Vows, Worship, and Fasting on Sri Janmastami - 12 Aug'2001

[Guest guest]

Srila Prabhupada's Quotes:

 

Please accept my blessings. In your last letter you asked how to celebrate

Krishna's and Radha's birthday. As last year, on Krsna's with fasting up to

midnight, and Radha's fasting up to noon. Then feasting. Certainly those who

take Krishna's advent as that of an ordinary man are great fools, but if one

can simply understand the transcendental nature of this event as well as His

disappearance, he becomes immediately liberated.(Letter to: Brahmananda,

Vrindaban, 15 August, 1967)

 

BIG SANKIRTANA-PROCESSION ON JANMASTAMI & GAURA-PURNIMA

 

In the spring you may lead a very big procession on Lord Caitanya's

birthday. This is a good plan to celebrate this great spring festival out of

doors. So make this a very opulent procession with large Sankirtana Party

and you may also celebrate in this way again with a procession on Janmastami

day. These two important subjects may be observed in this way by all the

three areas and similarly in other centers also.(Letter to: Madhudvisa

Los Angeles, 14 February, 1970)

 

Who is Sri Krishna?

*******************

Krishna is God, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This fact is stated

and corroborated in the Vedic scriptures and by various authorities. Lord

Brahma in Brahma Samhita says, "Krishna who is known as Govinda is the

Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the

origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all

causes" (BS 5.1). In the Bhagavata Purana Krishna becomes the chief object

of devotion. After describing various incarnations of the Lord such as

Rama, Balarama, Vamana, Nrsimha, and Vishnu, Srila Sukadeva Goswami

states, "All of the above mentioned incarnations are either plenary

portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Krishna

is the original Personality of Godhead" (SB 1.3.28).

 

Lord Shiva in Gita Mahatmya, states that "let there be only one God -

Krishna, the son of Devaki" (Verse 7). In the Padma Purana it is stated,

"By scrutinizingly reviewing all the revealed scriptures and judging them

again and again, it is now concluded that Lord Narayana is the Supreme

Absolute Truth, and thus He alone should be worshipped". Similarly it is

said in the Skanda Purana, "In the material world, which is full of

darkness and dangers, combined with birth and death and full of different

anxieties, the only way to get out of the great entanglement is to accept

loving transcendental devotional service to Lord Vasudeva. This is

accepted by all classes of philosophers".

 

The position of Krishna as God is confirmed by great personalities like

Narada, Asita, Devala, Vyasa, Parasara, Brahma and Shiva. Finally Krishna

Himself confirms this fact in the Bhagavad Gita to His friend and devotee,

Arjuna. He clearly says that He is "the Supreme Lord of all planets and

demigods" (BG 5.29), that "there is no truth superior to Me" (BG 7.7)

and - "I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything

emanates from Me" (BG 10.8).

 

 

What is the position of Krishna?

********************************

As God, there is no one equal to or greater than Krishna. He is the

original, unborn, eternal person, the most ancient, completely

independent, and the cause of all causes. Parasara Muni, the father of

Srila Vyasadeva and a great scholar who had himself held the position of

Vyasa in a previous kalpa, very nicely defines the position of Bhagavana

(God) as one Who is complete in six kinds of opulence namely - wisdom,

beauty, fame, power, wealth and renunciation. While there are many great

personalities who are very famous or very wealthy, only Krishna as God is

replete in all six opulence.

 

The scriptures not only give us the unique position of Krishna but also

give us a detailed description of all His aspects. They tell us that above

this temporary material universe is an eternal spiritual world called

Vaikuntha, and Krishna lives in the topmost planet of this universe called

Goloka Vrindavana which is full of palaces made of touch-stone

(cintamani), with trees that are capable of fulfilling all desires

(kalpa-vraksha) and cows that are called Surabhi.

