Dear Readers,
Greetings of the day!
I congratulate all of you today on the Birthday of Lord Krishna, which is known as Janmashtami.
Krishna Janmashtami, one of the most popular
festivals of Hindus celebrates the birth of their beloved God, Sri Krishna. Detailed
story of Janmashtami or Lord Krishna's birth has been narrated in Puranas.
Please read on to know more about the various fascinating aspects of the legend
of Janmashtami as stated in Puranas. Mathura, a prominent town of Northern
India and the birth city of Sri Krishna was ruled by King Ugrasen, a Yaduvanshi
(Belonging to the Community of Yadavs). He was a great king loved by his
subjects. He had two children, a son Kansa and a daughter Devki. Kansa was quite
cruel by nature, his wickedness knew no bounds when he jailed his father and forcefully
became the king of Mathura.
Army of Demons
King Kansa had an army of demons who helped him spread fear and
accomplish his evil tasks. Putana, Bakasura, Aghasura were his close aides.
Love for sister Devki and Brother in law
Vasudev
Though Kansa was hard hearted, but he loved his
sister immensely. He married her off to Vasudev, one the high ranking officers
in his army. However on the day of wedding, as a result of a heavenly
prediction that Devki’s eighth child will be born to kill him, Kansa decided to
kill his sister. On Vasudev's pleading, he put both of them in Jail and let them
live but with a promise that they will hand over all their children to Kansa,
only to be killed by him.
Birth of Balram
Kansa succeeded in killing all the six new born
babies of Devki and Vasudev, however the seventh child was saved by divine
intervention as the child was transferred from Devki’s womb to that of
Rohini's, Vasudev's other wife. Thus Balram, the elder brother of Krishna was
born but Kansa thought that Devki had a miscarriage.
Birth of Krishna
The birth of the eighth child of Devki, Lord Krishna
was followed by a chain of dramatic events. Soon after the birth of the child,
as if by a sheer miracle, all the soldiers guarding the couple fell asleep and
the gates of the Jail flew open themselves. Vasudev decided to smuggle the child
safely in a basket to his friend Nand in Gokul. Since it was raining heavily, River
Yamuna was all swollen and Vasudev feared that both he as well as his child
will drown if he tried to cross it, however, as soon as the feet of the infant
touched the river, the flow of water became normal and Vasudev was able to
cross it easily. Sheshnag, the five headed serpent of Lord Vishnu protected the
child with its fangs. Vasudev knew that his son was not an ordinary child but a
divine being. After handing his child, to his dear friend, Nand, Vasudev
returned back safely with a girl child and no one got to know about it.
Yogmaya’s prediction
On hearing the news of the eighth born child, Kansa
rushed to kill the girl. He paid no heed to Devki’s plead of sparing the girl.
He held the child by her legs and just as he was about to bang her against the
wall, the girl vanished into thin air and told Kansa that his slayer had been
born and was safe in Gokul. The girl child was none other than Yogmaya (divine illusion).
Ongoing Efforts to Kill the Child
Soon, after getting to know that the eighth child of his sister
was born and safely growing in another village, Kansa ordered his soldiers to
kill all the one-day old male infants in and around Mathura. He made quite a
few unsuccessful attempts to kill the child.
Episode of Putana-The Demoness
King Kansa, sent one of his reliable servants to kill on the
infants in the village by feeding them poisonous milk. She killed many infants
but in the end she was killed by baby Krishna who sucked her life while being
fed poisonous milk.
Episode of Overturning the Cart by Lord Krishna
As per folklore, during one of the birth ceremonies of Lord
Krishna, Mata Yashoda kept fast asleep Krishna under a cart full of milk. Lord
Krishna started crying for milk after getting up, but Mata Yashoda didn't hear
his cries so Lord Krishna kicked the cart with his feet and overturned it. The
pots were shattered and milk started flowing into his mouth. When the story of
overturned cart was narrated to Mata Yashoda, she could not believe it.
