According to Puranas, Nanda (Sanskrit: नंद) is head of a tribe of cowherds referred as Holy Gwals and foster-father of Krishna, who was allegedly given to him by Vasudeva. Nanda was married to Yasoda. Krishna derives his name Nandalal (meaning son of Nanda) from him.
Nanda was a half-brother of the Buddha, the son of Åšuddhodana and Maha Pajapati Gotami. He had a reputation as a handsome man, and was going to be married to Janapadakalyani, when the Buddha enticed him to become a monk on the day of his wedding. Nanda had to abandon his bride-to-be in order to follow the Buddha, a scene which is often represented in Greco-Buddhist art.