Category: Stories

Mythological · Spiritual

Goddess Tara, the second among the ten wisdom Goddesses (Das Mahavidya)

Chanchal Chandra BhattacharyyaLeave a comment
Goddess Tara of Tarapith
Goddess Tara of Tarapith, by Chanchal Chandra Bhattacharyya

In Hinduism Goddess Tara is the second deity of the Das Mahavidya , the ten great wisdom goddesses. They are the ten forms of Devi Mahamaya, the Mother of Universe. In our last post we spoke about the first deity Goddess Kali.

Maa Tara is Shakti (energy) and this feminine energy represents kindness. She is the Goddess of fulfilment and of liberation. The name Tara is derived from Sanskrit root ‘tr’ meaning to cross.

Maa Tara removes attachment from her devotees and help them to achieve what they want. She grants success. She strengthens inner qualities of ’karuna’ (compassions), metta (affection-charity), and sunyata (empty). She is worshipped by Hindus and Buddhists.

Goddess Tara is defined as protector of her every creation on earth. Tara means ‘saviour’, ‘brightness’ and ‘star’. She is also named as Tarini in Tantra Sastra. Goddess Tara is blue complexioned. She wears a tiger skin skirt, wears a garland made of severed human heads. She has four hands and a projected tongue. She is standing. Maa Tara has eight forms and are called ’Asta Tara’.

Tarapith, is a siddha pith located in Bengal, India. In Tarapith, the Goddess looks bright and majestic with a silver crown on her head, and a red vermilion on the parting of her beautiful hair. She is shown as the mother of Lord Siva in child form in Tarapith. She is the mother of all beings on earth.

In Tibetan Buddhism, Tara or Shayama Tara is also known as ‘Jetsun-Dolma’, a prime deity. In Mahayana Buddhism Tara is described as female Buddha. In Vajrayana Buddhism Devi Tara is known as the Mother of liberation and as deity of meditation (in Tibet). Goddess Tara is known as Mother of all Buddhists.

In Japan Devi Tara is known as ‘Tara Boatsu’.

Maa Tara destroys evils. She loves the blood of demons. On the other hand, she cares for all her children irrespective of religion and social status. Goddess Tara is the mother of all. She is the protector. She grants our wishes. Her blessing is always with us.

Jai Maa Tara

Hope you loved to read about Goddess Tara.

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Mythological · Spiritual

Hindu Goddess Kali, Chief of all the ten Tantric Goddesses (Das Mahavidya)

Chanchal Chandra BhattacharyyaLeave a comment

Mata Kali is the principle deity among Das Mahavidya of Goddess Parvati. As Mahamaya (in the form of Sati), she could alarm the great Lord, Mahadeva Siva, her husband. When Devi Sati desired to go to her father’s house to see the Great Yajna arranged by him, she was not allowed by Siva. They were not invited as Prajapati Dakshya intended to insult them. Sati being furious, showed her originality in ten forms These ten forms of the divine mother are known as Das Mahavidya.

Kali is the initial form. She is Adi Devi. She is the destroyer of the evil forces. She protects all her innocent children, every living being on earth. She is known as ‘Shakti’ (strength) and the community who follows her is called ‘Shakta’.

Kali is worshiped by the Tantric Devotees as the divine Mother. She is worshipped by Hindus, Buddhists and the Tantric sects, and many others irrespective of their religion as the ultimate reality, Adi Shakti. She helps attain liberation, Moksha.

Kali is the feminine figurine of ‘Kal’, the eternal time. Kal or Mahakal, as she is described in Mahabharat, controls the universe. She is the supreme controller of life and death. She controls every event in this universe. Her companions are the spirits. She wears a chain of skulls. Goddess Kali has a dark blue complexion. In portraits and idols, she is found to be with Lord Siva.

We find the mention of Kali for the first time in Atharva veda. She is Trigunatit, or beyond the control of the nature and all levels of wisdom (Sattwa, Rajasik and Tamasik). In Mundak Upanishad Kali is not shown as a Goddess but as the dark blue tongue of the seven tongues of Agni, the fire God.

Ma Kali represents feminine quality and is called ‘Prakriti’ – the nature. According to the legends, she is the slayer of demons, the evils.

Let the blessings of Ma Kali protect every individual on this Earth.

