Krishna means "all-attractive." This is the Lord's name because His transcendental qualities make Him very attractive. The Lord is sometimes called guna-karma-nama because He is named according to His transcendental activities. As a small boy He lifted Govardhana Hill, and in His childhood He killed many demons. Such activities are very attractive, and therefore He is sometimes called Giridhari, Madhusudana, Agha-nisudana and so on. Because He acted as the son of Nanda Maharaja, He is called Nanda-tanuja. The Lord performs such activities to show people how great He is, how affectionate He is and how merciful He is. Although His original name is Krishna (krishnas tu bhagavan svayam [Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.28]), He acts in unlimited ways, and therefore according to His work He has many, many thousands of names.In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Shri Krishna is addressed by various names. We shall now learn a few of these names and the pastime related to each of these names.
