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Lakshmi Narasimhan • March 7, 2003 


Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

Krishna, in sanskrit, means black or dark. Sukhlam means white. 
Sukhla paksham is that phase of the moon towards a Pournami(full 
moon) and Krishna paksham is that phase of the moon towards amavasya
(new-moon, darkness). Draupadi's original name was Krishna based on 
her dark/black complexion as she came out of an yagnyam performed by 
drupadan. Similarly Lord Krishna was called so due to his very 
nature:) And I guess this got carried over to tamizh too i.e Kannan. 
Usually when we say "Kan", though it refers to the eyes, it is 
usually considered to be the pupil i.e the Kan-mani which is black in 
color. And hence, kannan - the one who looks like the pupil - that 
which is black and that is also beautiful(his eyes are famous for 
that - as Shri Aandal says, "kadaikkan ennum siraikkolaal":)

Also, one may ask, why is it always mentioned that the lord is black 
in color, while he is compared to thousand suns and is also mentioned 
to be gold in color? I know I am not supposed to tell something of my 
own, but, I am just sharing what I have experienced. May be this 
would sound silly, and I request everyone to forgive me for the same. 
When I was in school, I used to see the Sun with the naked eyes(while 
I was all excited about the study of lenses). As I recollect, I 
remember that when one sees the sun with naked eyes, after constantly 
looking at it for quite a while, one wouldn't see a bright and golden 
sun, but would actually see a black ball. Whether it is due to the 
limitation of eye or illusion or whatever, it doesn't really matter
(or, may be it used to happen only to me;). If this is the case with 
this sun that we see in our day to day life, then one might think of 
the plight of those who see the real sun, the lord, all the time -
 "Sadaaa Pashyanthi! Soorayahaa" with the eternal eyes "Diveeva 
Chakshuraathatham" - it makes me say, no wonder they see him as black 
and beautiful:).

Any mistakes are solely due to my ignorance, and I request the 
learned members to forgive me and correct me.

Yatheendra Pravanam Vandhe RAMYA Jaamaataram Munim

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan,
Lakshmi Narasimhan

--- In bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com, narasimhan kannan 
 wrote:
> To 
> Harini Cadambi
> this point used to make me wonder, what is the meaning
> of Kannan in Tamil.My late Father was called Kannan
> and just before his death I asked him what does Kanna
> mean and He said with a smile-Kanna in tamil refers to
> dark complexion and naturally as I was dark my parents
> named me Kannan.Lord Krishna was so dark that that
> there is story in Vrindavan about him.After Krisna s
> time a temple was constructed in Vrindavana and then
> Aniruddhas wife was taken to temple,and she looked
> only at the complexion of the Lord and said -Oh he,My
> Grand father in law used to be as Dark as this
> Lord.The Lord took the complexion of darkness to
> remove our the darkness of our minds.This temple is
> still there and devotees in Vrindavana even now during
> kartik purnima month go on akhand Parikrama of
> brindavan including this temple.And in Our Rang Ji
> Mandir (built by Goverdhan Rangharji-Andal rangamannar
> temple)the lord is absolutely jet black.
> narasimhan  
> --- Harini Cadambi  wrote: >
> adiyen ramanjuja dasan
> > namaskar
> > 
> > can anyone of you tell me why is Lord Krishna
> > addressed as 'kannan' in tamil.
> > 
> > rgds,
> > harini
> > 
> > 
> 
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