incarnation of Vishnu, one of the three chief deities of Hinduism. In Bhagavad-Gita, a majorHindu religious poem written sometime between the fifth and second century b.c., Krishna appeared as the charioteer for Arjuna, a general about to fight an epic battle. In his dialogue with Arjuna, Krishna conveys the teachings of God as they relate to Arjuna's situation. He spoke of immortality through birth and rebirth, of the essential beingness of God in every person which does not die with the body and cannot be affected by the feelings o f the body, such as heat and cold, pleasure and pain, and of how one must accept these feelings with an even mind if one is to be worthy of immortality. —Creation of Human Ability Glossary (app 10.7.90)