According to legends, Shri Krishna is one of the most powerful incarnations of Lord Vishnu. He was born in Mathura at midnight on Ashtami in the months of August or September. Hindus across India celebrate the holy festival of Janmashtami with great enthusiasm. Special events are organized in Krishna temples, where devotees pray until midnight to honor the Lord’s birth. Some devotees also observe a day-long fast.
Here are the top five stories of Lord Krishna, each with a moral lesson:
One day, while Krishna and Balarama were playing, Krishna, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, stuffed a handful of mud into his mouth. His friends complained to his mother, Yashoda, who then asked Krishna to open his mouth. Initially, Krishna refused, but after Yashoda gave him a stern look, he complied. To her astonishment, Yashoda didn’t see mud; instead, she saw the entire universe inside his mouth. This revealed to her that Krishna was the Lord in disguise.
In a village, there was a poor priest who was a devoted follower of Lord Krishna. He would visit homes seeking alms, and people often gave him food or money, which he accepted gratefully. One day, Lord Krishna decided to test the priest. While walking along a river, the priest found a bag full of gold coins and decided to keep it. On his way home, he encountered a beggar who asked for food or money, but the priest ignored him. Later, he found a diamond on the ground, but as he bent down to pick it up, a thief snatched the bag of gold coins. The diamond turned out to be just a piece of glass used to trick the priest.
Disheartened, the priest continued home, where he met Lord Krishna in the form of a common man. Krishna offered him a metal coin, which the priest accepted, although he wondered what use it would be. On his way home, the priest saw a fisherman with two fish and decided to exchange the coin for the fish, planning to release them into the river the next day. When he did, he discovered two diamonds inside the fish. Krishna then appeared and explained that the fish had swallowed the diamonds, which the priest received as a reward for saving their lives. Krishna reminded the priest that he lost the gold coins because he did not help the beggar and was greedy for the diamond.
Kamsa, fearing his prophesied death, decided to kill every infant in his kingdom and enlisted the demoness Putana for the task. She killed several infants before reaching Gokul, where she learned about the miraculous baby Krishna. Suspecting Krishna to be Kamsa’s slayer, she disguised herself as a beautiful maiden and offered to nurse him with her poisonous milk. Yashoda, believing the maiden to be a goddess, allowed her to breastfeed Krishna. However, instead of dying, Krishna began sucking the life out of Putana. Despite her attempts to scare him off, she died, and the villagers found Krishna playing on her lifeless body, realizing his divine nature.
Arishtasura, a demon in the form of a bull, was sent by Kamsa to kill Krishna. The demon attacked the villagers of Gokul, prompting Krishna to confront him. After a fierce battle, Krishna defeated Arishtasura by breaking off his horns. Before dying, the demon’s soul revealed that he was once a disciple of Brihaspati named Varatantu, who was cursed to become a bull for disrespecting his guru. Brihaspati had foretold that Varatantu would be redeemed by Lord Vishnu.
