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Janmashtami Celebration
(Report: Sonali Tatapudy)
On August 27th, at 5 o’clock, we all gathered
in the Vidyapith Prayer Hall for the celebration of Lord
Krishna’s Birthday. Lina Sivadasan began with
Panchopachar Pooja. After Pranam Mantras, Veda Mantras,
Manasa Puja, and Aratrikam, Lina offered flowers on
behalf of all. Vivek Kocharlakota lead the singing part
of the program and Jyoti Shah lead “Madhurashtakam,” a
hymn, and a dhoon “Radhe Govinda Bhajo..”. Tilak Jani
played tabla.
After prayer, Mahendra Uncle read from Srimad Bhagavatam
about the birth of Sri Krishna, and an incident in which
Sri Krishna showed his mother Yashodhara the whole
universe in his mouth. Uncle said that by killing the
children of Mother Devaki and Father Vasudeva, Kansa
(Krishna’s Uncle) prepared ground for his own
destruction. He said that it is difficult to recognize
an incarnation of God. He described an incident from
the Mahabharata. Yudhishthira, during his Rajasuya
Yajna, asked grandsire Bhishma, “Who should be honored
first on this special occasion?” Bhishma said that Sri
Krishna is the only one who is worthy to be honored
among all the great kings of the country. One king by
the name of Shishupala objected to this and made
insulting remarks about Sri Krishna. Bhishma then gave
reasons by quoting incidents from the life of Sri
Krishna, describing his greatness. However, Shishupala
continued telling lies about Sri Krishna and making
derogatory remarks about him. He even challenged Sri
Krishna to fight him at which point, Sri Krishna killed
him with his discus. Mahendra Uncle said that while it
is good to express honest doubts, an arrogant attitude
leads to our own destruction or hinders our spiritual
progress. Sri Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gita that in
order to make spiritual progress, one should destroy
harmful doubts and thoughts that arise from arrogance
with the sword of knowledge.
After Uncle’s talk, students made their presentations.
Rishi Dhar presented a speech on the qualities of Lord
Krishna. Following him, Debanjan Saha told us his views
on why we celebrate Janamashtami. Ranjani Venkataramanan
then spoke about concentration, devotion and
self-discipline, and how we can apply them while
attending celebrations, and in our daily lives. Lastly,
Rajiv Venkataramanan presented his views on why we love
Krishna. He pointed out that we worship Krishna because
of his divine qualities, but we love him because of his
human qualities. It is this human side of Krishna that
we all see in ourselves, and we love these human traits
of Sri Krishna because we can relate to them.
After the presentations, we enjoyed many beautiful
bhajans. We listened to the melodious song sung by Uma
Aunty in praise of baby Krishna, and we joined Vivek as
he sang a hymn, “Achyutashtakam,” and a song “Shyama
Sundara Madana Mohana Radhe Gopal.” Vivek and Neeraj
Patel also sang “Bol Hari Bol,” a dhoon. Sneha Shah did
arati and the celebration was concluded with Veda
Mantras and Pranam Mantras. Some continued to stay a
little longer to sing a few more dhoons, with Uncle as
the leading singer.
Once the celebration was over, prasad was distributed in
the Cultural Hall, after which we went home, thinking
about the life and teachings of Lord Krishna.
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