Krishna Janma Ashtami refers to the ‘birth’ of Sri Krishna. Sri Krishna was ‘born’ at midnight on the eighth day (Ashtami tithi) in the dark half of the Hindu month of Bhadrapada. It falls this year on Sunday 25.
Over five thousand years ago, a dazzling flash of brilliant light lit up the sky of human civilization. That spiritual effulgence was Sri Krishna’s appearance upon earth and His message in the Bhagavad Gita.
In 3102 BCE, in Mathura, India, a child was born who was destined to reshape the spiritual and temporal destiny of mankind. He was given the name Krishna. In His 125 years’ sojourn upon earth, He has made an indelible impression upon mankind’s collective consciousness, re-educating the world about Love, Action and Dharma, as well as the ultimate Reality of Gos-Realization. Seeing Krishna as a perfect Personification of Divinity – a complete manifestation of Divinity upon earth, hundreds of millions of people pray to Him, chant His Names, meditate on His Form and try to put His teachings into practice.
The beauty and majesty of Sri Krishna has been an inspiration to multitudes of lives for centuries and ages. Minds enlightened with His wisdom, and hearts kindled with His Love have transmitted His spiritual Light from generation to generation and reflected a loftiness that can only be of God.
All our ancient Scriptures are full of descriptions of His Divine qualities and Glory, of the wonderful, instructive and enchanting stories of His Divine acts. It is well known that the Mahabharata and the Bhaagavatam contain descriptions of the Supernatural Love, Glory and Majesty of the Lord.
Ever since his childhood, Sri Krishna reflected qualities of greatness and teaching ability. The Holiness of His Being was combined with profound wisdom, and He showed such meekness and humility that He even washed the feet of His followers. He inspired spiritual development and devotion through the influence of His teachings, the beauty of His Spirit, and the nobility and celestial Power of His attributes. He affirms:
“I am the Lord, the Way, the Goal, the Truth, the Witness, the Abode, the Refuge, the Friend, the Origin, the Foundation, the Dissolution, the Abiding Essence, and the Imperishable Seed.” (Gita 9:18)
Sri Krishna represents the Soul of Hinduism. It was He who synthesized the ideals of disinterested Action (Karma Yoga), Knowledge (Jnaana Yoga), and Devotion (Bhakti Yoga). He taught that these three systems form a connected whole. He preached the doctrine of harmony among all sects, and it was He who pronounced once and for all the reason for God incarnating.
“Whenever there is a decline of righteousness, and a rise of unrighteousness, then I body Myself forth. For the protection of the virtuous and the destruction of the wicked, I come into being from age to age. (Gita 4:7-8)
Sri Krishna was more than a religious reformer, because He came not to change, or condemn or destroy those who came before Him, but He came to fulfill their teachings. He says:
“The same ancient and Supreme Teaching has this day been imparted by Me. Through long lapse of time, this Teaching became lost.” (4:2-3)
He declares that all Pathways ultimately lead to the same goal of God-realization, and that the different Paths which people follow are all His Pathways.
“Howsoever men seek Me, even so do I approach them; for all persons follow My path in every way.” (4:11).
This verse brings out the universal outlook of Krishna’s Gita-Religion. The God of the Gita, Sri Krishna, meets every aspirant with favor and grants to each his heart’s desires. He does not extinguish the hope of any, but helps everyone to grow according to his nature. Even those who worship other and lesser deities with expectation of reward find what they seek by the grace of the Lord.
“Those devotees, who worship other deities, are in reality worshipping Me only, though their approach is not correct. With faith, however, they obtain their desires, which are really ordained by Me.” (9:22).
Sri Krishna is a mesmerizing blend of Greatness and Sweetness. All theistic traditions assert that God is Great. Sri Krishna graphically demonstrates that Greatness. In the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna gives Arjuna, His disciple, a glimpse of His awe-inspiring greatness by displaying His Universal Form (Vishva Roopa) – one of the greatest mystical visions in world literature. Arjuna saw within His Universal Form everything and everyone in existence. He saw all the planets, stars, and universes as well as all living beings, whether celestial, terrestrial, or subterranean. The Gita describes that vision thus:
“If there be the effulgence of a thousand suns bursting forth all at once in the sky, even that would hardly approach the splendor of the mighty Lord. (11:12).
Sri Krishna’s life was His message; He practiced what He preached. He is the very embodiment of the ideal of Selfless Action (Karma Yoga). He teaches that we must remain unperturbed by any circumstances, and accept success or failure with an even mind and calm spirit. We should perform our duties, which are determined according to our individual tastes, temperaments and capacities. Our actions must not be motivated by our greed for personal name, fame, or fortune, but by the desire to do good to others. In this way, we must set an example for others to follow and leave our foot-prints in the sands of time, which will guide them too on the path of duty. Sri Krishna says that the leaders have a greater burden in this regard.
“Whatever a great man does, that very thing other men do; whatever standard he sets up, the general public follow.” (Gita 3: 21).
Common people imitate the standards set by the elect. Sri Krishna points out that the great men are the path-makers who blaze the trail that other men follow.
Sri Krishna is not the hero who once trod the earth and has now left it, having spoken to His favorite disciple, but is everywhere and in everyone of us, as ready to speak to us now as He ever was to anyone else. He is not a bygone personality but the indwelling Spirit, an object for our spiritual consciousness. “I am the indwelling Self seated in the hearts of all beings.” (10:20).
God does not stand aside unconcerned when we abuse our privileges and freedom, and when by our actions we cause problems in God’s world. He simply does not wind-up the world-clock, set it on the right track and let it jog along by itself. His loving hands are steering us along all the time. Sri Krishna is the upholder of Dharma, not a God remote, unknown and unconcerned with our daily struggles.
Through the life of Lord Sri Krishna we get to see vividly the ideal which we have to attain. He sets a standard which we have to strive for. His teachings dispel the doubts, and His life provides us with the living model which we are to copy for our upward growth. He not only teaches us the true doctrine by which we can conquer our lower self, and come to realize God in our lives, but He offers Himself as a channel of grace and love. By inviting us to trust and love Him, He promises to lead us towards Him.
Sri Krishna’s Name rings down the corridor of history. Sri Krishna, from His humble seat in a chariot, has moved India. He will move the world, and all those who study Him. A hundred kingdoms have crumbled, and innumerable relics of ancient art and memorials of kings and statesmen are gone. But Sri Krishna has stamped His name upon the life and culture of the Hindus.
In Krishna there appeared the Power of the Avataara, in all its glory. The Word did not remain a word, but became a living, moving reality. In Krishna, the Gita has become incarnate as a redemptive Power of Life.