 

Here Krishna eternally resides, served by hundreds and thousands of

goddesses of fortune. He sports with His most confidential and intimate

devotees, headed by Srimati Radharani. He has a form just like us but His

body is spiritual and thus eternal. His complexion is dark-blue, like that

of a rain-filled cloud and His eyes are like lotus petals. He is ever

youthful, full of bliss and His beauty excels that of thousands of cupids.

He likes to play the flute, He sports a crown with a peacock feather and

He is adorned by the exquisite kastuba jewel.

 

 

What is Krishna avatar?

************************

In Caitanya-caritamrita (2.20.263-264) it is stated that the "avatara, or

incarnation of Godhead, descends from the kingdom of God for creating and

maintaining the material manifestation. And the particular form of the

Personality of Godhead who so descends is called an incarnation, or

avatara. Such incarnations are situated in the spiritual world, the

kingdom of God. When They descend to the material creation, They assume

the name avatar."

 

The Srimad Bhagavatam states that there are countless incarnations just

like the waves of the oceans. They fall in various categories like lila

(pastime), yuga (period of yuga), manavantara (period of Manu), purusa

(Vishnu expansions) and shaktivesa (empowered). These avatars perform

various pastimes based on the time, place and circumstances, but their

purpose is always the same - "to attract the conditioned souls back to

their eternal spiritual abode".

 

The incarnations emanate from Vishnu. Maha-Vishnu is the original cause of

all material creation and from Him Garbhodakashai-Vishnu expands and then

Ksirodakasayi-Vishnu. Generally all incarnations appearing within the

material world are plenary portions of Ksirodakasayi-Vishnu (also known as

Hari).

 

However only once in a day of Lord Brahma (which lasts for 4.32 billion of

our years), does Krishna descend in His original form, as the avataree,

the cause of all avatars. When Krishna appears all the incarnations join

with Him. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the complete whole and all

the plenary portions and incarnations always live with Him. So when

Krishna appeared, Lord Vishnu was always with Him, and while Krishna

enjoyed His pastimes in Vrindavana, the killing of the demons was actually

carried out by the His Vishnu portion. Since Krishna eternally resides in

Vrindavana, when He left Vrindavana at the age of ten, it was His Vasudeva

expansion that actually left.

 

 

Appearance of Krishna

**********************

In the era of the Svayambhuva Manu, prajapati Sutapa and his wife Prsni

were instructed by Lord Brahma to have progeny. They performed severe

austerities for twelve thousand years of the demigods to have the Lord as

their child. Pleased by their austerities the Lord appeared and granted

them this benediction. Since He gave them this benediction three times, in

Satya-yuga He first appeared as the son of Prsni and Sutapa and was called

Prsnigarba. In Treta-yuga they were Aditi and Kasyapa Muni and the Lord

appeared as Vamanadeva. Finally in the Dvapara yuga, Krishna in His

original form, appeared as the child of Devaki and Vasudeva.

 

Krishna appeared specifically on the request of Bhudevi, the presiding

deity of the Earth planet. Distressed by the burden of many demons who had

appeared as powerful Kshatriyas and were ruling the planet impiously, she

assumed the form of a cow and pleaded to Lord Brahma for help. Lord Brahma

with all the demigods prayed to Vishnu in Svetadvipa by chanting the

Purusa-sukta prayers. At this time the Lord informed Brahma that in order

to establish religiosity and destroy evil, He would soon appear as His

original Self. In the meantime the various demigods were instructed to

take birth in various families in the Yadu dynasty and prepare for the

appearance of the Lord.

 

 

Lifeline of Krishna

*******************

Historically, Lord Krishna appeared in the Dvapara yuga, 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 disappeared 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. He was born in Mathura in the prison

cell of Kamsa and carried to Gokula. The first three years and four months

were spent in Gokula, then equal lengths of time in Vrindavana and

Nandagram. At the age of eleven He left Vrindavan for Mathura where He

lived for eighteen years and four months, and finally ninety-six years and

eight months in Dvaraka totaling about 126 years of manifest pastimes. At

the time of Mahabharata, when Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita, He was

about ninety years of age.

