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Janmashtami Celebration
Reveiling in the spirit of the Janmashtami
" Love is consistent passion to give
Not to meek persistent hope to receive."
- Lord Krishna
Janmashtami is an annual hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Krishna. this festival is also known as Krishna Jayanti or Gokulashtami.
According to the Hindu Calendar, this day falls on the eight day known as Ashtami of the Krishna Paksha in the month of Sravaana.
Lord Krishna is worshiped as the eighth incarnation ( avtar) of the lord Vishnu. He was born to free the world from evils. And was born in jail of Mathura as the 8 son of Devaki and Vasudev.
Why did Lord Vishnu take the avatar of Lord Krishna?
As per Hinduism, Lord Vishnu is the protector, preserver and patron of this life. He is considered the holiest of all the Gods. .
“ The causeless mercy of Lord Vishnu is unparalleled and such mercy is perceived by the devotees only by the grace of the Lord .”
The other two supreme Deities are Lord Shiva , as the Destroyer and Lord Brahma , as the Creator. Lord Vishnu is known as the Preserver or the Protector of the Universe within the Hindu Trinity of Divinity. Lord Vishnu is believed and supported by most of the Hindu people, especially by people who follow Vaishnavism .
The peace loving Deity of Hinduism, Lord Vishnu emerges to restore peace and order on earth. Whenever the sacred, moral and ethical norms of Dharma are broken and chaos and evil threaten the Universe, Lord Vishnu incarnates into the world and re-establishes harmony by fighting the forces of disorder. All the incarnations have a common purpose protection of the good, destruction of evil and establishment of Dharma.
Lord Vishnu is called by various names like Narayana , Hari etc. According to an ancient text of Hinduism, Rig Veda, the greatness of Lord Vishnu is numerous times with other Gods of Hinduism.
The two incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Rama and Krishna played a great role in Hinduism stories like Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Krishna is widely worshiped deity in Hinduism and many Hindu followers follow Krishna, an avatar of Lord Vishnu.
His story is mentioned frequently in widely read Hindu scripture, Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita. Krishna appeared on earth along with his brother Balarama. Balarama is believed to be the incarnation of Shesh Naga but,
in Vaishnavism, Balarama is listed as the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Krishna played an important role providing aid to Pandava to win the battle against their brothers. Krishna is also worshiped as combined Radha Krishna.
Restoration of the Divine: Lord Vishnu has incarnated on the earth from time to time to eradicate the evil forces and to restore the peace, order and Dharma and also to liberate the worthy devotees from the cycle of births and deaths. Krishna , full avatar of Lord Vishnu mentions in the Bhagavad Gita:
“ To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I manifest myself, millennium after millennium .”
But Do you know why did Lord Vishnu take the avtar of lord Krishna ?
In Dwapar Yuga, when mother earth was in distress due to mischievous, adharmic and cruel acts of so many Daityas , she, approached Lord Brahma to take help. Mother Earth, in the form of a cow, appeared before Lord Brahma and told Him about increasing devils’ activities. She told Lord Brahma that now, there is no peace, order and Dharma on the Earth. If it continues for long, than the faith of Mankind will be lost in Divinity of God.
Hearing all that, Lord Brahma, together with her, other Devas and the Lord Shiva (Mahadev) approached the shore of the milk ocean, wherein Lord Vishnu resides. Reaching there, All Devas praised and worshiped the Original Person, the Supreme Personality, the God of Gods and Master of the Universe who takes care of all : Lord Vishnu.
Therefore, Lord Vishnu created Krishna by using a portion of his potency to establish Dharma on earth. He was born in Dwapara Yuga, to Devaki and Vasudeva, so as to teach humanity the true meaning of Dharma(righteousness), the significance of Karma(work/action) and to enlighten the path of Bhakti(Devotion).
Krishna was saved from Kansa's wrath and raised by Vasudeva's relative Nanda and Yasoda, a cowherd couple. After Krishna grew up and returned to the kingdom, Kansa was eventually killed and beheaded by Krishna, as was originally predicted by the divine prophecy.
Krishna's dual role is as the punisher of human deeds but also as a bringer of enlightenment. Thus the story of Krishna contains a double concealment - Krishna is both a god disguised as a mortal and a prince disguised as a commoner.
Krishnas role in the Mahabharata gives direction to chaos while being at the center of it.
This auspicious day is celebrated by keeping fast through out the day, performing dance forms of Ras Lila or Krishna Lila, praying, singing Krishna bhajans, preparing and sharing special food and night vigils and visiting Krishna or vishnu temples.
till midnight when the Little Krishna was born. Some people continue bhajan or jagran through the night.
In South India people wrote the footprint of Lord Krishna from the beginning of the house till the pooja room which depicts arrival of Krishna in to the house.
Dance drama events and devotional songs sung in praise of Krishna.
It is one of the most enjoyable festival in the Hinduism.
There are 108 names of Lord Krishna, which are collectively known as Ashtottara Shatanamavali of Lord Krishna.
The next day is known as Gopal Kala or Nandotsav which is part of the Janmashtami celebrations. In Maharashtra, this day is known as Dahi Handi Day. The day is celebrated by breaking earthen pot of yoghurt which are hung up high by a rope in between two buildings at a level of second or third floors.
The big group of boys called ‘Govindas’ or ‘Govinda Pathaks’ climb over one another in a organised manner to form a human pyramid to break the Dahi Handi. While forming the pyramid, there are large number of people cheering the Govindas. You’ll find Govindas breaking Dahi Handis in every corner or streets/gullis of Mumbai and other cities. It’s a great celebration where cash prizes or trophies are offered to the Govinda Pathaks/Mandals who breaks the Dahi Handi.
The festival is celebrated across India in different ways. States which participates in the celebration includes Manipur, Assam , West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and other regions.
Gajera Vidhyabhavan Sachin celebrated this Janmashtami with lot of fervor and excitement. The function was started with the prayer which spreaded the love of Krishna . We organized best Krishna- Radha competition for little gajerians . Our little Gajerians really looked like a real image of Krishna - Radha . Our learners sang slokageet and said about Krishna-Saar which is really impressive. After listening it, we felt like that we have connected with Lord Krishna who shows you the path, of how to evolve from your ignorance and surrender to the Almighty. Our learners did dance on Krishna which was really amazing even our educator also did dance to make this Janmashtami special. We conducted " Omnipotent Janmashtami Quiz Competition " for std V to VII. Which is helpful for them to know about Lord Krishna. While celebrating Janmashtami , learners learned knew about the history of Krshna. Our Vice Principal gave a beautiful speech about Lord Krishna. and thanks to all the parents those who were present in his celebration of Janmashtami . Parents expressed their thought and joy with us that they felt glad to be the part of this celebration and gave a beautiful remarks . And the program became so wonderful by Our Principal's beautiful words. We ended our Janmashtami special by Dahi Handi by our learners which was really enjoyable and everyone enjoyed this Janmashtami. Janmashtami tells us that
1. Focus on our duty
2. Good will always be rewarded
3. Focus on action, not the results
4. Forsake ego for bigger goals
5. Seek divine grace over material gains
6.Respond to life situations, not react
7.Uphold friendship
8. Believe in the law of Karma
9.Good will always be rewarded
10.Cherish bonds of love
Enjoy these two days of Janmashtami. May Lord Krishna bless you all with lots of love, happiness and peace.
Happy Janmashtami
