Keshava (keśava)

Keshava is a name of Krishna, read either as the one with beautiful hair or as the slayer of the horse demon Keshi. Arjuna uses it repeatedly in the Bhagavad Gita, especially in his questions, and the epic's narrators reach for it in scenes of counsel rather than combat. Like most of Krishna's names it works on two levels at once, recalling a childhood exploit in Vrindavan while addressing the god who is explaining the structure of reality.