Srimad Bhagavatam — Dashama Skandha, Shloka 4
Utthāna Ceremony, Śakaṭa-bhañga, Tṛṇāvarta-vadha, and the Vision of the Universe in Kṛṣṇa’s Mouth
श्रीशुक उवाच कदाचिदौत्थानिककौतुकाप्लवे जन्मर्क्षयोगे समवेतयोषिताम् । वादित्रगीतद्विजमन्त्रवाचकै- श्चकार सूनोरभिषेचनं सती ॥ ४ ॥
śrī-śuka uvāca kadācid autthānika-kautukāplave janmarkṣa-yoge samaveta-yoṣitām vāditra-gīta-dvija-mantra-vācakaiś cakāra sūnor abhiṣecanaṁ satī
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When mother Yaśodā’s baby was slanting His body to attempt to rise and turn around, this attempt was observed by a Vedic ceremony. In such a ceremony, called utthāna, which is performed when a child is due to leave the house for the first time, the child is properly bathed. Just after Kṛṣṇa turned three months old, mother Yaśodā celebrated this ceremony with other women of the neighborhood. On that day, there was a conjunction of the moon with the constellation Rohiṇī. As the brāhmaṇas joined by chanting Vedic hymns and professional musicians also took part, this great ceremony was observed by mother Yaśodā.
There is no question of overpopulation or of children’s being a burden for their parents in a Vedic society. Such a society is so well organized and people are so advanced in spiritual consciousness that childbirth is never regarded as a burden or a botheration. The more a child grows, the more his parents become jubilant, and the child’s attempts to turn over are also a source of jubilation. Even before the child is born, when the mother is pregnant, many recommended ritualistic ceremonies are performed. For example, when the child has been within the womb for three months and for seven months, there is a ceremony the mother observes by eating with neighboring children. This ceremony is called svāda-bhakṣaṇa. Similarly, before the birth of the child there is the garbhādhāna ceremony. In Vedic civilization, childbirth or pregnancy is never regarded as a burden; rather, it is a cause for jubilation. In contrast, people in modern civilization do not like pregnancy or childbirth, and when there is a child, they sometimes kill it. We can just consider how human society has fallen since the inauguration of Kali-yuga. Although people still claim to be civilized, at the present moment there is actually no human civilization, but only an assembly of two-legged animals.
FAQs
This verse describes Yaśodā arranging an auspicious ceremonial bathing (abhiṣeka) for child Kṛṣṇa on a day aligned with His birth-star, with music, singing, and brāhmaṇas chanting Vedic mantras—showing Vraja’s devotion expressed through sacred family rites.
Because the day was favorable by nakṣatra (birth-star alignment), Yaśodā lovingly performed the traditional protective and celebratory rite for her child, expressing parental affection (vātsalya-bhakti) and invoking auspiciousness through mantra and blessings.
Sanctify family milestones with prayer, gratitude, and uplifting sound (mantra, kīrtana), keeping devotion at the center—so celebrations become spiritually meaningful rather than merely social.