 

 

Pastimes of Krishna

*******************

The tenth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam describes the activities and transcen

dental pastimes of Sri Krishna. They are also described in the epic

Mahabharata, specially in the Bhishma parva which also contains the

Bhagavad Gita. The pastimes of Krishna appeal to the liberated souls,

those that are trying to get liberated and also to the gross materialists.

 

The pastimes of Sri Krishna, known as Krishna-katha fall into two

categories. Words spoken by Krishna, as the Bhagavad Gita, and words

spoken about Krishna, as in the Srimad Bhagavatam. Souls in the liberated

stage derive great pleasure in relishing anything and everything related

to Krishna. For those that are trying to be liberated, Krishna-katha makes

their path of liberation very clear. By studying the Gita one becomes

fully conscious of the position of Sri Krishna; and when one is situated

at the lotus feet of the Lord, he understands the narration's of Krishna

as described in the Srimad Bhagavatam.

 

Even the gross materialists are attracted by the pleasure pastimes of

Krishna with the Gopis and His wives. Even though the loving affairs of

Krishna have nothing to do with the gross, mundane sex affairs, they

attract the people engrossed in sense-gratification and gradually elevate

them to higher levels of spirituality.

 

Causeless mercy of Krishna

*************************

Even though Krishna is completely self sufficient and self satisfied, He

descends for the benefit of all the conditioned souls. His most endearing

quality is that of "bhakta vatsala". His pure devotees are always trying

to please Him, and He is always trying to please His devotees. Just as He

lives in the heart of His devotees, His devotees constantly reside in Him.

 

Krishna is so merciful that He not only helps His devotees, but also those

who are envious of Him. Krishna destroys evil by providing them with an

opportunity to take up devotion.

 

On the greatly auspicious day of Krishna-Janamashtami, let us all pray to

Sri Krishna for a drop of His causeless mercy, for only that alone is

sufficient to take us out from this material word, back home, back to

Godhead.

 

All glories to the appearance day of Lord Krishna !

All glories to Sri Krishna and His devotees !!

 

JANMASTAMI & BACK TO GODHEAD MAGAZINE

 

Sarasvati Thakura liked Abhayada and would be very pleased to see him

because he knew that Abhayda liked to preach. On the occasion of the annual

varshik-utsav (festival of Janmastami), in Sarasvati Thakura's room,

upstairs at the Baghbazaar Math, Jotisekhara saw Abhayda sitting near his

guru maharaja, who told him to start a magazine in Bengali, giving him the

idea, "ghore phirae chala - return back to home `Back To Godhead,' as a

title. He also quoted a sloka in Sanskrit: "yad gatva nanuvartante, tad

dhama paramama mama (Gita 15.6)," on the same topic and then said, "This

idea of going back to Godhead is the basis of the Gaudiya Math."

(From HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami's book on SBSST.)

 

JANMASTAMI & VAMSIDAS BABAJI

 

On Janmastami he was in Baleshvar, a town in North Orissa. At midnight he

said to Gopal, "Last year I gave You some palmfruit. This year I shall give

You some mango. Gopal, don't be impatient, mango is coming to You." Within

ten minutes a brahmana teacher called Jogendra Mukherjee arrived, explaining

how he had just dreamt that a sadhu wanted a mango, so he went to the market

and bought one. That brahmana was then told, "Yes, yes, you come. He said he

wanted a mango."(From HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami's book on SBSST.)

 

Chapter Eight: Sri Brahma-vaivarta Purana

Sri Janmastami-vrata-pujopavasa-nirupana

Vows, Worship, and Fasting on Sri Janmastami

 

1 Sri Narada said: Now please tell me of the vow of Janmastami, which

is the great vow of vows. Please tell me the result attained by following

the ceremony of Jayanti-yoga.

2 O great sage, what sinful reaction does one meet by not following

this vow or by eating on that day? What pious result does one attain by

fasting on that day?

3 O Lord, please describe the result of following this vow, including

the rules governing the day before the fast, and breaking the fast on the

following day.

