Sri Krishna Janmashtami (12 August 2020)
In Nutshell
The birthday of Lord Krishna, Shri Krishna Janmashtami, is celebrated with great reverence and enthusiasm throughout Bharat in the month of August. It is also known as Janmashtami or Gokulashtami, in which Hindus celebrate the birth of Shri Krishna as the eighth avatar of Vishnu. It is celebrated on the eighth day (Ashtami) of Krishna Paksha in Shravan or Bhadrapada according to the Hindu lunar calendar.
It is one of the holiest festivals of Hindus, especially Hindus following the Vaishnava tradition. According to the life story of Krishna described in the Bhagavata Purana, this festival is celebrated on the occasion of Krishna’s birth at midnight through fasting, night awakening and dance-drama performances and mid-night devotional singing.
The center of Janmashtami festival is particularly Mathura and Vrindavan but, now, it has become a global festival. It is one of the major Vaishnavites and non-communal communities found in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, all other states of India. Important festival. The Krishna Janmashtami festival comes after the Nandotsav, which is celebrated in commemoration of the day when Nanda Baba distributed gifts to people in celebration of Krishna’s birth.
Points to Ponder
- There are four major events in history, the siege of Troy, the life of Christ and his hanging on the cross, the exile of Krishna in Vrindaban and the dialogue with Arjuna on the plain of Kurukshetra. The siege of Troy created Hellas (Greece), the exile in Brindavan created devotional religion … Christ crucified the New Europe, and now the dialogue of Kurukshetra would liberate humanity. Yet it is said that none of these incidents ever happened. Krishna, the Icon of bliss, love and devotion as God, reveals the union of knowledge, and furthers earth-growth through the unification of the divine by bliss, love and devotion.
-Shri Aurobindo: Jutta Zimmerman, The Bhagavad Gita in a Living Experience, Lantern Books, 2002
- Every new cosmic cycle brings a teacher to the world. – We too are entering a new era now – the Age of Aquarius. People like Hercules and Hermes, Rama, Mitra, Vyas, Zoroaster, Confucius, Krishna, Shankaracharya, Buddha, Christ, Mohammed – who are all religious leaders and all of them come from the same spiritual center of the same mysterious home, called the spiritual, esoteric or called hierarchy which is made up of gurus and their proponents and disciples of different levels.
– Benjamin Cream in the Ageless Wisdom: An Introduction to Humanities Spiritual Legacy, Share International (1996), p.6
- In the family of religions, Hinduism is a wise old mother. Its sacred books, the Vedas give the message, ‘Truth is one, but sages call it by different names.’ If Islam, and all other monotheistic ‘book’ religions, had learned that lesson, then all the terror of the religious wars of history could have been avoided. Krishna has said in the Bhagavad Gītā, “All paths ultimately lead to me”.
-Robert R. C. Zehner “A Tribute to Hinduism: Thoughts and Wisdom Spanning Contents and Time in India and His Culture”, Pragun Publications, 2008, p.154
- You should worship self in Krishna, not Krishna as Krishna.
Swami Vivekananda: Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (Volumes 1-9)
- Krishna’s character is unique – whatever he did, with all his energy and meditation with his whole mind; He saved nothing for the latter’s needs. He chanted people to become Gods, but people are sad because they have forgotten the importance of total sacrifice. The sacrifice does not ask for his body to be given to others, rather it is the act of dedicating himself fully to what he does.
-Ram Manohar Lohia Bharatmata in Prithvi Mata, Lokbharati Publications, Allahabad, 2002
Krishna’s Influence and importance
All Vaishnava traditions consider Krishna as the eighth avatar of Vishnu; Others identify Krishna with Vishnu, while some traditions of Hinduism consider Krishna to be the Swayambhu God in the same form as the concept of Brahma in Hinduism.
There are 63 Shalakapurusha or eccentric figures in the Jainism tradition, among them twenty-four Tirthankaras (spiritual teachers) and nine triad groups. One of these triads considers Krishna as Vasudeva, Balarama as Balarama, and Jarasandha as Prithvi-Vasudeva.
