The advent of Lord Krsna (by HDG Srila Prabhupada).

[Guest guest]

The advent of Lord Krsna

 

Once the world was overburdened by the unnecessary defense force of

different kings, who were actually demons, but were posing themselves as the

royal order. At that time, the whole world became perturbed, and the

predominating deity of this earth, known as Bhumi, went to see Lord Brahma

to tell of her calamities due to the demoniac kings. Bhumi assumed the shape

of a cow and presented herself before Lord Brahma with tears in her eyes.

She was bereaved and was weeping just to invoke the lord's compassion. She

related the calamitous position of the earth, and after hearing this, Lord

Brahma became much aggrieved, and he at once started for the ocean of milk,

where Lord Visnu resides. Lord Brahma was accompanied by all the demigods

headed by Lord Siva, and Bhumi also followed. Arriving on the shore of the

milk ocean, Lord Brahma began to pacify the Lord Visnu who formerly saved

the earthly planet by assuming the transcendental form of a boar.

 

In the Vedic mantras, there is a particular type of prayer called

Purusa-sukta. Generally, the demigods offer their obeisances unto Visnu, the

Supreme Personality of Godhead, by chanting the Purusa-sukta. It is

understood herein that the predominating deity of every planet can see the

supreme lord of this universe, Brahma, whenever there is some disturbance in

his planet. And Brahma can approach the Supreme Lord Visnu, not by seeing

Him directly, but by standing on the shore of the ocean of milk. There is a

planet within this universe called Svetadvipa, and on that planet there is

an ocean of milk. It is understood from various Vedic literatures that just

as there is the ocean of salt water within this planet, there are various

kinds of oceans in other planets. Somewhere there is an ocean of milk,

somewhere there is an ocean of oil, and somewhere there is an ocean of

liquor and many other types of oceans. Purusa-sukta is the standard prayer

which the demigods recite to appease the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

Ksirodakasayi-Visnu. Because He is lying on the ocean of milk, He is called

Ksirodakasayi-Visnu. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, through whom

all the incarnations within this universe appear.

 

After all the demigods offered the Purusa-sukta prayer to the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, they apparently heard no response. Then Lord Brahma

personally sat in meditation, and there was a message-transmission from Lord

Visnu to Brahma. Brahma then broadcast the message to the demigods. That is

the system of receiving Vedic knowledge. The Vedic knowledge is received

first by Brahma from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, through the medium

of the heart. As stated in the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam, tene brahma

hrda: the transcendental knowledge of the Vedas was transmitted to Lord

Brahma through the heart. Here also, in the same way, only Brahma could

understand the message transmitted by Lord Visnu, and he broadcast it to the

demigods for their immediate action. The message was: The Supreme

Personality of Godhead will appear on the earth very soon along with His

supreme powerful potencies, and as long as He remains on the earth planet to

execute His mission of annihilating the demons and establishing the

devotees, the demigods should also remain there to assist Him. They should

all immediately take birth in the family of the Yadu dynasty, wherein the

Lord will also appear in due course of time.

 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, Krsna, personally appeared as

the son of Vasudeva. Before He appeared, all the demigods, along with their

wives, appeared in different pious families in the world just to assist the

Lord in executing His mission. The exact word used here is tatpriyartham,

which means the demigods should appear on the earth in order to please the

Lord. In other words, any living entity who lives only to satisfy the Lord

is a demigod. The demigods were further informed that the plenary portion of

Lord Krsna, Ananta, who is maintaining the universal planets by extending

His millions of hoods, would also appear on earth before Lord Krsna's

appearance. They were also informed that the external potency of Visnu

(maya), with whom all the conditioned souls are enamored, would also appear

just to execute the purpose of the Supreme Lord.

 

After instructing and pacifying all the demigods, as well as Bhumi, with

sweet words, Lord Brahma, the father of all prajapatis, or progenitors of

universal population, departed for his own abode, the highest material

planet, called Brahmaloka.

 

The leader of the Yadu dynasty, King Surasena, was ruling over the country

known as Mathura (the district of Mathura), as well as the district known as

Surasena. On account of the rule of King Surasena, Mathura became the

capital city of all the kings of the Yadus. Mathura was also made the

capital of the kings of the Yadu dynasty because the Yadus were a very pious

family and knew that Mathura is the place where Lord Sri Krsna lives

eternally, just as He also lives in Dvaraka.

