Vāsudeva ( sa, वासुदेव, ), later incorporated as Vāsudeva-Krishna (, "

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

, son of

Vasudeva According to Hindu scriptures, Vasudeva (Sanskrit: वसुदेव, IAST: ''Vasudeva''), also called Anakadundubhi, (''anakas'' and ''dundubhis'' both refer to ''drums'', after the musicians who played these instruments at the time of his b ...

"),"While the earliest piece of evidence do not yet use the name Krsna...." in Krishna-Vāsudeva or simply Krishna, was the son of Vasudeva Anakadundubhi, king of the

Vrishni The Vrishnis (Brahmi: ''vri-shņi'') were an ancient Vedic Indian clan who were believed to be the descendants of Vrishni. It is believed that Vrishni was the son of Satvata, a descendant of Yadu, the son of Yayati. He had two wives, Gandhari an ...

s in the region of

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

. He was a leading member of the

Vrishni heroes The Vrishni heroes ( IAST: Vṛṣṇi Viras), also referred to as ''Pancha-viras'' ( IAST: Pañca vīras, "Five heroes"), are a group of five legendary, deified heroes who are found in the literature and archaeological sites of ancient India. T ...

, and may well have been an historical ruler in the region of Mathura.Vāsudeva and Krishna "may well have been kings of this dynasty as well" in Vāsudevism arose with the decline of

Vedism The historical Vedic religion (also known as Vedicism, Vedism or ancient Hinduism and subsequently Brahmanism (also spelled as Brahminism)), constituted the religious ideas and practices among some Indo-Aryan peoples of northwest Indian Subco ...

in India, which occurred during the 8th to 6th century BCE. Vāsudeva then became the object of one of the earliest forms of personal deity worship in India, and is attested from around the 4th century BCE. At that time, Vāsudeva was already considered as a deity, as he appears in

Pāṇini , era = ;;6th–5th century BCE , region = Indian philosophy , main_interests = Grammar, linguistics , notable_works = ' (Sanskrit#Classical Sanskrit, Classical Sanskrit) , influenced= , notable_ideas=Descript ...

's writings in conjunction with

Arjuna Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Panda ...

as an object of worship, since Pāṇini explains that a ''vāsudevaka'' is a devotee (''bhakta'') of Vāsudeva. By the end of the 2nd century BCE, Vāsudeva was considered as ''Devadeva'', the "God of Gods", the Supreme Deity, whose emblem was the mythical bird

Garuda Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda is a ...

, as known from the Heliodorus pillar inscription. This pillar, offered by the Greek ambassador and devotee

Heliodorus Heliodorus is a Greek name meaning "Gift of the Sun". Several persons named Heliodorus are known to us from ancient times, the best known of which are: *Heliodorus (minister) a minister of Seleucus IV Philopator c. 175 BC * Heliodorus of Athen ...

, also shows that Vāsudeva even received dedications from the

Indo-Greeks The Indo-Greek Kingdom, or Graeco-Indian Kingdom, also known historically as the Yavana Kingdom (Yavanarajya), was a Hellenistic-era Greek kingdom covering various parts of Afghanistan and the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent (p ...

, who also represented him on the coinage of

Agathocles of Bactria Agathocles I Dicaeus ( grc, Ἀγαθοκλῆς Δικαῖος, Agathoklēs Dikaios, the epithet means "the just") was a Greco-Bactrian/Indo-Greek king, who reigned between around 190 and 180 BC, likely of the dynasty of Diodotus I, due to his co ...

(190-180 BCE). The

Heliodorus pillar The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 113 BCE in central India in Besnagar (near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh). The pillar was called the ''Garuda-standard'' by Heliodorus, referring to the deity Garuda. The pillar is commonly ...

, joining earth, space and heaven, is thought to symbolize the "cosmic axis" and express the cosmic totality of the Deity. Next to the pillar, a large Temple of Vāsudeva was discovered, where he was celebrated together with his deified kinsmen, the

. The cult of Vāsudeva was one of the major independent cults, together with the cults of

Narayana Narayana (Sanskrit: नारायण, IAST: ''Nārāyaṇa'') is one of the forms and names of Vishnu, who is in yogic slumber under the celestial waters, referring to the masculine principle. He is also known as Purushottama, and is co ...

