Happy Sree Krishna Janmashtami !!!!

August 23, 2008

Dear Prabhus,

Hare Krishna! May the most beautiful child in creation bless us with undivided love and devotion for His lotus feet. Wishing one and all a blessed Sri Krishna Janmastami. Haribol!

Your servant,

Sudakaran.

--- On Sat, 8/23/08, SriKrishnaDasa Rajeev <srikrishnadasa.rajeev wrote:

SriKrishnaDasa Rajeev <srikrishnadasa.rajeev Sree Krishna Janmashtami !!!! Date: Saturday, August 23, 2008, 2:32 PM

Hare Krishna ! Dandavat Pranams to Bhagavan Sree Krishna and all His Bhaktas !

Happy Janmashtami greetings to Bhagavan Sree Krishna and His loyal Servants of Krishna Bhagavan group !!!!

The "Bala-Leelas" ( Pranks of Baby Krishna) , remain the greatest wonders of this world , even after 5000 years of His disappearance . We can not find a similar "Bala-Leela" of any other God , Goddess or Celestial in world history .

See how skillfully , naturally and sweetly Sage Veda Vyasa has narrated Krishna-Leelas in Srimad Bhagavatham !!!. It's reader or listener will enjoy it's nectarean bliss - eyes will be filled with tears of joy and his hair will stand on the tip .

Though it was written thousands of years back , it's illustrations still remain as fresh as ever defying the time . There is no material in Bhagavatham that needs to be updated with time . We , our children and our ancestors have imitated Krishna-leelas during childhood .

Let us look at a glance in to the "Bala-Leelas" Krishna has performed in Vrindavan .

Since Krishna's birth , both mother Yeshoda and father Nandagopa were worried by the several attempts on his life as listed below :

Puthana tried to kill infant Krishna by poisonous breast feeding .

Sakadasura tried to kill baby Krishna , in the form of a cart . Luckily the broken cart did not fall on the baby .

Thrinavarthasura came as a Toranado . He lifted infant Krishna towards the sky . Fortunately, the Baby despite falling on a rock , was not hurt .

When Child Krishna pulled on the Mortar , it got struck between two huge trees . The falling trees just missed the Child .

Seeing these events , the wise and elderly Cowherd Upandana adviced the worried parents " Bhagavan's mercy saved our Baby Krishna's life from all these dangers . If we stay here any longer , more serious dangers will come . Before that let us abandon Amabadi and move on to a safer place . I have found one such place . It is called Vrindavana . The dense vegetation there is most ideal for our cows and Cowherds .

Listening to this advice , they abandoned Ambady and shifted to Vrindavana . Seeing the beautiful forests in Vrindavana , Kalindi river , and Govardharna mountain , both Krishna and Balarama became very happy . Bhagvan Krishna thought that this is the best place to perform His divine pastimes . Both of them grew up with every passing day . Leaving the cows for eating in the meadows , they used to roam around with their cowherd friends . Krishna used to play his flute melodiously . Some times they used to fight with the Bulls , sing with the Birds and play with the friends . In this way both Sri Krishna Balarama enchanted everyone with their beautiful pranks . ( Please see attached Pictures

of little Sree Krishna) .

Krishna's *Bala-leela* , described in Narayaneeyam :

· Oh Murari ! You along with Your brother Balarama, crawled all over the house on Your hands and knees, lighting up the place most charmingly. Eager to hear the tinkling sound of Your anklet bells, on Your lotus feet, the two of You, went roaming as fast as You both could.

The gentle smile revealing the pearly white teeth, the curls of hair falling on the face, the soles of the lotus feet showing while crawling and the bangles sliding down the arms and resting on the wrists, with all these charming features, the two of You, enthralled the hearts of the spectators.

· Oh Vaasudeva ! How great was the ecstasy of the people who followed with indulgent, expectant looks, You and Your brother, as the two of You crawling rapidly, and gurgling softly, turned Your lotus like faces and smiled charmingly at them.

· In Your attempts to move fast, the two of You would fall down and get mudstained ; Your two mothers would come rushing there and cradling You both lovingly in their arms, would kiss and caress You both repeatedly, while the unsullied (pure-hearted) sages in the heavens, would sing Your praises, smilingly.

· Oh You who came in the guise of a delusive cowherd ! Yasoda, the most blessed of all souls, would cradle You in her lap and suckle You at her breasts, overflowing with milk, mind wavering with excitement; seeing Your charming face, with the budding teeth and bewitching smile, while feeding You, she would be overjoyed.

· Then, as You grew a little bigger and could walk steadily, You, along with other cowherd children, in neighbouring houses, would play and engage in childish pranks and mischief, chasing household pets, like parrots, cats and calves and would be laughingly stopped by the gopas somehow.

· Oh Murari ! Wherever You wandered, playing, with Your brother Balarama, (Haladhara), the gopis, oblivious of their household duties, forgetting their children and servants, followed You, with star-struck eyes, bewildered and at the same time, delighted by Your charming appearance.

· Having a desire to eat the fresh butter offered by the gopis, You sang sweet songs, pronouncing the words indistinctly and sometimes danced too, exuding utmost charm. You ate the fresh butter, the gopis kindly gave You and sometimes You drank the freshly boiled milk offered by them.

· Oh Lord ! In one of Your earlier incarnations, as a Brahmin boy, Vamana, You had gone to beg for land, to the house of Maha Bali, (who was powerful), a humiliation, which You did not wish to undergo before these defenceless women and hence You took to stealing curd and butter through Your ingenious tricks in this most charming incarnation of Yours.

· Oh Gurvayurappa ! The gopis bore no ill-will toward You for stealing their curds and butter and they were never angry or unhappy for that, because You had stolen their hearts and drowned them in the ocean of bliss. May You of such divine acts, save me from disease.

· Once, seeing the moon above the trees, You, thinking it to be a fruit, pestered Your parents to get it for You and being told by them in sport, to ask it to come down, and lo and behold, the moon descended straight into Your hands as also the entire collection of stars with which You attained Your Virat Purusha form.

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya !!!

SriKrishnaDasa Rajeev