The Eighth Day Of Krishna In Nepal

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

On the eighth day of the dark fortnight usually of Sravana but every three year because of an additional month in the lunar calendar of Bhadra (Aug-Sept) in the Nepalese calendar, Nepalese Hindus celebrate the birthday of Lord Krishna believed to be the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu that has turned into a human to finish off the corrupt people of the royal families of the Hastinapur, and some evil kings including his own maternal uncle called Kamsa of Mathura. This day is called Krishna Astami means the Eighth Day of Lord Krishna. This day also marks the end of the eight-day festival called Gaijatra: Display of Tragedy and Comedy in Nepal.

On the morning of this day, Nepalese Hindus take purification shower or a dip in the water of holy rivers elsewhere in Nepal, and then visit the temples to Lord Krishna across the country in celebration of the birthday of Lord Krishna. They make offerings to the idol of the crawling baby Lord Krishna. Some people dance to the tune of the hymns the whole day revering the lord.

In the Kathmandu Valley, from the early morning until midnight, Nepalis visit the temple called ‘Krishna mandir’ dedicated to Lord Krishna in Lalitpur. Devotees line up making a long serpentine line to reach the lord in the most famous and artistic temple made of stone blocks in Lalitpur. Lord Krishna is one of the major characters of the epic called Mahabharat. So, Major events of Mahabharat involving Lord Krishna carved in the stones depict the role Lord Krishna played in the war of Kuruchhetra. The Head of State makes a visit to the Lord at one time of this day and receives the blessings from the lord.

At the night, some people take out the idol of Lord Krishna with his spouses Radha and Rukmani on a portable shrine. Eight people carry such a portable shrine with the three divine characters in human forms and take them around the town following the clockwise direction. This ends the religious activities of Nepalese Hindus celebrating the birthday of Lord Krishna on this day.

Some devotees fasting for the whole day for revering Lord Krishna break the fast in the night. Some other devotees continue to dance and sing the whole night to welcome Lord Krishna believing Lord Krishna was born at midnight.

Lord Krishna was born to one parent but grew up at another. How that could happen the following story tells.

Kamsa forcibly took the throne putting his father behind bars; thus, he became the King of Mathura. He had a beautiful sister called Devaki. He loved her very much. He married Devaki to handsome prince Vasudeva of Gokul. To show how happy he had been after the marriage of his sister to a wealthy and beautiful prince, King Kamsa himself took the newly married couple on a carriage for a joy ride on the streets of Mathura.

On the way, they saw an ascetic man called Sadhu. The holy man waved the Charioteer Kamas signaling him to stop the carriage.  Sadhu reached to Kamsa, and said, “Kamsa, you are happy with the wedding of your sister Devaki with Vasudeva. Are you not? But you don’t know that the eighth son of this couple will be the cause of your death.”

Kamsa wanted to kill the ascetic man then and there but stopped short of doing so. Then, he began thinking of. If the Sadhu were really telling the truth, killing the Sadhu would not save me from the eighth son of my sister. So, he turned the carriage back to the palace and wanted to kill both his sister and her husband. However, Kamsa stopped the attempts on taking the lives of the couple after Devaki pleaded with him not to kill them but take all the children she would give birth to. Kamsa chained them with shackles and put them in a jail for their lives. Kamsa put them under surveillance for twenty fours a day.

According to the prophesy of the holy man, only the eighth son of Devaki and Vasudeva was the life-threatening to Kamsa but he did not want to take any chance. So, he started off killing one child after another born to Devaki and Vasudeva; no matter whether the child was a male or female.

One night, the military guards reported Kamas that the eight-girl child was born to the couple behind bars. Kamsa had anticipated the eighth child of Devaki and Vasudeva to be a son but to his surprise and even to his joy, the child was a girl. However, he did not want to let her live. So, he immediately went to the jail. He snatched the baby from the mother and holding her leg by his right hand, spun her over his head and tried to slam her on the walls of the gloomy jail. She slipped away from his hand and flew away from the jail saying, “O! Cruel Kamsa, you cannot kill me but a baby boy has born in Gokul to kill you in the days to come.”

Then, Kamas thought what happened, how come a boy born in Gokul was to kill him?  In fact, the male baby said born in Gokul was born to Devaki and Vasudeva in the jail in Mathura. On that night when the boy was born to Devaki, the divine spirit told Vasudeva to take the baby boy to Gokul and swap with the baby girl born there. Vasudeva said, “How can I do when we have been locked in the seventh cell and guarded by the military guards for twenty hours a day?” The divine spirit said, “you just have the courage to do so, I will take care of the rest.”

Then, Vasudeva took the baby in his arms; the jail doors: one door after another were opened automatically; Vasudeva spontaneously walked out of the jail while the military guards were in a deep sleep.

Vasudeva walked through the forest route, and came to the Jamuna River. He waded the neck-deep water of the river holding the baby in a wicker basket above his head. He again walked through the forest route and finally reached Gokul. He left the baby boy there and took away the baby girl just born to Yasoda and Nanda. Immediately, he came out of the back door and walked back to Mathura.

Vasudeva walked back into the jail while the guards continued to sleep. Thereafter, he lost the memory of what he did on that night. Thus, baby Krishna born to Devaki and Vasudeva became the son of Yasoda and Nanda in Gokul.