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Mythological · Spiritual

Das Mahavidya

Chanchal Chandra BhattacharyyaLeave a comment

Goddess Mahamaya, the creator of this Universe is beyond the cycle of death and birth. She is the mother of all the living beings. She rules and protects Trilok– Swarga, Marta, and Patal. Devi Mahamaya has taken birth on earth several times at different era to destroy evils and save her creation. This fact was described by Sage Medhos to king Surath.

In Tantra Sastra it is stated that Goddess Mahamaya has revealed her ten forms of power, representing female energy in the form of Mother and creator to destroyer. The entity of strength and truth. Again, ten Mahavidya (great wisdom) are ten forms of Devi Mahamaya representing the ‘divine spiritual wisdom’ and showing the path of liberation.

In Chamunda Tantra, the names of the ten forms of the Devi (bolded) can be found in the following stotra:

Kali Tara Mahavidya Shodashi Bhubaneswari,
Bhairavi Chhinnamasta cha Vidya Dhumavati tatha.
Vagala Sidhdhavidya cha Matangi Kamalatmika
Ete Dus Mahavidya Sidhdhavidya Prakirtita.

The story depicting the origin of Das Mahavidya as per legend

Prajapati Dakshya, one of the descendants of Lord Brahma, wanted to get Devi Mahamaya as his daughter and began a strong tapasya. Devi gave her consent with a condition that She would leave Her earthly body and return to Her abode if anybody misbehaved with Her. Following this, Devi took birth as the daughter of the queen Prasuti wife of King Dakshya and was named Sati. Sati married Lord Siva against the wishes of her father Dakshya, which made her father very angry. Prajapati Dakshya performed a great yajna. With an intension to insult Lord Siva, he invited all the Gods and Goddesses except Siva.

Lord Siva was aware of the event but ignored to maintain peace. However, knowing that her father is performing Yajna, Sati desired to visit the event and see her parents. She sought permission from her husband, Lord Siva, who denied granting her permission to meet her father and explained Dakshya’s prime intension. Lord Siva in turn, warned Devi Sati that she might get insulted there following which her father might be in danger. Sati became very furious at this and thought that Siva considered her an innocent lady and was not aware of the fact that she was an incarnation of the Mother of the universe. She was so angry that she wanted to teach her husband a good lesson by showing her original form of strength and eternity. She took the form of the Divine Mother, Devi Mahamaya.

Seeing the violent, strong, and immensely bright Divine Motherly aura of her original form, the nature started behaving unnaturally. The rivers, lakes and oceans became turbulent responding to violent thunder, storm, and heavy rain. It was dark everywhere unnaturally mixed with a fiery red light. Lord Siva was scared to see her and wanted to flee from her but found himself guarded on all ten sides by the ten forms of the Goddess. These ten forms are popularly recognized as ‘Das Mahavidya’.

When Sati met her parents on the day of the Yajna, she was welcomed by her mother but was insulted by her father. Her father used filthy words to insult her and Lord Siva. She could not tolerate this misconduct and left her mortal body, simply to say she lost her life.

Lord Siva through his third eye when saw the incident was furious. He created the strong Veerbhadra out of his own hair and sent him to Dakshya’s yajna bhumi with the task of killing Dakshya. Veerbhadra and the army of Lord Siva killed Dakshya and ransacked the yajna bhumi, and the palace.

Lord Siva started his ‘Tandab’ dance with Sati on one of his shoulders, as he took the form of the destroyer. Everyone was scared. The nature lost its balance. To calm Siva down, Lord Visnu used his famous Sudarshan Chakra and cut the lifeless body of Devi Sati into pieces which got grounded at different places. These places later came to be known as Sati pitha.

At present Das Mahavidya are worshipped among the Hindus. The 51 Sati pitha spread across different places of India and Nepal primarily are the auspicious places where the Devi is worshipped in different forms by Hindus and Buddhists.

I will speak in detail about the Das Mahavidya and about all Sati pitha in my future blogs.

Hope you liked to know the origin of Das Mahavidya.

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Motivational

How can you make your children concentrate in their studies?

Chanchal Chandra BhattacharyyaLeave a comment

Concentration is something that requires regular exercise. Some children are self-motivated and fond of learning since their childhood and some others, require strategizing, following a routine and need to get motivation from others including their family, friends, and teachers.