The story of Krishna is found in Jataka tales in Buddhism. The Vidurapandita Jataka mentions Madhura (Sanskrit: Mathura), Kansa in the Ghat Jataka, Devagabha (Sanskrit: Devaki), Upasagara or Vasudeva, Govadhana (Sanskrit: Govardhana), Baldev (Balarama) and Kanha or Keshava.
Krishna is mentioned as an avatar in twenty-four incarnations in the Dasam Granth, traditionally and historically written on Guru Govind Singh.
Baha’is believe that Krishna was “one of the incarnations of God” or one of the series of promoters who have revealed the word of God progressively to a gradually maturing humanity.
What His life teaches us
In all incarnations of Lord Vishnu, Krishna and Rama are the avatars on this land, in which they have shown the path of righteous conduct to the people through their actions. This is the land where whenever there is erosion of religion, God incarnates on this land to restore Dharma and takes the role as the situation warrants.
In Treta Yuga, people used to follow religion by looking at the example of ideal life, so in that era, Maryada Purushottam Shri Rama was born, who kept the ideals of life even after keeping their relations separate. In Dwapara Yuga, it was not enough to just show examples, it was also necessary to teach religion the way to prepare to punish the unrighteous. Hence Krishna stood in favour of religion and helped the Pandavas to win in Kurukshetra.
When we look at God, and how we worship him, we can understand many aspects. A person who is a devotee of Krishna makes Krishna everything in his life, fills his life with love, floats in a sea of happiness and eventually attains salvation. We can not stop just with them. Since Krishna has a history of life, how he conducted himself, what steps he took to achieve certain things, it helps us learn many things from His life.
Embodiment of Love
After coming to Mathura, Krishna made many ties to establish strong relations among the people. The name Krishna itself means “Karshayati iti Krishna: that which attracts”.
He enchanted every one whoever came along in his life. By mischievous conduct like stealing butter, milk etc. from the homes of others, he enchanted housewives. By killing many demons, he inspired his friends and all people, by helping many times he attracted many friends, by his form and music flowing out of flute, he endeared many young girls, and he attracted cows. Not only in his childhood, all through his life we see him spreading love for the righteous people. Text:
Communicate love, eventually it will come back to you is what we learn here. The world is like a mirror. What you give will come back. Always be positive, spread love to those around you. You will eventually become cute.
An Ideal Leader
The Gopalakas (Cowherds) of Mathura worshiped Lord Indra (King of all Gods) every year. Krishna suggested worshiping Govardhan hill which helps him in many ways by providing food for his cows but Indra became enraged by this act and wanted to punish him. He sent the concurrent clouds and ordered them to rain heavily. It rained with terrible thunder for about seven days.
Lord Krishna lifted the hill and gave shelter to the people. With this, Indra’s false pride was broken into pieces and recalled all the clouds.
Thus, he exemplifies the principle of A leader should always stand with his people, show the right path and be present when needed.
Respect and protect nature
In Mathura, there is a lake called Kalindi in the sub-part of Yamuna River. At this lake, there used to be a snake named Kalia, whose perilous poison had heated the water of the lake. The gases emanated by the heating of the water made the river useless and those who accidentally tasted the water would die. Krishna went towards that lake and started riding and dancing on the head of that huge snake, which made the snake unconscious. They brought him alive and inspired him to go away from the river so that no one would be disturbed, in doing so also pleased the wives of that serpent and praised Krishna.
We should not taint nature. Rivers give us life by giving water. It is the responsibility of everyone to protect it. In fact, this is also the main concept behind the Pushkar festival celebrated every 12 years for major rivers in this country.
Stand by Dharma, even if it is weak
The Kauravas did not give half of the empire to the Pandavas, of whom they were entitled. Duryodhana wanted his dominion over the entire kingdom. Krishna favoured the Pandavas and supported them in every way. Helped them to strengthen and enhance their stand. This included killing small enemies, making new friends for the Pandavas and making war a war through political strategies.
Stand up for what is right, no matter how weak it is.
Respect Women
Throughout his life, Krishna always protected women.
The story of Ashtavakri – Before killing Kansa in Mathura, Krishna meets a woman who was extremely ugly due to her ugly physical shape. He hugs her and make her beautiful.
