A folk tale on Kaan Jagai: The gopis and Surabhi, the cow
After Kanha’s birth Yashoda, Rohini and Nanda celebrate all festivals with gusto in Nandalay. All of them are busy in the mornings with their chores and also preparing for some festival or the other.
The gopis too are busy in their homes. They wake up well before sunrise, bathe their cows, wash the Goshala, feed their cows and then milk them. They sing praises of Kanha while doing all this.
The gopis believe that their Kanha ushers luck and goodness into their lives. So they make it a point to do the darshan of Kanha before they set off to the markets to sell their milk, butter and buttermilk. They whisper, giggle and even bicker amongst themselves as they tiptoe into Nandalay and peek through Kanha’s window to do his darshan.
Yashoda knows that the gopis dote on her Kanha. She knows Kanha gets disturbed by the secret visits that the gopis make every day. But Yashoda does not have the heart to stop the gopis from entering Nandalay so early in the morning. So usually she allows them to do Krishna’s darshan before they set off to the market.
But on festivals and special days, Yashoda herself wakes up Krishna early in the morning. She has a lot of work lined up for the day. So she gives Krishna his bath, dresses him up in festive clothes and then goes off to prepare for the festival. On such days, Yashoda gives the chowkidar of Nandalay strict instructions and says he should not allow the gopis to disturb Kanha because he too has a long day ahead.
But for the gopis – the darshan of Kanha – has become a ritual and they don’t want to miss out on it especially on festive days. They discuss the matter amongst themselves. One gopi says, “Without Kanha’s darshan our trip to the market is futile. No one will buy our milk or butter. We might as well take a break and stay at home on festivals. Maybe we will be lucky enough to get the darshan of Kanha a little later in the day when he comes out of Nandalay.”
Another gopi says, “We are just using that as an excuse. We all know that we can never begin our day – any day –without doing the darshan of Kanha first.” All the gopis sigh in unison and wonder how they can find a way out of this. That is when one gopi says, “Let’s go to the Goshala and ask for Surabhi’s help in this. Surabhi will surely convey our message to Krishna.”
So instead of going to Krishna’s window, the gopis quietly go the back of Nandalay and enter the Goshala. They spot Surabhi, Krishna’s favourite cow and notice that she is fast asleep. One gopi gently wakes her up by speaking these words into her ears, “Kanha Ko Jagiao Re..” and all the other gopis whisper the same words into the ears of the other cows.
Surabhi and the other cows wake up with a start, understand that there is precious little time to complete the gopis’ task – else Yashodama will whisk Kanha away for his bath…. So the cows quickly follow Surabhi and start mooing outside Kanha’s window.
Kanha wakes up instantly – for he loves his cows as much as he loves the gopis. He goes to his window to check why Surabhi and the other cows are out of the Goshala so early in the morning.
And Kanha chuckles loudly when he sees the gopis sighing in sheer pleasure when they do his darshan. Krishna allows them to do his darshan to their heart’s content, escorts the cows back to the goshala and pretends to be fast asleep when Yashoda comes to wake him up after a while. Perhaps the phrase, “Kanha Ko Jagio Re..” slowly transformed into “Kaan Jagai” a beautiful ritual over the years.
Krishna & the ritual of Kaan Jagai
One day, Krishna expresses his desire for performing the Goverdhan Pooja to his father Nanda. Nanda readily agrees to it. So they invite Gargacharya and ask him to perform the Goverdhan Pooja a day before Diwali.
Gargacharya promises to perform the Goverdhan Pooja but requests Krishna and Nanda to invite all the cows, gwalas and brahmins too to attend the Goverdhan Pooja. Krishna and Nanda value Gargacharya’s excellent advice and call all the gwalas.
They tell them to assemble outside Nandalay dressed in their festive best a day before Goverdhan Pooja. The gwalas wake up early in the morning, wash the cowsheds, bathe their cows, feed and milk them and then adorn them. They paint their horns with bright colours, tie colourful ribbons on it, tuck in peacock feathers on their foreheads, tie small bells around their necks and ghungroos around their ankles and finally imprint vermillion based palm prints on the cows’ bodies.
They then wear new dhotis, colourful bagal bandis, put on their topis and pagdis and trudge off with great enthusiasm to do all that Krishna says. Krishna and Nanda greet all the gwalas, cows and brahmins with respect.
Following Gargacharya’s instructions, they apply tilak and akshat on the foreheads of the cows. They offer sweets to all the cows as naivedya and go to each cow and personally invite it by speaking these words in the ears of the cow, “O Gomata, we are hosting the Goverdhan Pooja. Please come to Goverdhan Parvat tomorrow morning and attend the pooja without fail.” Krishna and Nanda then extend the same invitation with folded hands to all the gwalas and brahmins too.
This ritual in which Krishna and Nanda personally invite each cow – by speaking into its ears – to attend the Goverdhan Pooja the next day is celebrated as “Kaan Jagai” even today by Pushti Margiya Vaishnavs.
The essence of Kaan Jagai
Radha embodies Prem. She is married. Yet she runs to Krishna whenever he plays his flute. Radha rejoices in Krishna’s Prem in Vrindavan – every night till He leaves Vraj – forever. But Radha is not incomplete without Krishna. She connects to Krishna through her Prem and that is enough for her.
Goverdhan Parvat stands tall and firm. He has been doing so for aeons now. Rishi Pulatsya curses him and says he will diminish in size over the years. Yet Goverdhan Parvat is unfazed. He loves Vraj, the land in which Krishna was born. He connects to Krishna here every day. And that is enough for him.
Yamuna embodies Bhakti. Krishna’s devotees cleanse their sins in her waters every day. Yet Yamuna continues to flow serenely. She connects to Krishna through her Bhakti. So nothing else matters to her.
Like Radha, Goverdhan Parvat and Yamuna, cows too practise selfless service. They give all that they have and then give of themselves too – willingly – even to people who never value or appreciate them – without ever expecting anything in return.
And why does Krishna love all these aspects of Nature so dearly? For Krishna’s Purusha gets Artha – meaning – value – only through his Shakti – Prakriti. And only when he is reunited with his Shakti – Prakriti – Radha, Goverdhan, Yamuna and his cows does he become Poorna Purushotham. We too can surely connect to Krishna – when we serve others selflessly with a smile – always. And that is the essence of this ritual called “Kaan Jagai” – it embodies selfless service and tells us how we can connect to Krishna.
Photos given by: Shri. Yogeshji, Ravi Bhaiyyaji, Aditi & Teerth.
Click here to read about other rituals for Krishna.
Click here to read informative articles on Nidhi Swaroop.