You know. I am surprised that this fandom found the Kris dagger connection but not the Krishna connection.
Cause like... to me it's kinda obvious.
Ok. Before i start on my rambling about Krishna and their connection to Kris I should clarify who or even which Krishna i am even talking about.
See, Krishna is a god that is worshipped specifically in the South Asian part of the world by South Asians like Indians.
For the purposes of this rambling i am talking about Krishna specifically from Hinduism and not from Buddhism or Jainism as it seems like it's only the Hindu version of Krishna that Toby is pulling the most inspiration from (which... I am not surprised cause the Hindu version of Krishna is factually the most common and popular version of Krishna. So it makes sense why Toby would use it)
Alright first thing first let's talk about Krishna's name and what does it mean in its assigned language specifically in Sanskrit.
Now there is already going on however what makes this definition so interesting is when we consider what Krishna Paksha even is.
The word "Paksha" generally refers to the lunar cycle happening during the calendar and is primarily followed in Hindu religion. Basically it's their version of a Lunar calendar.
In Paksha there are multiple lunar phases or "Pakashas" as we like to call them. However the main two phases are Shukla Paksha (New Moon) and Krishna Paksha ( The Waxing Moon)
Does that sound familiar?
Well it should because a while back i mentioned in my plural reading of Kris that Lightworld Kris and Darkworld Kris pull inspiration from Lucifer and Noctifer and that's still true here.
Because Shukla generally means Bright or White in Sanskrit while Krishna generally means Dark in Sanskrit.
Now i know what you are thinking. Does this contradict the Sun reading of Kris that i have been toying with recently since I am talking about moons and moon phases here rather than the sun.
The Sun god of Hinduism Surya in recent years has largely stopped being worshipped heavily and has mostly merged with deities like Shiva or Krishna. And that's important.
Not only does this connection make the prophecy panel system (Lightworld Kris, Darkworld Kris and the Soul) a parallel to Trimurti, the main deity trio of Hinduism consisting of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the proctor (who is connected to Krishna btw just let me wait to explain it i promise it will make sense later) and Shiva the destroyer.
Which makes the Soul the creator, Darkworld Kris the protector and the Lightworld Kris the destroyer and that makes complete sense with the established narrative of the game. Because it's Soul who made the Vessel, Darkworld Kris who protected Susie and Lightworld Kris who destroyed light and made a dark fountain, IT FITS BABY!!!
Ahem aside from that AWESOME realisation what else the name "Krishna" could tell us about Kris. Well for that we have to look at a very specific flower.
The Krishna Kamal or more commonly known as Passiflora or Passion flower.
Now why does this flower matters?
Well... Not only does this specific flower have ties to Mahabharata and Krishna it also has connections to Christianity more specific to the crucifixion of Christ.
Which nicely ties into the other way of saying Kris aka Chris, the follower of Christ. Which only adds to the deeper meaning of Kris's name.
Now that we finally broke down Kris's name and it's associated with symbolism let's go deeper into Krishna and Kris parallels.
Firstly and the obvious. Krishna and Darkworld Kris just look very similar physically which plays into nicely as Krishna means darkness so it makes the dark version of Kris looks the closest to Krishna.
Alright with that out of the way let's talk about story similarities between Kris and Krishna.
(Disclaimer:- like with any other religion the story of Krishna varies a lot so this section will only be discussing some characteristics present in almost every version of the story.)
Both are the adopted child of a couple in a remote village-like area with an older brother.
Both are considered mischievous and a bit of a prankster. (Though Krishna is more well liked because well... He's god.)
Association with rain and flood and water.
Association with music. ( Note Krishna is actually associated with a fluet rather than a piano because in early India there didn't really have things like Paino)
Heavy association with sweets.
(And as for the last characteristics well we need further explanation about Krishna but basically these characteristics are:-)
Connected to a destiny with the need to establish a better monarchy.
Connected to a density of restoring balance.
Has multiple versions of themself.
Oh boy. Alright time for some heavy Hindu cosmology.
