Krishna – the 8th incarnation of Vishnu – was born today according to Hindu mythology and devotees all over the world are celebrating Janmashtami with great fervour. If you look at it, you’ll see that Krishna led an extremely eventful life. Brought up by his foster parents, he spent his childhood as a cowherd, killed his evil uncle when he came of age and orchestrated an entire war between two clans!
From the way the scriptures describe him, he was tall, dark and extremely clever with all the unique qualities that make him an ideal hero for us. He was ahead of his time, which is evident by the Bhagwad Gita, in which he propagates the theory of Karma without attachments and shows us the path of self-realization.
Krishna also seems to have a strange connection with rain. It most definitely rains on Janmashtami, an eerie pattern that repeats every year.
The story of Lord Krishna’s birth is full of celestial occurrences that’s so overwhelming that it generates the same amount of excitement every time you listen to it. Krishna was born to destroy evil and establish peace on earth, with his uncle Kansa being the first one in line. The king of Mathura, Kansa, was a cruel ruler who put his father Ugrasena, in jail. While he was marrying his sister off, an Akashvani (a divine voice) announced that Kansa’s end was night and that he would be killed at the hands of Devki’s 8th child, who would bring the rule of righteousness to the land.
A frightened Kansa put his sister and her husband in jail, vowing to kill every child she gave birth to.
When Devki was due with her 8th child, the fear of having their newborn killed gripped the couple again. According to the Hindu calendar, in the month of Bhadrapad, on the 8th day (Ashtami) of the Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight), Devki went into labour and gave birth to a boy. That night, all the prison guards fell asleep and Vasudev’s shackles broke open on their own. And a divine voice asked Vasudev to carry the newborn to Nand Gaon, and trade him with the daughter of Nand Baba and Yashoda, who later turns out to be a form of Shakti, whom Kansa is unable to kill.
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When Vasudev was crossing the overflowing Yamuna river, carrying his newborn in a basket, a heavy downpour began. It was then that Sheshnaag, the five-headed snake, which is also the bed of Lord Vishnu, spread his head to protect little Krishna from the rains.
This is not the only connection that Krishna has with the rains. At a very young age, he lifted an entire hill for villagers to take shelter and saved them from drowning. Well there’s definitely no scientific reason behind why it rains on Janmashtami, mythology is all about beliefs. Isn’t it?