 

Once upon a time, Vasudeva, the son of Surasena, just after marrying Devaki,

was going home on his chariot with his newly wedded wife. The father of

Devaki, known as Devaka, had contributed a sufficient dowry because he was

very affectionate toward his daughter. He had contributed hundreds of

chariots completely decorated with gold equipment. At that time, Kamsa, the

son of Ugrasena, in order to please his sister, Devaki, had voluntarily

taken the reins of the horses of Vasudeva's chariot and was driving.

According to the custom of the Vedic civilization, when a girl is married,

the brother takes the sister and brother-in-law to their home. Because the

newly married girl may feel too much separation from her father's family,

the brother goes with her until she reaches her father-in-law's house. The

full dowry contributed by Devaka was as follows: 400 elephants fully

decorated with golden garlands, 15,000 decorated horses, and 1800 chariots.

He also arranged for 200 beautiful girls to follow his daughter. The

ksatriya system of marriage, still current in India, dictates that when a

ksatriya is married, a few dozen of the bride's young girlfriends (in

addition to the bride) go to the house of the king. The followers of the

queen are called maidservants, but actually they act as friends of the

queen. This practice is prevalent from time immemorial, traceable at least

to the time before the advent of Lord Krsna 5,000 years ago. So Vasudeva

brought home another 200 beautiful girls along with his wife.

 

While the bride and bridegroom were passing along on the chariot, there were

different kinds of musical instruments playing to indicate the auspicious

moment. There were conchshells, bugles, drums and kettledrums; combined

together, they were vibrating a nice concert. The procession was passing

very pleasingly, and Kamsa was driving the chariot, when suddenly there was

a miraculous sound vibrated from the sky which especially announced to

Kamsa: "Kamsa: you are such a fool. You are driving the chariot of your

sister and your brother-in-law, but you do not know that the eighth child of

this sister will kill you."

 

Kamsa was the son of Ugrasena, of the Bhoja dynasty. It is said that Kamsa

was the most demoniac of all the Bhoja dynasty kings. Immediately after

hearing the prophecy from the sky, he caught hold of Devaki's hair and was

just about to kill her with his sword. Vasudeva was astonished at Kamsa's

behavior, and in order to pacify the cruel, shameless brother-in-law, he

began to speak as follows, with great reason and evidence. He said, "My dear

brother-in-law Kamsa, you are the most famous king of the Bhoja dynasty, and

people know that you are the greatest warrior and a valiant king. How is it

that you are so infuriated that you are prepared to kill a woman who is your

own sister at this auspicious time of her marriage? Why should you be so

much afraid of death? Death is already born along with your birth. From the

very day you took your birth, you began to die. Suppose you are twenty-five

years old; that means you have already died twenty-five years. Every moment,

every second, you are dying. Why then should you be so much afraid of death?

Final death is inevitable. You may die either today or in a hundred years;

you cannot avoid death. Why should you be so much afraid? Actually, death

means annihilation of the present body. As soon as the present body stops

functioning and mixes with the five elements of material nature, the living

entity within the body accepts another body, according to his present action

and reaction. It is just as when a man walks on the street; he puts forward

his foot, and when he is confident that his foot is situated on sound

ground, he lifts the other foot. In this way, one after another, the body

changes and the soul transmigrates. See how the plantworms change from one

twig to another so carefully! Similarly, the living entity changes his body

as soon as the higher authorities decide on his next body. As long as a

living entity is conditioned within this material world, he must take

material bodies one after another. His next particular body is offered by

the laws of nature, according to the actions and reactions of this life.

 

"This body is exactly like one of the bodies which we always see in dreams.

During our dream of sleep, we create so many bodies according to mental

creation. We have seen gold and we have also seen a mountain, so in a dream

we can see a golden mountain by combining the two ideas. Sometimes in

dreams, we see that we have a body which is flying in the sky, and at that

time we completely forget our present body. Similarly, these bodies are

changing. When you have one body, you forget the past body. During a dream,

we may make contact with so many new kinds of bodies, but when we are awake

we forget them all. And actually these material bodies are the creations of

our mental activities. But at the present moment we do not recollect our

past bodies.

 

"The nature of the mind is flickering. Sometimes it accepts something, and

immediately it rejects the same thing. Accepting and rejecting is the

process of the mind in contact with the five objects of sense gratification:

form, taste, smell, sound, and touch. In its speculative way, the mind comes

in touch with the objects of sense gratification, and when the living entity

desires a particular type of body, he gets it. Therefore, the body is an

offering by the laws of material nature. The living entity accepts a body

and comes out again into the material world to enjoy or suffer according to

the construction of the body. Unless we have a particular type of body, we

cannot enjoy or suffer according to our mental proclivities inherited from

the previous life. The particular type of body is actually offered to us

according to our mental condition at the time of death.

