sign in sign up
<<
Home , Bhadra (Krishna's wife), Dahi Handi, Devaki, Dwarkadhish Temple, Govardhan Hill, Handi

[Draw your reader in with an engaging abstract. It is typically a short summary of the document. When you’re ready to add your content, just click here and start typing.]

Lord - the Jagat K Sriram

Sri Ramana Bhaktha Samajam Chennai

Lord Krishna– The Jagat Guru [Loka Maha Guru]

Devaki Paramanandam

Vasudeva sudam Devam Chanoora MardanamI Paramanandam Sri krishnam vande Jagat GurumII

The One who was born to , the One who annihilated Kamsa & Chanoora, the One whose very name plunges his mother Devaki into ecstacy, To Him, the Loka Maha Guru, Lord Krishna, I pay my humble obeisance.

Page 1 of 9

Introduction It is surprising to note that Lord Krishna’s life represents the average person of today. Brought up in a lower middle class family, the small boy spends his entire time in his studies under very trying circumstances. Higher studies take him to the cities and even overseas. His circumstances change totally when he converts his Knowledge into Experience. Experience takes him to corridors of Power which, again, lands him in a completely different atmosphere. His later days don’t even remotely resemble his childhood days. He could hardly return to his native village which was his dwelling place as a child. Finally, he leaves the world as a loner in yet another totally different atmosphere. Lord Krishna’s life exactly corresponds to such a life of an average person today in spite of the fact that 5000 years have elapsed since his appearance on this planet. He was brought up in a cowherd’s family as a child. Circumstances forced him to a city where he became a prince along with his elder brother. There he was sent to Sage Sandeepani under whose tutelage he learnt and other studies like Martial arts, Administration of State etc which took years to complete providing him a different atmosphere. Once he was properly trained in Governance of the Kingdom and other arts, he returned to the capital to take up an active role in body politics. Under political compulsion, he shifted his capital to an island in mid-sea for the safety & security of his citizens. He became an eye-witness to the greatest war of his times while it is an irony, his army fought against him joining the opposite camp under his own command and that should have been a new and strange experience for him. His was a glorious life that set an example as to how a human life should be lived. He lived the life of a house-holder steeped in - Consciousness and Bliss of God while carrying out worldly activities. He had a son by name Pradhyumna & he got his grandson, Anirudh, married, thus faithfully fulfilling all his duties as a house-holder. But he is never remembered as a Grandpa but as a Divine child-prankster, a flutist, a Romancer to Gopikas, a Master-Instructor to on the quintessence of Vedas & and as Supreme Being. He saw his own clan foolishly fighting among themselves that resulted in their destruction. Finally he left the world as a loner hit mistakenly by the arrow of an unknown hunter in a forest under circumstances that defy logic. It appears that he never returned to , his childhood dwelling and never went back to his teacher, Sandeepani nor to his original capital once he shifted to mid-sea. It seems when one phase of life was over for him, it was over forever. Now we go into the finer details of his life that serve as an eye-opener for everybody born as a human being irrespective caste, creed, religion, race, Language or Nationality. We will also see why millions worship him as Supreme for generations together in spite of the fact that he shed his mortal coil some 5000 years ago befitting the his name ‘Krishna’, which means, ‘the attractive one’. Krishna comes from the root word ‘karsh’ which means ‘to pull’ & ‘to attract’. It also means - the well- known meaning - ‘Dark’.

Page 2 of 9

Birth, Early Life & Youth Based on scriptural details and astrological calculations, the date of Krishna's birth, known as Janmashtami, is 18 July 3228 BCE. Kamsa, Prince of , put his father, , behind bars & became the King. He got his sister, Devaki, married to Vasudeva. During the celebrations, a voice from the sky said that the eighth child of Devaki would kill him. Enraged Kamsa immediately imprisoned both Vasudeva & Devaki. He killed six children that were born to her one by one. The seventh pregnancy of Devaki apparently ended in miscarriage but in reality the womb was transferred to , the first wife of Vasudeva from Devaki. The seventh child was named ans was sent to Vrindavan for further upbringing. Rohini’s next child was who was married to Arjuna whose son was Abimanyau, in turn, whose son was King who begot King . Thus Rohini was the ancestress for the entire . Krishna appeared before Vasudeva & Devaki before his birth & assured them of his protection. He instructed Vasudeva to transfer him to Vrindavan in the midnight before Kamsa came to know his birth. Then he entered the womb of Devaki & the birth of Krishna took place. Immediately Vasudeva found himself unfettered; prison doors opened automatically; the Jailor and his clan were fast asleep; Vasudeva left for Vrindavan carrying the child in a basket over his head & a big-sized cobra [Adi Sesha] spread his hood over the child & kept vigil till he reached his destination. He handed over Krishna to Nandagopala and took back the girl child that Yasodha, his wife gave birth to. Soon he was back in the prison and everything was back to normal. Kamsa, on hearing the news that the eight child had arrived, rushed to the prison & was about to kill the child. The girl baby easily slipped from his hands & rose in the sky saying that his enemy was brought up somewhere else! It took quite some time for Kamsa to find that the eighth child was being brought up in Vrindavan. He sent several of his deputies, like demoness , tornado demon Trinavarta to kill the child but Krishna put every one of them to death. Kalinga, a powerful & arrogant serpent poisoned the waters of & thought he could do so for ever with impunity. Krishna danced on his five hoods & tamed him without any trace of fear on his face.

