How did you celebrate Janmaashtamii?

[Guest guest]

Today, August 12th is Shrii Krishna Janmaashtamii Mahotsava. All of

us around the world will be celebrating it in different ways. Many of

us have the association of Gaudiiya Vaishnavas and will observe the

festival with them. Others have the association of other Vaishnavas,

or have no Vaishnava association at all. Some of us live in a holy

dhaam while others do not. But one thing is for certain, and that is

that all of us will try to celebrate this auspicious day in different

ways.

 

Today I am blessed with the opportunity to visit ISKCON of Houston

and take darshan of Sri-Sri Radha-Nilamadhava. I expect that, just as

in previous years, there will be abhishekham of Their Lordships

followed by ecstatic kirtana and prasadam feast.

 

What about you? Tell us how you are spending the day (or were able to

spend the day, should you see this message tomorrow). Where did you

celebrate it? Did you get to hear Krishna-katha from any sadhus? What

kinds of discourses did you hear? Did you witness any transcendental

dramas being performed? What other activities took place on this day

at your location?

 

 

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare |

hare raama hare raama raama raama hare hare ||

[Guest guest]

achintya, "Hari Krishna Susarla" <krishna@a...> wrote:

 

> What about you? Tell us how you are spending the day (or were able

to

> spend the day, should you see this message tomorrow). Where did you

> celebrate it? Did you get to hear Krishna-katha from any sadhus?

What

> kinds of discourses did you hear? Did you witness any

transcendental

> dramas being performed? What other activities took place on this

day

> at your location?

 

Normally I don't respond to my own postings, but as this one was

posted before I actually attended the temple program, I figured an

addendum was in order.

 

I was able to attend the temple program with my wife, parents, and

brother. The temple (Houston Hare Krishna Dham) was packed, even at

630pm when we arrived. There wasn't much room to even offer

obeisances. Janmashtami in Houston is typically like this, especially

when the day falls on a weekend. There were a number of singing and

dance programs going on in the nearby Gauranga Hall simultaneously.

This year, I was pleased to note that the Janmashtami performances

were of a more traditional Indian type. For example, the dances were

mostly Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, and some of the dance items

featured live vocals with traditional Vedic instruments - kartals,

tambura, etc. There were two abhishekams going on -- one for a baby

Gopaala Deity outside the temple, and another inside the temple.

 

The traditional Janmasthami discourse was scheduled at 11pm, and it

was given by His Grace Radha-Krishna dasa. The subject matter was

Gopaala-champu, a composition of Srila Jiva Gosvami, specifically

pertaining to the appearance of Lord Krishna. The common

understanding of this pastime is that the Lord actually appeared

first to Devaki and Vasudeva, and was then transferred to Nanda and

Yashoda in Vridavan. However, according to Srila Jiva Gosvami's

realization, the pastime actually occurred a little differently.

Krishna in His Vaasudeva expansion appeared before Devaki and

Vasudeva. Simultaneously, He appeared along with Yoga Maya to Mother

Yashoda in Vrindavan, but His appearance there was concealed by Yoga

Maya. When Vasudeva took Krishna to Vrindavan, this expansion of

Krishna merged into the original Krishna "born" to Yashoda.

Therefore, Krishna was in reality born to Mother Yashoda. This is a

very esoteric subject matter, and probably it shouldn't be discussed

with nondevotees or devotees outside of our sampradaya. But the

subject matter was very interesting.

 

One interesting surprise during this year's Janmasthami was the

prasadam. By the time the midnight arati and been concluded, the

temple had run out of prasadam. This was a first. The devotees who

had been fasting didn't get much to eat, while the congregation had

been feasting all day (most of the Indian congregation doesn't fast

until midnight). I myself wasn't too disappointed -- as it turned

out, I was trying to fast, but I broke my fast around 6pm when my

hunger became so overwhelming that I could no longer concentrate on

Krishna-conscious topics. Even then, I took just enough fruit and

water until the hunger was no longer a problem, and then went back to

reading Bhagavatam. As it turns out, I wouldn't change my decision to

attempt the fast -- without taking any major meals, you get more time

to chant rounds, speak Krishna-katha, do seva, or read from the

Bhagavatam/Krishna book. These are the ideal activities to be

performed on this holy day, and being able to do them (as opposed to

going to work/school, etc) makes it much easier to appreciate the

significance of Janmasthami.

 

regards,

 

Krishna Susarla