Shri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanese, ...

and

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...

, which later coalesced to form

Vishnuism Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

. After the cult of Vāsudeva had been established, the tribe of the

s fused with the tribe of the

Yadavas The Yadava (literally, descended from Yadu) were an ancient Indian people who believed to be descended from Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage. The community was formed of various clans, being the Abhira, Andhaka, Vrishni, and Satv ...

, who had their own hero-god named

. The early Krishna is known from the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

'', where he is described as the chief of the Yadavas kingdom of

Dvārakā Dvārakā, also known as ''Dvāravatī'' (Sanskrit द्वारका "the gated ity, possibly meaning having many gates, or alternatively having one or several very grand gates), is a sacred historic city in the sacred literature of H ...

(modern

Dwarka Dwarka () is a city and a municipality of Devbhumi Dwarka district in the state of Gujarat in Western India. It is located on the western shore of the Okhamandal Peninsula on the right bank of the Gomti river at the mouth of the Gulf of Kut ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

). The fused cult of Vāsudeva-Krishna became one of the significant traditions of the early history of

Krishnaism Krishnaism (IAST: ''Kṛṣṇaism'') is a large group of independent Hinduism, Hindu traditions—sampradayas related to Vaishnavism—that center on the devotion to Krishna as ''Svayam Bhagavan'', ''Ishvara'', ''Para Brahman'', the source of ...

, becoming a major component of the amalgamated worship of

, the 8th incarnation of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

. According to the Vaishnavite doctrine of the

avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...

s, Vishnu takes various forms to rescue the world, and Vāsudeva-Krishna became understood as one of these forms, and one of the most popular ones. This process lasted from the 4th century BCE when Vāsudeva was an independent deity, to the 4th century CE, when

became much more prominent as the central deity of an integrated Vaishnavite cult, with Vāsudeva-Krishna now only one of his manifestations. "Vāsudeva" is the first name to appear in the epigraphical record and in the earliest literary sources such as the writings of

. It is unknown at what point of time precisely Vāsudeva came to be associated with "

". The association between the names "Vāsudeva" and "Krishna" starts to appear with the

and the

Harivamsa The ''Harivamsa'' ( , literally "the genealogy of Hari") is an important work of Sanskrit literature, containing 16,374 shlokas, mostly in the '' anustubh'' metre. The text is also known as the ''Harivamsa Purana.'' This text is believed to ...

, both completed in the 3rd century CE, where "Vāsudeva" appears as the patronymic of Krishna, his father being called Vasudeva Anakadundubhi in these writings. "Vāsudeva-Krishna" refers to "Krishna, son of

", "Vāsudeva" in the lengthened form being a

vṛddhi Vṛddhi (also rendered vr̥ddhi) is a technical term in morphophonology given to the strongest grade in the vowel gradation system of Sanskrit. The term is derived from Sanskrit ''vṛddhi'', , 'growth', from . Origins Vṛddhi itself has its ...

-derivative of the short form "Vasudeva" standing for Vasudeva Anakadundubhi, a type of formation very common in Sanskrit signifying "of, belonging to, descended from".

Evolution

The object of the Vāsudeva worship was initially the warrior hero of the

clan named Vāsudeva. Vāsudeva later became known as

, who is "Vāsudeva" (i.e. "the son of Vasudeva", ie Vasudeva Anakadundubhi), a king of the

clan in the region of

. Vāsudeva, historically is believed to be part of the

or Satvata tribe, and according to them his followers called themselves

Bhagavata The Bhagavata tradition, also called Bhagavatism, refers to an ancient religious sect that traced its origin to the region of Mathura. After its syncretism with the Brahmanical tradition of Vishnu, Bhagavatism became a pan-Indian tradition ...

s. This religion formed between the 4th century BC and the 2nd century BC (the time of

Patanjali Patanjali ( sa, पतञ्जलि, Patañjali), also called Gonardiya or Gonikaputra, was a Hindu author, mystic and philosopher. Very little is known about him, and while no one knows exactly when he lived; from analysis of his works it i ...

