Krishna, one of the most widely revered and most popular of all Indian divinities, worshiped as the eighth incarnation (avatar) of the Hindu god Vishnu and also as a supreme god in his own right. He is often described and portrayed as an infant or young boy playing a flute as in the Bhagavata Purana, or as a youthful prince giving direction and guidance as in the Bhagavad Gita. The stories of Krishna appear across a broad spectrum of Hindu philosophical and theological traditions. As a youth, the cowherd Krishna became renowned as a lover, the sound of his flute prompting the gopis (wives and daughters of the cowherds) to leave their homes to dance ecstatically with him in the forests.