Janmashtami 2008
Janmashtami,
an auspacious Indian festival is marked
as day of celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna,
the eighth "avatar" or reincarnation
of Lord Vishnu. Vishnu, the Hindu God gave us
the vital message of the Bhagwat Gita - the
guiding principles for every Hindu. The day
is celebrated with full vigor all over the country. Janmashtami, observed on the eighth day
Krishna Paksh of the Bhadrapadha month
according to the Hindu calendar, falls in month
of August/September according to the Gregorian
Calender. This Year Janmashtami celebrates on 23rd August 2008. The temples of Mathura (place of his
birth) and Vrindavan witness a vibrant celebration
on this day. To recreate incidents from the
life of Krishna and to perpetuate his love for
Radha, a special kind of dance drama is performed
called as Raslila.
The Lord has ordained in
the Gita (4/78):
"Yadaa yadaa hi dharmasya glanir bhavati
Bharat;
Dharma sansthaapanaarthaaya sambhaavami yuge
yuge."
i.e. I incarnate whenever Dharma declines and
evil predominates, to establish Dharma and vanquish
evil.
In the Bhavishyottara Puran
Shri Krishna himself extols the celebration
of Janmashtami to Yudhishtir, the eldest of
the five Pandavas.
He incarnated in Mathura (Uttar Pradesh)
to destroy the evil King Kansa and other evil
elements who were harassing sacred people.
He also had to fulfil his pledge given to Devki
and Vasudev. When they married Kansa heard a
declaration that the couple's eighth son would
be his defeat. Kansa imprisoned the couple and
killed the first seven sons born to Devki to
prevent this. When Shri Krishna was born Vasudev
placed him in a cradle and took the baby child
through the river Yamuna. Thus the Lord survived
and eventually killed Kansa.
 Krishna is the God which is stated and backed up in
the Vedic scriptures and by various authorities.
Lord Brahma in Brahma Samhita says, "Krishna
who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Being.
He is the origin of all. He has no other origin
and he is the prime cause of all causes. In
the Bhagavata Purana Krishna becomes the chief
object of devotion. After describing various
incarnations of the Lord such as Rama, Balarama,
Vamana, Narsimha, and Vishnu, Srila Sukadeva
Goswami states, "All of the above mentioned
incarnations are either absolute portions of
the Lord, but Lord Krishna is the original Personality
of Godhead". Lord Shiva in Gita Mahatmya,
states that "only one God - Krishna, the
son of Devaki" (Verse 7). In the Padma
Purana it is stated, "By scrutinizing reviewing
all the revealed scriptures and judging them
again and again, it is now concluded that Lord
Narayana is the Supreme Absolute Truth,
and thus he alone should be worshipped".
Similarly it is said in the Skanda Purana, "In
the material world, which is full of darkness
and dangers, combined with birth and death and
full of different anxieties, the only way to
get out of the great entanglement is to accept
loving transcendental devotional service to
Lord Vasudeva. This is accepted by all classes
of philosophers". The position of Krishna
as God is confirmed by great personalities like
Narada, Asita, Devala, Vyasa, Parasara, Brahma
and Shiva. Finally Krishna Himself confirms
this fact in the Bhagavad-Gita to His friend
and devotee, Arjuna. He clearly says that He
is "the Supreme Lord of all planets and
demigods" (BG 5.29), that "there is
no truth superior to Me" (BG 7.7) and -
"I am the source of all spiritual and material
worlds. Everything emanates from Me" (BG
10.8).
 Lord
Krishna is the symbol of devotional love. Lovers
down the age are signified with the divine love
of Radha and Krishna. But, Janmasthami is
not the day for lovers. The day is remembered
for our interesting mythological incident. Lord
Krishna's birthday is celebrated all over the
city with splendor and devotion.
Homes and temples are beautifully
decorated. Another decorative feature is the
Jhanki depicting the life of lord Krishna. There
are five main "jhankis" of Janmashtami
which depict the entire sequence of events from
Lord Krishna's birth to his being discovered
in Gokul. They include the birth of Krishna
in jail, Vasudev carrying Krishna to safety
across the river Yamuna amidst thunder and lightning,
Vasudev's return to the jail, Kansa killing
Yashoda's daughter and finally the little Krishna
in the cradle in Gokul. "Jhankis"
are created out of dolls dressed up as kids,
men and women with lehangas, chunnis, dhotis
& kurtas. In the evening bhajans are sung
which end at midnight, the auspicious moment
when Lord Krishna was born. Thereafter arti
is performed, prasad distributed and flowers
showered on the idol.
Mathura, the birthplace of
Lord Krishna, where his parents lived in captivity
of the evil Kansa and him as a young boy came
and vanquished his maternal uncle Kansa to ascend
the throne and free his parents, celebrates
Janmashtami with great enthusiasm. The main
celebrations are performed at the Dwarkadhish
temple, Mathura in the form of  Jhulanotsava
and the Ghatas during the entire month of Shravan.
The ghatas are a unique feature of the month
long celebrations. During the ghatas of a particular
colour the whole temple is covered with decoration
in the same colour. Even the Lord dresses up
in the same colour. The twin cities of Mathura-Vrindavan
take on a festive look and spirit of devotion
runs high among the people. It was on the banks
of the Yamuna River where Lord Krishna played
during his childhood and indulged in pranks
and tricks with his friends and the gopies.
There are about 400 temples dedicated to
Lord Krishna in this sacred city and the major
festivities are held at the Banke Bihari, Rangaji,
Shri Krishna Balram temple and Gopinath temple.
The Raslila of Braj is thematically the basis
of many performing arts. The idol of the infant
Krishna is bathed at midnight and is placed
in a cradle. Devotional songs and dances mark
the celebration of this festive occasion all
over Northern India.
On this day, in some parts of India, especially
Maharashtra, youths celebrate it by breaking
clay pots called 'Dahi-Handi', filled with curd
and butter suspended high above the ground,
young men and children form human pyramid to
reach the pot and break it. This custom follows
the habit of Lord Krishna who used to
steal butter in this manner from villagers along
with his friends. The reason for this is that
Gokul; the place where lord Krishna spent his
childhood used to generate a lot of milk and
the people used to sell it in Mathura, thus
depriving their children from milk and butter
which is very essential for young boys and girls.
In Maharashtra, Janmashtami witnesses the exuberant
enactment of the God's childhood endeavors to
steal butter and curd from earthen pots beyond
his reach.
Rituals Performed on this day
- People fast on this day, usually a waterless
fast.
- They spend the day immersed in Shri Krishna's
glory by reading, reciting and singing his
divine leela especially in the evening in
mandirs.
- At midnight, the Lord's birth hour, arti
is performed. He is also installed in the
form of 'Lalji' (child form) in a swing and
devotionally offered many sumptuous food dishes.
'Makhan' (butter) is especially included since
Shri Krishna loved this in childhood. The
traditional prasad is 'Panchajiri' - made
of five ingredients: powdered ginger, 'suva',
coriander, sugar and ghee. Other ingredients
include poppy seeds (khaskhas) and dessicated
coconut shavings.
- Different varities of ethnic dishes are
prepared in Hindu homes. These dishes may
vary from culture to culture. After arti,
devotees jubilantly sing and hail kirtans
extolling the Lord's incarnation:
- "Nand gher anand bhayo, Jai Kanaiyalal
ki ..
Hathi, ghoda, palkhi, jai Kanaiyalal ki…"
- "Bawa Nand tane darbar, nobat vaage
re …
Hari pragatya taaranhaar, nobat vaage re "
By Akash Bisht
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