Janmashtami

Today is JANMASHTAMI DAY - the birthday of Lord Krishna. On this day we remember the celestial and immortal message of Lord Krishna given by him to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Bhagavad Gita contains the guiding principles for every Hindu, nay every human being regardless of his religion, every day for every moment of his life. Lord Krishna told Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra: 'All paths lead to ME'. It is because of this universality that it has found favour with all Classes and Schools for centuries. Nowhere perhaps, with the possible exception of Mathura�Vrindavan�in UP is Janmashtami celebrated with that kind of elemental passion which it arouses in the State of Gujarat. The ancient and timeless Krishna Temples at Dakore in Kheda District and Dwaraka in Jamnagar District of Gujarat have attracted throngs of devotees of Lord Krishna for thousands of years.

Lord Krishna is better known in India's cultural and religious history as the King and Emperor of Dwaraka. According to ancient Hindu mythology, Dwaraka was a new country founded by the Yadava clan of chiefs who fled from the Surasena Kingdom due to fear from the king Jarasandha of Magadha. It was the brainchild of Vasudeva Krishna, the great personality of the Dwapara Yuga. The territory of Dwaraka includes the Dwaraka Island, many neighbouring islands like the Antar Dwipa and the mainland area neighbouring the Anarta Kingdom, making it similar to Greece having many islands and a mainland forming its territory. The kingdom was situated roughly in the north-western region of Gujrat state. Its capital was Dwaravati (near Dwarka, Gujarat). The Mahabharata does not mention Dwaraka as a kingdom but rather as the capital city of Yadavas who ruled the Anarta Kingdom. It was also known as Dwaravati. It was also a port-city, having trade relations with many sea-faring nations. The name Dwaraka, in Sanskrit means a gate or a gateway. It could be that this ancient port-city was a gateway for foreign sea-faring kingdoms into the Indian mainland and vice versa.

Dwaraka is one of the seven Holy Cities�Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Benares, Kanchi, Ujjain and Dwaraka. Dwaraka's majesty and beauty have been described by many poets and writers, saints and sages of ancient India. It is referred to as Golden City in Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Skanda Purana, Vishnu Purana, Harivansha and Mahabharata. It was the capital of Lord Krishna's Kingdom. All the Islam-embracing, Christianity-coveting and Hindu-hating perverted pseudo secularists in the Government of India and all the political parties would be shocked to know that Dwaraka is not just a legend or the product of a figment of imagination but a real, concrete and terrestrial truth. Dwaraka was a well-planned city with a modern and technologically advanced harbour suitably designed to deal with the marine traffic of large ships entering the port.

One of the verses in the Bhagavada says: 'The yellow glitter of the golden fort of the Dwaraka City in the sea throwing yellow light all round looked as if the flames of Vadavagni came out tearing asunder the sea'. Then came the deluge and Dwaraka 'A City of Gold' vanished under water. Around 1500 BC, the whole Western course of India disappeared along with Lord Krishna's Capital City of Dwaraka. This is how it was described by Vedavyasa in the Mahabharata: 'The sea, which had been beating against the shore, suddenly broke the boundary that was imposed on it by nature. The sea rushed into the City of Dwaraka. It coursed through the streets of the beautiful city. The sea covered up everything in the city. I saw the beautiful buildings becoming submerged one by one. In a matter of a few moments it was all over. The sea had now become as placid as a lake. There was no trace of the city. Dwaraka became just a name; just a memory'.

The ruins of ancient Dwaraka city have been found under the sea following recent oceanographic studies conducted near the modern temple-city of Dwaraka. The first Archaeological excavations at Dwaraka were done by the Deccan College, Pune and the Department of Archaeology, Government of Gujarat in 1963 under the direction of an outstanding Archeologist of Ancient India H.D. Sankalia. It revealed the existence of many artefacts, hundreds of centuries old. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), conducted a second round of excavations under the direction of Dr S R Rao, a world renowned Underwater Archeologist. Dr S R Rao is to the discovery of the ancient town of Dwaraka, what Isaac Newton is to the Law of Gravitation or Albert Einstein to the Theory of Relativity.

Between 1983 and 1990, the well-fortified township of Dwaraka was discovered, extending more than half mile from the shore. The township was built in six sectors along the banks of a river. The foundation of boulders on which the City's walls were erected proves that the land was reclaimed from the sea. What is amazing is that the general layout of the City of Dwaraka described in the ancient texts agrees with that of the submerged city discovered by the Marine Archaelogical Unit. (MAU) of The Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI), which carried out its work under the guidance and supervision of Dr S R Rao.

