holidays connected with Krishna, this
festival is particularly observed in the
Braj region, where Krishna is sup-
posed to have lived, although it is also
celebrated throughout the country.
Devotees (bhakta) often stay up late
into the night, since Krishna is said to
have been born at midnight, and the
observances are often punctuated with
singing, chanting, parades, and dramas
enacting events in Krishna’s life. It is
during the month around Janmashtami
that the dramas known as the Krishna
lilas are presented in the town of
Brindavan, traditionally believed to
have been Krishna’s childhood home.
According to tradition, Krishna is the
eighth sonof Devakiand Vasudeva. He
is born in a prison in the city of Mathura
in which his parents are held by Devaki’s
brother, the wicked king Kamsa. Kamsa
has imprisoned the pair in an attempt to
thwart the prophecy that he will be
killed by his sister Devaki’s eighth son.
Kamsa has killed all of Devaki’s older
children at birthand intends to do the
same with Krishna, but when Krishna is
born wondrous things begin to happen:
the jailers fall into a deep sleep, the
locked prison doors miraculously
open, and Vasudeva is able to spirit the
infant out of the prison to the home of
the couple who will become his foster
parents, Nandaand Yashoda. Vasudeva
returns that night, bearing Yashoda’s
new-born baby girl, who is really the
goddess Bhadrakali in disguise. The
next morning Kamsa kills the child by
dashing her against a stone, but from
the body arises a fearsome form of the
Goddess, who taunts Kamsa by telling
him that the person who will slay him
has already escaped.
Japa
(“muttering,” “whispering”) Individual
recitation, usually the repeated utter-
ance of a particular mantraor divine
name(s), often while using a string of
beads (mala) to perform a definite num-
ber of such repetitions. Such recitation
is usually performed as an individual
religious act, in a tone of voice audible
to the reciter but not others who may be
present. Japa is a particularly important
practice in Hindu traditions stressing
the benefits of reciting the divine
name—such repetitions are believed to
have gradual spiritual benefits. Japa is
particularly stressed in the Gaudiya
Vaishnavascommunity founded by the
Bengali saint Chaitanya, where public
recitation of the divine name is an
important part of religious life.Jaratkarava Artabhaga
One of the sage Yajnavalkya’sinterview-
ers in the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad,
one of the earliest of the Upanishads.
The third chapter of this upanishad
presents a series of questioners, each
trying to test Yajnavalkya’s assertion that
he is the best brahminof all. Artabhaga
finally questions Yajnavalkya about the
human sense faculties and their realms
of action, and eventually asks what hap-
pens to a person after death. Yajnavalkya
draws him aside in private, and talks to
him about karma(“action”), in what
is generally regarded as the oldest
reference to this fundamental Indian
religious idea.Jaratkaru
In Hindu mythology, a sage famous not
only for his asceticismand knowledge
but also because he illustrates the
importance of male children in Hindu
culture. Jaratkaru is a lifelong ascetic
with no intention of marrying until he
has a vision of his ancestors suspended
over one of the hellsby a grass rope,
through which a rat(time personified) is
gradually gnawing. His ancestors inform
Jaratkaru that his failure to have a son
means that the lineage will end with
him, along with the rites performed for
the deceased in that lineage, and that
they will then fall into hell. To forestall
this disaster, they instruct Jaratkaru to
marry and beget a son.
Jaratkaru is initially hostile to this
idea, but later specifies that if a womanJaratkaru