Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha ! Srimathe Vedhantha Desikaya Namaha !! Srimate Sri Lakshminrisimha Divyapadukasevaka Srivan Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya namaha !!! Dear Bhagavathas ! The writer , humbly , submits this article to the group , prepared , for the modern youth , who , were not lucky enough to have an exposure to this subject so far. The article was written based on the details collected during the various lectures and upanyasams attended and also reading some of the books on this subject. It is expected that the addressed audience would find it quite interesting and useful . May Sriyapathi bless us all. Regards yours- Ramanuja Dasan G.Sampath. quote Krishnam Vande Jagatgurum. It is now the month of Aavani . Shortly Krishna Paksha Ashtami is going to unite with Rohini Nakshatram . As per the saying , ? Rohinee sahithaa Sravana maasasya Krishnashtami " , So it is going to be the time of ? Janmashtami ? . On this day , Lord Sriman Narayanan , during Dwapara Yugam , decided to take birth in this world as Sri Krishna , selecting Devaki and vasudeva as parents . Srivaishnavites , call this day as Sri Jayanthy . It is also termed Krishna Jayanthi. Srivaishnavites , believe in celebrating the birthdays , of the Avatars of the Lord, only to express their sincere gratitude and reverence to the Lord for the efforts taken by Him , to protect the good , from all the evils and also to establish righteousness in this world , as narrated by Sri Krishna Himself , in the Bhagavad Gita . In Srimath Bhagavatha Mahapurana , Maharishi Vyasar states that , Bhoomadevi represented to Lord Sriman Narayanan through Brahma about the over burden in this world, caused by the decline of Virtue and the growth of sin , by the demon rulers . To oblige that request The Lord decided to manifest Himself , through Sri Krshina Avatar , to shower His grace on this earth and save His devotees . Sriman Narayanan decided to take birth as child to the same parents , three times , based on their request . In the first Avatar , to Prachini- Suthapis couple, in the Vamana Avatar , to Athithi- Kashyap couple and in Sri Krishna Avatar , to Devaki- Vasudeva couple . Maharishi Vyasar , in his Purana has narrated that the Avatars of the Lord are not like our mundane conventional births , but they are done by His own Sankalpa. Through this Avatar , Lord Krishna brought happiness to the entire mankind . Every one at all levels , from Devas to humans , praised the activities of the Lord and admired the cleverness with which the problems were handled at ease by Him at every stage . Lord Krishna charmed every one at one glance by His smile and radiance . People wanted to enjoy His beauty and smile without any wink in their eyes . Sri Krishna brought joy to every one alike, from children to aged people . Among the Avatars , this is the most loved one , by all . Lord Krishna stayed in this world for only 125 years and during that period He taught the mankind , many aspects requiring special attention and gave us the precious Bhagavad Gita and also arranged for the Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam . When Parikshit Maharaj requested Suka Brahma Rishi to narrate the life history of Sri Krishna , Rishi was quite pleased and over whelmed to do so . The life of Parikshit itself is a gift of Lord Krishna to Uttarai and hence the request of Parikshit to Rishi to narrate the life history of Sri Krishna , is significant and a great boon to mankind. In this Avatar , the Lord has clearly revealed His number of attributes to us , for us to understand that He is none other than the Paramathma , who , despite his all powerful , all pervading and omniscient position ( ? Parathvam ? ) , is easily approachable due to His other face of humbleness ( ? Sowlabyam ?). Vedam says , ? Anthar Bhahistaha Tat Sarvam Vyapyam Narayana Sthithaha ?. Sriman Narayanan carries the Jagat from outside and at the same time , He is also inside it. Such a thing is possible only by Him. That is His greatness. In this Avatar He gave us the Bhagavad Gita and arranged for the Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam . Swami Desikan in his Yaadhavaapyudhayam , while narrating the incidence of child , Sri Krishna dancing on multi headed snake, ?Kaaliyan?, observes the Parathvam attribute of Sri Krishna as under , ? Thadhuththamangam Parikalpya Rangam Tharanga Nishpanna Mrithanganaatham ! Prasasyamaanas Thrithasairakaarsheeth Avyaahathaam Aarapateem Ananthaha !! ? Swami observes that Sri Krishna , by His Thiruvadis , made Kaaliyan to shed his ego and prostrate before Him , through the very dancing process . While dealing with Gopikas , Yashoda and animals like cows and calves , He exhibited His humbleness and moved one with them , without any reservations. He obliged his mother Yashoda and enabled her to tie Him with a small rope. Sri Vishnupuranam covers this aspect as , ? Yadhi Chaknoshi Gachathvam Athi chanchala Cheshtithaha ? Similarly Swami Desikan also observes as under : ? Bhaayaath Eeshath Prachalitha Padhaha ! Naabhak Gachchanna Thishtah Nimithyaa Ghopaha !! ? . Sri Krishna , after He was bound by His mother with that small rope , stood like a rock , without moving , even though in His heart , He actually wanted to run away from that place , for the fear of getting beating from His mother . Is it possible for any one to instill that in the minds of Almighty. What a humbleness exhibited ! BY allowing His mother to tie Him with a small rope , He enabled her to remove her Karma bandham form this world. Swami Desikan observes this aspect in his Yaadhavabhyudhayam as under. ? Bhadhdham Thadha Bhavayathaam Mukundam Ayathnavichethini Karmabandhe1 Thapasvinee Thathkrithu Neethiraathyaa Swareetamaarangathasu Thasthow !! So , if we read about SriKrishna?s binding story , our Samsara