Page 3 of 9

Once Krishna suggested that the annual pooja could be performed for Hill. Indra became furious & sent thunder storms. The Lord lifted the very on his finger and held it as an umbrella for several days & thus saved his people, cattle, plants and the pasture of the Hill. By doing pooja to Govardhan Hill, Krishna exhibited his concern for the environment about which our modern scientists are so vociferous today. His pride punctured, Indra realized that the Lord is Maha Himself & immediately became respectful & accepted Krishna’s superiority. When the Lord played on the flute, Gopikas forgot themselves in the divine music and assembled around him irrespective of whatever activity they were engaged in, to the banks of the Yamuna River and joined him in singing and dancing. His romancing with them & his acceptance of their divine love, particularly, of , [daughter of Vrishbhanu, one of the original residents of Vrindavan], is known as lila that was immortalized by Jayadeva in his poetry, Gita . Radha is now worshipped as the Divine Consort of Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna’s childhood reinforces the Hindu concept of lila, playing for fun and enjoyment and not for gain. His pranks as a child; His lifting of Govardhan Hill & not taking Indra seriously; the dance on the five hoods of Kalinga treating it as a game without any fear of death even though he was engaged in a fierce battle with the serpent; killing of all , sent by Kamsa effortlessly as if it was a child’s play [in fact he was doing it as child]; His interaction with the Gopikas at the rasa dance or Rasa-lila are all great examples of playing for fun. The playfulness of Krishna has inspired many celebrations like the Rasa-lila and the Janmashtami ; where they make human pyramids to break open (clay pots) hung high in the air that spill buttermilk all over the group after being broken by the person at the top. Further it gives the participants a sense of unity. Also, it reminds us Krishna and through him, enables us to connect ourselves to Maha Vishnu. Krishna, the Prince Returning as a youth to the Capital city of Mathura, Krishna overthrew and killed his maternal uncle, Kamsa together with his supporters. He reinstated Ugrasena, his grandfather, as the King. He released Vasudeva & Devaki and restored to them the Royal living they deserved. The King in consultation with the elders & Rajarishi decided that the Princes, Krishna & Balarama should be sent to Sage Sandeepani for study & education. Both the Princes submitted to the wishes of their elders & spent years in the Gurukula of the Sage. Once they were properly trained in Governance of the state, they returned back to Mathura & virtually ran the day-to-day administration & thus gaining enormous & vital, hands-on experience.

Page 4 of 9

Jarasandha, the powerful king of prevailed over many kings, and was crowned emperor. Many powerful kings, like , Pundru Vasedev, of Chedi, Shalva of Shuva and Vishmak became his allies. He got his two daughters Asti and Prapti married to the heir apparent of Mathura, Kamsa. had also lent his army and his personal advise to Kamsa to create a coup d'état in Mathura to put Kamsa on the throne. When Krishna killed Kamsa in Mathura, a furious Jarasandha attacked Mathura 17 times but failed to convert the siege a victory each time. Once his army included the Panchalas and the Kurus among other kings of . While Krishna and the survived the attacks, sensing danger Krishna relocated his capital city to Dwaraka. Dwaraka was an island and it was not possible for anyone to attack it at all. Hence peace prevailed & art and culture prospered to the delight of Krishna. It is during this period, Krishna became close to , his cousins and particularly Prince Arjuna which led to Arjuna getting married to Krishna’s sister, Subhadra. This arrangement ensured the continuity of Kuru vamsa[Lineage] later on as explained earlier. , Princess of Vidharbha, was greatly devoted to Krishna and earnestly longed to marry him. However, Rukmini’s brothers were in favour of getting her married to Shishupala, Prince of Chedi. Rukmini prayed to Krishna to save her & the Lord responded by abducting her when she came out of the temple. Her brothers lead by the crown Prince followed him with a big army & tried to capture them both. While Krishna was fighting all alone, Balarama, having heard the news, joined him with Yadava army & both emerged victorious in that battle & returned home. Krishna married Rukmini amidst grand celebrations. Rukmani never returned to Vidharbha throughout her life thereafter. Later Krishna married , , Kalindi, , , and . These eight queens [including Rukmani are collectively called the Ashtabharya. Krishna subsequently killed Narakasura & married 16,000 maidens who were held captive by that demon.