Woman chooses her Man: Rukmini loved Krishna very much. While his brother Rukmi ignores Krishna and was forcing her to marry another. Rukmini sends a message of love to Krishna through a Brahmin. Krishna comes to Rukmini’s kingdom and marries her.
Many women donated lives – Narakasura kidnapped 16 thousand women and enslaved them. Krishna killed Narakasura and married all those women and gave him a respectable place in the society.
Protecting the self-esteem of Draupadi- Krishna saved the self-respect of Draupadi many times. When the Kauravas try to take off their clothes, finding the entire Kuru, Krishna helps them by extending the clothes.
In Aranya Vasa, Duryodhana sends Durvasa Maharishi (famous for his anger) to the Pandavas on the pretext of a visit. Draupadi was unable to provide food for them as Annapatra Akshayapatra was empty. She prays to Krishna. A rice grain in Akshayapatra fills the stomach of Durvasa and all his disciples. Throughout his life, Krishna always protected women. We should always respect and protect women.
Never forget your friends
One of Krishna’s classmates, Sudama, was extremely poor and had nothing to eat and drink. On the advice of his wife, he comes to Dwarka on foot to meet Krishna and hopes that Krishna will provide some help to alleviate his poverty. Krishna welcomes him, respects him. Sudama does not make any demand or solicitation with his mouth, but Krishna changes his life by making him rich with money.
See how Krishna by his conduct teaches as an important lesson: ‘Never forget your friends and to help them when they need you. Friends are the most valuable gifts of our lives.
Proud to be Ethical
A king named Sathrajit gets a rare gem called Siamantaka Mani from Surya. With this, he could make huge amount of gold. Krishna requests him to give the gem and says that if the gem is used properly, then the people of the entire state will benefit. Sathrajit turns down the offer. Krishna leaves the subject there.
A few days later, Sathrajit ‘s brother, wearing the gem, goes for hunting. A lion in the forest sees the gem, considering it a tasty piece of shiny flesh and kills it. Sathrajit feels that Krishna killed his brother for the jewel.
Krishna goes to the forest in search of Mani. That Mani meets Krishna at Jambavan’s house, Krishna confronts Mani and snatches Mani and returns Mani back to Sathrajit. Sathrajit realizes his mistake, he apologizes to Krishna and requests Krishna to take Mani by marrying his daughter Satyabhama. Krishna refuses to take the gem, and marries Satyabhama.
Life may not always be in our favour. If there is any obstacle in your path then fight against it. People who are jealous of you always try to curse you in some way. Never turn your head down when you are right.
Art of Negotiation
Before the start of the Mahabharata war, both Arjuna and Duryodhana request Krishna to be on their side. Duryodhana comes first. Krishna was then taking rest. After waking up, Krishna sees both Arjuna and Duryodhana and takes the side of Dharma, choosing the side of the Pandavas.
Duryodhana said,
“How can you do this? First of all, I came to meet you. You should be on my side”.
Krishna said,
“You came first but I saw Arjuna first”.
Duryodhana leaves from there because he is speechless in saying something.
Learn to handle difficult situations wisely. Sometimes a small idea can solve a big problem.
Guard Everyone who trusts you
Krishna helped the Pandavas get their rights in every way. He worshiped Krishna and whenever faced with any odd situation; Krishna assisted him. Krishna was always present for him, whenever he needed Krishna. Krishna showed him the way, made him realize his strength, helped him build his army by expanding his contact, motivating him to fight for authority.
Always be on the side of religion. Take the side of the truth and be available to anyone who trusts you. If you break the trust, you cannot regain it.
Thus, to sum up, Krishna’s life is a practical University guiding us to handle life in various aspects of life in an effective and efficient manner.
References:
Beck, Guy L (ed.) (2005) Alternative Krishna: Regional and Vernacular Variations on a Hindu Diet Sunny Press
- B. Kavel (Pub.) (1895) Jataka or stories of Buddha’s former births
Lohia, Ram Manohar (2002) Bharatmata-Dharti Maata, Lokbharati Publications, Allahabad
Swami Prabhupada (Ed.) (1988) The Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhaktivedanta Book House
Zimmer, Heinrich (1953) Campbell, Joseph (ed.), Philosophy of India, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd.