 

"The luminous planets like the sun, moon or the stars reflect themselves in

different types of reservoirs, like water, oil or ghee. The reflection moves

according to the movement of the reservoir. The reflection of the moon is on

the water, and the moving water makes the moon also appear to be moving, but

actually the moon is not moving. Similarly, by mental concoction, the living

entity attains different kinds of bodies, although actually he has no

connection with such bodies. But on account of illusion, being enchanted by

the influence of maya, the living entity thinks that he belongs to a

particular type of body. That is the way of conditioned life. Suppose a

living entity is now in a human form of body. He thinks that he belongs to

the human community, or a particular country or particular place. He

identifies himself in that way and unnecessarily prepares for another body

which is not required by him. Such desires and mental concoctions are the

cause of different types of body. The covering influence of material nature

is so strong that the living entity is satisfied in whatever body he gets,

and he identifies with that body with great pleasure. Therefore, I beg to

request you not to be overwhelmed by the dictation of your mind and body."

 

Vasudeva thus requested Kamsa not to be envious of his newly married sister.

One should not be envious of anyone, because envy is the cause of fear both

in this world and in the next when one is before Yamaraja (the lord of

punishment after death). Vasudeva appealed to Kamsa on behalf of Devaki,

stating that she was his younger sister. He also appealed at an auspicious

moment, at the time of marriage. A younger sister or brother is supposed to

be protected as one's children. "The position is overall so delicate,"

Vasudeva reasoned, "that if you kill her, it will go against your high

reputation."

 

Vasudeva tried to pacify Kamsa by good instruction as well as by

philosophical discrimination, but Kamsa was not to be pacified because his

association was demoniac. Because of his demoniac associations, he was

always a demon, although born in a very high royal family. A demon never

cares for any good instruction. He is just like a determined thief; one can

give him moral instruction, but it will not be effective. Similarly, those

who are demoniac or atheistic by nature can hardly assimilate any good

instruction, however authorized it may be. That is the difference between

demigod and demon. Those who can accept good instruction and try to live

their lives in that way are called demigods, and those who are unable to

take such good instruction are called demons. Failing in his attempt to

pacify Kamsa, Vasudeva wondered how he would protect his wife Devaki. When

there is imminent danger, an intelligent person should try to avoid the

dangerous position as far as possible. But if, in spite of endeavoring by

all intelligence, one fails to avoid the dangerous position, there is no

fault on his part. One should try his best to execute his duties, but if the

attempt fails, he is not at fault.

 

Vasudeva thought of his wife as follows: "For the present let me save the

life of Devaki, then later on, if there are children, I shall see how to

save them." He further thought, "If in the future I get a child who can kill

Kamsa--just as Kamsa is thinking--then both Devaki and the child will be

saved because the law of Providence is inconceivable. But now, some way or

other, let me save the life of Devaki."

 

There is no certainty how a living entity contacts a certain type of body,

just as there is no certainty how the blazing fire comes in contact with a

certain type of wood in the forest. When there is a forest fire, it is

experienced that the blazing fire sometimes leaps over one tree and catches

another by the influence of the wind. Similarly, a living entity may be very

careful and fearful in the matter of executing his duties, but it is still

very difficult for him to know what type of body he is going to get in the

next life. Maharaja Bharata was very faithfully executing the duties of

self-realization, but by chance he contacted temporary affection for a deer,

and he had to accept his next life in the body of a deer.

 

Vasudeva, after deliberating on how to save his wife, began to speak to

Kamsa with great respect, although Kamsa was the most sinful man. Sometimes

it happens that a most virtuous person like Vasudeva has to flatter a person

like Kamsa, a most vicious person. That is the way of all diplomatic

transactions. Although Vasudeva was deeply aggrieved, he presented himself

outwardly as cheerful. He addressed the shameless Kamsa in that way because

he was so atrocious. Vasudeva said to Kamsa, "My dear brother-in-law, please

consider that you have no danger from your sister. You are awaiting some

danger because you have heard a prophetic voice in the sky. But the danger

is to come from the sons of your sister, who are not present now. And who

knows? There may or may not be sons in the future. Considering all this, you

are safe for the present. Nor is there cause of fear from your sister. If

there are any sons born of her, I promise that I shall present all of them

to you for necessary action."