), according to evidence in

Megasthenes Megasthenes ( ; grc, Μεγασθένης, c. 350 BCE– c. 290 BCE) was an ancient Greek historian, diplomat and Indian ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period. He described India in his book '' Indica'', which is now lost, but has ...

and in the ''

Arthashastra The ''Arthashastra'' ( sa, अर्थशास्त्रम्, ) is an Ancient Indian Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, political science, economic policy and military strategy. Kautilya, also identified as Vishnugupta and Chanakya, is ...

'' of

Kautilya Chanakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य; IAST: ', ; 375–283 BCE) was an ancient Indian polymath who was active as a teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kauṭilya o ...

, when ''Vāsudeva'' was worshiped as supreme Deity in a strongly

monotheistic Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford ...

format, where the supreme Being was perfect, eternal and full of grace. In many sources outside of the cult, devotee or

bhakta ''Bhakti'' ( sa, भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity".See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to d ...

is defined as ''Vāsudevaka''.

Evolution as a deity

Vasudeva in the Ghosundi Fragment A inscription

The cult of Vāsudeva may have evolved from the worship of a historical figure belonging to the

clan in the region of

. He is known as a member of the five "

". It is thought that the hero deity Vāsudeva may have evolved into a Vaishnavite deity through a step-by-step process: 1) deification of the

, of whom Vāduseva was the leader 2) association with the God

3) incorporation into the Vyuha concept of successive emanations of the God. In literature, the

and Vāsudeva are mentioned by

in ''Astadhyayi'' verse 6.2.34 around the 4th century BCE, while Krishna is referred to as Krishna Varshneya in verse 3.187.51 of the ''Mahabharata''. Epigraphically, the deified status of Vāsudeva is confirmed by his appearance on the coinage of

(190-180 BCE) and by the devotional character of the

inscription. Later, the association with

(

) is confirmed by the

Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions The Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions, sometimes referred simply as the Ghosundi Inscription or the Hathibada Inscription, are among the oldest known Sanskrit inscriptions in the Brahmi script, and dated to the 2nd-1st-century BCE. The Hathibada in ...

of the 1st century BCE. It is generally thought that "by the beginning of the Christian era, the cult of Vāsudeva, Vishnu and Narayana amalgamated". By the 2nd century CE, the "''avatara'' concept was in its infancy", and the depiction of the four emanations of Vishnu (the '' Chatur-vyūha''), consisting in the Vrishni heroes including Vāsudeva and minus Samba, starts to become visible in the

art of Mathura The Art of Mathura refers to a particular school of Indian art, almost entirely surviving in the form of sculpture, starting in the 2nd century BCE, which centered on the city of Mathura, in central northern India, during a period in which Bu ...

at the end of the

Kushan The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, i ...

period. The ''

'' describes intricate relationships between Krishna Vāsudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha that would later form a

Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

concept of primary quadrupled expansion, or ''chatur vyuha''. Vāsudeva is also associated with the qualities of gentleness and strength."Gentleness and strength are associated with Vāsudeva, knowledge with Samkarsana, (Narasimha) female power with Pradyumna (Varaha) and ferociousness and sovereignty with Aniruddha (Kapila)."

Fusion with other traditions

The tradition of Vāsudeva-Krishna is considered as separate from other ancient traditions such as that of

Gopala-Krishna Gopala Krishna ( sa, गोपालकृष्ण, translit=Gopālakṛṣṇa, lit=cow-protector Krishna) refers to a form of the Hindu deity Krishna, as featured in the Harivamsha and the Puranas. The narratives of Gopala Krishna are set in th ...

, with which it amalgamated at a later stage of the historical development. Some early scholars equate it with

Bhagavatism The Bhagavata tradition, also called Bhagavatism, refers to an ancient religious sect that traced its origin to the region of Mathura. After its syncretism with the Brahmanical tradition of Vishnu, Bhagavatism became a pan-Indian tradition ...

