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KRISHNA
JANMASHTAMI:
Janma literally means 'birth' and ashtami means
the 'eighth day'. The eighth day of the dark fortnight in the month of Bhadrapad
(August/September), is celebrated as Krishna Janmashtami. It
commemorates the birth of Krishna, who was born to kill Kansa, the evil
king of Mathura. This festival is very popular in north India. People
observe a daylong fast, which is broken only at midnight. According to
legends, Krishna was born at midnight. The festival is a community
celebration, and people visit Krishna temples, which are specially
decorated and lit for the occasion.
The
image of Krishna is ceremonially bathed in a mixture of curds, milk,
honey, dry fruit and basil or tulasi leaves. This mixture is
then distributed as prasad to all devotees. The idol is
dressed in new clothes and offered sweets, fruit and ghee. The temple
reverberates with the chanting of mantras and devotional songs.
In
Mathura, believed to be Krishna's birthplace, and other places near by,
these ceremonial observances are amplified by the staging of dramas
depicting the story of Krishna’s life. Tableaux featuring scenes from
the life of Krishna are common in schools and all over the communities.
These are known as Jhankis. Special cradles are installed at
temples and a statuettes of the god is placed in them. At exactly
midnight, temple bells are rung to announce the birth of Krishna. Then a
special arati is performed, after which devotees take the special prasad.
Details
of celebrations for Janmashtami are found in many scriptures. The Dharma shastras
specify the day to be celebrated as a vrata. Other references in
ancient texts such as the Bhavishya
Purana show that this ancient origins of
Krishna Janmashtami.
According
to the Puranas, Krishna is the eighth incarnation of
Vishnu. This was to punish Kansa, the evil king of Mathura who had
overthrown his father and imprisoned him.
According
to legends related to Krishna's birth, Kansa had a cousin called Devaki,
whom he loved dearly. In due course, Kansa arranged a suitable match for
her and married her with great pomp and show. However,
an oracle foretold Kansa that Devaki's eighth child would be
responsible for his death. Enraged, Kansa was about to kill her when her
husband Vasudeva intervened. He begged Kansa not to kill Devaki and in
return promised to give him all their children at birth. Kansa agreed,
but imprisoned the couple to ensure this. 
In
time, he killed six of their children by throwing them against a stone
slab outside the prison. The seventh child however was transferred to
the womb of Rohini; another of Vasudeva's wives, and Kansa believed that
Devaki had suffered a miscarriage.
When
she was pregnant with the eighth child, Kansa increased security at the
prison and ordered the guards to bring the newborn to him the moment he
was born. It was midnight on the eighth day in the month of Shravana,
on a dark, rainy and windy night. Just before the child was born, the
guards fell into a deep slumber and the locks on the prison door opened.
Devaki and Vasudeva too were freed of their binds. Krishna was born. A
voice from the heavens instructed Vasudeva to carry Krishna across the
Yamuna River to a village called Gokul. There, he was to go to the home
of his sister Yashoda and her husband Nanda and replace Krishna with
their newborn daughter.
Vasudeva
put his son in a basket and started twards Gokul. When he reached the
shores of the River Yamuna, he found the water level rising. He put the
basket on his head and began to wade through. The water level rose but
every time it touched the baby's toes, it receded. Suddenly, a cobra
appeared out of the water and spread its hood over the baby like an
umbrella. It was Sesha Naga protecting Krishna from the
rain. At Gokul, Vasudeva exchanged the children and returned to the
prison. As soon as he entered the prison, the locks shut and the guards
awoke. Hearing the baby cry, they informed Kansa. He was about to smash
the little girl against the stone slab, when she slipped out of his
hands. As she rose towards the sky, she warned him that the one
responsible for his death was safe.
When
Krishna grew up, he killed his evil uncle and restored the throne to his
grandfather. |