4 Sri Narayana Rsi said: On the saptami (seventh day) and on the day

after the fast (the navami or ninth day) one should eat havisya (rice and

ghee) only. On the day of Janmastami (the eight day) one should rise at

dawn.

5 O brahmana, one should rise early, bathe, perform his morning

duties, and be determined to follow the vow and the fast for the pleasure of

Lord Krsna.

6 O brahmana, by bathing and worshipping the Lord during the eight day

(Janmastami) of the month of Bhadra (August-September) one attains the

result of bathing and worshipping the Lord for a manvantara.

7 If on this day one offers only a little water to the pitas, he

attains the result of performing sraddha at Gaya for a hundred years.

8 On that day, after bathing and performing his regular duties, a wise

person should arrange for a maternity-room, place in it water, fire, and an

iron sword, post guards,...

9 ...place many things there, place there an instrument for cutting

the umbilical cord, have a midwife there,...

10 ...place there, O Narada, sixteen articles for worshipping the Lord,

eight fruits and candies,...

11 ...the eight fruits and candies being jatiphala, kakkola,

pomegranate, sriphala, coconut, jambira, kusmanda, and manohara,...

12-13 ...and the sixteen articles for worship being a sitting place,

garments, padya, madhuparka, arghya, water for acamana, water for bathing, a

bed, fragrances, flowers, food-offerings, betel nuts, ointments, incense,

lamps, and ornaments,...

14 ...wash his feet, put on clean clothes, perform acamana, say the

word 'svasti', sit on the seat,...

15 ...place a pot there, worship the five deities, invite Sri Krsna,

the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to appear there,...

16 ...invite Vasudeva, Devaki, Yasoda, Nanda, Rohini, Balarama, Goddess

Sasthi, Goddess Vasundhara,...

17 ...Rohini, Brahma, Asthami, the Sthana-devata, Asvatthama, Bali,

Hanuman, Vibhisana,...

18 ...Krpacarya, Parasurama, Vyasadeva, and Markandeya and then

meditate on Lord Krsna.

19 Then a wise person should place a flower to his head and meditate on

the description of the Lord spoken in the Sama Veda. O Narada, please

listen and I will tell you that description, which Lord Brahma told the

Kumaras in ancient times.

20 I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is an infant boy,

who is splendid as a dark monsoon cloud, who is very handsome, whose lotus

face is smiling, whom Brahma, Siva, Sesa and Yama glorified for how many

days? Whom the kings of sages cannot approach in their meditations, whom

the munis, siddhas, and sons of Manu cannot attain, whom the kings of the

yogis cannot imagine in their thoughts, who is the greatest, who is without

peer, who is all-seeing witness.

21 The follower of this vow should thus meditate on the Lord. Then,

reciting mantras, he should offer the flower, and all the other articles to

the Lord. Please hear these mantras.

22 Here are the mantras: O Lord Krsna, please accept this all-beautiful

jewel throne, wonderfully decorated with graceful and colourful pictures and

designs.

23 O Lord Krsna, please accept these wonderful and colourful garments

pure as fire and made by Visvakarma from threads of pure gold.

24 O Lord Krsna, please accept this golden pot filled with water to

wash Your feet. Please accept this pure padya water and this beautiful

flower.

25 O Lord Krsna, please accept these gold pots of honey, ghee, yoghurt,

milk and sugar.

26 O Lord Krsna, please accept this durva grass, whole rice, white

flower, clear water, sandal, aguru, and musk.

27 O Supreme Lord, please accept this clear, pure, sweet, scented

acamana water.

28 O Lord Krsna, please accept this scented Visnu-oil, amalaki paste,

and bath water.

29 O Lord Krsna, please accept this beautiful bed made of the best of

jewels and covered with exquisite cloth.

30 O Lord Krsna, please accept this scented paste made of musk the

powdered tree-roots.

31 O Supreme Lord, please accept this fragrant flower so dear to all

the demigods and grown from a blossoming tree.