In Hinduism there are concepts like Karma and Dharma. Karma is basically what you do in many ways it's your choice and your actions, your Karma is what you did in your past, your present and your future meanwhile Dharma is righteousness. Dharma isn't your actions but what actions should be done. Think of Kharma as actions you either did in the past, are doing, or will do in the future meanwhile Dharma are actions you should always to some extent always follow or do because they are inherently self righteous. Kharma is your record and Dharma is your instruction.
According to Hinduism in this world to exist in the fullest capacity and in peace and harmony all individuals should do actions (Kharma) that are good (Dharma). However whenever this balance of Kharma and Dharma shifts into out of balance and into disharmony Vishnu (the protector of the world) reincarnates into one of their Avatars (Basically another version of himself representing different virtues they themself are capable of embodying) and restore the balance of the world.
As you can see there are a bunch of similarities between Krishna and Kris when you get down with the cosmology of Hinduism.
Especially considering the Light world and Dark world which work perfectly with concepts like Karma and Dharma. With Lightworld having a sense of destiny with every action like Karma meanwhile Darkworld having the blueprint of destiny itself which Darkners in general to some extent are aware of.
Furthermore the way Krishna restores balance was beating up evil kings and establishing righteous kings in the process just like how in Kris's journey in deltarune is them beating up the bosses of their specific Darkworld and bringing them to Castle Town to their preferred ruler The Prince, Ralsei.
Furthermore the concept of Avatar generally makes plural Kris even more point of evidence because Vishnu has many Avatars with no definite number at the same time. The number of Avatars Vishnu really depends on who you are asking but is generally agreed they all exist in the same time to some extent which explains why there exist so many versions of Kris in the same game even if they exist in different realities because Krishna had multiple Avatars existing at the same time even if they don't appear together all the time.
Furthermore Krishna theology generally aligns pretty well with Kris.
Across various theologies and philosophies, a common theme presents Krishna as the essence and symbol of divine love, with human life and love reflecting the divine. The longing and love-filled legends of Krishna and the gopis, his playful pranks as a baby, as well as his later dialogues with other figures, are philosophically treated as metaphors for the human longing for the divine and for meaning, and the play between the universals and the human soul.Krishna's lila is a theology of love-play. According to John Koller, "love is presented not simply as a means to salvation, it is the highest life". Human love is God's love.
Other texts that include Krishna, such as the Bhagavad Gita, have attracted numerous bhasya (commentaries) in the Hindu traditions. Though only a part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita has functioned as an independent spiritual guide. It allegorically raises the ethical and moral dilemmas of human life through Krishna and Arjuna. It then presents a spectrum of answers, addressing the ideological questions on human freedoms, choices, and responsibilities towards self and others. This Krishna dialogue has attracted numerous interpretations, from being a metaphor for inner human struggle that teaches non-violence to being a metaphor for outer human struggle that advocates a rejection of quietism and persecution.
Madhusūdana Sarasvatī, known for his contributions to classical Advaita Vedanta, was also a devotee of Krishna and expressed his devotion in various verses within his works, notably in his Bhagavad Gita commentary, Bhagavad Gita Gudarthadipika. In his works, Krishna is identified as the Supreme Deity and as Bhagavan, whom Madhusudana describes as the nondual Self, embodying Being, Consciousness, and Bliss, the pure Existence underlying all. In his commentary on the Gita, Krishna is often interpreted as representing nirguna Brahman, thus presenting a transtheistic understanding of deity.
And there you have it. All the similarities with Kris and Krishna.
Sigh alright i think i should clarify some things. I am aware that deltarune is at the core a Christian inspired story however as someone who is South Asian (Indian to be specific) i have been seeing these connections for literal years but i couldn't fully explain it until i dwell deeper in the plural Kris interpretation. So here is generally what should expect from my plural reading of Kris.
My plural and meta Kris reading will not only include Christianity but also Greek myths and philosophy, Indonesian myths and philosophy (specifically from Javanese culture) and Indian myths and culture because even if deltarune is mostly a Christian inspired story it does take inspiration from other areas as well and I'll be covering those as well because honestly... I found those very cool as well and I just kinda wanna yap about it because i find it so cool honestly.
This post's purpose is to prove that Kris does have connections to Hindu Krishna and is meant to open a new gate of speculation at least for me. So yeah i wanted to make it clear. I will be going crazy.
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