Every child needs a practice of the lessons regularly.

Long hours of study make the children stressed and as they grow old, other activities like some sports, dance, music, or occasionally social media engagement attract them more and they prefer to get more engaged in them. However, to get ideas on different disciplines and to understand life more, experts still feel that there is no alternative to books and disciplined life. Some process to make the children concentrate more on studies can be summed up as under.

Split the big task

It is very normal for your child, especially if your little one is very young of 3-8 years of age, you may find it really very difficult to make the child sit at a place and study. They would not like to study continuously for at least an hour. So, a distribution of the task at different time of the day would help. Let the child study for 5-15 minutes each time.

Reduce distraction

Suitable room, space shall be arranged for children for their study. The place must be free from distraction, better not to have TV, music system, video games and so on. The room should be nicely ventilated with enough of daylight coming in and is not disturbed due to crowd, and noise. These arrangements help to make children more attentive.  

Avoid watching TV during kids’ study

Parents should avoid watching TV at the time of kids’ study to make the children remain motivated in their studies.

Study time to keep uniform

Study time in a day shall be constant, to make them alert of their study time. Habit must be built up.

Allow them enough physical activity

Children shall be engaged in some physical activities, like cycling, running, other exercises, to increase their strength and energy.

Allow to play fun games

Children shall be allowed to play and enjoy fun, to make them mentally and physical stable and help them overcome their restlessness. Engaging the kids in fun games also keep the children motivated and happy.

Accompany them well

Parents shall devote enough time to their children so that they may not suffer from loneliness and get strong family support for a healthy upbringing.

Be serious and attentive to their need

Parents shall be alert about the need of their children and try to satisfy their needs though should keep in mind that it is the parents’ responsibility to make children understand how difficult was it to satisfy their requirement. This will help the children be more caring and less demanding. Being overprotective is unhealthy. There should be a balance between boosting your ego and over pampering the children. So, this is a serious point in the process of parenting. The sense of responsibility to grow up and care for oneself and others if passed on to children at a very young stage will naturally inspire them to study well.

I understand that parenting is not an easy task and needs a lot of hard work, selflessness, care, and love. This article is probably highlighting what you are already doing as a parent.

Would love to see your experience about your kids in our inbox. Do not hesitate to share your thoughts or to enquire more on this.

Email us at contactareaderscorner@gmail.com Wish you good luck and happy parenting.

Motivational · Spiritual

Benefits of Pranayama

Chanchal Chandra BhattacharyyaLeave a comment

What is Pranayama?

Pranayama may be simply defined as breathing exercise. It includes three prominent steps- inhalation, retention, and exhalation.

Types of Pranayama

There are several types of Pranayama. Today I have planned not to go deep into explaining each one of them but to just name a few of them for reference and to give you an overall idea of the importance of Pranayama. I have a plan to focus more on each of the Pranayama processes and their individual benefits in my future blog.

Let me mention the names of some common types of Pranayama.

  • Bhastrica
  • Kapalbhati
  • Nadi shodhana
  • Bhramari
  • Sheetali
  • Ujjayi

Why is doing pranayama so important?

Pranayama helps regulate the breathing process methodically. Pranayama is as important as doing Asana and Meditations in yoga. Let me sum up a few points by which Pranayama can help you.

  • Reduces high blood pressure
  • Reduces Cardiological problems
  • Maintains body temperature
  • Treats depression
  • Helps detoxification and help fight pollutions and germs
  • Helps to lose weight
  • Clears nasal passage and helps fight sinusitis
  • Improves mental conditions
  • Good for skin
  • Helps to sleep better
  • Improves Lungs function
  • Improves digestive system
  • Helps reduce bad cholesterol in blood
  • Controls mind and takes care of mental health
  • Helps you to remain alert and focus better in work
  • Boosts your immune system

In some research work it revealed that pranayama is a very effective way to improve physical as well mental health and promotes a better life. It helps to achieve result within a short period. Now a days it is very essential to do pranayama, as physical and mental stress is very common among all irrespective of their status in the society.  

Understanding the benefits of Pranayama is very important to get motivated and to seriously start practicing it to enjoy the wide range of benefits you get.