 

Kamsa knew the value of Vasudeva's word of honor, and he was convinced by

his argument. For the time being, he desisted from the heinous killing of

his sister. Thus Vasudeva was pleased and praised the decision of Kamsa. In

this way, he returned to his home.

 

After due course of time, Vasudeva and Devaki gave birth to eight male

children, as well as one daughter. When the first son was born, Vasudeva

kept his word of honor and immediately brought the child before Kamsa. It is

said that Vasudeva was very much elevated and famous for his word of honor,

and he wanted to maintain this fame. Although it was very painful for

Vasudeva to hand over the newly born child, Kamsa was very glad to receive

him. But he became a little compassionate with the behavior of Vasudeva.

This event is very exemplary. For a great soul like Vasudeva, there is

nothing considered to be painful in the course of discharging one's duty. A

learned person like Vasudeva carries out his duties without hesitation. On

the other hand, a demon like Kamsa never hesitates in committing any

abominable action. It is said, therefore, that a saintly person can tolerate

all kinds of miserable conditions of life, a learned man can discharge his

duties without awaiting favorable circumstances, a heinous person like Kamsa

can act in any sinful way, and a devotee can sacrifice everything to satisfy

the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

 

Kamsa became satisfied by the action of Vasudeva. He was surprised to see

Vasudeva keeping his promise, and being compassionate upon him and pleased,

he began to speak as follows: "My dear Vasudeva, you need not present this

child to me. I am not in danger from this child. I have heard that the

eighth child born of you and Devaki will kill me. Why should I accept this

child unnecessarily? You can take him back."

 

When Vasudeva was returning home with his first-born child, although he was

pleased by the behavior of Kamsa, he could not believe in him because he

knew that Kamsa was uncontrolled. An atheistic person cannot be firm in his

word of honor. One who cannot control the senses cannot be steady in his

determination. The great politician, Canakya Pandita, said, "Never put your

trust in a diplomat or in a woman." Those who are addicted to unrestricted

sense gratification can never be truthful, nor can they be trusted with any

faith.

 

At that time the great sage Narada came to Kamsa. He was informed of Kamsa's

becoming compassionate to Vasudeva and returning his first-born child.

Narada was very anxious to accelerate the descent of Lord Krsna as soon as

possible. He therefore informed Kamsa that personalities like Nanda Maharaja

and all the cowherd men and girls and the wives of the cowherd men in

Vrndavana, and, on the other side, Vasudeva, his father Surasena and all his

relatives born in the family of Vrsni of the Yadu dynasty, were preparing

for the appearance of the Lord. Narada warned Kamsa to be careful of the

friends and well-wishers and all the demigods taking birth in those

families. Kamsa and his friends and advisors were all demons. Demons are

always afraid of demigods. After being thus informed by Narada about the

appearance of the demigods in different families Kamsa at once became alert.

He understood that since the demigods had already appeared, Lord Visnu must

be coming soon. He at once arrested both his brother-in-law Vasudeva and

Devaki and put them behind prison bars.

 

Within the prison, shackled in iron chains, Vasudeva and Devaki gave birth

to a male child year after year, and Kamsa, thinking each of the babies to

be the incarnation of Visnu, killed them one after another. He was

particularly afraid of the eighth child, but after the visit of Narada, he

came to the conclusion that any child might be Krsna. Therefore it was

better to kill all the babies who took birth of Devaki and Vasudeva.

 

This action of Kamsa is not very difficult to understand. There are many

instances in the history of the world of persons in the royal order who have

killed father, brother, or a whole family and friends for the satisfaction

of their ambitions. There is nothing astonishing about this, for the

demoniac can kill anyone for their nefarious ambitions.

 

Kamsa was made aware of his previous birth by the grace of Narada. He

learned that in his previous birth he was a demon of the name Kalanemi and

that he was killed by Visnu. Having taken his birth in the Bhoja family, he

decided to become the deadly enemy of the Yadu dynasty; Krsna was going to

take birth in that family, and Kamsa was very much afraid that he would be

killed by Krsna, just as he was killed in his last birth.

 

He first of all imprisoned his father Ugrasena because he was the chief king

among the Yadu, Bhoja, and Andhaka dynasties, and he also occupied the

kingdom of Surasena, Vasudeva's father. He declared himself the king of all

such places.

 

Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the First Chapter of Krsna, "Advent

of Lord Krsna."

