Parallels: Krishna & JJK

Spoiler Level: 20/ 10. I draw insights on Jujutsu Kaisen, from the manga, too.

Spoiler Level: 1/10. Fate Stay / night.

I reference Wikipedia to explain my views on Krishna - in truth, most of my knowledge of him is anecdotal, and memory based.

Krishna was everywhere - in the books I read, in the comics I read, in the painting on the wall, in the dance I did, in the language people used, and in paintings on other's walls.

If memes are viral, Krishna predates them.

The person in JJK who is the most similar to him is Satoru Goju, and then Yuta.

Last chance to finish the manga first, this analysis is spoiler heavy.

Good Looking.

I've heard Satoru Goju described on YouTube as a 'pretty boy', and while that makes sense as an aesthetic, I think he is just good looking.

I suspect, he is given more allure subconsciously on behalf of the beholder, because he is #1.

While both Aoi Todo, and Toji, are muscular, Satoru's trinity of being reserved, comical, and weirdly strong gives him more pop than Aoi Todo's immature outlook, or Toji's aloofness.

I would say his looks make sense because his personality shines through.

His gait, lankiness and mannerisms, are "objectively" speaking, not appealing.

Compare Satoru to Aoi Todo's physique, and the amount of hate Todo gets.

Aoi Todo loves instigating fights with people if they give a boring answer to the question 'What's your type of woman?'

Fushigoro says 'someone with character', and gets rushed. The hero says 'Jennifer Lawrence' and Aoi Todo calls him his brother for the rest of the series.

Point being, due to this actively combative nature of being the best by fighting the best, I feel he gets a hard time, even though he is better looking than Satoru, and Satoru is even worse in that regard.

While Todo picks fights with interesting people to understand them, Satoru doesn't pick on the weak, because he is not interested in boredom.

The underlying principle is the same, it's just that the below hunk is more ugly than the eyes above.

This is important to understand Krishna's characterization.

He is the god of compassion and love, but is also shown heroically at times.

Statistically, and theologically, he wasn't the only person of strength - his time was the golden age of sorcery a time of universal prodigious strength, with every other person being a legendary warrior.

Sometimes, Krishna is shown in paintings, as chubby*.

Hence, retrospectively, I believe Krishna's personality stood the test of time, not his physique.

Assassination Attempts.

People have been trying to kill Krishna for a long time, but no one succeeded.

I have heard of these stories as a child. Stereotypically anyone brought up as a Hindu, or in a dominantly Hindu culture, would know this. Here's a great example in spirit:

Of course, the same is said of Satoru Goju.

He was sent on several risky missions (due to his power, and a lack of willingness to be political), while being a lifelong magnet for a bounty.

It's revealed later on, that Kenjaku would kill any baby born with both Limitless and Six Eyes of the Lark, every 1000 years, until Kenjaku's plan was ready**.

Prodigious Talent and being #1

I heard that as a toddler, when he yawned, Yashoda fainted after seeing the universe in Krishna's mouth.

Not factual enough, but this will have to do for this article.

Typically, Krishna's vishwaroopam*** is something to be feared, as the way I understand it, he becomes God on earth. Not just metaphorically, but metaphysically.

This form is typically visualized with several heads, several weapons, several arms, and a gigantic size.

But I suspect it's an overwhelming power that the human artist can only aspire to categorize as something God like, or big.

The more, the better! Now, let's detour to Satoru.

Satoru Goju ability lies in manipulating space, and in addition to being the strongest, his domain expansion is Infinite Void.****

This is how I understand Domain Expansion - it's the auric extension of a person's spiritual body, expanding into reality.

That's it. But, the effects are huge.

For one thing, it's invisible to normal people, because it's an aura. Second, it would be a manifestation of the person, and the way they perceive the world.

Going back to Satoru Goju, I believe his aura manipulates space (thanks to his ability, Limitless) all around him.

Assuming that his ability interferes at the atomic level, his domain allows people caught in it to move at his mental speed.

They can't, though, leading to an overload of information, and they freeze in space.

From their perspective, they have access to all the information in the universe, and so enter an information paradox: they can't do anything. They become useless gods.

Additionally, I suspect the reason they freeze is because the information pours in, vegetating the person over time through a sensory overload. People untrained (like civilians) enter a coma, and I suspect villains just freeze, incapable of perceiving everything in the world, let alone act on it.

Do you see where I am going with this?

I believe this is the most realistic, and artistic expression I have ever seen, or heard of, about Yashoda fainting when her adoptee yawns, because the entire universe was contained in it.