The discovery of Dwaraka by Dr S R Rao confirms that the descriptions found in the text of the Mahabharata and other important Sanskrit texts regarding Dwaraka are true. It also means that the Mahabharata is NOT A MYTH but an important source of information for studying the ancient history of India. T R Gopalakrishnan has succinctly summarised the importance of the excavations and discovery of Dr S R Rao: 'The strongest Archaeological support comes from the structures discovered under the sea- bed off the coast of Dwaraka in Gujarat by the pioneering team led by Dr S R Rao, one of India's most respected Archaeologists. An Emeritus Scientist at the Marine Archaeology Unit of the National Institute of Oceanography, Dr Rao has excavated a large number of Harappa sites including the Port City of Lothal in Gujarat. In his book THE LOST CITY OF DWARAKA published in 1999 he writes about his undersea finds. It has set at rest all doubts expressed by historians about the historicity of Mahabharata and the very existence of Dwaraka City. It has greatly narrowed the gap in Indian history by establishing the continuity of the Indian Civilization from the Vedic Age to the present day'.

Janmashtami - By - V SUNDARAM

Bhagavad Gita

man-mana bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaishyasi satyam te
pratijane priyo ’si me

"Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend."

Bhagavad Gita 18.65

SRI KRISHNA KAVACHAM

by

Kannadasan, the great Tamil Poet

According to the legends, the birth of Lord Krishna took place under extraordinary circumstances. Krishna was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu who come to the world to get rid of all evil demons. He was born at midnight stroke on a dark, rainy night to 'Devaki' and 'Vasudev' who had been imprisoned by Devaki's brother Kansa.

It had been foretold that the eighth son of Devaki would kill the evil king Kansa. Upon hearing this prophesy, Kansa had his sister put into prison. He killed her seven children one by one but when Krishna was born, there was divine intervention to save the life of baby Krishna. The guards had fallen into deep slumber and were unable to inform their master about the newborn child.

A voice commanded Vasudev to take the baby to Gokul and exchange with the newborn baby Nanda and Yashoda. The shackles and the prison gates opened miraculously and Vasudev carried the child in a small basket, through the waters of Yamuna. As it was a dark stormy night, the waters of Yamuna were raging but parted to let the carrier of the divine Krishna pass. A huge snake known as Adisesha with 2000 hoods, glided behind them, its hoods formed a protective canopy over the child

When Vasudev returned back with Nanda's child the shackles fastened and the doors closed and the guards awakened. Kansa came and picked up the child to hurl it to the wall and kill him but somehow the baby slipped from his grasp and took the form of a Goddess laughing at Kansa, she vanished after telling him that the one who would kill him had already taken birth and was elsewhere.

As a little boy, Krishna was the heartbeat of Gokul, a mischievous prankster who was favorite amongst the gopikas. He used to steal curd and butter from the houses of gopikas. Even though he was a child, he performed several miracles. His exploits are now the immortal legends of Braj. He killed a number of 'asuras'(devils), vanquished the Kali Nag and later he killed Kansa as it had been foretold.

Lord Krsna History

Lord Krishna appeared over five thousand years ago in Mathura, India to Devaki and Vasudeva in the jail cell of the tyrant Kamsa. The place of His birth is known as Sri Krishna Janmasthana. He appeared with His brother Balarama in response to the demigods' prayers for protection from the widespread influence of demonic administration on earth.

Previously, the demigods and demons had been at war in the heavens. When the demons were defeated by the demigods, they decided to instead attack this planet earth. Thus, they invaded the earth by discretely taking birth as princes in powerful royal families of the time. And as the earth became overrun by militaristic activities of these kingly demons, the demigods including the Earth goddess earnestly sought Lord Visnu's protection. Seeing the deteriorating social and political conditions and hearing the prayers of the demigods, the all-compassionate Supreme Lord Sri Krishna decided to descend for the benefit of all.

The Supreme Lord descends from time to time in this material world to reestablish the teachings of the Vedas. In His Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna promises: "Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion--at that time I descend Myself. To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear milleniumm after millenium."

