Krishna Janmashtami: Why do we offer Krishna “56 Bhog, know the benefits now.

Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated as the birth of Krishna who was born to end the tyranny of Kansa, his maternal uncle who ruled and tortured the people of Vrindavan and Mathura. The festival is celebrated with great fervour, it is round the corner and hence the devotees are full of excitement to celebrate His day. Lord Krishna fulfils every desire of His devotees. He does not let His devotees suffer or get into any troublesome situation. It is believed that those who worship Him with devotion to Janmashtami will never have to experience hardship in their life. Those who receive his blessing get successful in every field they try their hands on. Besides, The Lord also protects His devotees from enemies and helps them to fight with their rivals.  We know how people offer him different sorts of prasad to make Him happy and to seek His blessing. Prasads that include “Makhan Mishri”, “56 Bhog” or the 56 delicacies. But do you know why “56 Bhog” is offered to him? Well, there are some interesting stories and beliefs behind it. As per holy texts, Lord Krishna is served 56 types of food which are known as “Chappan Bhog”. There’s great faith and devotion behind this idea of serving Krishna these 56 types of food. Read on to know the stories behind it.

According to a tale, Yashoda Maa, mother of Lord Krishna used to feed him 8 times a day which means he used to eat 8 meals a day. Once when Krishna lifted Govardhan mountain in order to save the people of Braj from the wrath of Lord Indra, He didn’t eat or drink anything straight for 7 seven days. After seven days when he felt that now the rain had stopped, he asked the people of Braj to come out of Govardhan mountain. Maa Yashoda and others felt very hurt that the one who used to eat eight times a day didn’t eat for seven days straight. So to make up for that, Maa Yashoda and His followers prepared 56 foods that would compensate for 7 days he didn’t eat.

As per Shrimad Bhagwat Katha, Gopis of Krishna used to take bath in the Yamuna river for a month at dawn and worship Goddess Katyayani in order to get Krishna as their husband. Seeing this Krishna agreed to marry them. Then to celebrate the fulfilment of their wish and to end the fast, Gopis prepared 56 types of food to offer Shri Krishna.

According to another belief, Krishna and Radha reside on a lotus in Goloka which is considered to be the eternal abode of the two. It is believed that the lotus contains three layers and the first layer contains eight, the second contains sixteen and the third contains thirty-two petals. In each petal, one friend resides and the God resides in the middle. This total makes up fifty-six petals and so this is the significance behind the number fifty-six which eventually conveys that God takes the pleasure of food along with his friends.

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