krishna-janmashtami

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Legend of Janmashtami
Janmashtami, one of the most popular festivals of Hindus
celebrates the birth of their beloved God, Sri Krishna.
Detailed story of Janmashtami or Lord Krishna's birth has
been narrated in Puranas. Please read on to know more
about the various fascinating aspects of the legend of
Janmashtami as stated in Puranas.
Mathura, a prominent town of Northern India and the birth
city of Sri Krishna was ruled by King Ugrasen, a
Yaduvanshi ( Belonging to the Community of Yadavs). He
was a great king loved by his subjects. He had two
children, a son Kansa and a daughter Devki. Kansa was
quite cruel by nature, his wickedness knew no bounds when he jailed his father and
forcefully became the king of Mathura.
Love for sister Devki and Brother in law Vasudev
Though Kansa was hard hearted but he loved his sister immensely and married her off to
Vasudev, one the high ranking officers in his army. However on the day of wedding, as a
result of a heavenly prediction that Devki’s eighth child will be born to kill him, Kansa
decided to kill his sister. On Vasudev's pleading, he put both of them in dungeons and let
them live but with a promise that they will handover all their children to Kansa, only to be
killed by him.
Birth of Balram
Kansa succeeded in killing all the six new born babies of Devki and Vasudev, however the
seventh child was saved by divine intervention as the child was transferred from Devki’s
womb to that of Rohini's, Vasudev's other wife. Thus Balram, the elder brother of Krishna
was born but Kansa thought that Devki had a miscarriage.
Birth of Krishna
The birth of the eighth child of Devki, Lord Krishna was followed by a chain of dramatic
events. Soon after the birth of the child, as if by a sheer miracle, all the soldiers guarding the
couple fell asleep and the gates of the dungeon flew open themselves. Vasudev decided to
smuggle the child safely in a basket to his friend Nand in Gokul. Since it was raining heavily,
River Yamuna was all swollen and Vasudev feared that both he as well as his child will
drown if he tried to cross it, however, as soon as the feet of the infant touched the river, the
flow of water became normal and Vasudev was able to cross it easily. Sheshnag, the five