If you feel practicing Pranayama has helped you or might help you in future, do share your thoughts. Our future blog will have each of the types of Pranayama explained in detail.

Till then stay connected.

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Mythological

Ganesh Chaturthi

Chanchal Chandra BhattacharyyaLeave a comment

Ganesh Chaturthi is an auspicious Hindu festival. This festival is observed all over India as well as in many other places all over the world, with great devotion and joy. This festival is also known as Vinayak Chaturthi. It is a ten-day long festival celebrating the arrival of the Lord to earth from Heaven with his mother Parvati. Ganesh Chaturthi is the festival of observing the birth anniversary of lord Ganesh. There are four main rituals performed over the ten days, namely ‘Pranapratishhta’, ‘Shhodashopachara’, ‘Uttarpuja’, and ‘Visarjan’. Lord Ganesh is known as the God of ‘wealth’, ‘science’, ‘knowledge’, ‘success’, and ‘wisdom’. It is believed that the devotees are never been involved into sin and he is the protector and protects us from evils and help us overcome problems. During the Pranapratishhta, chanting from Vedas called mantras are done to give life to the idol.

Lord Ganesh is the younger son of Lord Siva and Goddess Parvati. Regarding the birth of Ganesh, there is a legend that Parvati made an idol of a little boy with the dust and dirt on her body which she loved so much that she gave life to the idol and called him her son and named him Ganesh. She once instructed him not to allow anyone inside until she completed her bath. In the meantime, Lord Shiva, who was out, reached there and wanted to enter the house. Ganesh stopped him. Being angry Lord Siva severed the head of Ganesh after a little tiff. When Parvati got to know this, she became very annoyed. To make Parvati cool, Siva promised to bring Ganesh back to life. Other Gods and Goddesses were requested to search and bring the head of a boy who would be found in the North direction. However, no head could be found other than the head of an elephant which was finally cut. The head was then fixed on Lord Ganesh by Lord Siva and thus little Ganesh got his life back.

There is another legend where it is said that the king of Heaven, God Indra and other Gods requested Lord Siva to make Ganesh the guard of the door of Heaven to save them from the attacks of Demons. Thus, he was identified as Vighnakar. He is also popularly known as Vighnavinashak, Ganapati among a huge list of names by which he is fondly called by his devotees.

Lord Ganesh is worshiped in the month of Bhadra, date generally falls between middle of August and middle of September. Modak, puranpali, and karanji are generally offered in the Worship. Excitement among the followers starts right from the making of clay idols of various sizes and poses by Artisans. For installation of clay idols different pandals are decorated by flowers, garlands, and light. This festival is mainly observed in states like Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.

The ritual ends by the immersion of the idols in water. Since, it is the greatest festival of Maharashtra, hence a popular slogan of love for the Lord in Marathi can be heard during the immersion of the Lord in the state. The devotees request the good Lord, the Father of all beings on Earth, to come back again the next year by crying out loud, “Ganapati Bappa Moriya, puchchhe varshe Laukariya”

History says the festival was initiated at the time of Sivaji Maharaj. During the freedom struggle, Lokmanya Tilak could make it the festival of all, irrespective of cast, creed, and religion.

May the Lord shower his blessings on all of us.

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Motivational

How to overcome problems in life?

Chanchal Chandra BhattacharyyaLeave a comment

There are ups and downs in our life. Sometimes we go through troubles and sometimes we find our life little smoother. There is no one who is out of this rule. Suffering from problems is very natural in our life and is common to every life on earth. It is also not unusual to say “I am the only one who is suffering with such serious problem.” Do we bother to understand what others are going through? Is it not good to make enquiry to know what others are into? If we do so we may find how we are not in some exceptional condition.