For this insight, alone, I believe Jujutsu Kaisen deserves more credit in both anime, and among the media of this decade.

With Japan and India having dharma relations through Chinese culture, and Buddhism, there are a lot of references to Buddhas in anime, and Hindu gods.

Anime, in particular, seems to draw a lot from myth, such as a female Arthur and Ishkandar, with his pocket dimension of loyal phalanxes.

The parallel between Krishna and Satoru Goju, however, feels like at the core, there's a reference to a trope that is universal, and therefore invisible to all, because the trope has been encoded perfectly in 2 very different ways.

Well done.

Mischief.

Krishna is known to have stolen butter as a child, and the clothes of girls (while they were busy bathing). Even in Maayabazaar, he laughs a lot, relative to the situational tension of brewing conflict.

Satoru Goju, for all intents and purposes, is never around until needed, and then comes happy, with a wise crack or two.

Satoru is funny, borderline insensitive and taunts his opponents into making mistakes.

Like for Krishna (Maayabzaar version), I believe Satoru uses mockery, to hide a pacifist and calculating approach to the problem at hand.

Other times, his callous attitude conceals a test for the student, to see if they can live up to his assessments and expectations while learning for themselves. You can see this in Krishna taunting Ghatothkacha, and Satoru "abandoning" his students in extreme situations, while buying sweets. (That's another thing - both Satoru and Krishna like dopamine)

Satoru Goju doesn't steal, and doesn't hit on girls, but the underlying theme is a 100% parallel of knowing that what he does will go unpunished.

Having a #1 around is useful 😄

"Who would bother with that public nuisance?" - Panda, after Satoru Goju is captured.

Strategical prowess.

While being logical, Satoru displays a strong sense of strategy, and people reading.

For example, in JJK Zero, he correctly anticipates Geto's bluff. In addition, he correctly anticipates Yuta's final awakening as something linked to watching his friends suffer.

Krishna, in my opinion, displayed strong machiavellian tendencies - he perceived people really well, and was very good at arranging the situation to maximize the odds of the Pandavas in a systemic way. I have been wondering if he had a spy network, too.

Finally, it was Krishna who chastised Arjuna, and praised Karna's compassion - I find this interesting, because true empathy has a sense of acceptance of people as they are, not as they wish to be seen, nor how they are judged by society.

My perception of Krishna, also aligns very closely with Satoru's calm way of dissecting a problematic situation, and methodically solving all sub-problems, in order to save as many lives as possible.

You can see this when he breaks the barrier stopping him when the villains invade the school, and again when the Disaster Spirits are tasked with keeping him occupied for 20 minutes.

I don't recall Krishna panicking even once, in Maayabazar.

Moral Alignment & Character Complexities.

I am not sure why Krishna took away the clothes of girls while they were bathing. The reasons could be many - from being an obstacle, to a darker, more insensitive joy in not caring about their troubles, and then, the imagination gets morally worse.

Krishna is not always regarded as a hero. While finding sources, seems like Krishna is shown more negatively in the Jain tradition, and even appears in Buddhism.

Wikipedia states he might be a composite of several similar people, and this makes sense to me, a 100%.

For example, while Krishna is known to have stolen the clothes of bathing girls to trouble them, I also think he is the patron God of hermaphrodites (kojjas) in India. Wikipedia knowledge, again - I never asked a Kojja who he prayed to.

But it adds up perfectly, since his personality has a perfume of invitation, to all. I am wondering if the girls who prayed for rescue to Krishna, asking for Rakshasa-Vivaham, actually regretted their choices at all.

For one, they can just live in the palace. In a world where masculinity is everything, and everything comes with strings attached to power, I am not surprised if some people just want to retire in the palace, and not worry about their life.

For them, Krishna might have represented a safe haven, which would explain why Kojjas pray to him, to escape prosecution and daily judgement.*****

Satoru, shows a very dark side when fighting spirits. For one, he delights in combat.

It's as though he's been given a new toy, and maybe now he can go all out.

Secondly, while his attacks are perfect, and never show callous or unnecessary disregard for any life, he also smiles when being violent. It's clear that the job comes with perks for him, which is to push himself.

Three, while he learns how to use positive energy, there's a huge difference in how he, Yuta and Yuji approach combat.

Yuji, the hero of Jujutsu Kaisen, is extremely uncomfortable with the idea of killing. This is why Sukuna gets so much happiness in killing by possessing Yuji - Sukuna gets to kill, and he gets to laugh at Yuji's suffering at his body being used by a demon, leading to double-sadism for Sukuna's malice.

