The story of Balaram and Krishna forms part of possibly India's biggest epic, the Mahabharat. It is quite a long one, and I will be describing only the parts related to these 2 Avatars of Lord Vishnu. Apart from this, there are innumerous stories where Lord Krishna plays a role. In fact, out of the 10 Avatars, the most significant in modern times is that of Krishna. Krishna was the eighth child of Devaki and Vasudev. His maternal uncle (Mama), Kansa heard a prophecy that he would be killed by his sister Devaki's eighth child, and went on a mad spree killing all her first six children. Lord Vishnu, realising the situation, arranged for the 7th child (Balaram) to be transferred into the womb of Rohini (Nanda's 1st wife), and requested Goddess Maya to be substituted for him in Devaki's womb. The 8th child, Krishna, was carried by Vasudev to Gokul, and placed next to Yashoda (Nanda's 2nd wife), to be adopted by them. Lord Krishna was a very naughty child, and was very fond of butter (he is called Makahnchor - Butter stealer) in his childhood. He was also very naughty, and indulged in all sorts of pranks along with his group of friends, of whom he was the obvious leader. He showed signs of his divineness in his childhood itself, when he felled the demonness Putna, liberated 2 Gandharva princes, and killed the evil serpant, Kaliya. He lifted the huge Govardhan Parvat to protect the people from the heavy rains. One day, when his mother Yashoda caught him eating mud and asked him to open his mouth, he showed her the entire cosmos inside it! Krishna also went on to kill his evil uncle, Kansa, and reinstated Kansa's father as the King of Mathura. On the other hand, his elder brother Balaram was a very soft-spoken and reserved individual with great intellect and humility. He was called "Dau Bhaiya" by Krishna. It is also believed that Balaram was an incarnation of Shesha Naga, Lord Vishnu's 1000 headed serpant. It is said that Sesha-Nag, who took the form of Lakshman in Ramayan, was unhappy with his projection as an angry person, and so the Lord allowed him to have a better profile in the Mahabharat ! Lord Balaram is always depicted with a plough in his hand, a symbol of his humble village-agrarian background. At the same time, the Kingdom of Hastinapur was going through testing times. The blind King Dhritarashtra's evil son Duryodhan, eldest of the 101 Kauravas, had defeated his cousins, the Pandavas (5 brothers - Yudhistir, Bhim, Arjun, Nakul and Sahadev), children of Dhritarashtra's brother Pandu in a game of Chaupad (ancient Ludo) several times. Lord Krishna saved Draupadi from being humiliated in the court by replenishing her Saree when Duryodhan's brother Dushashan started removing it. The Kauravas sentenced the Pandavas to 14 years in exile, out of which the last year was to be spent in hiding. In this timespan, the former unsuccessfully tried to eliminate the latter several times. After the said period of 14 years, the Pandavas decided to fight back, and with a small army, challenged the Kauravas, known famously as the Kurukshetra war. It was here that Lord Krishna played a vital role, being the chief strategist on the Pandavas side. He also became the charioteer of Arjun, the ace archer, and guided him throughout the war. When Arjun hesitates in shooting at Bhishma, the great patriarch of the Hastinapur dynasty, Lord Krishna delivers an elaborate address about the rights and wrongs of life, which has come to be called the "Bhagwad Gita", and is Hinduism's holiest book. The above photo shows Lord Krishna showing his Viraat Roop (Full Form of Lord Vishnu) in the middle of the battle. Finally, when Pandavas win the war, Lord Krishna announces Yudhistir as the new King of Hastinapur. Krishna is said to have left earth for his heavenly abode when a fisherman, mistaking the Lord's foot for a beautiful fish, hit it with an arrow. Now, coming to the part of how all this fits into our evolution process. First of all, both the brothers are brought up in a rural background. As Balaram is always featured with a plough, it is evident that he represents the farming community, which was the next significant stage of human evolution. Krishna, on the other hand, is the complete modern-day strategist, who believes in bending rules if that can benefit the situation. Though the Pandavas are reluctant to fight against their brothers, the Kauravas and a host of other people whom they look upon to as mentors (Bhishma, Drona, etc.), Krishna says that to win the war, killing these people is necessary. Yudhistir, who never lies, is made to tell Drona that Ashwatthama has died, without specifying that it was actually an elephant and not his son. Duryodhana, who became all powerful by getting the rays from his mother Gandhari's eyes, was vulnerable only near his thighs. This was exploited by Krishna, who, seeing that Bhim was losing to Duryodhana, indicated him to attack the thighs in the middle of the duel. This is similar to the modern day cut-throat boardroom member, who goes all out in achieving his goal, and where the ends justify the means. So, the process of evolution till now goes like this: Matsya (fish-aquatic) -> Kurma (tortoise-amphibian) -> Varaaha (boar-mammal) -> Narasimha (half animal - half man) -> Vamana (pygmy-human) -> Parasurama (early man) -> Ram (righteous man) -> Balaram (farmer/villager) -> Krishna (modern day military strategist)