. The cult of Krishna Vāsudeva ultimately merged with various traditions such as

, the cult of

or the cult of

Bala-Krishna Bala Krishna ( sa, बाल कृष्ण, lit=child Krishna/divine child Krishna, translit=Bālakṛṣṇa). Present day Krishna worship is an amalgam of various elements. According to historical testimonies Krishna-Vasudeva worship alread ...

, to form the basis of the current tradition of monotheistic religion of

An Indian Herakles

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. ''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...

in his work Indica, quotes the earlier work of the same name by

which claims that

Herakles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...

, son of

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

had come to India and was honoured by the locals as an 'indigenous' Indian deity. This reference is understood to be to Vāsudeva. However Arrian himself does not consider the stories about Herakles credible, stating: It has been proposed that Megasthenes misheard the words "Hari-Krishna" as "Herakles". According to

Upinder Singh Upinder Singh is an Indian historian who is Professor of History and Dean of Faculty at Ashoka University. She is the former head of the History Department at the University of Delhi. She is also the recipient of the inaugural Infosys Prize in t ...

, "Vāsudeva-Krishna was the Indian God bearing the closest resemblance to the Greek God Herakles".

Heliodorus pillar and Temple of Vāsudeva (circa 115 BCE)

The cult of Vāsudeva soon extended well beyond the area of Mathura, as shown by the

, established by an

Indo-Greek The Indo-Greek Kingdom, or Graeco-Indian Kingdom, also known historically as the Yavana Kingdom (Yavanarajya), was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Ancient Greece, Greek kingdom covering various parts of Afghanistan and the northwestern r ...

ambassador to the court of an Indian king in

Vidisha Vidisha (विदिशा, formerly known as Bhelsa and known as Besnagar in ancient times) is a city in central Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located 62.5 km northeast of the state capital, Bhopal. The name "Vidisha" is derived from th ...

, in the name of Vāsudeva. In the Heliodorus pillar, Vāsudeva is described as ''Deva deva'', the "God of Gods", the Supreme Deity. According to Harry Falk, making dedications to foreign gods was a logical practice for the Greeks, in order to appropriate their power: "Venerating Vāsudeva, as did Heliodor in the time of Antialkidas, should not be regarded as a "conversion" to Hinduism, but rather as the result of a search for the most helpful local powers, upholding own traditions in a foreign garb." A large temple, probably dedicated to Vāsudeva or the

, was also discovered next to the

. The Temple measured 30x30 meters, and the walls were 2.4 meters thick. Pottery finds confirmed that the Temple dated to the 2nd century BCE. An earlier and smaller elliptic temple structure underneath probably dates to the end of the 3rd century BCE.

Naneghat inscription (1st century BCE)

The Naneghat inscription, dated to the 1st century BCE, mentions both Samkarshana and Vāsudeva, along with the Vedic deities of

Indra Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...

Chandra Chandra ( sa, चन्द्र, Candra, shining' or 'moon), also known as Soma ( sa, सोम), is the Hindu god of the Moon, and is associated with the night, plants and vegetation. He is one of the Navagraha (nine planets of Hinduism) and ...

, and the four

Lokapala Lokapāla ( sa, लोकपाल), Sanskrit and Pāli for "guardian of the world", has different uses depending on whether it is found in a Hindu or Buddhist context. * In Hinduism, lokapāla refers to the Guardians of the Directions asso ...

guardians

Yama Yama (Devanagari: यम) or Yamarāja (यमराज), is a deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld who predominantly features in Hindu and Buddhist religion, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities ...

Varuna Varuna (; sa, वरुण, , Malay: ''Baruna'') is a Vedic deity associated initially with the sky, later also with the seas as well as Ṛta (justice) and Satya (truth). He is found in the oldest layer of Vedic literature of Hinduism, such ...

and

Kubera Kubera ( sa, कुबेर, translit=Kuberā) also known as Kuvera, Kuber and Kuberan, is the god of wealth, and the god-king of the semi-divine yakshas in Hinduism. He is regarded as Guardians of the directions, the regent of the north (' ...

and

Vāsava Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the Deva (Hinduism), devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. &nbs ...

