The Ten Incarnations
 The Story
of
the conquest of Vaishnavism
  over the buddhists &Christians in India

BalaRama 

Balarama as the elder brother of Krishna.  Peace loving elder to killer Krishna.

Balarama ( Baladeva, Balabhadra and Halayudha) is the elder brother of Krishna. Most South Indian Hindu traditions and many branches of Vaishnavism regard Balarama as being the ninth avatar of Vishnu. In either tradition, Balarama is acknowledged as being a manifestation of Shesha, the divine serpent on whom Vishnu rests. The Sesa – the eternal Serpent is the adhara-sakti (supporter-power) and form the bedstead of Visnu.and is in the category of God (Visnu-tattva).  It is difficult to say whether Sesha or Vishnu are more primal.  At any rate Sesa the globes is  considered as avesa-Avatara (absorption-avatara) of Krsna (or Sankarsana) 

Balarama holds a plough instead of a war tool.  Ananda Goswami seems to interpret the plough a cross and considers Baladeva (Almight God) as the second person in the Trinity.  This is shown more clearly in the Jagnath Puri Trnity.

   Images of Lord Jagannath - the Lord of the Universe, his sister Subhadra and brother Balbhadra

In the Bhagavata Purana it is described that after Balarama took part in the battle that caused the destruction of the rest of the Yadu dynasty, and after he witnessed the death of  Krishna, with the arrow of the hunter, Balabhadra Rama  sat down and in his agony departed from this world by producing a great white snake from his mouth.

There are 27 salaka purushas in jainism. Out these the nine Baladevas are righteous Jainas who are strictly based on non-violence – ahimsa In Harivamsa he is called Balabhadra.

The Vasudevas are half brothers of the Baladevas.  They are also half-Ckravartins – half brothers of full Cackravartins.  Vasudevas are reborn in the next reincarnation as Thirthankaras.  Prati Vasudevas like Ravana and Jarasandhas are Jaina Kings who obtain power through their knowledge – Vidya…   They misuse power and are slain by the Vasudevas.  They are reborn in hell.  Vasudevas are the ideal Jain Kings, while the Baladevas are the lay power of Ahimsa and abstains from social violences that are inherent in every society.  Baladevas are found in Kappa Sutta which predates the Jaina  Vaishnava interaction at Mathura.  In general the titles Vasudeva and Baladeva are formal titles of people in the society with qualities of leadership corresponding to the description.

 “The Vasudeva represents the ideal Jaina King, who protects the Jaina society but unlike the Cakracartin, is not so perfect as to be able to attain liberation in this life.  The Baladeva, on the other hand, represents the detached layman who does not participate in the violence inherent in the broader society.  Perhaps these two represent ideal types for the two elements that made up early and medieval Jaina society, the Kshtriyas and the Vaisyas.  While the Ksatriyas sacrificed their own chances of liberation in this life time in order to maintain and further Jaina society, the Vaisyas stayed aloof from politics and warfare and sought to further both their own spiritual well-being and that of the Jaina society in general through strict adherence to ahimsa.”

 Encyclopaedia of Hinduism  Nagendra Kumar Singh