----------

As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, the Lord says that His appearance, birth,

and activities, are all transcendental, and one who understands them

factually becomes immediately eligible to be transferred to the spiritual

world. The Lord's appearance or birth is not like that of an ordinary man

who is forced to accept a material body according to his past deeds. The

Lord's appearance is explained in the Second Chapter: He appears out of His

own sweet pleasure. When the time was mature for the appearance of the Lord,

the constellations became very auspicious. The astrological influence of the

star known as Rohini was also predominant because this star is considered to

be very auspicious. Rohini is under the direct supervision of Brahma.

According to the astrological conclusion, besides the proper situation of

the stars, there are auspicious and inauspicious moments due to the

different situations of the different planetary systems. At the time of

Krsna's birth, the planetary systems were automatically adjusted so that

everything became auspicious.

 

At that time, in all directions, east, west, south, north, everywhere, there

was an atmosphere of peace and prosperity. There were auspicious stars

visible in the sky, and on the surface in all towns and villages or

pasturing grounds and within the minds of everyone there were signs of good

fortune. The rivers were flowing full of waters, and lakes were beautifully

decorated with lotus flowers. The forests were full with beautiful birds and

peacocks. All the birds within the forests began to sing with sweet voices,

and the peacocks began to dance along with their consorts. The wind blew

very pleasantly, carrying the aroma of different flowers, and the sensation

of bodily touch was very pleasing. At home, the brahmanas, who were

accustomed to offer sacrifices in the fire, found their homes very pleasant

for offerings. Due to disturbances created by the demoniac kings, the

sacrificial fire alter had been almost stopped in the houses of brahmanas,

but now they could find the opportunity to start the fire peacefully. Being

forbidden to offer sacrifices, the brahmanas were very distressed in mind,

intelligence and activities, but just on the point of Krsna's appearance,

automatically their minds became full of joy because they could hear loud

vibrations in the sky of transcendental sounds proclaiming the appearance of

the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

 

The denizens of the Gandharva and Kinnara planets began to sing, and the

denizens of Siddhaloka and the planets of the Caranas began to offer prayers

in the service of the Personality of Godhead. In the heavenly planets, the

angels along with their wives, accompanied by the Apsaras, began to dance.

 

The great sages and the demigods, being pleased, began to shower flowers. At

the seashore, there was the sound of mild waves, and above the sea there

were clouds in the sky which began to thunder very pleasingly.

 

When things were adjusted like this, Lord Visnu, who is residing within the

heart of every living entity, appeared in the darkness of night as the

Supreme Personality of Godhead before Devaki, who also appeared as one of

the demigoddesses. The appearance of Lord Visnu at that time could be

compared with the full moon in the sky as it rises on the eastern horizon.

The objection may be raised that, since Lord Krsna appeared on the eighth

day of the waning moon, there could be no rising of the full moon. In answer

to this it may be said that Lord Krsna appeared in the dynasty which is in

the hierarchy of the moon; therefore, although the moon was incomplete on

that night, because of the Lord's appearance in the dynasty wherein the moon

is himself the original person, the moon was in an overjoyous condition, so

by the grace of Krsna he could appear just as a full moon.

 

In an astronomical treatise by the name Khamanikya, the constellations at

the time of the appearance of Lord Krsna are very nicely described. It is

confirmed that the child born at that auspicious moment was the Supreme

Brahman or the Absolute Truth.

 

Vasudeva saw that wonderful child born as a baby with four hands, holding

conchshell, club, disc, and lotus flower, decorated with the mark of

Srivatsa, wearing the jeweled necklace of kaustubha stone, dressed in yellow

silk, appearing dazzling like a bright blackish cloud, wearing a helmet

bedecked with the vaidurya stone, valuable bracelets, earrings and similar

other ornaments all over His body and an abundance of hair on His head. Due

to the extraordinary features of the child, Vasudeva was struck with wonder.

How could a newly born child be so decorated? He could therefore understand

that Lord Krsna had now appeared, and he became overpowered by the occasion.

Vasudeva very humbly wondered that although he was an ordinary living entity

conditioned by material nature and was externally imprisoned by Kamsa, the

all-pervading Personality of Godhead, Visnu or Krsna, was appearing as a

child in his home, exactly in His original position. No earthly child is

born with four hands decorated with ornaments and nice clothing, fully

equipped with all the signs of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Over and

over again, Vasudeva glanced at his child, and he considered how to

celebrate this auspicious moment: "Generally, when a male child is born," he

thought, "people observe the occasion with jubilant celebrations, and in my

home, although I am imprisoned, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has taken

birth. How many millions of millions of times should I be prepared to

observe this auspicious ceremony!"