. This provided the link between Vedic tradition and the

tradition. Given it is inscribed in stone and dated to 1st-century BCE, it also linked the religious thought in the post-Vedic centuries in late 1st millennium BCE with those found in the unreliable highly variant texts such as the Puranas dated to later half of the 1st millennium CE. The inscription is a reliable historical record, providing a name and floruit to the Satavahana dynasty. Samkasana and Vasudeva in the Naneghat cave inscription

Samkasana and Vasudeva in the Naneghat cave inscription

The first dedicatory sentence in the inscription mentions:

Gosundi inscription

Vāsudeva and Samkarshana are also mentioned in the 1st century BCE

Chilas petroglyphs

Chilas Chilas ( ur, ) is a city and is the divisional capital of Diamer District located in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, on the Indus River. It is part of the Silk Road connected by the Karakoram Highway and N-90 National Highway, which link it to Islam ...

II archeological site dated to the first half of 1st-century CE in northwest

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, near the Afghanistan border, are engraved two males along with many Buddhist images nearby. The larger of the two males holds 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.

Vāsudeva Temple in Mathura (circa 15 CE)

The

Vasu Doorjamb Inscription __NOTOC__ The Vasu Doorjamb Inscription is an early 1st-century CE Sanskrit inscription in Brahmi script dedicated to the deity Vāsudeva, related to the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism. It is also one of the several dedicatory inscriptions fr ...

is a significant early Sanskrit inscription from Mathura. The mention of

Sodasa Sodasa ( Kharosthi: , ; Middle Brahmi script: , , also , ) was an Indo-Scythian Northern Satrap and ruler of Mathura during the later part of the 1st century BCE or the early part of 1st century CE. He was the son of Rajuvula, the Great Sat ...

's time who, states Salomon, is "dated with reasonable certainty to the early early years of the first century AD". Its mention of Vasu, temple, Vedika and a torana (gateway) is significant as it confirms that the large temple building tradition was in vogue in the Mathura region by at least the start of the common era. Further, it also attests to the popularity of the Vāsudeva tradition in this period. The Vasu Doorjamb inscription of Sodasa in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

viewed with other epigraphical evidence such as the Besnagar

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, the

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

, and the Naneghat inscriptions in

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

suggest that the cult of Vāsudeva had spread over a wide region by the 1st-century BCE to the start of common era. According to Quintanilla, the Vasu Doorjamb and the inscription is "one of the most important and most beautiful objects" from the time of Sodasa, likely from a "temple to Vāsudeva". The carvings on the doorjamb are three woven compositions. It has a leafy vine that runs along the length of the red sandstone jamb. Along the stem of the vine are curling leaves and blossoms, that wrap along as those found in nature, a rosette added in where the intertwining vines meet. The wider band has lotus rhizome carved in, with subtle naturalistic variations, wherein the lotus flowers are shown in all their stages of bloom, states Quintanilla.

Vāsudeva in 2nd century CE sculpture

Some sculptures during this period suggest that the concept of the

s was starting to emerge, as images of ''" Chatur-vyūha"'' (the four emanations of

) are appearing. The famous "Caturvyūha Viṣṇu" statue in Mathura Museum is an attempt to show in one composition Vāsudeva (avatar of

) together with the other members of the Vrishni clan of the

Pancharatra ''Pancharatra'' (IAST: ''Pāñcarātra'') was a religious movement in Hinduism that originated in late 3rd-century BCE around the ideas of Narayana and the various avatars of Vishnu as their central deities.Samkarsana,

Pradyumna Pradyumna ( sa, प्रद्युम्न) is the eldest son of the Hindu deities Krishna and his chief consort, Rukmini. He is considered to be one of the four vyuha avatars of Vishnu. According to the Bhagavata Purana, Pradyumna was ...

and

Aniruddha Aniruddha ( sa, अनिरुद्ध ') is a character in Hindu mythology, the son of Pradyumna and Rukmavati, and the grandson of Krishna and Rukmini. He is said to have been very much like his grandfather, to the extent that he is con ...

