Krishna Avatar
In Bharatanatyam, Krishna is often shown in this common pose of standing with crossed legs and holding a flute. Usually the cows are grazing or gopis are dancing in the background, enjoying the divine music of his flute. It’s a fairly simple and very iconic image.
His brother Balarama, holding a plough, is often associated with agriculture. According to the story, Balarama once called Yamuna to come to him, but when she refused, he hooked her hair with his plough and dragged her to where he was. I suppose this is metaphorical of revolutionary irrigation techniques involving damming or redirecting river waters for agriculture.
Krishna is strongly associated with animal husbandry, where the cows were said to give more milk just by listening to his flute.
Together, Krishna and Balarama form the duality of the agricultural revolution. They represent a shift from the Vedic beliefs, where the deities Indra and Varuna were worshipped for rain/water, to a state of self reliance and better harnessing the natural resources of land and water. It also represented a shift of mentality in working towards what you wanted instead of waiting for some divine sign or intervention.
Stories within the Mahabharat tell us that when Krishna suggests that the villagers stop worshipping unseen forces like Indra to nurture the known forces of the surrounding environment, he was met with strong resistance to this shift of thought, evidenced by Indra thundering his anger upon the villagers via torrential rains and Krishna protecting the townsfolk under the Govardhana hill.
This sort of “harness/develop your natural resources” attitude is evident once more when Krishna and Balarama help the Pandavas convert the dense forests/arid deserts of Khandavaprastha into the fertile cultivable/livable land of Indraprastha.
Most animals choose to adapt to the environment they are placed in and either die out if the environment has drastic changes or are forced to re-adapt once again. Few animals come to mind that shape their own environment. One is the beaver, which is also MIT’s mascot, is considered to be the Engineer of the natural world owing to its ability to build dams and reshape its eco-system. Another is the termite, which builds giant mounds to help regulate temperature and water.
So, what are the resources sitting unused around you? What are you going to do about them? How have you shaped your environment to better suit your needs?
Isn’t that the true meaning of Engineering?