SRI KRISHNA JANAM-ASHTHAMI marks the ‘birth’ anniversary of Sri Krishna. Sri Krishna made His appearance at midnight on the eighth day (Ashtmi Tithi) in the dark half of the Hindu month Bhadrapada (August).
Hindus observe this day by attending Mandirs, performing Poojaa, chanting and listening to Krishna’s glories, doing Japa (muttering of God’s name), and engaging in meditation. SRI KRISHNA:
THE GREAT, IDEAL & LORD FOR ALL AGES
The influence Sri Krishna—the ideal personification of Divinity has had and continues to have on the lives of people all over the world—the Hindu masses, Hindu intellectuals and prominent philosophers, has not been an ordinary one. And so to attempt to even describe it will not be an easy task. Krishna— the world’s Teacher, Lord and Saviour is extremely unique in physique and spirit; mundanely and spiritual. His influence on mankind has been one of great pervasion, massive zeal and esoteric potency. Indeed, what his personality and power were cannot really be explained nor estimated.
Krishna has gained world attraction. This alone shows very explicitly the intensity of the Lord, Sri Krishna’s grace and Divinity. We have seen in the Bhagavatam that all were closely connected to Him. Men and women; children and adults; young and old; saints and sinners; intellectuals and unlettered; royals and servants; heroes and weak, and even the animals — the cow being foremost – were all duly closely attracted and attached to Him. Perhaps from this point of view one can clearly see a true manifestation of His very name, “Krishna”. Krishna comes from the Sanskrit root verb ‘Kars’, meaning to pull or draw to oneself. No wonder why the great disciple of Him (Krishna) Uddhava once declared, “How blessed should it be to live in Vrindavan as one of the shrubs or creepers or plants or herbs that come into contact with the dust of the feet of these Gopis, who abandoned their kinsmen and social code of honour, hard to give up, and resorted to the feet of Mukunda, sought after the Vedas…”
By the very grace and charisma of Sri Krishna, one becomes filled with inner joy and satisfaction. In the presence of Krishna, there is an arena absorbed in bliss and divinity and if there is true concentration on Him, one is sure to become absorbed in intense Bhakti (Devotion), Prema (Love) and God consciousness. It is by His grace that all contradictions and dilemmas become harmonised and fixed. His representation of pure love, humility, perfection, tenderness, strength, might, splendour, grace, astuteness, heroism, renunciation, truth and fair dealing are in fact the very criteria that have shaped the lives of millions of His followers and worshippers throughout time—for thousands of years now. As a matter of fact, Sri Krishna’s entire life has really been an influential one as it has not only formed part of scriptural teachings, but a central theme in the best philosophies ever known, the best among the most handsome sculptures; ideal object in the finest of music and poetry; and the truest of phenomena. This is the Krishna that stands out extremely immaculately as the ideal inspirer for all classes and the Supreme Lord, Saviour and refuge for the masses.
From the above, one is only left to conclude that what this Krishna really was and continues to be is indeed a message for all mankind and all ages to come. We read of His Supreme teachings a lot in one of the main scriptures in Hinduism, the Bhagavad Geeta and by careful analysis, any person who truly studies Him (Sri Krishna) will be convinced that Sri Krishna’s life was the most perfect one ever lived. However, He lives all the time in our hearts.
Hence, from this viewpoint then one needs not to wonder why tributes of Sri Krishna’s life have not been missing in the works of the best among philosophers and sages throughout ages— from both East and West. Sri Swami Vivekananda could not resist even a pinpoint to give tributes to this ideal Master and Lord, Sri Krishna. Sri Vivekananda observes: “He (Krishna) was the most wonderful Sannyasin and the most wonderful householder; he had the most wonderful among the Rajas’ power and was at the same time living in the midst of the most wonderful renunciation. Krishna, the preacher of the Geeta, was all His life the embodiment of the Geeta; He was the great illustration of non-attachment; a great landmark in the history of religion; the ideal of love for love’s sake; work for work’s sake; duty for duty’s sake; and it is for the first time fell from His lips of the greatest Incarnation, Krishna, and for the first time in the history of humanity, on the soil of India”.
Swami Vivekananda did not stop there: he continues to reiterate Krishna’s Divinity and Life: “He (Krishna) was the first heart large enough to see truth in all. In Krishna we find two ideas supreme: the first is the harmony of different ideas, and the second is non-attachment. He does not need anything; He does not want anything. He works for work’s sake. He is the most rounded man I know of, wonderfully developed equally in brain and heart and hand. Every moment of His is alive with activity. Five thousand years have passed and He has influenced millions and millions. My regard for Him is for His perfect sanity. No cobwebs in His brain, no superstition. He knows the use of everything”.
Furthermore, the Srimad Bhagavatam describes Him as follows: “Krishna appeared like a thunderbolt to the warriors, superhuman to man, God of love incarnate to His devotees, their own to the cowherd Gopis, a child to His parents, as death itself to Kamsa, the vast cosmos to the gross, ultimate reality to the Yogis, and Supreme Deity to His worshippers”.
In Hinduism, there are two texts that deal with the life and teachings of this Ideal and Saviour of humanity, Sri Krishna. They are:
1.      The Srimad Bhagavatam
2.      The Mahabharata epic of which the Bhagavad Geeta is most prominent.