Polygamy of Lord Krishna is a controversial & much talked about subject. Its feasibility is always questioned and most reject it as a figment of imagination. These issues are handled at the end of this article under a separate caption.

Yudhisthira aspired for the title of Emperor and he consulted Krishna on this. Krishna decided to utilize this opportunity to annihilate Jarasandha, his old enemy. Already he had systematically diminished the power of Jarasandha, by eliminating his powerful allies like Kalyavana, Narakasura, Hansha, Dimbaka, Kamsa one by one. He told Yudhisthira to get rid of Jarasandha as the latter would never accept the leadership of Yudhisthira. Hence, Krishna along with Bhimasena & Arjuna went to Magadham and challenged Jarasandha for single combat. This was to avoid a full-scale war & loss of lives on both sides. Jarasandha chose to fight with Bhimasena who killed him after displaying super human might & power.

Page 5 of 9

When Yudhisthira was about to assume the title of Emperor, he had invited all the great kings to the ceremony, Rajasuya Yagnya and while paying his respects to them, he started with Krishna because he considered Krishna to be the greatest of them all. While most present at the ceremony felt that Krishna should get the first honours, Thambulam, his cousin Shishupala felt otherwise and started berating Krishna. Due to a vow given to Shishupala's mother, Krishna forgave a hundred verbal abuses by Shishupala, and upon the one hundred and first, he assumed his Virat (universal) form and killed Shishupala with his Chakra. This is considered to be one of the major events in his life. Krishna played a major role in war where & Pandavas fought to their bitter end. Krishna went to as Yudhisthira’s emissary to conduct peace talks which failed miserably due to ’s total obstinacy, mindless stubbornness and inflexibility to accommodate even the barest minimum demands of Pandavas. When the war became inevitable, he gave a choice to Duryodhana & Arjuna to opt between his Sena[army] and himself. He also added that he would neither wield any weapon nor would be an active participant in the war. Arjuna immediately opted for Krishna alone and requested him to be his charioteer while Duryodhana gladly accepted his army. Krishna proved what an incomparable master strategist he was & meticulously planned for the fall of apparently invincible warriors like , Dronacharya, , Jayatratha, Duryodhana one by one & finally brought victory to Pandavas. Apart from the victory in the war, major positive from this war was Bhagavat Gita, the Celestial Song-Eternal which he gave to the world as a solution to Arjuna’s well-founded objections. He not only brought out Arjuna from the maze of moral confusion but the entire human race for generations together. Only God can accomplish such an unthinkable achievement that is not at all possible for ordinary mortals. Bhagavat Gita shines forth as Himalayas among mountains among scriptures today and is the biggest of his contributions to mankind. Truely, this astounding contribution makes him the Jagat Guru [Loka Maha Guru]. The end After 36 years passed, a fight broke out between the Yadavas, at a festival, who killed each other mindlessly under the influence of liquor. A frustrated Balarama gave up his body using . Krishna retired into the forest and started meditating under a tree. The hunter Jara, mistook Krishna's partly visible left foot for that of a deer, and shot an arrow, wounding him mortally. After he realised the mistake, while still bleeding, Krishna told Jara, "O! Jara, you were in your previous birth. I killed you as in Tretayuga. Here you had a chance to even it and since all acts in this world are done as desired by me, you need not worry for this". Then Krishna ascended back to his eternal abode, Vaikunta as Maha Vishnu. Thus came to an end one of the finest manifestations of God the world has ever seen!

Page 6 of 9

What is Gokulashtami? Gokulashtami, Janmashtami or Krishna Jayanthi is a very auspicious day for the across the world. is the name of the place where Lord Krishna was brought up. It is the birthday of Lord Krishna – worshiped as the eighth incarnation of Maha Vishnu throughout the length & breadth of Bharat, our Holy mother Land, with great fanfare & enthusiciasm. However, the celebrations in Dwaraka & Dahi festival in , Capital of , need special mention.