 

When Vasudeva, who is also called Anakadundubhi, was looking at his newborn

baby, he was so happy that he wanted to give many thousands of cows in

charity to the brahmanas. According to the Vedic system, whenever there is

an auspicious ceremony in the ksatriya king's palace, the king gives many

things in charity. Cows decorated with golden ornaments are delivered to the

brahmanas and sages. Vasudeva wanted to perform a charitable ceremony to

celebrate Krsna's appearance, but because he was shackled within the walls

of Kamsa's prison, this was not possible. Instead, within his mind he gave

thousands of cows to the brahmanas.

 

When Vasudeva was convinced that the newborn child was the Supreme

Personality of Godhead Himself, he bowed down with folded hands and began to

offer Him prayers. At that time Vasudeva was in the transcendental position,

and he became completely free from all fear of Kamsa. The newborn baby was

also flashing His effulgence within the room in which He appeared.

 

Vasudeva then began to offer his prayers. "My dear Lord, I can understand

who You are. You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul of

all living entities and the Absolute Truth. You have appeared in Your own

eternal form which is directly perceived by us. I understand that because I

am afraid of Kamsa, You have appeared just to deliver me from that fear. You

do not belong to this material world; You are the same person who brings

about the cosmic manifestation simply by glancing over material nature."

 

One may argue that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who creates the whole

cosmic manifestation simply by His glance, cannot come within the womb of

Devaki, the wife of Vasudeva. To eradicate this argument, Vasudeva said, "My

dear Lord, it is not a very wonderful thing that You appear within the womb

of Devaki because the creation was also made in that way. You were lying in

the Causal Ocean as Maha-Visnu, and by Your breathing process, innumerable

universes came into existence. Then You entered into each of the universes

as Garbhodakasayi Visnu. Then again You expanded Yourself as Ksirodakasayi

Visnu and entered into the hearts of all living entities and entered even

within the atoms. Therefore Your entrance in the womb of Devaki is

understandable in the same way. You appear to have entered, but You are

simultaneously all-pervading. We can understand Your entrance and

nonentrance from material examples. The total material energy remains intact

even after being divided into sixteen elements. The material body is nothing

but the combination of the five gross elements--namely earth, water, fire,

air and ether. Whenever there is a material body, it appears that such

elements are newly created, but actually the elements are always existing

outside of the body. Similarly, although You appear as a child in the womb

of Devaki, You are also existing outside. You are always in Your abode, but

still You can simultaneously expand Yourself into millions of forms.

 

"One has to understand Your appearance with great intelligence because the

material energy is also emanating from You. You are the original source of

the material energy, just as the sun is the source of the sunshine. The

sunshine cannot cover the sun globe, nor can the material energy--being an

emanation from You--cover You. You appear to be in the three modes of

material energy, but actually the three modes of material energy cannot

cover You. This is understood by the highly intellectual philosophers. In

other words, although You appear to be within the material energy, You are

never covered by it."

 

We hear from the Vedic version that the Supreme Brahman exhibits His

effulgence, and therefore everything becomes illuminated. We can understand

from Brahma-samhita that the brahmajyoti, or the Brahman effulgence,

emanates from the body of the Supreme Lord. And from the Brahman effulgence,

all creation takes place. It is further stated in the Bhagavad-gita that the

Lord is also the support of the Brahman effulgence. Originally He is the

root cause of everything. But persons who are less intelligent think that

when the Supreme Personality of Godhead comes within this material world, He

accepts the material qualities. Such conclusions are not very mature, but

are made by the less intelligent.

 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is directly and indirectly existing

everywhere; He is outside this material creation, and He is also within it.

He is within this material creation not only as Garbhodakasayi Visnu; He is

also within the atom. Existence is due to His presence. Nothing can be

separated from His existence. In the Vedic injunction we find that the

Supreme Soul or the root cause of everything has to be searched out because

nothing exists independent of the Supreme Soul. Therefore the material

manifestation is also a transformation of His potency. Both inert matter and

the living force--soul--are emanations from Him. Only the foolish conclude

that when the Supreme Lord appears He accepts the conditions of matter. Even

if He appears to have accepted the material body, He is still not subjected

to any material condition. Krsna has therefore appeared and defeated all

imperfect conclusions about the appearance and disappearance of the Supreme

Personality of Godhead.

