Jaya Shree
Aum namoh Bhagavate Vasudevayah!
© Jyotikar
Pattni ©
“To sing the song of your life, to dance to the
rhythm in-set in your hearts longing, to write poems expressing your feelings, to
play the music of your whole, to explore words of wisdom, to ponder over life, to
wonder around the magnificent beautiful nature, and to gaze at the empty sky,
all these and much more all together comprise life of that whole life here and
now, comprehensible in imperfections yet wholly true in this lifetime!” Jyotikar ©
Festivals,
customs and cultural rites and rituals, ceremonial rejoices and traditions are
essential threads woven in the fabric of Hindu lifestyle. All year around,
ceremonies are special occasions for social get-together with family, friends
and neighbours to forge new bonds and strengthen the existing ones. And they
come ever so often. Yet there remains a gap between us! We are the habitants of
this earthen clay perpetually being dispersed and numbed by the absence of
human compassion and lack of loving affection amongst our own kindred and our
own kind. It is somewhat dismal and somewhat sad that despite all the beautiful
lore of colourful customs and culture we remain unfulfilled in our inner most
hearts for reason and cause that matter not towards the one destiny we all
dissolve. Our modernity is too obsessed by satisfying the bodily demands and
the every increasing competitions dwelling in materialism.
Janmashthami
is the eight day of the dark cycle of the moon of the month of Shravana (most
sacred and holy month), at which time the constellations transit Krittika
nakshattara (Krittika – belongs to Agnee) and Rohini nakshattara (Brahma’s). The
first and last mantra of the Vedas is the supreme divine mantra of Agnee and Para-Brahma.
From light we
came, towards light we evolve and in light we sub-merge to become united in
oneness with the fathomless light of all lights in greatest delight! At the
darkest hour, is born the light of Agnee-Devata – to bring to this earth from
the celestial world, Brahma-Eishwaar-God, with an array of gods and goddesses
carrying God’s incarnate Lord Krishna on one thousand one hundred eight petal
lotus into the vicinity of the greatest devotees and greatest of all humble
saintly king and queen of all humanity “Vasudeva and Devaki”.
Hence the
divine mantra: “Aum Namoh Bhagavate Vasudevayah” – a mantra that fulfils every
person’s inner most wish if recited 1,108 times! One who recites this mantra
obtains whatsoever one seeks from
Gita (mother
of Vedas) teaches us to nurture our true spiritual nature and to form a
beautiful relationship between the cosmic soul
(jagad-atman-hari-param-Eishwaar) and the individual spirit of life
(jivan-atman) by communion of “yoga”.
Gita
essentially is the purest nectar of all Vedic wisdom summed all together as a
Guru-guide of how to live our human life in the passage of time.
The purport
of the Gita is wisdom of a divine mother who helps her child find who one truly
is; what is one’s real essential spiritual nature, why one is born, what is
one’s life purpose as a human, and what is the way to Moksha (ultimate
liberation whereat the blissful happiness forever remains a DELIGHTFUL
permanent state of thousand lights, thousand songs, thousand petals, thousand
worlds put together.
Gita is the
song of “
Geeta is the divine song of Lord Krishna
and his “maha-maya-leela” (the illusive transient human life on the human
earth). Basically Gita is a recital of all together collective divine glimpses of
which begins with the mother earth pleading to “Eishwaar-Param-Atman” (higher
order) to save her from wretched evil destroying her earthen clay. Gita gracefully
depicts and portrays (by demonstrating “Mahabharata battle”) the struggle of
the soul infinite – the spirit of life (Arjuna) in the midst of all illusions
(falsity of social survival – transient life on earth ‘manushya-jivan’),
surrounded by all forces of the ‘samsahr’ (wheel of life) namely desire, lust,
aggression, hatred, obsessions, possessions, ownerships, control, and comforts
of life. Being pulled towards mundane worldly materialism and attachments, (moha-mahad-maya)
trying to gamble with circumstantial wealth to become victim of the game of
dice (Assatt-Samnsahr), in conflict with the Ego (‘Ahamkara’) (Duryodhana) and
the intellectual physical mind (the Kauravas or the army of ‘kaal’), alas (antakalaanyathath)
the spirit of life (jivan-atman) frees from the mind (manas) and the prowess of
the intellectual Ego (budhi) by Yoga (atman-yoga, karma-yoga and bhakti-yoga).
Yoga unites the “Arjuna” (spirit of life) in each one of us with “
“Geetaartham dhyaayate nityam kritwaa
karmaani bhoorishah; Jeevanmuktah sa vijneyo dehaante paramam padam.”
