Balarama
Balarama is included in the Dashavatara list in the Shiva Purana as one of the ten avatars. In the Garuda Purana, Balarama substitutes Vamana.
↻ synthesized from 8 sources
When
- First attested
- 1500 BCE
- Attested period
- -1500 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Vedic period texts mention Vishnu.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Narsimha, Parashurama, Prithu, Mohini, Yajna, Dattatreya, Nagalakshmi, Nityananda, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Sankarshana, Kakudmi, Subhadra, Kanjirottu Yakshi, Kalindi, Vāsudeva, Saṃkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Samba, The Fish, The Tortoise, The Boar, The Man-Lion, The Dwarf, Parasurama, Krisna, Vamana, Rama, Buddha, Kalki, Ravana, Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Kamsa, Dhanvantari, Kapila, Lakshmi, Garuda, Kadru, Lakshmana, Narasimha, Brahma, Kaśyapa, Sūrya, Narayana
- consort of
- Revatī
- served by
- Samvartaka, Saumanda
- allied with
- Yamuna
- syncretized with
- Ananta
Mentioned by
- The Fish
- The Tortoise
- The Boar
- The Man-Lion
- The Dwarf
- Parasurama
- Krisna
- Vamana
- Rama
- Buddha
- Kalki
- Ravana
- Matsya
- Kurma
- Varaha
- Kamsa
and 17 more
Sources
Source passages
“Apparent disagreements concerning the placement of either the Buddha or Balarama in the Dashavarara seems to occur from the Dashavarara list in the Shiva Purana (the only other list with ten avatars including Balarama in the Garuda Purana substitutes Vamana, not Buddha).”
#17618 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Balarama, the elder brother of Krishna, is sometimes featured as an avatar of Vishnu, replacing Buddha, though he is also widely considered in other traditions to be a form of Shesha”
#22325 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“Brahma comforted him and added that Vishnu was currently on Earth in the forms of Krishna and Balarama and he recommended Balarama as a worthy husband for Revati.”
#29238 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“depicting Vasudeva Krishna, Balarama, and their sister Ekanamsha”
#30697 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“The Bhagavata Purana equates Shesha and Balarama: With intent to do what pleases Sri Hari, the thousand-headed and self-effulgent Lord Ananta (the serpent-god Sesa), a part manifestation of Lord Vasudeva, will precede Him (as His elder brother).”
#35334 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5