 

"My Lord, Your appearance, existence and disappearance are beyond the

influence of the material qualities. Because Your Lordship is the controller

of everything and the resting place of the Supreme Brahman, there is nothing

inconceivable or contradictory in You. As You have said, material nature

works under Your superintendence. It is just like government officers

working under the orders of the chief executive. The influence of

subordinate activities cannot affect You. The Supreme Brahman and all

phenomena are existing within You, and all the activities of material nature

are controlled by Your Lordship.

 

"You are called suklam. Suklam, or 'whiteness' is the symbolic

representation of the Absolute Truth because it is unaffected by the

material qualities. Lord Brahma is called rakta, or red, because Brahma

represents the qualities of passion for creation. Darkness is entrusted to

Lord Siva because he annihilates the cosmos. The creation, annihilation and

maintenance of this cosmic manifestation is conducted by Your potencies, yet

You are always unaffected by those qualities. As confirmed in the Vedas,

harir hi nirgunah saksat: the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always free

from all material qualities. It is also said that the qualities of passion

and ignorance are nonexistent in the person of the Supreme Lord.

 

"My Lord, You are the supreme controller, the Personality of Godhead, the

supreme great, maintaining the order of this cosmic manifestation. And in

spite of Your being the supreme controller, You have so kindly appeared in

my home. The purpose of Your appearance is to kill the followers of the

demoniac rulers of the world who are in the dress of royal princes but are

actually demons. I am sure that You will kill all of them and their

followers and soldiers.

 

"I understand that You have appeared to kill the uncivilized Kamsa and his

followers. But knowing that You were to appear to kill him and his

followers, he has already killed so many of Your predecessors, elder

brothers. Now he is simply awaiting the news of Your birth. As soon as he

hears about it, he will immediately appear with all kinds of weapons to kill

You."

 

After this prayer of Vasudeva, Devaki, the mother of Krsna, offered her

prayers. She was very frightened because of her brother's atrocities. Devaki

said, "My dear Lord, Your eternal forms, like Narayana, Lord Rama, Sesa,

Varaha, Nrsimha, Vamana, Baladeva, and millions of similar incarnations

emanating from Visnu, are described in the Vedic literature as original. You

are original because all Your forms as incarnations are outside of this

material creation. Your form was existing before this cosmic manifestation

was created. Your forms are eternal and all-pervading. They are

self-effulgent, changeless and uncontaminated by the material qualities.

Such eternal forms are ever-cognizant and full of bliss; they are situated

in transcendental goodness and are always engaged in different pastimes. You

are not limited to a particular form only; all such transcendental eternal

forms are self-sufficient. I can understand that You are the Supreme Lord

Visnu.

 

"After many millions of years, when Lord Brahma comes to the end of his

life, the annihilation of the cosmic manifestation takes place. At that time

the five elements--namely earth, water, fire, air and ether--enter into the

mahat-tattva. The mahat-tattva again enters, by the force of time, into the

nonmanifested total material energy; the total material energy enters into

the energetic pradhana, and the pradhana enters into You. Therefore after

the annihilation of the whole cosmic manifestation, You alone remain with

Your transcendental name, form, quality and paraphernalia.

 

"My Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You because You are the

director of the unmanifested total energy, and the ultimate reservoir of the

material nature. My Lord, the whole cosmic manifestation is under the

influence of time, beginning from the moment up to the duration of the year.

All act under Your direction. You are the original director of everything

and the reservoir of all potent energies.

 

"Therefore my Lord, I request You to save me from the cruel hands of the son

of Ugrasena, Kamsa. I am praying to Your Lordship to please rescue me from

this fearful condition because You are always ready to give protection to

Your servitors." The Lord has confirmed this statement in the Bhagavad-gita

by assuring Arjuna, "You may declare to the world, My devotee shall never be

vanquished."

 

While thus praying to the Lord for rescue, mother Devaki expressed her

motherly affection: "I understand that this transcendental form is generally

perceived in meditation by the great sages, but I am still afraid because as

soon as Kamsa understands that You have appeared, he might harm You. So I

request that for the time being You become invisible to our material eyes."

In other words, she requested the Lord to assume the form of an ordinary

child. "My only cause of fear from my brother Kamsa is due to Your

appearance. My Lord Madhusudana, Kamsa may know that You are already born.

Therefore I request You to conceal this four-armed form of Your Lordship

which holds the four symbols of Visnu--namely the conchshell, the disc, the

club and the lotus flower. My dear Lord, at the end of the annihilation of

the cosmic manifestation, You put the whole universe within Your abdomen;

still by Your unalloyed mercy You have appeared in my womb. I am surprised

that You imitate the activities of ordinary human beings just to please Your

devotee."

