Andal, in Her Thiruppavai, refers to the night on which Krishna was born as “Or iravu,’ meaning it was a unique night. What made it unique? It was the night when the One without birth was born, elaborated V.S. Karunakarachariar in a discourse. Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gita that for those who seek moksha, He is the only hope. The One who gave us this promise was born on that rainy night, thus making it unique. Sage Parasara, in his Vishnu Purana, refers to Krishna’s birth as the night on which the Sun that dispelled the darkness of the world made His appearance. So, on this night, one can say that the Sun shone at midnight!
The Supreme One is a parent to all. Yet He was born as a child to human parents on this night, thereby making it unique. That night the doors of the prison opened of their own accord; chains binding Vasudeva fell off; except for a chosen few, the rest of the world was asleep. In his Yadavabhyudaya, Vedanta Desika devotes several verses to describing this night. The child that was born that night was unique too. He spoke as soon as He was born! Devaki saw that her child had four hands, and lotus-like eyes. The latter is a defining feature of the Supreme One.
Even when the Lord took the Varaha avatara, His eyes looked like lotuses, thus making Him the only boar ever heard of that had lotus-like lovely eyes. Alavandar says Purushottama’s most distinguishing features are His lotus-like eyes. Suka refers to the newborn Krishna as adbhutam baalakam — the amazing boy. But why say balakam, when he could have just said baala, which also means boy? ‘Ka’ refers to Brahma. When Krishna was born, Brahma was seated in the navel of the baby! So Suka uses the word baalakam to refer to baby Krishna to indicate Brahma’s presence.