During the
passage of time here on human earth, there is immense glory and immense joy
that mirage’s in the loving devotion of Radha (Krishna’s greatest devotee) and
in the magnificent sacrifices of Meerabai (Krishna’s greatest Yogi) both of
whom demonstrate their oneness towards Krishna, their unparalleled love and
non-dual devotion towards
The Vedas
urge us to take our happiness seriously to the point of pondering and
endeavouring to question our existence and our purpose in life here and now
with our conscience and higher consciousness. Why do we suffer, why do we have
to undergo so much pain and so much physical, emotional and mental anguish? Why
do we never feel happy at large and why is everyone always complaining about
one thing or another? Our society dwells so much on monetary values yet seldom
only rare and few persons secure real true happiness that which I call
“PARAM-ANANDAM-SATT-CHITT-ANANDAM” [INFINTELY HAPPY IN A STATE OF
In Radhika’s
devotion and oneness we find this happiness! In Meerabai’s unfailing
sacrificial dedication and devotion, we find such highest altruism of divinity
unparalled by none! Both are our param-Guru’s, highest devotees of Lord Krishna
and learning the lessons of how to love Bhagavan, we need only understand the
lives of such benign devotees and the lore of their most beautiful and most
colourful devotion filled with divine song, divine dance, divine lyrics, divine
music, divine mantras, divine poetry, divine philosophy, divine hymns, divine
rites and divine rituals.
That
‘param-brahma nirguna eishvaarai swaroop’ [the infinite celestial formless
brahma God – the great spirit of life of life being the cosmic soul] is the
limitless sky – also known in Vedas as “Keshava”. The spiritual essence of the
same Eishwaar is also known as ‘Narayana’ (that Vishnoo residing in sea waters
on the bed of coiled up Ananta Shesh-Naag the king of serpents and pythons).
Hence the Ocean in Vedas is also the ‘sammundarah purva sammam- nadiyah’ (the
grand divine celestial womb of whereat all the rivers meet all together in
destiny loosing their forms, names, and identities).
The dancing
spirit of Brahma-Purusha is the karmic spirit of God. Time (kaal) invokes the
higher order (param-Brahma-Purusha-param-atman) to come on earth to replenish
the most subtle karmic cycles of the dance of ‘shiva-shakti’ (the infinite
Cosmic God and the Infinite Cosmic Energy) and to manifest the re-incarnation
of divine Vishnoo in thunderous and most extra-ordinary ovation of grand
communion. When such a fusion takes place in the cosmos, it is magnificently
narrated by Lord Narradmuni
(mediator-communicator-messenger-transistor-adaptor) that the entire Galaxy is
filled with petals of red flowers and the entire Galaxy glitters with lights!
A grand
communion comprising eighty four billion cosmic deities, sixty four thousand
energies of the cosmos, the twenty eight nakshattara’ s (constellations), the
twelve Zodiac rashis (astral-signs) of the galaxy, the twelve bhava’s (astral houses),
the nine directional lords, the eight cosmic Gods, the twenty one cosmic
ministers, the thirty three cosmic facilitators, the fifty four cosmic deities
and the Brahma-Vishnoo-Mahesh trinity with Saraswatti-Laxshmee-Durga together
with the Gana-natha the lord of all deities Maha_Ganesh all together gather
creating a momentum of extra-ordinary delight to welcome the most unusual
chariot of Lord Vishnoo (seven swans, seven horses, and seven young angels).
Rejoicing and
dancing and singing and playing the grand music, there is an echo to the
suffering devotee to comfort and re-assure Vasudeva that the light of all
lights is being borne in the midst of darkest moment of the suffering life when
there is a threat of destruction of the most beloved of all devotee Vasudeva by
Devilish Kansa’s Ego.
Krishna is the
conscience in the heart of all living creatures; Krishna is the consciousness
of the higher mind Krishna is their beginning, their being, their end; Krishna
is the mind of the senses, Krishna is the radiant Sun among lights and
The birth of
However, even before her 8th child was
born, Devaki and Vasudeva started lamenting its fate and theirs. Then suddenly
Lord Vishnu appeared before them and said he himself was coming to rescue them
and the people of
Devaki was about to usher into the world
its saviour, and she along with her husband, bewailed her lot and beating her
forehead said:
"O darling, be not born of me to be
smashed to death by the cruel king Kansa". And with this, both Devaki and
Vasudeva fell into a swoon. In the gloom of that unconsciousness, suddenly a
light flashed, and a beautiful youth of sixteen, holding mace and discus, conch
shell and lotus in his four hands, rose above the horizon of their mental
firmament, healing all their mental wounds, cheering and exhilarating them with
his sweet smile. "Father and mother, weep no more. I have come at last to
your rescue and to the rescue of all the good people. Open your eyes and see me
as your child. Carry me father to the house of your friend Nanda in Gokula. His
wife Yashoda has given birth to a daughter just now. Exchange me for that
daughter. Bring her back to this prison leaving me on the lap of Yashoda who
will be sleeping at the time. Nothing shall bar your path".
