JANMASTAMI: THE BIRTHDAY

The night was dark and the sky threatening. The hour of crisis came nearer and the fortified palace of king Kansa cast the shadow of an unknown disaster through the dazzling lights all around. The innumerable objects of pleasure and luxuries seemed futile to Kansa. His strong cruel mind began to falter and fail. Everything only served to increase dull monotony and the dubious heart of Kansa could not bear the association of sight of his erstwhile beloved companions. So he retired to be a solitary place.

King Kansa, goaded by his insatiate thirst for enjoyment remoulded, altered, displaced and destroyed everything he came across to suit his pleasures; from every quarter of the world he had gathered and hoarded up things to be exhausted for his delight. Naturally, therefore, the idea of permanence of anything beyond his capacity of enjoyment was intolerable to him and consequently the believers in a permanent existence and in the eternal Absolute were considered by him as his inveterate enemies. And his failure to encompass the whole universe in the ocean-like expanse of his greedy grip and his inability to consume the whole creation with the conflagration of his fiery thirst for enjoyment filled Kansa with misgivings; for a sluggish languor enervated him and he was thus desperately forced to suspect that the inevitable hands of a too powerful opponent were against him and He could not be anyone else than the Eternal Absolute.

The only engagement of Kansa, therefore, became somehow to destroy every trace of this Absolute. The persistent canker of this anxious thought ate into his vitals, sapped all sweetness from enjoyment and filled his sceptic mind with constant torments of a grim panic which seemed gradually to be drawing near. Consequently the devotees who are couriers of the Absolute were to be properly guarded against. Thus in order to guard himself well with all precautious steps Kansa thought it wise to throw Devaki and Vasudev into prison and arrange for special guards and sentries from among his trusted followers. Yet he would start up and rush out of his solitary place and go round himself inspecting that everything was safe. Every precaution against danger was found in perfect order, nevertheless he left that all his arrangements were futile, every point seemed vulnerable to the mighty terror, the Great Absolute whose terrible jaws seemed agape on all sides. The sky was overcast with dense lowering clouds, the thunder and lightning caused restless palpitations in his heart and the violent torrents which soon followed seemed to shower death spears at him. So in mortal agony Kansa tried to hide himself in a lonely corner of his palace.

The beloved devotees of the Absolute, Devaki and Vasudev, in their devotional attitude, were however, far beyond the range of the wavy relativity of the three qualities of the manifested phenomena; they were in a realm of harmony where reigned uninterrupted the eternal self-illuminating Existence. So instead of fear and misgivings of the phenomenon of creation and dissolution, they were in eternal bliss, enlightened by transcendental knowledge. In Kansa's dark dungeon the celestial light enlightened their hearts. The eternal devotees are always favoured by the Absolute whose fond adobe is their pure hearts.

According to Divine promise, Devaki saw signs of the auspicious moment of the Appearance drawing near: serene light shone on all sides and the whole creation began to dance in great glee with perfect harmony. The rippling tide of the exuberant Jamuna, the gay breeze surcharged with delicious fragrance of sweet flowers, the auspicious chanting of the Gandharvas and Kinnaras in melodious concordance with the prayers of the eternal associate devotees of the Lord, all kept time to the jocund dances of the merry denizens. Flowers began to be showered profusely by the gods and sages when to her exceedingly joy appeared the beloved Lord as a Baby of extreme beauty within a flood of transcendental light. She lost herself in joyful awe as she saw the vision of the Divine Baby the smiling eyes like lotus buds on a dark background of curly hair, holding Sankha, Chakra, Gada and Padma in His four hands the lustrous Koustubha pendant from the neck, clad in yellow garb, wearing a crown set with priceless jewels and assuming in the body the hue of the azure sky.

Filled with delight Devaki and Vasudev offered their humble prayers to the Absolute who, out of infinite love for the beloved couple, blessed them and of His own accord drew in His Vasudev form and became their baby in this world. At that very moment the Delusive Power that attends upon Divine pleasure was born elsewhere to Nanda-Yasoda in the form of a baby girl. Through the Divine illusory Power the massive iron-gates of the prison were flung open, the armed guards and the specially appointed supervisors all suddenly fell asleep and none knew anything of the wonders that had happened as if in the twinkling of an eye. Forsooth, the gross stunned vision of the mundane people can never have access to, nor do they discern, the eternal activities of the transcendental region or the communion with the Absolute of the pure and untarnished hearts of the favourite devotees. So the worldly minded people of the territory and Kansa were naturally barred from perceiving the activities of the Supreme Lord and His eternal associates.