In this context, let me narrate the story of a farmer who visited Buddha to find a solution to his problems. One day a farmer visited Lord Buddha to tell all about his sufferings and to have the Lord’s to overcome those problems. When the farmer was asked to explain the types of problem he was suffering from, he informed that he was a farmer, and his family depended on cultivation. Due to natural disasters like scarcity of rain or heavy rain, he could not grow enough crops to sell or to feed his family. They had to regularly deal with acute poverty. His family was very unhappy with him and disobeyed and disrespected him. Besides, there were other problems in his life. The farmer explained about his other problems as well. After listening to him carefully, Lord Buddha said that he counted the numbers of problem and it was eighty-three in total. Farmer confirmed that he had no other problem. Lord said that he was unable to solve those eighty-three problems. Farmer was very shocked at this and told “you are the Lord, and if you cannot resolve my difficulties, why do others say that you solve every one’s problems”. Lord replied, “yes, though I cannot help you in solving these eighty-three problems, but I can solve your eighty fourth problem. Your eighty fourth problem is to worry about those eighty-three problems.  If you stop thinking about the problems you have, you will find that your life has become smoother and happier.”

If we take our personal problems as a part of life and accept and move ahead, then we get better life experiences and a confident nature. Let us now try to deal with our problems through the following few great ways:

  • Take Doctor’s advice if you have health problem or mental anxiety which is difficult to manage yourself.
  • Take help from others including your loved ones, friends, relatives, or neighbors if you cannot deal with the problem alone. Do not hide the problem, discuss with others. Take suggestions. Hiding may increase the problem.   
  • Express your thoughts and share your ideas
  • Take responsibility of self and others- Once you proactively start taking responsibility, you will realize that there are many issues in addition to your own that need a care.
  • Make a daily plan-Once you realize what your problem is and how is it disturbing your life, act on chalking out a daily plan to methodically deal with the problem.
  • Try to express gratitude to everyone around for every little support you get. Thank the Almighty God for his kindness and support.
  • Think positively and never let yourself down.
  • Face fear and remember there is no way to escape.
  • Accept problems- Accept the problem you are going through and face it yourself, without depending on others.
  • Try to understand others problem and help them
  • Learn from the problem and guide others in future. Reframe the problem to try and enjoy a better life.
  • Share your experiences with others when they are finding difficulty facing their personal struggle.
  • Remain engaged in multiple work throughout the day unless you get tired to get a good night’s sleep.
  • Engage more with your work of interest and do not sit idle and kill time.
  • Practice more patience
  • Always keep a smile on your face
  • Be confident and deal with the problem. Remember this will give you more confidence and mental strength.
  • Increase your energy level through fitness exercises. Read books and find out a hobby that you can enjoy daily.
  • Be more attentive to others
  • Be bold in thinking, firm in expressing, and ensure that you move steadily.

Hope you will get benefitted. Remain motivated and try and help yourself and others. I can assure that your life will be full of charm and the lessons of life will help you to deal with more difficult problems more efficiently.

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Mythological

Mandhata or Mandhatri – the King of the Ikshvaku dynasty

Chanchal Chandra BhattacharyyaLeave a comment

Have you ever heard people saying “made at the time of Mandhata” about a very old item? Who or what Mandhata was? Let me tell you that he was a powerful king found mentioned in Hindu epic Ramayana, who ruled the world long ago.

In Satya Yuga, with the onset of human civilization, in there was a king named Yuvanshva who ruled the kingdom of Ayodha. He was a ruler of Sun-Ikshvaku Dynasty. Yuvanshva had no kids, hence no heir to his throne. He was perturbed.

One day while he was hunting in the forest in afternoon, he became very tired and extreme thirsty. As he was exhausted, he was in search of water. After a long search, the king noticed a hermitage of some sage. King Yuvanshva entered the hermitage which was empty. There, he noticed a pot and to his great pleasure the pot was full of water. The King was so thirsty that he began to drink the water without any hesitation. As soon as he finished drinking the entire water, the great sage Vrigu entered the hermitage along with his disciples.

Vrigu was startled to see the King there and wanted to know the reason of his visiting the hermit. The King narrated the backdrop. After listening to the king carefully, Vrigu told the water kept in the pot was enchanted, just to hand over the same to his wife Matinara so that she could give birth to a child. However, as destiny made king drink the enchanted water, the king would give birth to a son.

In course of time and to the utter surprise of all, king became pregnant. With the help of Sages and God Indra, the baby boy was delivered by cutting the left side of king’s abdomen. As the king was not able to breastfeed the boy, Lord Indra arranged divine milk from heaven. Drinking that divine milk, the baby became very healthy and strong. Within twelve days of his birth he became adult. He was named Mandhata or Mandhatri. He learnt Veda and war technics in a short while.

