Janmāṣṭamī Day: Appan Avataritta Kathāmṛtam

Oppiliappan Koil V. Sadagopan • September 12, 1998 (Bahudhānya Saṁvatsara Kṛṣṇa Jayantī Day)

Dear Śrī Kṛṣṇa Bhaktas,

Tonight we celebrate the Lord's arrival in Mathurā as the son of Devakī Pirāṭṭi and Vasudeva. Tonight, we perform Śrī Kṛṣṇa Jayantī ārādhana for the Lord, who gave us the Bhagavad Gītā.

I will use this occasion to commemorate His avatāra as celebrated by Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Periyāḻvār, and Śrīmad Nārāyaṇīyam. I will add some select ślokas about the greatness of Kṛṣṇa as enjoyed by Śrī Līlā Śukha in his Kṛṣṇa Karṇāmṛta ślokas.

Chapter 3 of Daśama Skandha of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam

This chapter celebrates the Lord's birth. Śrīmad Nārāyaṇīyam salutes the birth of the Lord in the 38th Daśaka. Periyāḻvār describes the joyous scene at Gokulam, where the Gopas and Gopīs celebrated the Lord's birth. These verses are housed in the first 20 pāsurams of Periya Tirumozhi. This Āḻvār immensely enjoyed the bālakrīḍās of Kuṭṭik Kaṇṇaṉ in exquisite piḷḷai-tamiḻ and recognized the divya deśa of Tirukkōṣṭiyūr as Gokulam, where the Lord was adored by Yaśodā Pirāṭṭi as her dear child.

Time and the Site of Avatāra

In the first śloka of Śrī Gopāla Vimśati, Swami Deśikan gives us a clue about the time of the avatāra:

I salute the divine effulgence revered as Kaṇṇapirāṉ, who has Vyjayantī mālā around His neck and who was born on Śrī Jayantī.

Śrī Jayantī is the time when Rohiṇī nakṣatram joins with Kṛṣṇa pakṣa aṣṭamī during the month of Siṁha Śrāvaṇa (Āvaṇi Month). Śrīmad Bhāgavatam describes this time as the most auspicious and favorable time, when the star Rohiṇī was in ascendance:

At such an auspicious moment, in the middle of the dark night during the rainy season, our Lord was born of the divinely beautiful Devakī, like the paurṇamī candran rising on the eastern sky:

The divine beauty of the child Kṛṣṇa and His Viṣṇu-chihnas are celebrated by Śrīmad Bhāgavatam this way:

(Meaning): Lotus-eyed, four-armed, adorning the conch, mace, and other divya āyudhas, the newly born child had the shining śrīvatsa birthmark on His chest and the effulgent Kaustubhā gem around His neck. The beautiful child had a golden yellow cloth around His waist and the hue of the dark blue cloud of the rainy season.

Vasudeva and Devakī's Eulogy

Vasudeva saluted this unique child this way:

(Meaning): I recognize who Thou art! You are the supreme being (puruṣaḥ) Himself, who transcends prakṛti and are of the nature of pure consciousness-bliss and sarva sākṣī.

Devakī eulogized Her child, the Lord, this way:

Devakī recognizes her divine child as the master of prakṛti, the principle behind the time doctrine, and the driver of the kāla cakra that serves as the basis of the dynamics of the universe. She is overwhelmed by the magnitude of this concept and recognizes her child as the jagadādhāra and performs prapatti to that divine child:

Devakī continues with her salutations and reveals His avatāra-rahasya this way:

"That Thou, who bearest the whole universe within Thyself at the time of Thy cosmic sleep, hast been born of my womb (mama garbhago'bhūtaḥ) is only Thy imitation of human ways to hide Thy identity."

Thereafter, the Lord hid His Viṣṇu-svarūpa and transformed Himself into the form of an ordinary but beautiful child. He instructed Vasudeva to transport Him to Gokulam immediately and exchange Him with the girl (Viṣṇu Māyā) born to Yaśodā and her husband, Nandagopāla, who was the chieftain of the shepherd clan.

Śrī Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭadri describes movingly the journey of the Lord to Gokulam on that rainy night, carried on the head of Vasudeva in a basket. Ādi Śeṣa served as an umbrella to protect the Lord from the pouring rain as Vasudeva journeyed across the path cleared by the river Yamunā to Gokulam:

Here Bhaṭṭadri says: The great bhāgyasālin Vasudeva carried You, the Lord, to Gokulam. At that time, Ādi Śeṣa protected You, our Lord, from the rain with his hoods, and the light from the gems on his hoods illumined the path safely for Vasudeva to reach Gokulam.

The Joyous Scene at Gokulam

Periyāḻvār describes the joyous scene at Gokulam for the next dozen days until the child's nāmakaraṇa ceremony took place and He was given the name Kṛṣṇa.

Sage Garga (ācārya to the Yādava-vaṁśa) came to Nandagopāla's house and selected the name "Kṛṣṇa" for the divine child. He combined the dhātu "kṛṣi" (to cultivate) and the akṣara "ṇa" to recognize the Lord as the embodiment of sat and ānanda-rūpa, which destroys the sins of the universe.

Śrī Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭadri recounts: When Bhaṭṭadri asked Guruvāyūrappan whether Garga chose the name Kṛṣṇa for Him following the above etymology, the Lord nodded His head in concurrence.

Celebrating Kṛṣṇa Tattva

We conclude this salutation to the Lord, who took Kṛṣṇāvatāra to bless us with the charama-śloka to redeem us, with the words of Līlā Śukha in his Kṛṣṇa Karṇāmṛta ślokas:

(This doctrine, in the form of a small child, has in its hand mokṣa-phala for those who seek refuge in Him.)

Līlā Śuka says that the beauty of Kṛṣṇa is unparalleled among all devas:

That the Lord of Gokulam and Vṛndāvana is the embodiment of sweetness and bliss is recognized by Līlā Śukha through the following śloka:

(Meaning): The vapuḥ (body) is delectable; the vadanaṁ (face) is delectable to enjoy; that vadanaṁ has the fragrance of sweet honey (madhu-gandhi) and mṛdu-smita (shines with a gentle, delectable smile). I do not know how to describe this blissful Kṛṣṇa tattva except to say it is madhuraṁ, madhuraṁ, madhuraṁ.

Final Salutations

As midnight approaches on this bahudhānya samvatsara's Kṛṣṇa Jayantī ārādhanā time, we conclude with the camakam-like salutation to our Lord Kaṇṇaṉ:

(Meaning): Oh Deva Deva! You are the one who blesses me with prema (anbu); You are the one who fulfills my wishes and desires (kāmadam); You are the one who blesses me with jñāna; You are indeed my imperishable wealth. You are my life and āyus. I have no God other than You.

Om namo bhagavate vāsudevāya.

Oppiliappan Koil Varadāchāri Sadagopan

Krishna