, with

Samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...

missing, Vāsudeva being the central deity from whom the others emanate. The back of the relief is carved with the branches of a

Kadamba tree ''Neolamarckia cadamba'', with English common names burflower-tree, laran, and Leichhardt pine, and called kadam or cadamba locally, is an evergreen, tropical tree native to South and Southeast Asia. The genus name honours French naturalist Jean- ...

, symbolically showing the relationship being the different deities. The depiction of Vishnu was stylistically derived from the type of the ornate Bodhisattvas, with rich jewelry and ornate headdress. Two

Kushan Empire The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, i ...

emperors were named after Vāsudeva: Vāsudeva I (191–232 CE) and Vāsudeva II (275–300 CE).

Vāsudeva in the Kondamotu relief (4th century CE)

Vāsudeva appears prominently in a relief from Kondamotu,

Guntur district Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the Coastal Andhra region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the largest city of the district in terms of area and with a po ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, dating to the 4th century CE, which shows the

standing in genealogical order around

Narasimha Narasimha ( sa, नरसिंह, lit=man-lion, ), sometimes rendered Narasingha, is the fourth avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is regarded to have incarnated in the form of a part-lion, part-man being to slay Hiranyakashipu, to end rel ...

. Vāsudeva follows Saṃkarṣaṇa, being second from the left in the place of seniority, with a hand in ''abhaya mudra'' and the other hand on the hip holding a conch shell. Vāsudeva also has a crown, which distinguishes him from the others. Then follow

, holding a bow and an arrow,

, holding a wine goblet, and

, holding a sword and a shield. The fact that they stand around Narasimha suggests a fusion of the Satvata cult with the Vrishni cult at this point.

Transition from Vāsudeva to Vishnu (4th-5th century CE)

Iconographic transition

Vishnu statuette, 3rd-4th century CE, Udayagiri, Vidisha District

Various early statues showing a deity with the attributes of Vāsudeva have long been attributed to Vishnu. But it is now thought that statues dedicated to the worship of

only started to appear from the 4th century CE during the Gupta Empire period, derived from, and using the attributes of Vāsudeva, but adding an

aureole An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin ''aurea'', "golden") is the radiance of luminous cloud which, in paintings of sacred personages, surrounds the whole figure. In Romance languages, the noun Aureola is usually more related to the d ...

starting at the shoulders: the ''Vishnu Caturanana'' ("Four-Armed Vishnu") statues. The statues before the 4th century CE have been reattributed to Vāsudeva, a period during which Vāsudeva seems to have been much more important than Vishnu.For English summary, see page 80 Other statues of Vishnu show him as three-headed (with an implied fourth head in the back), the '' Visnu Vaikuntha Chaturmurti'' or ''Chaturvyuha'' ("Four-Emanations") type, where Vishnu has a human head, flanked by the muzzle of a boar (his avatar

Varaha Varaha ( sa, वराह, , "boar") is an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, in the form of a boar. Varaha is generally listed as third in the Dashavatara, the ten principal avatars of Vishnu. Varaha is most commonly associated with the lege ...

) and the head of a lion (his avatar

), two of his most important and ancient avatars, laid out upon his aureole. Recent scholarship considers that these "Vishnu" statues still show the emanation Vāsudeva Krishna as the central human-shaped deity, rather than the Supreme God Vishnu himself."Because they date to a period when the Pancharatra sect was most influential, these two images are probably best identified as Chaturvyuha (or Four-Vyuha) Vishnu. The central face is that of Vishnu’s most supreme, most transcendent vyuha, or emanation, known as Vāsudeva. The subsequent, less abstract vyuhas, in the form of a lion and a boar, appear at either side, with another vyuha implied at the back. The positions of the lion and boar heads differ in these two pieces, indicating that there was some disagreement about the way the viewer should read such an icon."

Theological transition

Over centuries, the cult of Vāsudeva transformed into

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

. Overall, "Vaishnavite Hinduism is believed to have originated in the 4th century BC in the cult of Vāsudeva-Krishna, which was then grafted in the 2nd century AD onto the cult of

. By the 4th century, Vishnu's prominence increased considerably. He was now regarded as a member of the

Trimurti The Trimūrti (; Sanskrit: त्रिमूर्ति ', "three forms" or "trinity") are the trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism, in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified as a triad of de ...