Mandhata had divine power and could acquire an impenetrable armour, a quiver with a boundless supply of arrows and a bow named ‘Azagava, which originally belonged to Lord Siva. He became so full of strength that he also fought with Ravana and the latter being defeated by him begged apologies and made treaty with him. Mandhata conquered the entire Earth within one day. He also conquered Patallok (Hell) and almost half of the Swargalok (Heaven). He defeated kings namely Asita, Suna, Sudhanwan, Marutta, Brihadhrata, Janmejaye and many others.

He had immense will power and could control the natural phenomenon like rain, hail, thunder, and storm. He was pious and distributed alms to the Brahmins. His kingdom was full of riches. He waived taxes from his subjects.

Mandhata married the daughter of Shashabindu, king of Yadavas. They had three sons and fifty daughters. In his reign, King Mandhata performed hundred Ashwamedha Yagnas and a hundred Rajasuya Yagnas. Susandhi the eldest son of Mandhata succeeded him. Susandhi the eldest son of Mandhata succeeded him.

At the old age Mandhata, due to his continuous success, became very proud of his success and strength and intended to capture the entire Swargalok. Indra, the King of Swargalok, was worried and played a trick. He convinced Mandhata to attack the kingdom of Lavanasur, a demon who had a special trident, which was gifted to his father by Lord Siva. He and his soldiers were defeated and were turned into ash by Lavanasur. Later, Shatrughna, a descendent of Mandhata killed Lavanasur.

I am sure, you loved to know about Mandhata. Please let us know your interests and do share your thoughts.
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Spiritual

A brief introduction to the Upanishads

Chanchal Chandra BhattacharyyaLeave a comment

Veda is ‘knowledge’ and was originally known as ‘Shruti’ as the sages passed on their knowledge verbally to the disciples and there were no written scripts. The conclusive part of Veda are the Upanishads. They are also known as Vedanta. Veda consists of two parts, one being the Karma Kanda (ritual or action) and the other the Jnana Kanda (knowledge).

Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads are branches of Samhita.

Upanishads discuss about knowledge and philosophical concepts. It is taught at the end of the Vedas as it speaks about the ultimate knowledge, the Moksha or enlightenment. Upanishad is derived from the Sanskrit root words Upa and Ni. Upa means ‘nearness’ and Ni denote ‘totality’. Hence, Upanishad means sitting closely with the Guru or teacher to get the complete supreme knowledge or Brahmavidya from him.

What is World? Who am I? What is after death? These questions have been discussed and answered in Upanishad. Its prime theme is nature and God. The doctrine of the true knowledge of nature and the concept of one God are the ultimate philosophies behind Upanishad.

There are four Vedas which are as below

  • Rig veda
  • Sam veda
  • Yajur veda
  • Atharva veda

Upanishads are associated with four Vedas and clarified their visions elaborately.

There are large number of Upanishads (almost 200) and mostly 13 of them, included in the four vedas are as follows:

  • Aitareya Upanishad
  • Isha Upanishad
  • Maitri Upanishad
  • Chandogya Upanishad
  • Kena Upanishad
  • Mundaka Upanishad
  • Mandukya Upanishad
  • Kaushitaki Upanishad
  • Brihadyaranyak Upanishad
  • Taittiriya Upanishad
  • Svetasvatara Upanishad
  • Katha Upanishad
  • Prashna Upanishad

Though the philosophy of all of them are same yet each Upanishad has its own original thinking and specific ways of enquiry. The Vedic sages gave the solution to source of Life and Liberation. According to the Upanishads, Atman and Brahman when connected through following the Supreme power, gives the path to liberation or moksha. Upanishads were considered the secret teachings. Gayatri Mantra from the Vedas found importance in relation to meditation and prayers. Upanishad plays a prime role in the evolution of the concepts of Indian philosophy.

It is difficult to understand the Indian Sanatan Dharma and the rich Indian culture without an intense knowledge of the Vedas and the Upanishads.

Hope you loved reading. I will try to share more concepts on the Upanishads in future.
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Stay in touch.

Namaste.