Hiding the Divine Baby in the bosom Vasudev went out of His prison house. In this cautious but speedy progress from Mathura to Gokul, Vasudev was guided by a lovely lusterous glow all around him and in his paternal care and solicitude to hide the Baby safely under his bosom from the stormy wind and torrential showers, Vasudev found himself safely sheltered in a strange manner. He did not know that Sree Anantadev himself in the form of a huge serpent had fully protected them under his extensive hood, in order to serve his Lord Sri Krishna. In his rush to Gokul Vasudev waded through the Jamuna whose waters heaved up in her desire to touch the feet of her Lord. Vasudev in his attempt to keep off the beloved Baby from the rising waters held him above his head as far as his hands could stretch, but the Jamuna also jumped up to that extent, only once, to touch the feet of the Lord with the ends of her wavy fingers. Next moments the waters hurriedly receded as if in sudden fright and made way for them. Thus Vasudev, unperceived by the world reached the house of Nanda and Yasoda in Gokul. This is Janmashtami.

It is hard for some to understand the special significance and sacredness of the day of Janmashtami, the Birth of the Birthless, the fountain-head of all creative manifestations and the primordial Origin or the great ultimate Cause of all causes. Birth indeed is a necessary event for all created beings who are forced to come under the limitations of time and space, within the realm of manifested phenomena; whereas the Absolute Godhead, by nature, transcends all limitations of time and space and exists eternally. Conversely, whatever is subject to the finality of the universe is certainly something other than the Absolute.

The Absolute in His own form exists eternally in His transcendental region and also simultaneously in His all-pervading Form throughout the whole manifested phenomenon. Yet as the all-powerful Entity He condescends to manifest Himself in the phenomenal region in various Forms, best suited to the particular object to be fulfilled among His favourite beings. The purposes of His appearance here are many; the principal among these are to favour His most beloved devotees by satisfying their hankering for a Darshan of Him, or to remove and destroy their oppressive enemies, or to relieve the universe of the burden of satanic forces that disturb the creation.

He is the sole Lord ; there is none who can question His capacity or propriety of appearance in this universe in any form He is pleased to choose and it cannot affect His absolute character in any way. On the other hand, it is the special characteristic of His absolute nature that although He appears to be born like an ordinary being actually He is not subject to any of the limitations of time and space which are the creations of His own deflected Energy and held by Him or His own purpose. Even in this mundane world He is always in His own plane beyond His creations and potencies which can never have the least influence upon Him. There is none to regulate His will and actions. Consequently, the difficulty of these sceptics regarding the Birth of the Birthless is altogether meaningless.

Moreover, He has always shewn in various manifested forms His unconditioned potencies which are not possible in any created being. Lastly, in His Lila as Krishna, He manifests His utmost potencies of the transcendental region. Over and above every other special feature of his Lila, He presents Himself as the desired whole or the complete reciprocal of His close and devoted associates, all of whom find their fullest realisation in Him and are filled with bliss in their respective ways and measures by His infinite generosity.

Though not as a mystic myth, some may perhaps take the episode of this Birth as a mere allegory or an abstract idea. In order to undeceive them it may be stated, with as much precision and justification as history may boast of, that Krishna did appear at the end of Dwapara Yuga. He was the slayer of Kansa and other demons, the beloved child of Nanda and Yasoda, the loving comrade of the cowherds of Gokul, the fond consort of the damsels of Braja, the King of Dwaraka, the prime mover of the great Kurukshetra war, the greatest Hero of ancient India and was at the same time the Eternal Supreme Godhead, the Absolute, the one object of worship of saints and sages.

Krishna did appear according to Pauranic traditions with His entire entourage of the transcendental region on the eight day of the dark-half of the month of Bhadra towards the end of Dwapara Age somewhere a little over 5000 years ago. A probable date may be fixed with some amount of accuracy from authentic astronomical data available to us. The present Kali Age commenced 3179 years before the beginning of Saka era on the authority of Varaha Mihir's Jatakarnava. Adding to this the number of the years of the Saka era (1856) we get 5035 years before which the Kali Yuga began. Again, as the beginning of the Kali Yuga and the time of the disappearance of Sree Krishna were almost simultaneous and we learn from Sreemad Bhagavat that Sri Krishna remained in this world for 125 years, the birthday may be placed at, 5160 years, from now or in other words the present year is 5035 A.D. of the Lord Krishna.