Happy Janmashtami!
Who is Krishna?
This coming Wednesday is Janmashtami. And what better way to celebrate it than to talk about the personality it is dedicated to. He is our beloved Lord Krishna. The sources of Krishna's stories were from the Mahabharata, Harivamsha and the Puranas.
Krishna was the eighth embodiment of Lord Vishnu born to Vasudeva and Devaki, the sister of the Kamsa, the king of Mathura.
One night, Kamsa heard a prophecy in the sky. The augury said that his sister's eighth child will be the cause of his death. Kamsa was furious to hear this. Kamsa slew all the children of Vasudeva and Devaki out of fear of his death. When the eighth child was born, he was named Krishna. Vasudeva took Krishna across the Yamuna River to a village called Gokula, for his protection. He was raised by Nanda and Yashoda. He had an adopted sister-Subhadra and brother-Balrama.
Krishna loved playing playful pranks on others. He even played melodious tunes on his flute. His mischievousness was adored by the town folk and Gopis, also known as herd women.
One day on an annual offering for the god Indra, the rain god, Krishna questioned Nanda about this offering. This angered Indra. Indra made it rain heavily in Krishna's village. All the villagers had no shelter to protect themselves from the flood. Krishna knew he had to help his friends and family. Since he was an embodiment of a god he was able to lift the Govardhan Hill to give shelter to the villagers.
He even slew many demons and saved his village multiple times. After many years Krishna finally defeated his uncle Kamsa, just like the prophecy said many years ago.
Krishna was also the charioteer of the prince Arjuna. This was during the Battle of Kurukshetra, this war was between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. After this war, Krishna retired in Dwarka. Following many calm years, Krishna was shot by a hunter on his week spot and died peacefully.
The worship of Krishna started as early as the 5th Century BCE. He is now worshipped as a god to many followers. One of the festivals celebrated in honour of him is Janmashtami. Janmashtmi is celebrated on the day Krishna was born. Devotees fast for 24hours and feed milk to a baby Krishna. And at midnight they ignite wicks in ghee as arati.
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