KRISHNA JANMASHTAMI

Edited by : Priyanka Verma

eISBN : 978-93-5083-548-7
Copyright © 2012 Publisher
Published By Junior Diamond
New Delhi
E-mail : [email protected]
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Krishna Janmashtami Lord Krishna's Birthday

Krishna Janmashtami is a significant Hindu festival. It is celebrated as

the birthday of Lord Krishna— the most adorable deity. Lord Krishna is
known by various names such as Gopal, Kanha, Murari, Murli Manohar,
Govardhan Dhari, Devaki Nandan, Dwarakadheesh, etc. Krishna
Janmashtami is celebrated with great devotion and enthusiasm throughout
the country.
Krishna Janmashtami falls on the Ashtami (eighth day) of Shravan
(August or September) month according to the Hindu calendar. At the time
of Lord Krishna's birth, the Moon entered the Rohini Nakshatra, which is
considered very auspicious.

History of Krishna
Janmashtami
According to Hindu mythology, it is believed that whenever evil
increases on the earth, Lord Vishnu comes to the earth to end the
prevailing evil. In Dwaparyuga, Lord Vishnu came to our planet in the
form of Lord Krishna—His eighth incarnation. Here is the story of Lord
Krishna's birth:

Kansa was the king of Mathura. He was a very powerful and cruel king.
He had a sister named Devaki. Just after Devaki's wedding with Vasudeva,
a strange incident took place. There was a prophecy from the sky, “O
proud King Kansa, your evil life is going to end soon. The eighth child of
Devaki and Vasudeva will end your life.”
Everybody was shocked to hear the prophecy. Kansa became furious. He
decided to kill Devaki but Vasudeva requested him not to kill Devaki. He
promised that he would give his eighth child to Kansa just after his birth.
Kansa spared Devaki's life but he imprisoned the newly wed couple under
a very strict security. Kansa ordered his security guards to give him the
details of all the happenings in Devaki and Vasudeva's life.

Devaki gave birth to her first child. Kansa got the news and reached the
prison. He killed the infant heartlessly in front of Devaki and Vasudeva. In
the same manner, Kansa killed all the seven children of the couple one by
one.
When Devaki was about to give birth to her eighth child, Kansa was
frightened and nervous. He increased the security around the couple.
In the month of Shravan, the night of Ashtami was dark and stormy. At
midnight, the auspicious hour of Lord Krishna's birth arrived. Devaki gave
birth to her eighth child.
Just after his birth, a miracle happened. All the security guards fell
asleep and the gates of the prison opened miraculously. All the chains,
shackles and locks were broken.
Devaki and Vasudeva heard a prophecy, “Vasudeva, your child is not an
ordinary child, and he's the saviour of the Universe. He'll end the
prevailing evil on the earth. But for now, take your child to Gokul and
leave him at Nand's house and bring Nand's daughter here.”
Devaki and Vasudeva were saddened with the thought of leaving their
child somewhere else. But they decided to follow the prophecy for the
well-being of their child.
Vasudeva placed the baby inside a basket and covered it carefully. With
tears in her eyes, Devaki hugged her child lovingly and showered her
blessings on him.
Keeping the basket on his head, Vasudeva started his journey to Gokul.
It was raining very heavily that night. Vasudeva had to cross the river
Yamuna to reach Gokul which was all flooded with the rainwater. It
seemed impossible to cross it.
While Vasudeva was still wondering, suddenly the water of the river got
parted, giving way to Vasudeva. Vasudeva entered the river. Just then,
another miracle happened. The divine serpent of Lord Vishnu—Sheshanag
—emerged from the river. To save the baby from the rainwater, he covered
him by his hood.
Vasudeva reached Gokul safely. With a heavy heart, he left his baby at
Nand's house. He placed Nand's newly born daughter in the basket and
came back to the prison.
The gates of the prison got closed on their own. The locks, shackles and
gates all got back to their normal form. The guards woke up from their
deep sleep. They came to know that Devaki has given birth to a baby girl.
They rushed to deliver the news to King Kansa.
Within no time, King Kansa reached the prison. When he was about to
kill the baby, she slipped from his hands and flew away in the sky. To
Kansa's greatest surprise, the newly born baby spoke something. She said,
“O cruel King Kansa, don't be so proud! Your slayer has already arrived on
the Earth.”
Saying this, the divine baby disappeared in the sky. King Kansa was
shocked to see the sight. Devaki and Vasudeva were also surprised to
watch the magical incident. Kansa began his search to find Devaki's child.
He wanted to kill the child at any cost.
On the other hand, Devaki's son was being brought up at Nand and
Yoshoda's house in Gokul. They named him 'Krishna'. He was an adorable
child. People of Gokul were very fond of Krishna.
For many years, Kansa tried to kill Krishna. He sent various demons to
kill Krishna. But Krishna ended the evil lives of all the demons.
Thereafter, Kansa called Krishna to Mathura, where Lord Krishna ended
the life of Kansa. Lord Krishna destroyed many evil lives and restored the
peace of the Universe.
Lord Krishna delivered precious and divine sermons to Arjuna during
the battle of Mahabharata. His sermons were later compiled as the
Bhagwat Geeta—the most revered Holy Scripture of Hindus.
Krishna Janmashtami
Celebrations
Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated with splendid grandeur throughout
India. On this pious day, people keep fast (Vrata) for the whole day and
worship Lord Krishna. The houses are cleaned and decorated, especially
the place of worship. The baby idol of Lord Krishna, which is popularly
called as 'Bal Gopal', is placed in a cradle. People create beautiful
miniature representation called 'Jhankhi' by clay and toys depicting the
scenes of birth of Krishna and village Gokul. Various delicacies like,
makhana kheer, coconut burfi, shrikhand etc are prepared on this day.

