Krishna Janmashtami stories from the Brahma Vaivarta Purana
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Shri Krishna Janmashtami
Today, 4th September 2026, is Shri Krishna Janmashtami also commonly called Janmashtami.
I am sharing here what the Brahma Vaivarta Purana says about the birth of Krishna. This Purana is a Krishna-centric Purana that has variations for many known stories.
Every Janmashtami, the same story gets retold: Kamsa's prophecy, Devaki's imprisonment, the midnight birth, Vasudeva crossing the flooded Yamuna, Yogamaya's escape from Kamsa's hands. These are told in the Shrimad Bhagavata Purana. I wanted to go through the Brahma Vaivarta Purana and share the different aspects of the same stories. What I am sharing here is from the fourth section of the Purana, called Krishna Janma Khanda. This Purana was most likely composed in Bengal.
Why Krishna was born as a cowherd
This is from the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Krishna Janma Khanda, Chapters 2 and 3.
Once, in Goloka, Krishna and Radha were roaming around, when Krishna left Radha and started moving around with a Gopika called Viraja. When Radha got to know about this, she became angry. She went there and the first person she saw there was Krishna’s friend, Sridam. Sridam tried to stop Radha from going near Krishna. Radha pushed Sridam aside and went inside. Seeing Radha, Krishna vanished and Viraja fell down and took the form of a river.
Seeing that Krishna was not there, and Viraja having become a river, Radha left. The moment Radha left, Krishna appeared there and made Viraja take the form of a woman again. Through Viraja, Krishna had seven sons.
One day the youngest son came to his mother crying. Seeing the boy cry, Viraja picked him up, and Krishna left the place and went where Radha was. Seeing that Krishna had left, Viraja cursed her son saying he was the reason for Krishna’s departure and he would become a salty ocean. She cursed her other sons to become different oceans and reside on Jambudvipa. When the sons had left, Krishna went back to Viraja. Radha missing Krishna went there, and saw Krishna with Viraja. She said to Krishna, ‘Why don’t you leave me and live with Viraja, who became a river when she saw me? That’ll be a spectacle – the greatest of all beings, living with a river.’
Krishna left and seeing this Sridam got angry and rebuked Radha. Hearing this, Radha cursed Sridam to take birth as an Asura. Hearing this, Sridam cursed Radha to be born as a human on Earth and said, ‘Your anger is like that of a human being. You shall become a human woman on earth and people will call you wife of Rayana. You will be separated from Krishna for many years and will reunite with him, in Goloka.’ Having cursed Radha, Sridam went to Krishna and told him what had happened. Krishna asked Sridam to go to Earth and said he would face liberation when he would be killed by Shiva, and would then return to Goloka. Sridam went and took birth as Shankhachuda, who would go on to become the husband of Tulasi.
Radha was scared of becoming a human. Krishna consoled her and told her she would not be alone and that he would take birth and be with her on Earth, in the land of Vraja.
How Krishna absorbed all incarnations in himself
Before going further, one needs to understand that as per Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Krishna is the supreme godhead and all others are part of him – even Narayana.
The portion below is from Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Krishna Janma Khanda, Chapter 6.
When it was time for Krishna to take birth on earth, all devas and devis began to sing praises and the rishis began reciting hymns from the Sama Veda to praise Krishna. Vishnu went and merged with Krishna and took on a wonderful form. A wonderful looking person, Sankarshana came and merged with Krishna. Sons of Dharma, Nara and Narayana came there and while Narayana merged with Krishna, Nara was to take birth on earth as Arjuna. Then Goddess Durga appeared there. Krishna then asked Lakshmi to go to the kingdom of king Bhishmaka take birth in his house as his daughter. He told Parvati to take birth as Nanda’s daughter, whom Vasudeva would carry away. After facing Kamsa, Parvati would return to Kailasha.
Why Balarama got the name Sankarshana
This is mentioned in Chapter 6 of the Brahma Vaivarta Purana.
This is from when Devaki and Vasudeva were married and Kamsa had heard a voice saying the eighth son of Devaki would kill him. Hearing this, Devaki was placed under house arrest. Brahma Vaivarta Purana says Vasudeva took Devaki home after promising Kamsa that he would hand over the children born to them. Six children were born and Kamsa killed them. When Devaki conceived for the seventh time, Parvati as Yogamaya, transferred the foetus from Devaki’s womb to the womb of Rohini, another wife of Vasudeva. As the foetus was drawn out and then transferred, Balarama received the name Sankarshana.
Glossary of terms
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Krishna | Literally “dark” or “dark-coloured”; also, the name of Krishna |
| Janmashtami | The eighth day (ashtami) marking Krishna's birth (janma) |
| Krishna Janma Khanda | The section (khanda) dealing with the birth (janma) of Krishna |
| Gopika | A cowherd woman; traditionally, a woman of the cowherd community |
| Goloka | “World of cows”; the abode associated with Krishna |
| Jambudvipa | One of the major divisions of the world |
| Tulasi | The holy basil plant |
| Vraja | The land around Gokula and Vrindavana |
| Sama Veda | One of the four Vedas, consisting largely of verses arranged for chanting or singing |
| Sankarshana | “The one who draws together/away”; in this context, Balarama, because he was drawn from Devaki's womb and transferred to Rohini |
I had mentioned the term Jambudvipa, and if anyone is interested, I shall share a separate post on that.
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