Sri Krishna Jayanti marks the celebration of the birth of Bhagavan Sri Krishna. Lord Sri Krishna was born on the ‘Rohini’ nakshatram (star) on Ashtami day. The festival Sri Krishna Jayanti is also known as Gokulashtami and Janmashtam. The actual day of celebration can be on two different days as the star ‘Rohini’ and Ashtami may not be on the same day. This occurs between August and September on the Christian calendar.
According to traditional sources, the Janmashtami is observed on the day when the ashtami tithi occurs at midnight. If the ashtami tithi AND the Rohini nakshatra occur on the same day, then the observance is considered to be doubly sacred; otherwise the observance is held on the day on which the ashtami prevails at midnight. The vrata mainly consists of fasting, spending the whole night in the worship of Krishna, reciting hymns of praise and Krishna’s pastimes, reciting prayers from the Bhagavata, offering arghya to Krishna, and the ceremonial breaking of the fast. The next day is celebrated as Krishna Jayanti.
But that is not really how we celebrate it at home…We do the Krishna Pooja in the evening time and do the neivedyam…that’s all.
it is more important for the Iyengars in the Tamil community to observe this festival.
The neivedyam consists of all fat rich dishes….cheedai (recipe can be found at http://allyouwannaknow.net/youtoocantry/2007/09/02/tips-for-seedai-gokulashtami-krishna-jayanthi/), murukku, payasam.
Sri Krishna is Lord Vishnu’s eighth avatar (incarnation) on earth. He is considered to be the Lord’s most glorious incarnations. Even saying and remembering His name brings joy because Sri Krishna himself was a manifestation of joy at all levels and in all walks of life. No other God in the Hindu pantheon, or for that matter in any other religion, is associated with so many romantic tales and so fully radiating with all the divine attributes as Sri Krishna
Some stories:
People incorrectly think that Lord Krishna loved butter and so offer butter to Him. In fact, He ate butter because the evil king Kansa taxed the people, and in order to pay their taxes, they were forced to sell butter. To prevent these civilians from suffering and caving into the unrighteous demands of the king, Lord Krishna would eat or spill their butter. In doing so, He taught the people to develop a fighting spirit (kshatravrutti) and not to tolerate injustice in any capacity.
Krishna’s birth in a nut shell:
The myth connected to the birth of Lord Vishnu is as follows. Vasudeva was the chief of ‘Shooras’ and married Devaki one of the seven daughters of Devaka. They were very happy, for none had ever seen so fine a man and a wife matched in such perfect harmony.
‘Kansa’ (also known as ‘Kamsa’) was the son of Ugrasena. Though his father Ugrasena was the King, Kansa himself ruled the kingdom. He was more wicked and had no respect for law, human or divine. The divine Sage Narada once, came to Kansa and advised him not to disregard the law of ‘Dharma’ and foretold, that the eighth child of Devaki would slay him, if he continued to be wicked and revengeful.
Frightened at the prophecy of Narada, Kansa confined the newly married Vasudeva and Devaki in Gajaraja palace with a condition that every child of Devaki, as it was born, should be handed over to him. In obedience of the promise Vasudeva handed over six of his children one after one whom the cruel Kansa killed mercilessly. Devaki again became pregnant, and she gave birth to a boy.
With the help of ‘Ganga Charya’ and ‘Akura’ he was saved by showing a dead body of a new-born girl beside Devaki. Kansa did not take it seriously, as this was seventh child of Devaki. The seventh child of Devaki was stealthily sent to Gokul and was growing under the great care and affection of Rohini, the elder wife of Vasudeva. Rohini was living as a guest of Nanda at Gokhul. They named the boy as “Balarama”.
During the course of their nine years confinement, Vasudeva and Devaki never failed in their devotion and always talked of the Lord and his Grace. Devaki was expecting her eighth child. Surely, the prophecy of sage Narada and the promise of Veda Vyasa began to show the signs of coming true. It was the eighth day of the dark half of the month of ‘Sravana’ (also spelt as Shravan) and there was a thunder and lightning pouring torrential rains and the roads were blocked with water.
Devaki tingling with ecstasy gave birth to a child when the moon entered the house of ‘Vrishabha’ at the constellation of the star Rohini on Wednesday the 8th day of the second fortnight of the month of Sravana, which corresponds to the month of “Bhadrapada Krishnapaksha” according to the “Barhaspatyamana”, in the year of ‘Visvavasu’, 5,I72 years ago (from I945), which means 3227 B.C.
In the pitched darkness, Vasudeva wrapped the child in a woollen garment, kept it in a basket and lifting the basket on his shoulder crossed the river Yamuna and handed over the child, with the basket to Ganga Charya, the family priest and Nanda, the chief of Gokul Yadavas waiting on the opposite bank. In return, Ganga Charya gave another basket of a new born daughter of Nanda to Vasudeva who carried back the baby to the place of his confinement, as was pre-planned.
Kansa was unable to sleep the whole night due to the anxiety to have a look at the eighth child of Devaki and drove to the palace where Vasudeva and Devaki were in prison. After assuming that the eighth child of them being a daughter, the prophecy of Narada proved incorrect and Kansa was very happy.
Nanda’s wife Yashoda who had fainted at the time of her delivery never knew, what all has happened in the night and when she came to her senses, Rohini handed over the child to her. Since Nanda and Yashoda were not having any children, quite for some time, the birth of the boy made the people of Gokul with wild delight and joy and the boy was named as Krishna with appropriate rituals.
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