Lord Krishna and Yadavs

[ravi chandrasekhara]

Dear Advaita-List members,

The Yadavs have been prominent in the media lately.
Who are they exactly ? I've heard they  belong to the
Sudra varna but are descendents of Krishna.

Krishna is a Yadava Kshatriya from Yadu, son of
Yayati.  I have also heard that when Arjuna was taking
the remainder of the Yadavas back to Mathura from
Dwaraka, they were attacked by the Abhira tribals;
descendents of the progeny of the tribals and captured
Yadavas are Yadavs, hence which would make them
Sudras.

Also there are certain cow-hearder jatis of the Sudra
varna which call themselves Yadavas, probably in honor
Bhagawan Shri Krishna, as he was a cow-hearder in his
youth when raised by his foster parents Nanda and
Yashoda, rather than being his descendants.

What varna did Nanda and Yashoda belong to being
cow-hearders ? Are they of the modern-day Ahir jati
(belonging to Sudra varna ?) seen in Haryana and UP ?

If it is true that those who are Yadavs, Ahirs, and
Abhiras are descendants Shri Krishna, then why dont
they undergo upanayana and wear the yagnopaveeta and
are considered backward castes and how did they lose
their kshatriya status ?

Thank you for responses in advance.

Pranam, Ravi Chandrasekhara MD




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