Krishna Janmashtami would be celebrated in style on Monday August 22, at the Iskcon Sri Sri Radha Giridhari Temple, 1229 Coatesville Riverhead Hwy, Kumeu this year.
The day would begin with a special candlelight mangal arati at 4.30am. followed by a lecture on the birth of Lord Krishna at 7pm.
The assembled devotees would greet the deities at 8am in their new outfits. Kirtans will continue throughout the day until 7pm.
There would be a grand abhishek at 7.30pm followed by the swinging of the deities in the temple hall. Simultaneously there would a cultural programme in the downstairs prasadam hall from 7.45pm to 11pm.
The most awaited moment would be at midnight when all the assembled devotees would sing and dance in ecstacy while experiencing the special candle lit mid night Janmashtami maha aarati.
Everyone is invited to experience this spiritual bliss A special feast would be served thereafter. In honour of the occasion, devotees generally fast right up to midnight.
Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the speaker of the Bhagavad-gita, which is recognized throughout the world as one of mankind’s greatest books of wisdom and poetry.
The personification of Krishna in stories, paintings and Deities is not an idea invented by human beings naively creating a God in their own image. Nor is personhood a limiting concept when applied to God, or the Absolute Truth.
As the source of everything, Krishna naturally has His own personal identity, just as each of us does. The Vedas define God as the one supreme conscious being among all other conscious beings. He is infinite, we are finite, and He maintains us all.
“I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.” —Sri Krishna, Bhagavad-gita 9.29
The stories of Krishnas’ life range from before he was born through a series of adventures as he matured into adulthood, his encounters with demons and how he helped his family, demigods, friends and strangers.
And yet some of his actions make it unmistakable to accept Him as nothing other than Supreme Godhead; his battles with demons and the courage he gave to those around him when they faced the greatest of adversity, for example reciting the Bhagavad-Gita to Arjun on the battle field.
Krishna resides in the hearts of all beings. He is the joy in their lives, just like he is the Spring time. Falling between the end of August and beginning of September, Janmashtami is the celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
According to Vedic astrology, it is signalled by the appearance of a certain star in the sky called ‘Rohini Nakshatra’ (Western name ‘Aldebaran’), and calculated according to the lunar calendar. Lord Krishna Himself explains why He appears in this world:
“In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.”
(Bhagavad-gita, 4.8)
Krishna’s appearance on earth occurred approximately five thousand years ago, or circa 3228 B.C. The thrilling story behind His divine advent is described in the ancient Vedic scripture Srimad-Bhagavatam. Here is a condensed summary:
Once when the entire world was overburdened by the increasing military power of demons in the form of kings, the personification of Mother Earth, accompanied by the demigods, approached Lord Vishnu for help to alleviate the suffering of the planet. After hearing their prayers, Lord Vishnu informed them that He would appear on the surface of the earth to mitigate the burden created by the demoniac kings.
One of these demons in royal guise was the evil King Kamsa. He heard an ominous voice from the sky which warned him that the eighth son of his sister and brother-in-law (Devaki and Vasudeva) would be his nemesis and eventually kill him.
Upon hearing this omen, Kamsa was immediately ready to kill his sister Devaki, but Vasudeva diplomatically began to instruct him against committing such a heinous act. However, Kamsa was not satisfied by Vasudeva’s instructions, and so had the couple arrested and imprisoned. Fearing that any of Devaki’s children could be his divine nemesis, Kamsa proceeded to systematically kill each child, one after the other.
But one stormy night the eighth child, Krishna, was born. Mystical powers were at work that night as the prison chains around Vasudeva’s ankle became unclamped, and all the prison guards mysteriously fell asleep, thereby allowing Vasudeva to flee with the newborn baby Krishna. Together they escaped across the river Yamuna, sheltered from the storm under the hood of a divine serpent sent especially for their protection.
When Vasudeva and Krishna arrived at the banks of the river in the township of Gokula, Vasudeva quickly made his way to the house of his friend, Nanda. It just so happened that at that time Nanda’s wife had given birth to a baby girl the previous night. So, in his attempt to preserve the life of his beloved son Krishna, he swapped Nandas’ baby girl and replaced her with Krishna.
That same night Vasudeva returned to Kamsa’s prison so as not to arouse suspicion. The next day, Nanda’s wife, Yasoda, awoke to find she’d had a son, too forgetful after a long night of labour to remember that she’d actually had a girl. So Krishna was raised in the house of Nanda and Yasoda as their own, and on His first birthday a huge celebration was held. This is the wonderful celebration of Janmashtami.
The advent, pastimes and teachings of Lord Krishna are beautifully described in Srila Prabhupada’s book, “Krishna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead”. Today, thanks to the unparalleled spiritual achievements of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, knowledge of and devotion to Krishna is flourishing outside of India. The fact that Janmsthami is now celebrated by millions worldwide is testament to this fact.
* For any service opportunity of for any sponsorship or donations please contact the Head Priest H.G. Achal Krishna Das on 412 8079 or 412 8075 extn
2. Alternatively call the Temple President H.G. Kalasamvara Das on 027 648 89 89
Comments