Kamsa got upset very much after watching how a baby girl flew away telling him a baby boy was born in Gokul to kill him. Next day, he called the assembly of his ministers and royalties to discuss what to do with the life-threatening baby born in Gokul. Kamsa felt sick even though the infant could not harm anybody not to mention taking the life of the mighty Kamsa.

The assembly discussed various ways and means of eliminating the baby boy that had been the life threatening to Kamsa according to the prophesy of the holy man. The assembly could not come to the conclusive decision on this matter. Ultimately, one of the ministers proposed a plan on eliminating all babies up to the age of two years born in Gokul to ensure the death of the infant boy that was threatening to Kamsa.

Kamsa found that the plan was a solution to his deep anxiety of getting killed by a baby boy born in Gokul. The plan alleviated his mental sufferings. He immediately ordered to put the plan into action.

Kamsa sent one mercenary after another to kill the babies born in Gokul during the last two years. Citizens of Gokul panicked to see their babies had been dying en mass. However, none of the mercenaries could kill Lord Krishna rather all of them got killed.

Kamsa continued to worry about his life. He spent sleepless nights and restless days. He had been thinking how to eliminate his nephew that would kill him if he could not eliminate him believing the prophesy of the holy man.

Again ministers and royalties put forward a plan on killing Krishna. This time, they advised Kamsa to hold a wrestling show and invite his nephew to the show, and let the wrestlers kill Krishna. Kamsa thought that wrestlers would finish off Krishna once and forever. He sent one of his most trusted persons to Gokul to invite Krishna to a wrestling show so that Krishna would not decline the invitation. He was Akur also related to Krishna.

Akur traveled to Gokul. Krishna knew that Akur was coming to invite him to Mathura. Mother Yasoda and father Nanda had difficulties to send their sons off. Krishna and his elder brother Balaram were going to the maternal uncle for sure. So, Krishna convinced the parents that they were coming back home safely; then, the parent let them go.

Akur along with two brothers traveled to Mathura. On the way, Krishna demonstrated something amazing to Akur to make him realize that Krishna was an extraordinary human.

Upon arrival at Mathura, Kamsa warmly welcomed Krishna and Balaram. Kamsa told them that he was holding a wrestling show to amuse them while they were with him in Mathura. Krishna and Balaram were very happy with Kamsa for planning to hold a wrestling show for their amusement.

Kamsa invited all royalties and dignitaries to the wrestling show. Krishna and Balaram became the special guests. Renowned wrestlers came to present their best performances. The show became the most interesting one.

Then, Kamsa suddenly announced that Krishna and Balaram were to wrestle with the best-known wrestlers. Akur opposed the wrestling saying Krishna was still a teenager; so, Krishna wrestling with the well-trained wrestler was not justifiable. So, he wanted to stop any fighting between Krishna and the wrestler. Kamsa did not listen to Akur and ordered to start off the game.

Krishna wrestled with one wrestler after another and killed them one by one. Finding all strong wrestlers could not harm Krishna, Kamsa descended down to the arena and started off wrestling with Krishna. Kamsa wanted to kill Krishna but Kamsa belatedly realized that it was not possible. Ultimately, Krishna killed Kamsa as prophesized by the holy man.

After the death of Kamsa, Krishna released his maternal grandfather from the prison and returned him his kingdom forcibly taken by Kamsa. Then he went to his biological parents: Devaki and Vasudeva and freed them from the prison. Thus, he completed one of his missions to eliminate the evil-minded Kamsa.

Krishna was so charming that women en mass followed him wherever he went. In Mathura too, wherever he went, women including married ones followed him. Some of the husbands even complained to the state officials about their women going after Krishna. His nature of giving attention to women attracted women in general to him.

Krishna’s next mission was to fight the battle of Kuruchhetra. Pandavas had suffered from the tricks and traps policy of their fraudulent cousin called Duryodhana and his blind father King Dhrittarastra. Pandavas lost not only their kingdom to Duryodhana in the game unscrupulously played by his maternal uncle Sakuni but also did not receive it back after meeting the condition they had set before playing the game. Even after spending twelve years of forest dwelling and one year in hiding the condition Pandavas had met, Duryodhana did not return the kingdom to Pandavas but rather wanted them to go back to the forest for anther twelve years and one year in hiding as a punishment accusing them of surfacing a day before actually the end of one year in hiding thus breaching the condition. Pandavas had no other alternative to declaring a war with Duryodhana.

Pandavas and Kauravas armies fought the war of Kuruchhetra. Krishna was on the side of Pandavas. Duryodhana and his one hundred brothers together were called Kauravas. During the 18-day war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, Krishna played some tricks on the Kauravas to win the war for the Pandavas.

On the first day of the war, Arjuna: one of the Pandava brothers did not want to fight the war because he saw the opponents were his grandfather, his teachers and his cousins. So, he did not want to kill any one of them for any prizes. Krishna needed to narrate a long discourse to him on the battlefield, and convince Arjuna of the need for fighting. That discourse became ‘Gita’: one of the famous Hindu scriptures. After the war, Pandavas settled down peacefully, Krishna again narrated another peacetime discourse at the request of Arjuna that became another discourse called ‘Anugita’.

Krishna’s mission completed after finishing off all the unscrupulous royalties. His wisdom and his thinking made him a demigod. Hindus believe that he is in fact the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. So, Hindus celebrate the birthday of Lord Krishna all over the world.

August 5, 2012.

This year, Hindus celebrate the birthday of Lord Krishna on August 9, 2012.