|
Krishna Janmashtami, also known as Krishnashtami,
Saatam Aatham, Gokulashtami, Ashtami Rohini, Srikrishna Jayanti,
Sree Jayanti or sometimes merely as Janmashtami, is an annual
commemoration of the birth of the Hindu deity Krishna, the eighth
avatar of Vishnu.
The festival is celebrated on the eighth
day (Ashtami) of the Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight) of the month of
Bhadrapada (August–September; However, in both traditions it is the
same day. So, we have works like Vishnudharmottara Purana saying
Krishna Ashtami is in the Bhadrapada month and Skanda Purana stating
that it falls in the month of Shravana) in the Hindu calendar. Rasa
lila, dramatic enactments of the life of Krishna, are a special
feature in regions of Mathura and Vrindavan, and regions following
Vaishnavism in Manipur.[2] While the Rasa lila re-creates the
flirtatious aspects of Krishna's youthful days, the Dahi Handi
celebrate God's playful and mischievous side, where teams of young
men form human towers to reach a high-hanging pot of butter and
break it. This tradition, also known as uriadi, is a major event in
Tamil Nadu on Gokulashtami.
Birth
Krishna was the 8th son of
Devaki and Vasudeva. Based on scriptural details and astrological
calculations the date of Krishna's birth, known as Janmashtami, is
19 July 3228 BCE and departed on 3102 BCE. Krishna belonged to the
Vrishni clan of Yadavas from Mathura, and was the eighth son born to
the princess Devaki, and her husband Vasudeva.
Mathura (in
present day Mathura district, Uttar Pradesh) was the capital of the
Yadavas, to which Krishna's parents Vasudeva and Devaki belonged.
King Kansa, Devaki's brother, had ascended the throne by imprisoning
his father, King Ugrasena. Afraid of a prophecy that predicted his
death at the hands of Devaki's eighth son, Kansa had the couple
locked into a prison cell. After Kansa killed the first six
children, and Devaki's apparent miscarriage of the seventh (which
was actually a secret transfer of the infant to Rohini as Balarama),
Krishna was born.
After his birth Vishnu ordered Vasudeva to
take Krishna to Gokul to Nanda and Yashoda where he can live
safely,away from his evil Uncle Kansa.So Vasudeva took Krishna with
him and crossed Yamuna to reach Gokul .There everyone was asleep,so
he quietly kept him there and returned with Yashoda's
daughter.Kansa,thinking her to be Devki's eight child,threw her on a
stone.But she rose in air and transformed into Yogmaya(who is
Vishnu's helper)and warned Kansa about his death.Then she
disappeared.Krishna grew up in Gokul with his brother Balram.Then he
returned to Mathura and killed Kansa with the help of his
brother,Balram. |