32 O Lord Krsna, please accept this offering of ripe fruits,

sugar-candy, svastika candy and other candies.

33 O Lord Krsna, please accept this laddu, modaka, ghee, milk,

molasses, honey, fresh yoghurt, and buttermilk.

34 O Lord Krsna, please accept these betel nuts mixed with camphor and

other things, which I offer to You with devotion.

35 O Supreme Lord, please accept this beautiful avira powder made with

sandal, aguru, musk and kunkuma.

36 O Lord Krsna, please accept this incense made by cooking the nectars

of many trees, incense very dear to all the demigods.

37 O Lord Krsna, please accept this splendid and auspicious lamp that

destroys the terrible blinding darkness.

38 O Lord Krsna, please accept this pure drinking-water scented with

camphor and other fragrances, water that is the life of all living entities.

39 O Lord Krsna, as an ornament for Your transcendental body please

accept this garland of many flowers on a fine thread.

40 O Supreme Lord, please accept these fruits, which are the seeds of

trees, and which make one's dynasty prosper.

41 In this way, at that place, one should offer many appropriate things

to Lord Krsna.

42 The person following this vow should then devotedly worship the many

deities there and then offer them all three palmfuls of flowers.

43-45 In this way one should worship Sunanda, Nanda, Kumuda, the gopas,

the gopis, Sri Radha, Ganesa, Karttikeya, Brahma, Siva, Parvati, Laksmi,

Sarasvati, the dik-palas, the planets, Sesa, Sudarsana, the liberated

associates of the Lord, and all the demigods, and one should offer

obeisances to them, falling to the ground like a stick. Then one should

offer food and daksina to the brahmanas.

46 Then the person following this Janmastami vow should hear the

chapter of scripture describing Lord Krsna's birth, and then he should,

sitting on a seat of kusa grass, keep an all-night vigil.

47 At dawn he should perform his regular duties and then he should

worship Lord Krsna. Then he should feed the brahmanas and then he should

chant the glories of Lord Krsna.

48-49 Sri Narada said: When a person follows the Janmastami vow, fasts,

and keeps the all-night vigil, what result does he attain? What is the sin

one commits by eating on this holy day? O best of the knowers of the Vedas,

referring to the Vedas, Vedangas and ancient Samhitas, please, please

describe this.

50 Sri Narayana Rsi said: If (in the dark fortnight of the month of

Bhadra) even only a quarter of the astami is present at midnight, that day

is considered Janmastami, the time when Lord Krsna was born.

51 Because it brings victory (jaya) and piety, this day is called

Jayanti. A wise person should fast, follow the Janmastami vow, and keep an

all-night vigil on this day.

52 This is the most auspicious of all times. The demigods Brahma and

knowers of the Vedas say this.

53 One who fasts, follows the Janmastami vow, and keeps an all-night

vigil on this day becomes freed from the sins of ten million births. Of

this there is no doubt.

54 One should not celebrate Janmastami on an astami mixed with the

saptami. Even if the star Rohini (is conjoined with the moon) this astami

is not considered Janmastami.

55 Lord Krsna, the son of Devaki, was born on an astami unmixed with

the saptami, an astami when the star Rohini was conjoined with the moon.

When this most auspicious moment, an astami when the moon is conjoined with

Rohini, is passed, a person who has followed the Janmastami vow should break

his fast.

56 When the tithi of Janmastami is over, one should remember Lord

Krsna, worship the devas and asuras, and break his fast. Breaking the fast

in this way is very purifying and destroys all sins.

57 Breaking the fast in this way, an essential part of the fast, brings

purification and the attainment of other results. The breaking of the fast

should be performed during daytime.

58 Otherwise, if the fast is not broken during the daytime, the results

of fasting, following the Janmastami vow, and breaking the fast are all

destroyed.

59 One should not break the fast at night. The only exception is the

Rohini-vrata, when the fast may be broken at night, but not at midnight.

