What do you give someone who already has everything?
It’s time for Janmastami, the appearance anniversary of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Controller of all that be, the origin of all spiritual and material worlds, the Absolute Truth, the ultimate source of all energies.
Among other things, His real estate portfolio is incomparable.
He comes to this world to eradicate our cluelessness; to give us a glimpse of what life is like in His all-attractive company—minus everything associated with repeated birth and death.
What can we possibly give Krishna for His birthday that He doesn’t already have?
And, since everything belongs to Him, what is “ours” to actually “give?”
He only asks for one thing—bhakti—devotional service. It’s our nature to want to serve and love someone, and the ultimate object of service and love is Krishna.
Even so, He appreciates it even more when we love and serve His devotees. That’s just the way He is.
Thus, many Krishna devotees around the world also commemorate Nandotsava, the day after Janmastami, as vyasa-puja—the appearance anniversary of Srila Prabhupada.
Please join us for our online celebrations this year. Hare Krishna!
P.S. Be on the lookout for our exclusive Janmastami Newsletter, coming your way in just a few days, announcing our holiday homepage, new audio, videos, and more.
Your servants,
The Krishna.com Team
Here’s your chance to share your appreciation of Prabhupada online.
August 14, 2009 is the appearance anniversary of of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada— celebrated as Vyasa Puja (“worship of the spiritual master”) by his disciples and followers.
“For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” (Bhagavad-gita As It Is, 18:68-69)
“Those who are My direct devotees are actually not My devotees, but those who are the devotees of My servant are factually My devotees.”(Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya-lila 11.28)
Krishna really likes it when people like His devotees—so it’s to our spiritual benefit to show appreciation for those servants who are especially dear to Krishna.
Srila Prabhupada worked tirelessly until the end of his life to spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. His teachings continue to inspire people of every conceivable (and even inconceivable) background to fully give their lives to the service of God.
Learn how you can participate
In the summer of 1968, Srila Prabhupada observed Sri Krishna Janmastami with some of his disciples in Montreal, Canada, and gave a brief talk on the significance of Krishna’s appearance.
Before asking his disciples present there to speak their realizations, Prabhupada explained Krishna’s statement from Bhagavad-gita; that as soon as we understand the extraordinary nature of Krishna’s appearance and activities in this world, we don’t have to “appear” and “act” in this place where there’s repeated death and rebirth.
Both the lecture and transcription are available for you to listen and read along.
In 2004, Radhanath Swami and some of his disciples traveled to Gokula Mahavan (near Vrindavan) to the place of Krishna’s birth.
Despite a sore throat, he wove his masterful storytelling for three-and-a-half hours on the historical/spiritual pastime of Lord Krishna’s appearance on Earth.
Four episodes of this epic lecture are now available for free listening—just in time to get you in the mood for Janmastami.
This issue coincides with the annual festival of Janmashtami, celebrating the divine appearance of Lord Krishna on earth more than fifty centuries ago.
In “Sri Krishna Janmashtami: The Advent of the Deliverer,” Karuna Dharini Devi Dasi explains how Lord Krishna’s “birth” is unlike that of us ordinary living beings, who are born by the force of Krishna’s material energy.
Chanting the Hare Krishna mantra is the central practice of Krishna consciousness. Public chanting is called “kirtana,” and private chanting is called “japa.”
To get maximum benefit from japa, it helps to give proper reverence and attention while chanting.
This isn’t always easy, since the restless human mind often prefers to think about anything and everything, rather than focus on transcendental sound.
In this episode of our Japa Workshop series, participants relate their personal victories, tips, and struggles as they focus on their own practice of japa meditation.
Krishna devotees traditionally dress their deities extra gorgeously on Janmastami, and even create new outfits for Them to wear on that day. Some Krishna temples also invite local devotee families to bring their deities from home to be placed on the main altar for everyone to see.
We invite you to send us photos of your home deities at offerings@krishna.com, which will be placed on display in a special Janmastami Deity Gallery for the online world to see.
Time is short! Send us your best pictures now so we can post them in time.
Krishna.com is proud to be associated with Friends of the BBT, a new organization established to help devotees of Krishna throughout the world become more directly involved in the work of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.