Age.

In the mind of his people however, Krishna is always the Kumara, the captivating eternal youth.