Episode of Displaying the Cosmos to Mother Yashoda
Legend has it that one day Mata Yashoda was cuddling Lord
Krishna and playing with him. The child lying on his mother's lap yawned and
opened his mouth. Mata Yashoda saw the whole universe in his mouth, the sun,
the moon and all the stars, the sky, mountains, rivers, islands, oceans, all
the continents, all living as well as non-living beings.
Killing of Demon Trinivarta
On hearing the death of Putana, King Kansa, sent his another
servant- demon Trinivarta to kill Sri Krishna. Trinivarta took the form of a
whirlwind, and carried the young Krishna away with itself, in the hope of
throwing him away. Lord Krishna increased his weight which made the demon
unable to move any further. After some time, the weight of Lord Krishna became too
heavy for the demon to handle, so he fell on Ground and died.
End of Bakasura
At the instigation of Kansa, his friend Bakasura, changed his
form to that of a crane, and went to kill Young Krishna, He hit him with his
beak but Lord caught hold of his beak and tore it apart, killing him instantly.
Episode with the Fruit Seller
According to another famous folklore, Lord Krishna went to a
woman fruit seller and asked her to give him some fruits in exchange for a
handful of grains. The woman took the handful of grains from Lord Krishna and
put in her basket and left. On reaching home, the woman was astonished to see
her basket full of precious stones and gems instead of grains.
Episode of Omnipresent Lord Krishna
Bal Gopal was very mischievous and found great pleasure in
playing pranks on gopis. He would steal their milk, butter; break their earthen
pots to get butter. One day Lord Krishna broke all the earthen pots of a gopi
in order to get butter. On being caught red handed, the gopi went to mother
Yashoda to inform her of her son's mischievous deeds. She was shocked to see
the Lord standing next to his mother; Feeling embarrassed she left the place.
Slaying of King Kansa
King Kansa, tired of the killing of all his servants, invited
both his nephews, Balram and Krishna for a wrestling match in Mathura. He made
use of elephant Kuvalyapeeda to kill Krishna at the entrance of the arena;
Krishna killed him followed by killings of Charuna and Toshalaka- chosen athletes
of Kansa. Krishna went to Kansa, took him by hair and threw him on the ground;
finally killing him. The slaying Of Kansa ended his tyrannical rule and people
rejoiced and celebrated his death.
Sri Krishna's Lifetime Chart
Given here is a chronological list of Lord Krishna's lifetime
achievements. Relevant aspects of Lord Krishna's life from birth to renunciation have been
presented in a tabular form.
Age of Lord Krishna Description
Birth : In the month of Shravana, around July 19th 3227 BC in a prison cell
in Mathura city to Vasudev and Devki.
0 to 3 years: Lived in
the neighboring town of Gokul with Nand and Yashoda, performed bal-leela,
including killing of demons Putana, Trinivatra etc.
3 to 7 years: Started living in Vrindavan, Killing of Demons Bakasura, Aghasura
and Dhanuka.
7-10 years: Lifting
of Govardhan hill, played rasleelas with Gopis, Invited for a wrestling match
by Kansa which resulted in his killing.
10 – 28 years: Lived in
Mathura and protected it from many Demons. Took the lessons in all the sixty four
arts from Muni Sandeepani in Ujjain and perfected all the arts.
29 – 125 years: Established
kingdom in the city of Dwarka with Brother Balram. Lord Krishna Married Rukmini
and 16000 other princesses. Helped Pandavas win the battle of Mahabharata,
explains teachings to Arjuna later written down by Rishi Vyas as Bhagwad Gita.
125th Year: Fall of
Yaduvanshi dynasty due to fraternal killing. Disappearance of Lord Krishna on
18th February 3102 BC.
May the Lord Krishna fill your life with Joy and Blissfull Happiness!
With Blessings and wishes from
Vinod Khurana
heavenlyblessings@suvik.ae
+971 55 714 9983.
