Shree narayan told: Oh Sons! All the rituals for the fasting told by Vitthalesh Goswami are accepted by us. It is exceptional for the Uddhav sampraday particularly as follows:

In that the birth of Shree Krishna on the 8^th day of Shravan Vad shall be highly embodied because it is the birth day of shree Krishna bhagwan and they are our main diety. The fasting for Ashtami or the eight day shall begin from midnight of the 8^th of Shravan vad but if it is overlapped or coincides with the 7^th of that month, still falling in the Rohini constellation and on Wednesday then it should be considered for fasting even though it is colliding with the 7^th day of that month. Celebrations for parna shall be hold the next day. Such Ashtami coinciding with the Saptami falling in Rohini constellation on Wednesday is written down in Agni Puran. If it does not match that way then it should not be taken for Vrata (fasting). As said above if the time is good on the saptami and if the astami is with rohini constellation and falling on Wednesday like a pure astami then the person capable should do both fastings and the weak person should fasting only on the night of astami. If the Astami falls on Wednesday and without rohini constellation then astami, which is intercepted by saptami, should never be considered for fasting. If it is not Wednesday and there is rohini constellation then astami intercepted by saptami should not be done. Astami intercepted by navmi should be done even if it does not fall with rohini contellation. Pure astami even if it falls without the above said and is only for a moment and then intercepted by navmi, should still be considered for fasting. If the astami intercepted by saptami has xhay then it could still be done because many vaishnavs do it. (This is not as per the rules of Vaishnavs but has been followed, so it is taken as Vaishnav rules) The opinion of Vitthaleshji tells that if there is any objection of interception then other day or the day of navmi should be considered for fasting. The Astami that is pure without the interception of saptami before the sunrise should be considered for fasting. Other than that should not be considered. If there are two astami then the astami that is pure should be considered.

Fasting should be done on that day by going to the temple of Shree Krishna where there are two idols of lord Shree Krishna and laxmiji. If there is an idol of Radhikaji then the prayers should be carried out taking into consideration it as an idol of laxmiji. If there are no idols of radha or laxmiji then in that temple the pooja should be carried out taking into consideration that they reside within the body of lord Shree Krishna. On that day the pujari of the temple should clean the temple properly and then decorate the temple with several decoratives. The Singhasan of lord, Kalash, Deepika etc. used in the prayers of lord should be cleaned properly that day. After that all the clothes, flowers etc. used for the pooja should be brought. The clothes worn by lord Shree Krishna should be sown by the pujari himself or by the tailor, which should properly fit lord Shree Krishna.

Then the mandap should be prepared with various colourful clothes and other decoratives. Various cents like sandal, flowers etc should be used to fill the atmosphere of the mandap. In the middle of the mandap there should be imagined the birthplace of lord Krishna where mother devkiji is present. One part of mandap should be considered as Gokul. All the idols embodied by Nandji, Vasudev, gopis, gopas, cows, ox, kids etc should be brought. The idols of Krishna etc. should be made out of gold or silver as per the capacity. The prayers shall be carried out from the midnight onwards along with the family. They should start with the playing of conch shells, drums etc. Various varieties of food like ladu, jalebi, sweet milk and various curries etc should be made in a holy and clean place for the offerings.

After the beginning of the first phase of the night, the prayers of Aarti should start with closed curtains. If there is a possibility of the bathing of the idol then the ritual should be carried out with panchanmrit. After that the idol should be bathed with warm but not hot water. If there is not enough possibility for the bathing of the idol of lord then it should be cleaned properly with a clean and wet cloth and then the idol should be covered and decorated with new clothes. If the idol is of young balkrishna then it should be bathed with panchamrit. The ritual of the bathing should be carried out as said above. If the idol of lord is dark in complexion then it should be covered with white-yellow-red clothes which matches with the complexion of the idol and looks beautiful. If the idol is white in complexion then white-red-green clothes should be used. Laxmiji’s idol should also be covered with similar clothes. After that the idols should be covered with various jewels like golden chains, necklaces studded with diamond and pearls. If the person is poor then he should use flowers instead. After that during the eight phase of the night the bal Krishna which is newly born should be taken from his birth place and should be taken to that corner of mandap which is imagined to be gokul and then should be placed in the side of yashodamata for a minute and then should be taken near to the idol which is worshipped everyday. At that time celebrations should be carried out by playing various instruments and various birth songs should be sung in praise of lord Krishna. The idol of Bal Krishna should then be placed in the cradle and be decorated with various flowers etc and both the idols of god, the permanent idol and the smaller idol placed in the cradle should be worshipped and aarti of both should be carried out. After that as per the rituals the idol should be bathed again along with the idol of nandji etc. After that a warm woollen cap should be placed on the head of Shree Krishna. Flowers and other offering should then be madeand it should be cradled.

After that celebrations should be carried out in the temple with various cents and flowers. After this offering of food should be made placing a plate on a wooden seat in front of the cradle of lord filled with various varieties of food and milk and water. After that panchjiri made out of substances like coconut, khaskhas, dhana, jiri etc. should be placed in front of the idols of yashodaji and devkiji. After that offering of food shall be made by the pujari by singing the rituals and playing bells and drums. After that tambul or pan should be offered to the lord after the thal ceremony is over.The curtains should be then be taken off and aarti should be done again. Songs, bhajans, kirtans etc. in praise of the lord should be sung. When it is time for the resting of the lord, ornaments and other clothes should be taken off and light clothes worn during the night should be placed on the idol. At night the devotees should only have water offered to the lord. Any other things like panchjiri etc should not be eaten and fasting should be carried out by being awake during the night.

In the morning after taking bath and carring out the pooja of lord Krishna, thal or naivedh should be offered to the lord. After that the devotee should cradle the lord and carry out the birth celebrations. The offering of lord shall then be distributed among the devotees. The celebrations should then be enjoyed with various colouring among men and women devotees in their own sections of the temple according to the permission of the acharya. During this if any of the material like curd etc. falls on sadhu, bramhachari or a widow then that widow etc. person should take a bath and do one mala of the Krishna astakshar mantra. After the celebrations, bathing should be done and paarna should be done. As above I (lord Shree sahajanand swami) have detailed you the fasting and celebration of the Janmashtami.

In the Uddhav sampraday established by Ramanand swami there are five different forms of lord shree Krishna. In fact of all the forms Lord Shree Krishna remains but one. Krishna is known by the different names of Vasudev, Balmukund, Navneetdhar, Radhakrishna, Radhapati, Madanmohan etc. The idols or Krishna are along with that of Radhaji. He is having a flute in his hand. That Krishna along with balram went from Vraj to Mathura and made it beloved to the Yadavs. At that time Krishna is known by the name of RamKrishna. He is also known by the name of Mathuranath and yadavabhushan. That Krishna came to dwarika and married Laxmiji. He was then known as Laxminarayan. He is also known as Dwarikanath and Yadupati. That Krishna who was related and friend to Pandavas and especially to Arjun was then known as NarNarayan. These different forms of idols of Krishna often have four hands. In others they have two hands. In many temples it is accompanied by the parshads. The rituals in all the temples are the same as mentioned above.