60 In the morning one should worship the brahmanas and demigods and

then break the fast. All the saintly persons agree this is the best time to

break the fast. Only in the Rohini-vrata is it not the best time.

61 If follows the Janmastami vow on a Janmastami when Mercury is

conjoined with the moon, he will never again enter a mother's womb.

62-63 If one a certain Janmastami the navami begins at sunrise and the

moon is conjoined with Mercury or the star Rohini, that Janmastami is very

auspicious. Such a Janmastami occurs perhaps in a hundred years. One who

follows the Janmastami vow on that day delivers ten million of his

relatives.

64 Lord Krsna is pleased with His devotees that observe the fast of

Janmastami, even though, because of not having sufficient wealth, they

cannot perform the Janmastami vow.

65 To one who follows the vow, worshipping the Lord with various

articles and keeping an all-night vigil, Lord Krsna, the enemy of the

demons, gives the result of following the Janmastami vow.

66 A person who observes Janmastami in a way appropriate to his

financial means attains the proper result, but a wealth person who does not

observe Janmastami in a way appropriate to his wealth does not attain the

same result.

67 A wise person should not break his fast during Janmastami or while

the star Rohini is still conjoined with the moon. To do that is to destroy

his past pious deeds and the transcendental result earned by fasting.

68 Breaking the fast during the tithi of Janmastami destroys one's

pious deeds eight times over, and breaking the fast while the star Rohini is

conjoined with the moon destroys one's pious deeds four times over.

Therefore one should be careful to break his fast when Janmastami and the

star Rohini have passed.

69 O best of sages, when the tithi of Janmastami and the star Rohini

both end at midnight, a person following the Janmastami vow should break his

fat on the third day from Janmastami.

70 O Narada, one who eats during the midnight of Janmastami attains the

sinful reaction of killing a brahmana.

71 On a pure Janmastami (not mixed with the saptami) one should not eat

even fruit or betel nuts, or even drink water. Eating these is like eating

stool or cow's flesh, or like drinking urine. What, then, can be said of

eating rice?

72 The wise say that night lasts for 9 hours and is bounded, at its

beginning and end, by sunrise and sunset, which last for 48 minutes each.

73 A person who on a pure Janmastami (not mixed with the saptami)

follows the Janmastami vow and keeps an all-night vigil becomes free from

the sins of a hundred births. Of this there is no doubt.

74 A person who on a pure Janmastami (not mixed with the saptami) fasts

but does not follow the Janmastami vow or keep the all-night vigil, attains

the result of performing an asvamedha-yajna.

75 He is freed from the sins performed in the infancy, childhood,

youth, and age of seven lifetimes.

76 One who eats on Lord Krsna's birthday is lowest of mankind. His

sinful reaction like that of having raped his mother and murdered a hundred

brahmanas.

77 His pious credits of ten million births are at once destroyed. He

become impure. He becomes unfit to worship the demigods or the pitas.

78 At the end of his life he enters the hell called Kalasutra (the rope

of time). As long as the sun and moon shine in the sky he is devoured by

worms with teeth sharp like spears.

79 When his time in hell is over he rises to the earth, where he

becomes a worm in stool for sixty thousand years.

80 Then he becomes a vulture for ten billion births, a pig for a

hundred births, a dog for a hundred births, and a jackal for a hundred

births.

81 Then he becomes a snake for seven births and then a row for seven

births. Then he takes birth as a human being, where he is unable to speak

and where he becomes a leper, always suffering.

82 Then he becomes a butcher and then a hunter of wild beasts. At the

end he becomes a thief and a murderer, a man with no scruples.

83 Then he becomes a washerman, then an oil-merchant, and then a

professional brahmana, always impure at heart.

84 If one is unable to fast he should feed a brahmana and give him

charity equal to twice the value of the food.

85 Or, he should chant mantras to Goddess Laksmi a thousand times, or

he should practice pranayama twelve times.

86 Thus I have described, as I heard it from Yamaraja's mouth, the

fasting, vows and worship performed on Janmastami.