janma karma ca me
divyam
evaṁ
yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaṁ
punar janma
naiti mām eti so
’rjuna
"One who knows the
transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving
the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal
abode, O Arjuna."
What an auspicious way to start our Bhakti Society blog; with an article about the appearance day of Kṛṣṇa Himself! As we
celebrate the appearance of Kṛṣṇa tomorrow, I thought I’d share some resources
you can use to share this holiday with your friends and family, no
matter where you are.
The first chapter of KṚṢṆA, The Supreme
Personality of Godhead covers the part of the tenth canto of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam that speaks of Krishna’s birth. Sharing this
story with family and friends helps them to understand the significance of Kṛṣṇa’s
appearance in the world and helps keep Kṛṣṇa and His pastimes at the front of
our minds.
The entire fourth chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā,
a verse of which I quoted above, is a great place to finish off your reading
for the day. This chapter discusses the reason for Kṛṣṇa’s appearance in the
world, the purifying nature of a relationship with Him and, in that path, the
necessity of learning about Him through a guru.
It’s
traditional to fast on Janmāṣṭamī until midnight and then have a big feast (of
108 different dishes!) to break the fast at that time to celebrate the exact
moment when Kṛṣṇa came into the world. If you can’t fast or if you aren’t up
for creating 108 unique dishes (I know I won’t have that kind of time!), you
can find your own special way of marking the event, perhaps by making something
particularly special for this day. Maybe you could even whip up a birthday cake
for Kṛṣṇa!
Also, if you have small
children (or even if you don’t, because this series is fantastic for any age!) and want to share the celebration with
them, I highly recommend the Little Krishna video series. Select the link below the image to view the full-length movie, Little
Krishna: The Legendary Warrior on YouTube. The channel where it’s located
also includes the entire series of half-hour episodes as well.
 |
| Little Krishna: The Legendary Warrior |
It can also
be fun, especially with children, to clean and put up festive decorations for
the holiday, like balloons and streamers.
Barring
everything else, spending a little extra time with Kṛṣṇa by adding a few
extra minutes or a couple rounds to your japa routine is an excellent way to
celebrate His advent.
And, of
course, a holiday is always a great excuse to spend some time on a little kirtan!
Krishna.com
offers some more splendid ideas about how to celebrate at home if you can’t make it to larger festivities.
How will you be celebrating this most special of holidays? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments!
Hare Kṛṣṇa!