Although eternal the Lord appears in specific circumstances out of mercy for His devotees. In fact, His principal biography, the Srimad Bhagavatam states, "the learned men describe the births and activities of the Unborn and Inactive." Therefore, although He appears within the material dimensions of time and space, He is most definitely not of it. Historically, Lord Krishna appeared on the midnight of the 8th day of the dark half of the month of Sravana. This corresponds to July 19th 3228 BC. He exhibited His pastimes for a little over 125 years and dissappeared on February 18th 3102 BC on the new moon night of Phalguna. (His departure marks the beginning of the current age of corruption known as Kali.)

The great scholar Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti neatly outlines Lord Krishna's activities in this way: the first three years and four months were spent in Gokula, then equal lengths of time in Vmdavana and Nandagram, eighteen years and four months in Mathura, and finally ninety-six years and eight months in Dvaraka totalling 125 years of manifest pastimes. See the Krishna-lila chart.

Lord Krishna's early pastimes are briefly summarized at the website Krishna's Adventures in Vraja"During this childhood time , He grew up as the son of His foster parents Nanda and Yasoda in the midst of the idyllic beauty of Gokula, Vrindavana, and Nandagram. Not only did He destroy numerous demons, but also performed His famous rasa dance.

Krishna enjoyed the dance of love (rasa-lila) with the gopis many of whom are expansions of His own internal energies. The supreme gopi known as Srimati Radharani is the object of Krishna's highest devotion. This beautiful dance would occur in the autumn season at night under a full moon when Lord Krishna would captivate the young gopis with the extraordinary music of His flute . These esoteric pastimes constitute the most confidential expression of divinity ever revealed.

Usually the conception of sprirtual perfection consists of overwhelming feelings only of awe and reverence at God's majesty. However, in these pastimes each devotee loves God either as a master, a best freind, a mischievous son, or even as an intimate lover, thus revealing the infinite possibilities of divine love. These early pastimes of Lord Krsna in Vrindavana illustrate the extraordinary intimacy that one can have with God.

These pastimes are described in detail by Sri Visvantha Chakravarti in his Sri Krishna Bhavanamrta Mahakavya When Krsna and Balarama were older, They were invited to Mathura, where Karnsa, Their demonic uncle, was planning Their death in a wrestling match against two large and powerful wrestlers. When Kamsa saw his wrestlers defeated, he ordered his friends to drive the brothers out of Mathura, plunder the riches of Their cowherd friends, and kill Their fathers, Nanda and Vasudeva. However, Krishna immediately killed Kamsa and Balarama killed his eight brothers. Lord Krishna then established the pious King Ugrasena as the emperor of several kingdoms.

In Mathura, both Krishna and Balarama were initiated by Gargamuni in the Gayatri mantra> Later They went to live under the care of Sandipani Muni who instructed Them in all the Vedic arts and sciences in sixty-four days and nights especially in military science, politics and spirituality. As an offering (guru-daksina) to Their teacher, They recovered his son from death. Although God does not need instruction from anyone else, Lord Krsna and His brother set the perfect example : one must accept instruction from and serve a bona-fide spiritual master to advance in spiritual life.

For the next eighteen years, They continued to live in Mathura halting the impending threat of many demonic kings. Later in Their pastimes Lord Balarama married a princess named Revati. Lord Krsna married many queens, the foremost among them being the extraordinarily beautiftil Queen Rukmani. (See Sri Rukmani website for the story of Their marriage). Both Krishna and Balarama established Their palaces in Dwaraka off the coast of western India, where They enjoyed married life for many years. Although They were married, Lord Krishna and Lord Balrama exhibited the quality of detachment from material life perfectly.

When They were about ninety years old, the great world war of Kuruksetra took place. This climactic battle brought together all the major world leaders. Lord Krsna took the role of a charioteer on the side of the pious Pandavas, while Lord Balarama refusing to participate went on a pilgrimage tour thereby blessing the entire land of India.
At the start of the war, Lord Krishna displayed His stupendous Universal Form delivered His famous message known as the Bhagavad-gita, literally the Song of God.

This Song contains the essence of all knowledge having been spoken by the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Himself. This war concluded with the destruction of the demonic kings and the reinstatement of the righteous Pandava princes.

Having completed Their mission, Balarama and Krsna resumed Their life in Dvaraka where They spent some thirty-five more years before ending Their earthly manifest activities The foremost description of Lord Krishna's activities occurs in the Srimad Bhagavatam, literally "the Beautiful Book of God."

Author Unkonw