How Did Lord Krishna Get His Name? Story Behind His Naming Ceremony

Krishna's Uncle-Kansa

Krishna's maternal uncle was a wicked king. The atrocities that he did on the people in his kingdom, had no end. He was given a curse through a divine prophecy that he would be killed by the eighth child of his sister Devaki. But since the demon's pride had no measures, he believed that nothing in the world could bring an end to him. Under his selfishness and immeasurable pride, he made his own sister a captive and kept her in the prison. He had planned to kill the baby as soon as he was born.

The Birth Of Lord Krishna

Lord Krishna was actually the eight child of Devaki and Basudev. Since he was the last one, Kansa had tightened the security and asked the guards to inform him as soon as Devaki gives birth to the child. But Lord Vishnu used his spell to trick the guards and Kansa due to which everyone was fast asleep and nobody can know if Devaki was experiencing labour.

As soon as Lord Krishna was born, Lord Vishnu asked Basudev to carry the child and swap it with the newborn of Nanda, the chief of Gokul, a nearby village. Due to Lord Vishnu's spell, every villager in Gokul were under deep sleep. Even Yashoda, the wife of Nanda felt unconscious seconds after delivering her baby. As a result, nobody can know if she delivered a boy or a girl. Vasudeva swapped the babies and came back to the jail with Nanda's newborn daughter. In no time, the spell broke and the girl started crying. The guards woke up after hearing a baby crying and called Kansa. As soon as Kansa tried to kill the baby girl, she turned out to be another divine prophecy, which said that Devaki's eighth child has taken birth and is safe.

Killing Of Babies In Gokul And Nearby Villages

Nanda's nephew was also born on the same day as Krishna. He thought of holding a big naming ceremony for the two baby boys. However, Kansa ordered his men to kill every newborn in the nearby villages and asked to keep a close eye on those who were about to be born. As a result, Nanda and Yashoda can't break the news of their newborn child. But they had to give some name to the baby boys as it was the tradition. Holding even a small a naming ceremony seemed almost impossible as if the local priests informed Kansa, the boys will be killed.

Acharya Garg's Visit To Gokul And Naming Ceremony

Acharya Garg was considered to be a learned scholar and an ascetic sage. He visited Gokul and Nanda pleaded the sage to stay in Gokul for a few days. The sage agreed but Nanda can't tell him about the newborn. Somehow, Nanda told the sage about his newborn boys and asked him to perform a hush-hush Namkaran (naming ceremony). Acharya Garg felt helpless as he was the royal teacher of the Yadav dynasty and he felt that holding a naming ceremony and not informing Kansa will be considered as treason.

But then Acharya Garg agreed as he knew that Lord Krishna was the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. However, Nanda and Yashoda were unaware of the fact that their son is none other than Lord Vishnu himself. The sage asked Nanda and Yashoda to bring the boys in the cattle shed behind their house so that he can perform the naming ceremony.

The Naming Ceremony

While performing the naming ceremony, when Acharya Garg looked at Nanda's nephew, he said, "The son of Rohini is blessed by the Almighty to provide justice, knowledge and wisdom to his people. He will work for the welfare of the society and will make sure no one suffers due to injustice and therefore, he must be named ‘Rama', after Lord Rama." He further said, "Since Rohini's son is strong and seems to grow up to be a strong and valiant person, people will also know him as ‘Bala'. So, He will be called Balram."

Now it was the turn of Lord Krishna. Taking little Krishna in his arms, the sage said, "He has taken incarnation in every age and has freed mankind with evils. This time he has taken birth as a boy with dark complexion just like Krishna Paksha night (waning fortnight). Let him be called Krishna. The world will know him with various other names depending upon his work and incidents in his life."

Hence, our beloved God was named as ‘Krishna'. The world knows Him with thousands of name and worships all His forms.

Jai Shri Krishna!