Described by the features like flute in hand, the peacock feather on the head, the cool garden, the melodious melody of the flute and surrounded by Gopinis along with the animals, Lord Krishna is the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Krishna Janmashtami is called SatamAtham, Gokulashtami, Ashtami Rohini, Shrikrishna Jayanti, Shri Jayanti or sometimes Janmashtami in common parlance. It is an annual festival celebrated by Hindus on the occasion of Lord Krishna’s birthday as the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. On Krishna Janmashtami, Hindus worship Lord Krishna with reverence and devotion.
According to the Hindu calendar, the birth of Lord Krishna, the pioneer of Gyan Yoga, Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga, took place at midnight on Bhadrakrishna Ashtami. As a result, the day is celebrated as Krishna Janmashtami and the night is named as Moharatri, when different ritual songs and dances are organized. On the day of Janmashtami, in the Krishna temples of the kingdom, it is customary to worship Lord Krishna, recite sermons, chant hymns, and especially women, who fast and stay awake all night.
Born as the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu to protect human beings from injustice, oppression and demonic tendencies, Lord Krishna had inspired the human community to do good deeds in favor of lifelong truth. The Bhagavad Gita is considered to be the holiest text of the Hindus.
Lord Krishna, who had shown his bizarre style since childhood, had killed the demonic tendencies like Putna, Kansa, Jarasandha and Shishupal. On Janmashtami, a big fair is held at the famous Krishna Temple at Mangalbazar in Patan. On this occasion, it is customary for various religious associations / institutions in different cities of the country including Kathmandu to take out a procession of Lord Krishna. Even in India, Hindus of different communities celebrate Krishnashtami with joy.
History
Devaki and Vasudeva were the real parents of Lord Krishna. He was their 8th child. According to ancient records and astronomical calculations, Krishna was born on Janmashtami, July 18, 3228 BC, and lived on Earth until February 18, 3102 BC. Krishna belonged to the Bhrishni clan of Yadav of Mathura.
Mathura (now Mathura district, Uttar Pradesh) was the capital of the Yadavas. Devaki’s brother Raja Kansha seized power by imprisoning his father Ugrasen. Fearing a prophecy, he also imprisoned both Devaki and her husband. According to the prophecy, his death would be at the hands of Devaki’s eighth child. After Kansha killed her first six children, Devaki lost her seventh child. In fact, Devaki had secretly given the child to Rohini, who was Balaram. Krishna was born as the eighth child.
As soon as he was born, Vishnu asked Vasudeva to take Krishna to Gokul, the abode of Nanda and Yasoda, where Krishna could live away from his uncle Kansha. Vasudeva took Krishna across the river Yamuna to Gokul safely. Since everyone was sleeping there, Vasudeva left Krishna without telling anyone and returned to prison with Yasodha’s daughter.
Kansha threw the child brought by Vasudeva into the stone thinking that it was Devaki’s eighth child. But she flew into the air as Yogamaya (Vishnu’s helper) and disappeared after warning Kansha about his death. Krishna grew up in Gokul with his brother Balaram. He later returned to Mathura and killed Kansha with the help of Balaram. Because of his great achievement, till now the world hasn’t forgotten about Lord Krishna.
Mahabharata
In the Mahabharata, Krishna was on the side of the Pandavas during the war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Arjuna on the side of the Pandavas was very restless as the Kauravas had a lot of military and war skills. On the one hand, there was the state of war, and on the other hand, there was despair in both the battles, defeats and victories against the Cairo army, including its own brothers and grandfathers. Although Krishna himself was a man of the universe, he accompanied Arjuna in battle as an ordinary charioteer (a pair of horse-drawn chariots) to increase Arjuna’s morale. He showed that “work is never small” as an inspiration to explain the similarity between small and large tasks and the relationship between karma and result.
Radha Krishna
Whenever we hear the name of Krishna, we also hear Radha because there two names are taken together everytime; be it in discussion, songs or history. A lot of temples are built around the world by dedicating to Radha Krishna and their pure form of love. However, the history of Krishna has shown that he got married with Rukmini. The realtion between Radha and Krishna was shown as an attraction and love rather than marriage relationship. No matter what, today’s world take the Radha as the only lover of Krishna and it has taught the meaning of love to the modern world.
According to SrimadMadbhagavata Gita: the birth, lilas and presence of Lord Sri Krishna is very supernatural, whoever understands these things will automatically enter the spiritual world. Krishna’s birth and physical presence is not the result of pre-existing deeds of ordinary human beings. It is mentioned that he entered this earth to show his love and justice to his devotees.
Many of us have seen Krishna and his avatar in TV serials. We also like his avatar and the character named Krishna. We also imagine his sweet personality. No matter what religion or community you belong to, I request you to put Lord Krishna away from religion and look at him as a loving history, and savior of the earth.
-Article written by: Kusum Kharel for Land Nepal