bandham will go away. He also exhibited that He is the Paramathma and no other demigod can be equal to Him ( ? Ananya Deivathvam ? ) . Alwars have sung Him as ?Kannanallal Deivam Illai ? . Srivaishnava ? Lakshanam ? , is nothing but to understand that our Aathma , Sareeram and all other things of this earth , belong to Sri Krishna ( ? Kannanukke Avadu Kaamam ? , ? Sarvam Krishnarpanamasthu? etc. ). Through His various Leelas in childhood and even in Kurushetra battle field , He exhibited His other aspect of obliging the devotees and become a dasan to them (? Aasritha Paarathanthriyam ? ) . This one face gives us reassurance that He is easily approachable and He will not let us down , if we show our true and sincere , devotion to Him. Sri Krishna gave up His own vow , of not lifting the Chakrayudam in the battle field , for the sake of His ardent devotee Bheeshma Pithama . He also willingly undertook the job of a messenger to Duriyodhana at the request of Pandavas ( Pandavar Thoodar ) . He gives number of opportunities to His enemies and the enemies of His devotees, to correct themselves , before punishing them for their bad acts. His Kaarunyam is abundant. His act of listening to the command of Arjuna as a true charioteer , to take the chariot and station it between the two armies , shows His face of ? Baktha Paraadeenan?. Rightly He was named ? Vidheyaathma ? ( One who is quite obedient to His devotee ) . When His mother Yashoda called Him number of times , He obliged her request . Sri Krishna can be easily bound by sincere , ardent love and devotion. They were exhibited by the acts of sahadevan , when he bound Sri Krishna by a garland of love and again by yashoda , by a small rope , through her motherly , true affection . It is right to say , ? God is Love? and ?Love is God?. In many places the Lord has exhibited His another attribute of , our Saviour ( ? Rakshagathvam ? ) . Through this He removes the evil and bestows goodness to His devotees. His birth in midnight , brought light to the life of His parents? and His lifting the mountain to protect His creation ( human , animals and plants etc ) from the wrath of Indira , exhibit this face ( ? Govarthana dhaaranam ? ) . Lord never considers any one as His enemies , for , everything is His creation through Brahma. On account of our poorva Karma , we turn out to be good or bad , with respect to all our activities . Sri Krishna is highly possessive of His belongings . For ? Rakshagathvam ?, the above possessive aspect is highly helpful for us in liberating ourselves from this mundane world , through His greatest Guna , ? Kaarunyam ?. The way He gave Mokshaprapthi to Boothanai , who came with the intension of killing the baby Krishna , by applying poison to the nipples of her breasts and to feed the baby Lord , with milk , goes to prove this point well. She did all these with a staunch determined mind that all her milk belongs to Sri Krishna only . So the Lord did not want to leave even a drop of milk in her body. He suckled the milk along with her aathma , there by relieving her from this world of misery. Swami Desikan , observes in his Yaadhavabyudhayam , that whoever reads the story of Boothanai , will not have rebirth in this world . He says , ? Yadadbhudham Bhavayathaam Janaanaam Sthanandhayathvam Na punar Bhabhuva ! ? Sri Krishna?s another face is , removing the enemies of His devotees ( ? Virodhi Nirasanathvam ? ) . We all have the following eight enemies with in us. ? Kaamam?, ? Krodham ? , ? lobam ? , ? Moham ? , ? Madham ? , ? Maathsaryam ?, ?Ahankaaram ? and ? Mamakaaram ? . They continuously haunt us . They are responsible for all our misery in this world . Through His ? kaarunyam ? and ? Kataksham ?, He enables us to get over these enemies and attain self realization. The incidence of stealing of butter is nothing but making His devotee to attain a saathvik level , which is acceptable to Him . Dhahi is like our jeevathma . It is supposed to represent both Saathvik and Thamasik gunaas. When we churn the Dhahi , we get butter and butter milk. Sri Krishna likes only butter , which is supposed to represent the pure Sathva guna. Sri Krishna does this action in us to make us ,a sincere devotee of His. Since all the jeevathmas are His property , He never wanted to leave them. Once the jeevathmas take the acceptable form like butter , He steals them. Vedantham states with conviction that the mumukshoo , should be devoid of both paapam and punyam to get saamyaapathi Moksham with the Paramathma . In the Bhagavad Gita , Lord Krishna stresses this in the Charuma slokam. He also reassures us through the word ? Maasuchaha ? , there by exhibiting His face of ? Paapa Vimosanathvam ?. As per the wishes , He gave His army to Duriyodhana and Himself to Paandava.Since Paandavas realized that Sri Krishna alone is enough to win the war , they only prayed Him to join them. As Paandavas are His ardent devotees , He gave His holy feet for their surrender and there by exhibited His another face of, ? Saranya Mukundathvam ?. His feet are the best way to reach Mokshaprapthi . Sri Krishna swallows even the poison , to liberate the enemies from this world . He gets tied up to a rock ( Ural) to remove our clutches from this world. He takes birth in this world to avoid rebirth for us. Thus , He taught us a lot through this Avatar , only for our salvation. So let us all , jointly do the Mangala sasanam for Lord Krishna on this ? Janmashtami ? day , to bring peace and glory to our motherland . Sarve Jana Sukhino Bhavanthu ! Adiyen , Ramanuja Dasan , G.Sampath. unquote --------------------------------- Here's a new way to find what you're looking for - Yahoo! Answers Send FREE SMS to your friend's mobile from Yahoo! Messenger Version 8. Get it NOW [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! 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