Yuta, is an extreme of compassion - he kills, but goes through extreme lengths even during dangerous combat to avoid providing the killing blow.

He sees his job as providing a way for spirits to pass on, whether by killing with positive energy, negative energy, or by simply listening to their problems during combat, in case they are determined to self-destruct. Unlike Satoru, he can heal others.

Interestingly enough, Geto even accuses Yuta of being a womanizer - though he is just spiritually compassionate.

A reminder that Krishna is the god of tenderness and compassion, though let's stick to Satoru.

For now!

Krishna was very happy when he came to know that Karna had given away his sun-armor, as this made Arjuna's chances skyrocket.******

I believe, in hindsight, that Krishna wanted a peaceful resolution, and a happy ending, for all.

In the end, though, when push came to shove, he sided with those he felt had a moral high ground.

Similarly, Satoru Goju always aligns with dharma, or the heroes, and against the malicious use of negative energy, which often puts him at odds with management, malicious politics, and the villains.

Karmic Rarity and Relevance.

Curse users stopped attacking people, due to the terror of being caught after Satoru's birth.

Additionally, game theory wise, the power balance shifted - with 1 person being invincible, the odds were severely against all major and minor spiritual villains.

The same is true for all of Vishnu's avatars, of which Krishna is one - these avatars are born at a time of strife, and are God on earth.

The way I see it, the 'times of strife' happen all the time, but climax to a certain unbearable level of suffering for all, until 1 person steps up.

From a philopshical standpoint, I believe this hero is both a culmination of a lot of work he doesn't do, and his own actions. This is a theme present in many modern works, too.

The first avatar is a fish, and as a maternal cousin once noted when I was a child, the avatars become biologically complex over time. She said they start with a fish, and start end up being a child, a bachelor, a married man, a god-hero, an ascetic (buddha), and a guy on a horse.

Krishna is the God-hero.

The point here is, though, that these avatars are rare through time - only 9 have happened since the beginning of time, with the last avatar coming later, to a crisis near you.

Instead of referencing Vedic terms, I used her insight to show how rare an avatar is.

Let's talk about why Satoru Goju is rare.

The way I understand his abilities, is that for all of them to manifest, a member of the Gojo clan needs to have these genetic abilities:

1. Limitless - the ability to manipulate space
2. Six Eyes of the Lark - the ability to see cursed energy

As a writer, I am not fully convinced both are necessary for his abilities to be functional, but the way I see it, G. Akutami deemed it so.

Anyway, these 2 abilities happen in 1 person, every 1000 years.

The way Hinduism looks at its avatars, as someone who destroys evil every-so-often, is a 100% fit with JJK as a whole, and Satoru Goju's character.

Conclusion

Krishna and Satoru have too much in common:

1. Killer looks - everyone loves Satoru and Krishna.
2. Omnipotence - Krishna's Vishwaroopam, relative to Satoru's Limitless.
3. Machiavellian tendencies, masked by mysteriousness - No one can really tell what either is upto, and so they remain untrusted at times. Both are always right, and their side always wins.
4. Rarity of existence - Krishna is 1 of 9 avatars; someone of Satoru's Goju's abilities is born once in 1000 years.
5. Tendency to eat sugar - Satoru Goju loves sugar, Krishna, butter.
6. Prone to suffering, and intense compassion - Krishna protecting Draupadi's modesty, and Satoru's desire for all of his students to have a fun childhood, something he lacked due to his status.
7. Social status - Krishna was a prince. Satoru is the heir to the Gojo clan, one of the 3 major Japanese clans. Both are stinking rich.
8. Tendency to poke fun, and, laugh at allies and villains - Krishna dancing on Kaliya's head, and Satoru sitting on Sukuna.

I rest my case.

Below are the references I found, best as I could find. Have a good day!

References

*Picture of Krishna, takes you to wikipedia.

**Manga, if I remember correctly.

***From my experience growing up in India. Wikipedia has more thoughts.

****My interpretation of Satoru's Domain Expansion. I feel G. Akutami would disagree with this interpretation.

*****I feel like I read this somewhere, verbatim. Either way, Arjuna is shown as a cross-dresser, Bruhannala, in Kuchipudi. Here is a link to why Krishna marries a guy in Mahabharata, as Mohini. The link takes to you to the wikipedia page on Hijras.

******I would also recommend checking out The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma by Gurcharan Das.

If you are above 13, ask an Indian friend about Amar Chitra Katha.

From JJK wiki, on his strategical prowess.