How is Gokulashtami celebrated? The celebrations in Dwaraka are held as very special. is the centre of attraction where devotees worship Lord Krishna on Sri . Idols of the deity are decorated with precious ornaments. Lord Krishna is devoted with the commencement of in morning. It is followed by Bhoga or food offerings that comprises mainly of milk products. After Krishna’s face gets cleansed, the devotees are given Darshan.

After Lord Krishna gets dressed up in his godly attires, the curtain is rolled up and everyone gets the chance to get Darshan (Holy Sight). The curtain is rolled down after 10:30 p.m.

At 12 midnight, the time of Lord Krishna’s birth, the celebrations get burst into joyousness. The whole momentum gets enthusiastic with the phrase “Nand Gher Anand Bhaio, Jay Kaanha Laal Ki”, as the devotees welcome Lord Krishna. The celebrations are endowed upon Krishna for two hours. The Dwarkadhish temple gets closed down at 2:30 am.

Dahi Handi

Dahi Handi (clay pot) is a popular festival in Maharashtra, especially in Mumbai performed on Gokulashtami. On this day, a clay pot is filled with butter and curd and tied at a height. The Dahi Handi festival symbolizes harmony among its practitioners who form a pyramid on the ground and aims to reach the height where the Handi is tied. The persons involved in this performance are known as Govinda Pathak. The person standing at the topmost level of the pyramid breaks the clay pot with a hard object such as a coconut and its contents gets spilled down to the whole group. This promotes unity among the participants.

Page 7 of 9

“Govinda Ala Re” is a huge cheer that is constantly chanted during the Dahi Handi performance. The Dahi Handi is celebrated with extreme devotion and it adds great fervor in the streets of Mumbai. Competitions are also held to praise the team of Govinda Pathak that breaks the most number of Handis on Gokulashtami.

While the Dwarkadhish temple showcases the spiritual side of Lord Krishna, the Dahi Handi festival highlights Krishna’s other nature of large-hearted sportsmanship. Krishna Janmashtami is also celebrated in Mathura with great strictness that is almost similar to that of celebrations.

Gokulashtami is celebrated with great fervor in . In , the people decorate the floor with kolams (decorative pattern drawn with rice batter). Githa Govindam and other such devotional songs are sung in praise of Lord Krishna. They draw the footprints of Lord Krishna from the threshold of the house to the temple, which depicts the arrival of Lord Krishna into the house. A recitation of Bhagvat Gita is a popular practise. The offerings made to Lord Krishna include fruits, betel and butter. Savouries believed to be Lord Krishna's favourites are prepared with great care. The most important of them are Seedai, Sweet Seedai, Thattai, Muruku, appam, Verkadalai Urundai. The festival is celebrated in the evening as Lord Krishna was born at midnight. Most people observe a strict fast on this day and eat only after the . They also dress the youngest child in their family like Lord Krishna and perform oonjal or swing which is rocked gently and prasadam offered to lord is served first to the child-Krishna to the happiness of the whole family.

Page 8 of 9

Significance of Lord Krishna’s costume

The Incarnation of Krishna represents the descent of the infinite to the finite material world. His costume signifies this. His skin colour is blue & dress is in yellow colour. Blue is the colour of the infinite i.e. whatever is immeasurable can appear to mortal eye as blue, such as the sky or ocean. Yellow is the colour of earth, like fire emitting yellow colour. Hence blue coloured Krishna clothed in yellow suggests that the infinite Pure consciousness has become the world of endless forms. Therefore, the lesson Lord wants to teach us is that every form in this universe is but a representation of that Pure Eternal, Absolute Consciousness. Gokulashtami or Janmashtami celebrations of Krishna’s Birth Day every year remind us what a great Large-hearted Sportsman, Magnificent Romancer teaching Divine Love to Gopikas, Political strategist, Administrator par excellence, Spiritual Giant, Loka Maha Guru educating this entire world through Arjuna on right-living, Strict Task master full of and Role Model House-holder that Lord Krishna is, all-the-while being a Full- Blown Self-Realized Gnani and the Supreme Deity. Let us all celebrate the ensuing Janmashtami this year on 5th Sep 2015 and pray for His Grace for the ultimate Heavenly-merging in Him i.e. the Self-Realization in this birth itself!

A very very Happy Janmashtami to you all!

Page 9 of 9