Krishna Janmashtami Festival
Janmashtami, Krishna Janmashtami or Gokulashtami, is a Hindu festival in India, that celebrates the birth of the God, Sri Krishna, who was the eighth avatar or incarnation of Vishnu, the supreme Hindu God. It is on the eighth (Ashtami) day of Bhadrapada month in the Hindu lunar calendar.
Krishna was born in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. In Hindu mythology, he is often portrayed as a prankster, lover, and a child-like deity.
Kamsa, the tyrant
The stories of Krishna’s life are called Krishna Leela. According to mythology, Krishna belonged to the Yadava clan of Mathura. He was the 8th offspring of Devaki and her husband, King Vasudeva.
Devaki had a brother, Kamsa, who was an evil tyrant. He, and some other demon kings were causing havoc on earth. Kamsa had wrested the throne from his father, King Ugrasen. Mother Earth, the story goes, went to Brahma, the Hindu God of Creation, in the form of a cow and told him of her troubles. Brahma told Vishnu, who assured Mother Earth that he would incarnate as Krishna to end Kamsa’s evil reign.
A divine prophecy
Kansa let Devaki get married to the Yadava prince, Vasudeva, hoping to rule the Yadava clan. Soon after the marriage, Kamsa heard a divine voice that said that the eighth child of Devaki would kill him. Kamsa decided to kill Devaki at once, but Vasudeva begged him to spare his wife and promised to hand all his children to Kamsa as soon as they were born, Kamsa imprisoned Devaki and Vasudeva in a dungeon and killed all the children born to them. Each time Devaki delivered a child, he would smash the baby’s head against the prison walls and kill it.
A miraculous escape
The night Krishna was born, the dungeon was filled with a bright light. The prison guards fell into a trance, and the dungeon opened by itself. Then, Vasudeva heard a divine voice that told him to cross the Yamuna river with the baby and leave him with his close friend Nanda, the head of the Gopas, a race of cowherds, in Gokul. Though the river was in spate and it was raining heavily, Vasudeva was able to cross it safely with the help of Vishnu’s SheshNaag, the huge snake with many heads. In Gokul, Nanda and his wife Yashoda had given birth to a baby girl that night, so Vasudeva exchanged the babies. Then he returned to his prison, where the guards were still sleeping, unaware of the events that had happened. After a while, they woke up and informed Kamsa that Devaki had given birth to her eighth child.
Devaki pleaded with Kamsa not to kill the baby, saying that her eighth child was a girl, so obviously, the prophecy must be wrong. But Kamsa did not heed her pleas. When he tried to kill the baby, it slipped from his hands and turned into Goddess Yogamaya. She warned him that his nemesis was alive and would return to punish him for his sinful deeds and kill him. She also declared that henceforth, Kamsa would have no peace in his life till he died. Then the Goddess vanished. However, Kamsa became complacent, thinking that the prophecy may not be completely true. So he freed Vasudeva and Devaki and allowed them to live separately. After some days, Vasudeva told Devaki the events on the night of Krishna’s birth. Despite being sad, she felt relieved to hear that her son was safe.
Krishna in Gokul
Meanwhile, back in Gokul, people were charmed by the son of Nanda and Yashoda. They couldn’t stop talking about the mischievous twinkle in his eyes, his happy mien, and how he spread joy and cheer wherever he happened to be. Nobody knew his real identity, or what his true destiny was. It would take many more years before it would be revealed to the world.