Janmashtami and the birth story of Lord Sri Krishna
Mythological · Short Stories · Spiritual · Stories

Janmashtami and the birth story of Lord Sri Krishna

Chanchal Chandra BhattacharyyaLeave a comment
Gopal Sri Krishna Janmashtami
Gopal Sri Krishna – Sketched by Chanchal Chandra Bhattacharyya

Janmashtami is a major festival of the Hindus. It is celebrated all over the world to commemorate the birth of Lord Krishna, who was the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the principle God of the Hindus. Janmashtami is also known as ‘Gokulastami’ and is celebrated on the eighth day of Bhadrapada.
Krishna was the son of Vasudeva and Devaki. Vasudeva was the king of Yadav clan. Kansa, a tyrant, and the maternal uncle of Krishna was very cruel and along with other such cruel Demon kings, was terrorizing on the earth. Kansa was the brother of Devaki, who removed his father Ugrasen from the throne of Mathura, imprisoned him and occupied the throne.

Devaki, was married to Vasudeva as Kansa wanted to take over the control on Yadav destiny. After marriage when Kansa was escorting the newly married couple, Devaki, and Vasudeva to the kingdom of the Yadav, he heard an announcement made from the Heavens, that the eighth child of Devaki will end his life. Kansa on hearing the forecast became furious and plunged to de head Devaki with his sword. Vasudeva begged his wife’s life and assured that he will hand over every child soon after their birth. Hearing this promise, Kansa did not kill his sister but imprisoned the couple, so that he could smash each of their new-born child to death in the prison.

However, all the seven children of Devaki were killed by Kansa one by one. On birth of the eighth child the prison surprisingly started glowing with bright heavenly light and at the same time Vasudeva was woken with a divine voice and was advised to shift the child to the house of Nandaraja, the king of Gopa tribe (cowherds) and a bosom friend of Vasudeva.

All the guards of the prison were made fast asleep, the doors started opening one by one, as Vasudeva proceeded with the Divine child. The night was stormy, complimented with thunder and heavy rain. Vasudeva crossed the Yamuna river with the help of Sheshnag, the giant multi headed snake of Lord Vishnu.

Vasudeva reached the house of Nandaraja who was waiting for him. They entered the room where Yashoda the wife of Nandaraja was lying with her newly born girl child. Vasudeva kept his child beside Yashoda, in exchange of her girl child and returned back to the prison .Vasudeva narrated everything to Devaki .As soon as he handed over Nandaraja’s daughter to Devaki, the little one began to cry loudly . The cry woke the guards up and they immediately informed Kansa about the birth of the eighth one.

Kansa reached the prison sharply and snatched the child. Devaki prayed Kansa not to end the life of the child as the child was a female one and in no way, she could make any harm to Kansa. Kansa did not pay heed to her request and threw the baby to smash against the wall of the prison room. The child with a smile said, “I am Goddess Durga. I can destroy you instantly but will not do the same as your time of death has not yet come.” saying this she disappeared.
Child Krishna became the center of love in Gokul as he was loved and cared by all. His foster parents Nandaraja and Yashoda, and every villager and his friends loved him for his intelligence and courage. Krishna became the hero of all residents of Gokul as he was a sweet one.

In course of time he killed his maternal uncle and saved Mathura from the terrible rule of Kansa. The festival, Janmashtami is so named as lord Krishna was born on Ashtami (the eighth day of Bhadrapada) and he was the eighth child of his mother. Lord Krishna was the icon of love and bravery. Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated all over India mainly in north India especially In Mathura and Vrindavan. Krishna followers today are spread all over the world and they spread his message of love, courage, and purity of soul. On the great Janmashtami festival, the Krishna Temples across the world are decorated with colorful balloons, garlands, and festoons. The puja on Janmashtami starts at midnight as it is popularly known that Sri Krishna was born in mid night.

Devotees remain on fasting for the entire day. They offer laddu and other sweet items along with flowers, dresses, and ornaments as a part of their worship. On this day, Lord is generally worshipped in his baby form and his idol is placed on a cradle.

A special ‘Dahi Handi’ program is held as the lord was a lover of milk products, especially ‘makhana’ (butter). On the day of the festival, colorful pictures are displayed on the bravery and love of Lord Krishna.
To the Hindus and Vaishnavas, Lord Krishna is the icon of bravery. He is the closest friend and the savior God.
Hope you loved to know about Janmashtami and the story of the Lord and would like to know more about him.

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