Kripa (Sanskrit: कृप, Kṛpa in IAST transliteration), also known as Kripacharya (Sanskrit: कृपाचार्य) or Krupacharya or better phonetically written as Kṛpāchārya was the grandson of Rishi Gautama, son of Sharadvat and is one of the seven Chiranjivis. He was born in a particularly extraordinary manner. He along with his sister Kripi were adopted by King Shantanu. Later on Kripa became an acharya, teacher of the royal children, giving him the name Kripacharya. His twin sister Kripi married Drona. Kripa was among the Maharathis who fought on the Kauravas's side against the Pandavas in the Kurukshetra war. He was one of the three survivors remaining from the Kaurava side. Afterwards, he was appointed to be the teacher and preceptor of Parikshit, the grandson of Arjuna. Along with others, Kripa is considered to be foremost among the rishis in Kaliyuga. Kripa will also become one of the Saptarishis in the 8th Manvantara.

Gautama Maharishi had a grandson called Sharadwat. He was born with arrows, making clear he was a born archer. As he matured, he became such a great archer, and began doing penance to become an unbeatable one. This threatened the gods, especially Indra. He then sent a beautiful Apsara, Janapadi, from heaven to distract the celibate saint. Sharadwat was distracted by the sight of such a beautiful woman and lost some control, dropping his weapons and retreating into the forest to undergo more penance. His semen fell on some weeds by the wayside, dividing the weeds into two - from which a boy and a girl were born. The king of Hastinapura, Shantanu was crossing from there and saw the children by the wayside. He named them Kripa and Kripi, and decided to take them back with him to his palace. When Sharadwat came to know of these children he came to the palace, revealed their identity and performed the various rituals which are performed for the children of Brahmins. He also taught the son archery, the Vedas, and other Shastras.

In Udyoga Parva of the Mahabharata, Bhishma declared Kripa as a mighty Maharathi, or a warrior capable of fighting 60,000 warriors simultaneously; circumspect in his mastery of all forms of weapons and combat skills.

As noted in sloka given below, he is one of the seven Chiranjivis (the "immortals" who are to remain alive throughout the Kali Yuga).

मार्कन्देयबलिर्व्यासो अश्वत्थामा:हनुमांश्च| विभीषण:कृपश्चपरशुरामश्च अष्टचिरंजिविन :||

On the 12th day of war

The noble Kripa, son of Sharadwata, with many small arrows resisted Vardhakshemi of the Vrishni race who was the embodiment of wrath (in battle). They that looked at Kripa, son of Sharadwata, with many small arrows, resisted Vardhakshemi of the Vrishni race who was the embodiment of wrath (in battle). They that looked at Kripa and Vardhakshemi, those heroes conversant with every mode of warfare, thus engaged in encountering each other, became so absorbed in it that, they could not attend to anything else.