Janmashtami Katha — Krishna's Divine Birth

The demon-king Kamsa of Mathura was proud and powerful. On the day of his sister Devaki's wedding to the noble Vasudeva, a divine voice from the sky declared: "O Kamsa, the eighth son of this woman you celebrate shall be your end."

Kamsa, gripped by terror and selfishness, immediately imprisoned both Devaki and Vasudeva in a stone cell. He killed each of their children as they were born — six sons were murdered at Kamsa's hands. The seventh — Balarama — was secretly transferred to Rohini's womb by divine arrangement and survived.

On the eighth night of the Krishna Paksha of Shravan, the most auspicious moment arrived. The midnight hour. The world was dark and stormy. Inside the prison, Devaki's labor began. Vasudeva prayed with tears streaming down his face.

In that sacred moment, Lord Vishnu — the Supreme Being — descended from Vaikuntha and was born as the eighth son. The prison cell was flooded with divine light. The Lord appeared in His four-armed form, holding conch, chakra, lotus, and mace, wearing a crown of brilliant jewels. Devaki and Vasudeva fell prostrate in awe.

The Lord then transformed into an infant and instructed Vasudeva: "Take me across the Yamuna to Gokula. Place me with Nanda and Yashoda's daughter who was born at this same moment. Bring her back. The guards will sleep, the prison doors will open, and the Yamuna will make way."

Vasudeva lifted the infant in a basket on his head and crossed the stormy Yamuna. The river parted for the Lord. He reached Gokula, exchanged the children, and returned. The newborn girl cried, waking the guards. When Kamsa seized her to kill her, she slipped from his hands, rose into the sky, and declared: "Your destroyer has already been born, O Kamsa!" The world rejoiced, for the Lord had come.