The temples are beautifully decorated for the festival. Lord Krishna's
baby idol, 'Bal Gopal', is placed in a huge cradle. The cradle is decorated
with fresh flowers and other embellishments.
In the evening, people gather at temples. Children dress up like Krishna,
Radha and gopies to perform ras leela and matkiphod game. Women sing
bhajans of Lord Krishna. At midnight, priests of temples perform the
rituals of Krishna Janm, followed by Aarti. We all love to see the baby
form of Lord Krishna and move his cradle lovingly. After the celebration
of Krishna Janm, people break their fast and eats prasad. On this pious
day, we remember the divine acts of Lord Krishna and worship him whole-
heartedly.
Krishna Janmashtami in Mathura and Vrindavan
Mathura, Vrindavan and Gokul are the places associated with Lord
Krishna's birth and childhood. Hence, this festival is celebrated with great
enthusiasm and devotion at these places.
The temples, houses, roads and every corner of these towns are
decorated like a bride. On this festival, special pujas and yajnas are
performed in the temples. People from all over the country gather at
Vrindavan to visit the most popular Bankey Bihari Temple, Krishna Janma
Bhoomi and other temples of Lord Krishna.
The most attractive feature of this festival is the game of Matki, which
is associated with the childhood mischief of Lord Krishna. As a child,
Lord Krishna loved eating butter. In those days, women used to prepare
butter at home by churning the cream. The pots of the butter were hanged
very high to protect it from the reach of children and animals. Lord
Krishna's friends used to make human pyramids for him and he used to
climb up to steal butter from the houses of Gokul.
This adorable mischief of Krishna is still remembered through this
game. In this game, the matki (pot) of butter is hanged very high and the
teams of young boys make human pyramids. Then, one of them tries to
climb up and reach to the matki. The team that succeeds in breaking the
matki is declared the winner. This game is very popular in Mathura,
Vrindavan and also in the cities of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
The Indians settled abroad also celebrates this festival with the same
spirit. In almost all the countries where Indians are living, Lord Krishna's
temples have been built. In these temples, Krishna Janmashtami is
celebrated in the same manner.
This divine festival is celebrated with great fervour and zeal.
Throughout the year, we eagerly wait for this festival. We should
celebrate this festival with pure devotion and pray to Lord Krishna to bless
us and fill our planet with love, peace, truth and righteousness.