Krishna Jayanthi on 3 days!!!

This year too, like many times in the past, Krishna Jayanthi is celebrated on three days.

Painting by Ravi varma.

The reason for this is that the rules and rationale in fixing the birthday of Krishna

are differently followed by various schools of thought.

Some stick to the thithi while others to the birth star.

In this post let me look into some rationale from astrology point of view.

Thithi is not considered for birth days,

as thithi is connected with austerities or ritualistic practices to be done.

A thithi denotes the distance traveled by the moon.

At particular distances, it has been found to be beneficial for certain practices

to get maximum benefit.

In this way only, Amavasya is being reserved exclusively for pithru tarpaN.

Akshaya thritheeya

(http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/2008/05/akshaya-thritheeya-for-buying-gold.html)

is found to give maximum results for dana, japa or meditation.

Another occasion is Ekadasi vratha.

Yet another occasion is Gokulashtami.

Fasting done on Ashtami in the dark phase of the moon in the month of Shravana

will help one a realize all desires.

That is why Gokulashtami is celebrated

on the thithi in which Krishna was born.

Since thithis will benefit ritualistic practices done with expectation of a fruit or benefit,

Krishna’s birth day is celebrated on Ashtami.

But birth day is not connected to thithis.

Birth day is that day when the moon passes through the star in the zodiac sign

that it did at the time of the birth of the person.

As such, the star in the month in which the person is born is the birth star

and the day on which this happens is the birth day.

Krishna’s birth star was Rohini

and the day of this star in the month of Shravana is considered as the birthday of Krishna.

Here again a dilemma comes –

whether to celebrate the birthday on the day

when Rohini is there for most part.

Here astrology gives a clarification.

According to astrological texts,

Savanamana calculation is to be used for the purpose of festivals.

This Savanamana takes into account sun-rise timing.

According to this system,

to identify a day with a particular star,

that star must be still traversed by the moon at sun rise.

The star may have started on the previous day – but after sun rise.

That star may have been present for most part of the day in the previous day.

But since that star was not present at sun rise of the previous day,

the previous day can not be identified with that star.

When the star is still present at the time of sun rise the next day,

as though sanctified by sun’s rays,

only the next day is said to be the day of the star.

This is referred to as ‘piccham’ – ‘the remaining part’,

and if the star remains the next day also to see the sun rise,

then the celebrations connected with the star must be done on the next day only.

That is how the Krishna Jayanthi has come to be celebrated

on the 3 rd day, to day this year –

with Rohini remaining today

and Rohini seeing sun-rise only today.

The star may have been present for a few hours today, compared to yesterday.

But yesterday, the star at sun rise was Krittika and not Rohini.

So yesterday can not be considered as day of Rohini.

Yesterday was the day of Krittika.

But those taking up Kaarthigai - vratham

would start at the time of start of Krittika,

and end it at the end of the Krittika.

That is why you will find almanacs mentioning that

krittikai vratha started day- before yesterday

when moon entered the asterism of krittika.

But in the case of Rohini, it is not Rohini vratha.

It is Krishna's birth day.

That is why it is celebrated on the day of Rohini, sanctified by sun-rise.

That is the rationale.

If we start considering the star depending on its duration in a day,

we may encounter practical problems in computing time based on star.

There are times when a star will see 3 sunrises –

This is called ‘Thri-dinasprik’.

There are times when a star may not see sunrise at all.

The star may rise (moon’s entry into it) after sunrise and

set before the next sun rise.

This is called ‘Avama’ or ‘Avamakam ‘.

One can notice these words in the almanac.

Thri-dinasprik and Avama are avoided for auspicious purposes.

In the case of birthdays, the day when the star is present at sunrise,

it is considered as the birth day.

In celebrating Krishna Jayanthi,

the different days are chosen with respective reasons.

Fasting is an important aspect of Krishna’s birthday.

Those expecting material benefits must fast on Janmashtami

and break their fast (pAraNai) at the end of the Ashtami thithi.

They celebrate Krishna’s birth day on Ashtami thithi.

Those who are free from material desires, should fast

on the Birthday (birth star) of Krishna,

do regular pooja followed by

pooja to Krishna.

They must Meditate on Krishna

Balarama, Vasudeva, Devaki, Nada gopa and Yashoda

till moon rise.

Once the moon appears in the horizon,

arghya of tender coconut water must be offered to moon.

Moon is prayed as the Milk of the ocean and

Moon with Rohini is offered the arghya.

Then they must continue

devotional services to Krishna

by offering food and fruits of the season.

Sleep is forbidden

and the fast is broken only on the next morning,

by taking food along with other devotees of Vishnu.

This kind of celebration is said to

remove all sins and fulfills all desires.

In this case, the moon may not be in the asterism of Rohini

at moonrise.

But it was, when Krishna was born.

The same condition can not happen every year.

But the same rationale is used in celebration of Krishna’s birthday.

This is explained in the astrological text “Kalaprakasika”

A separate chapter is devoted on Shree jayanthi and how to celebrate it.

(can be read in this link)

http://books.google.co.in/books?id=e_8MaBfTncgC&pg=PP7&lpg=PP7&dq=kalaprakasika+translation&source=web&ots=7096Yp5mnG&sig=_pN0EIEn38u-y2pjz277r4gtheM&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA238,M1

The fear of Ashtami – Navami

Generally Ashtami and Navami are the days meant for meditation.

On these two days, the moon is at right angles to the earth

in such a way that the combined effect of both the sun and the moon

on earth and our mind is nil.

Any thought force emanating from us can be free of celestial disturbance.

That is why these two days are reserved for spiritual thoughts.

Since no other time in a paksha (fortnight) is so free of Luni-solar pulls,

our elders thought it fit to forget the mundane activities and

concentrate on God’s thoughts on these two days.

But this was forgotten in course of time

and unfortunately these two days have become dreaded days now-a-days.

Medicinal astrology also recommends Ashtami for starting

any new treatment of medicines or surgeries.

The combined effect of the sun and the moon on the fluids in our body

will be minimal at this time.

Krishna’s horoscope.

Kalaprakasika also states the asterisms at Krishna’s birth.

Brahma Samhita is quoted in which Pitamaha

(Pitamaha is generally considered as the Sun God or Brahma)

tells Narada the birth time asterisms of Krishna.

This is almost to similar to Rama’s horoscope

with 5 planets in exaltation and two planets in own houses.

A very rare occurrence indeed.

Horoscope of Krishna as per Brahma samhita

But this is different from what BV Raman has presented.

(discussed in my post)

http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/2008/05/birth-date-of-krishna-astrologically.html

BV Raman arrived at the horoscope based on texts like

Srimad Bhagavatham and Harivanmdsam.

It is intriguing that he missed

Kalaprakasika (a well known book of astrology) information.

I am presenting the horoscope given by BV Raman here.

It is wished that someone with know-how in tracking the times

based on planetary positions, take note of the horoscopes given here

and help us know the dates accordingly

ands also to arrive at the accurate horoscope.

Horoscope of Krishna by BV Raman’s horoscope