, the cosmic triad of Gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva". From the 4-5th century, Vāsudeva-Krsna is identified with Vishnu and

, and fuses with

: File:Vasudeva Gupta period Terracotta.jpg, Vāsudeva with four attributes and without an aureole, terracotta. File:VishnuGandhara.JPG, The

Vishnu Nicolo Seal The Vishnu Nicolo Seal is a "finely engraved" oval agate seal (1.4 inches by 1.05 inch) from the Gandhara region, dated to the 4th century CE. Since 1892 it has been in the British Museum. The seal depicts a four-armed deity, probably Vishnu or ...

may depict Vāsudeva, holding the attributes of the gada club, the

chakra Chakras (, ; sa , text=चक्र , translit=cakra , translit-std=IAST , lit=wheel, circle; pi, cakka) are various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, or the esoteric or ...

discus, the wheel and the lotus, rather than

. 4th century CE, Gandhara. File:MET DP323567.jpg, A statue of Vishnu ''Caturanana'' ("Four-Armed"), using the attributes of Vāsudeva, with the addition of an

around the head (5th century CE). File:Four-Faced Vishnu, 4th-5th century. Red Sandstone, Mathura. Brooklyn Museum.jpg, Four-faced four-armed Vishnu ''

Vaikuntha Chaturmurti Vaikuntha Chaturmurti or Vaikuntha Vishnu is a four-headed aspect of the Hindu god Vishnu, mostly found in Kashmir (northern part of the Indian subcontinent). The icon represents Vishnu as the Supreme Being. He has a human head, a lion head, a b ...

'', still showing Vāsudeva Krishna as the central human figure, 4th-5th century, Mathura File:Four-armed Seated Vishnu in Meditation - Mediaeval Period - Pannapur - ACCN 14-379 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5275.JPG, Four-armed Seated

(with the aureole) in meditation, Medieval Period

Vāsudeva at Deogarh (6th century CE)

The Dashavatara Temple in Deogarh is closely related to the iconic architectural temple structure described in the

Viṣṇudharmottara purāṇa The Vishnudharmottara Purana (or the ''Vishnudharmottara'') is a Hindu Sanskrit text in the ''Upapuranas'' genre. Like the ''Mahapuranas'', it is also encyclopedic covering a wide range of secular and religious topics in the traditions of Hinduism ...

, and can be interpreted as an architectural representation of the '' Caturvyuha'' concept and the

Pancaratra ''Pancharatra'' (IAST: ''Pāñcarātra'') was a religious movement in Hinduism that originated in late 3rd-century BCE around the ideas of Narayana and the various avatars of Vishnu as their central deities.Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

: Vāsudeva, Samkarshana,

and

. According to Lubotsky, it is likely that the entrance is dedicated to the Vāsudeva aspect of Vishnu; the Anantashayana side is his role as the creator (

); the sage form of Nara-Narayana side symbolizes his preservation and maintainer role in cosmic existence (

); and the Gajendramoksha side represents his role as the destroyer ( Samkarsana).

Vasudev

To this day, a group of religious mendicants known as ''Vasudevs'' are people believed to be incarnation of Lord Krishna. Bedecked in the distinctive headgear of peacock feathers, performers sing Vasudev songs and with nimble, delicate dance steps, whirl around presenting anecdotes from Lord Krishna's life in exchange for alms. They sing soothing, melodious notes through the villages in the morning time.

Devotion

A popular short prayer for worshipping Vāsudeva is '' Dwadashaakshar'' ("the twelve-syllable mantra"), consisting in the recitation of the phrase ''"

Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya ''Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya'' () (Devanagari: ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय) is one of the most popular Hindu mantras, and according to the Bhagavata tradition, the most important mantra in Vaishnavism. It is cal ...

"'' () (in

devanagari Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental syste ...

: ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय), which is one of the most popular

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

mantra A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...

s, and the most important mantra in

. It means "''Om'', I bow to Lord Vāsudeva", who is variously understood as