With these words, the soul-solacing
charming youth vanished.
When Devaki and Vasudeva opened their
eyes, they saw the most charming and beautiful baby ever a parent was blessed
with. That was at
The massive iron-barred doors were
locked with three fold locks; but the guards were all asleep, and therefore
fearlessly he gave a push forward and the gates were unlocked and flew open of
their own accord. The crossing over the river Yamuna was just as miraculous. While
crossing river Yamuna, Vasudeva held his baby high over his head.
The rain fell in torrents and the river
was in spate. But the water made way for Vasudeva and miraculously a
five-mouthed snake followed him from behind and provided shelter over the baby.
When Vasudeva reached Gokula, to his astonishment, he found the door of Nanda's
house open. He exchanged the babies and hurried back to the prison of Kamsa
with the baby girl. Early in the morning, all the people at Gokula rejoiced the
birth of Nanda's beautiful male child. Vasudeva came back to
In his youth Lord Krishna kills Devil Kansa along with all
his cruel associates, liberated his parents from prison, and reinstated Ugrasen
as the King of Mathura.
Let me offer
my respectful obeisance’s unto the Lord, who has become the son of Vasudeva,
the pleasure of Devaki, the boy of Nanda and the other cowherd men of
Vrindavana, and the enlivener of the cows and the senses. Janamashtami is the
celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna, kept with fasting until
In
The Lord appeared when the moon entered
the house of Vrishabha at the constellation of the star Krittika-Rohini, on
Wednesday, the 8th day of the second fortnight of the month of Sravana, which
corresponds to the month of Bhadrapada Krishnapaksha according to the
Barhaspatyamana, in the year of Visvavasu, 5,172 years ago (from 1945), which
means 3227 B.C. On the holy Krishna Janmashtami, the ladies in
From the doorway to the inner meditation
room of the house the floor is marked with a child's footprints, using some
flour mixed with water. This creates the feeling in them that the Lord's own
Feet have made the mark. They treat the day as one of very great rejoicing.
There is recitation of the Bhagavatam, singing and praying everywhere.
From the study of the Shrimad-Bhagavatam and the Pancharatras, which are equal to
the Upanishads, one will know all about the glory of Lord Krishna. Sri
Krishna is the ocean of bliss. His soul-stirring lilas, which are the wonder of
wonders, are its waves. The honeyed music of his flute attracts the minds of his
devotees from all three regions. His unparalled and unequalled and unsurpassed
wealth of beauty amazes the animate and the inanimate beings and creatures all
over the existence. He adorns his devotees and friends with his incomparable compassionate
and affectionate love. His palms bear the signs of a lotus and discus, the
right sole of his feet of a flag, lotus, thunderbolt, an iron goad, barley
seed, and the Swastika. His left sole has the rainbow, triangle, water-pot,
crescent, sky, fish, and a cow's footprint. His Form is composed of condensed
universal consciousness and bliss. His Body pervades the entire cosmos.
Devotion is the only means of attaining
Lord Krishna. Bhakti kindles love for the Lord. When love is directed towards
Millions of spiritual seekers worship him
and repeat His Mantra:
Aum Namo Bhagavate Vasudevayah.
Incarnations of God appear for special
reasons under special circumstances. Whenever there is much unrighteousness,
whenever confusion and disorder set in on account of unrighteousness and baffle
the well-ordered progress of mankind, whenever the balance of human society is
upset by selfish, ruthless and cruel beings, whenever irreligion and
unrighteousness prevail, whenever the foundations of social organisations are
undermined, the great Incarnation of God appears in order to re-establish
righteousness and to restore peace. An Incarnation is the descent of God for
the ascent of man. A ray from the Cosmic-Being in his potential state of
manifestation descends on earth with mighty powers to keep up the harmony of
the universe and help us in our upward divine Self-realisation.
“One ought to realise here and now, in
this lifetime, that when we constantly get in touch with the silence within and
keep a watch at the dawn and the dusk in solitude to reflect upon life of life,
we being to listen to our inner most consciousness, our conscience our
“Krishna”, the charioteer of our soul divine. One of the pleasantest
experiences and greatest accomplishment in this world is going on a journey, a
pilgrimage, a flight of delight, alone not feeling lonely but enthused and
motivated by the sheer magnificence of the light of
If one cannot read the whole of the Srimad
Bhagavatam during these days, at least one should recite one chapter or
even one verse and the Geeta-Mahattmya (glory of Geeta) being the prelude.
Please refer to Geeta in our website www.hanss.co.uk
that has the Geeta-Mahattmya (Glory of Geeta). May the blessings of Lord
Krishna and Sri Radha shower upon you all!
This paper is dedicated to my loving
wife Hasmita Pattni for her benevolence!
Jaya
Shree
Jyotikar
Pattni © August 13th 2006