Legend of Krishna Janmashtami

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.