Krishna: The Matrix of the Wise Old Man

This article reads Krishna through the perspective myths and archetypes. Carl Gustav Jung postulates different archetypes in his <i>Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious </i>which are the building blocks of myths. He argues that the wise old man stands as a dominant archetype in different narratives. Consequently, <i>The Mahabharata</i> unveils its messages through the archetypes. Similarly, this study explores Krishna as a wise old man to the Pandavas. It also digs out the multidimensionality of Krishna who grooms the Pandavas as the winners. He rises as the counselor, guide and peace ambassador. In the same way, he psychologically motivates Arjuna for his real action through the <i>Gita Darsana</i>. Additionally, he manifests the proactive role killing Sisupal to make the <i>Rajasuya</i> a grand success and creating illusionary sunset to terminate Jayadrath with the help of the <i>Sudarsana</i>. This study fundamentally deals with these research questions: How does Krishna bring changes as he arrives into the life of the Pandavas? In what way does he breach the code for empowering his mentees? How does he manifest his guardianship during the Post Kurukshetra combat? His roles as the proactive mentor, psychosocial motivator and peace ambassador are used as the research tools. Similarly, the objectives are: to justify Krishna as a Jungian wise old man, to point out his strategic move to empower the Pandavas and to explore the long-term effect of his assistance in their life. This research does not incorporate Krishna’s role that remains away from the Pandavas. Moreover, it has used hermeneutic phenomenology as the research methodology because it relates subjective insight of the author. Finally, <i>The Mahabharata</i> consists of archetypal characters, archetypal actions and archetypal themes. It carries its themes through the underlying pattern of myths and archetypes.