 

On hearing the prayers of Devaki, the Lord replied, "My dear mother, in the

millennium of Svayambhuva Manu, My father Vasudeva was living as one of the

Prajapatis, and his name at that time was Sutapa, and you were his wife

named Prsni. At that time, when Lord Brahma was desiring to increase the

population, he requested you to generate offspring. You controlled your

senses and performed severe austerities. By practicing the breathing

exercise of the yoga system, both you and your husband could tolerate all

the influences of the material laws: the rainy season, the onslaught of the

wind, and the scorching heat of the sunshine. You also executed all

religious principles. In this way you were able to cleanse your heart and

control the influence of material law. In executing your austerity, you used

to eat only the leaves of the trees which fell to the ground. Then with

steady mind and controlled sex drive, you worshiped Me, desiring some

wonderful benediction from Me. Both of you practiced severe austerities for

twelve thousand years, by the calculation of the demigods. During that time,

your mind was always absorbed in Me. When you were executing devotional

service and always thinking of Me within your heart, I was very much pleased

with you. O sinless mother, your heart is therefore always pure. At that

time also I appeared before you in this form just to fulfill your desire,

and I asked you to ask whatever you desired. At that time you wished to have

Me born as your son. Although you saw Me personally, instead of asking for

your complete liberation from the material bondage, under the influence of

My energy, you asked Me to become your son."

 

In other words, the Lord selected His mother and father--namely Prsni and

Sutapa--specifically to appear in the material world. Whenever the Lord

comes as a human being, He must have someone as a mother and father, so He

selected Prsni and Sutapa perpetually as His mother and father. And on

account of this, both Prsni and Sutapa could not ask the Lord for

liberation. Liberation is not so important as the transcendental loving

service of the Lord. The Lord could have awarded Prsni and Sutapa immediate

liberation, but He preferred to keep them within this material world for His

different appearances, as will be explained in the following verses. On

receiving the benediction from the Lord to become His father and mother,

both Prsni and Sutapa returned from the activities of austerity and lived as

husband and wife in order to beget a child who was the Supreme Lord Himself.

 

In due course of time Prsni became pregnant and gave birth to the child. The

Lord spoke to Devaki and Vasudeva: "At that time My name was Prsnigarbha. In

the next millennium also you took birth as Aditi and Kasyapa, and I became

your child of the name Upendra. At that time My form was just like a dwarf,

and for this reason I was known as Vamanadeva. I gave you the benediction

that I would take birth as your son three times. The first time I was known

as Prsnigarbha, born of Prsni and Sutapa, the next birth I was Upendra born

of Aditi and Kasyapa, and now for the third time I am born as Krsna from

you, Devaki and Vasudeva. I appeared in this Visnu form just to convince you

that I am the same Supreme Personality of Godhead again taken birth. I could

have appeared just like an ordinary child, but in that way you would not

believe that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, have taken birth in your

womb. My dear father and mother, you have therefore raised Me many times as

your child, with great affection and love, and I am therefore very pleased

and obliged to you. And I assure you that this time you shall go back to

home, back to Godhead, on account of your perfection in your mission. I know

you are very concerned about Me and afraid of Kamsa. Therefore I order you

to take Me immediately to Gokula and replace Me with the daughter who has

just been born to Yasoda."

 

Having spoken thus in the presence of His father and mother, the Lord turned

Himself into an ordinary child and remained silent.

 

Being ordered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva attempted to

take his son from the delivery room, and exactly at that time, a daughter

was born of Nanda and Yasoda. She was Yogamaya, the internal potency of the

Lord. By the influence of this internal potency, Yogamaya, all the residents

of Kamsa's palace, especially the doorkeepers, were overwhelmed with deep

sleep, and all the palace doors opened, although they were barred and

shackled with iron chains. The night was very dark, but as soon as Vasudeva

took Krsna on his lap and went out, he could see everything just as in the

sunlight.

 

In the Caitanya-caritamrta it is said that Krsna is just like sunlight, and

wherever there is Krsna, the illusory energy, which is compared to darkness,

cannot remain. When Vasudeva was carrying Krsna, the darkness of the night

disappeared. All the prison doors automatically opened. At the same time

there was a thunder in the sky and severe rainfall. While Vasudeva was

carrying his son Krsna in the falling rain, Lord Sesa in the shape of a

serpent spread His hood over the head of Vasudeva so that he would not be

hampered by the rainfall. Vasudeva came onto the bank of the Yamuna and saw

that the water of the Yamuna was roaring with waves and that the whole span

was full of foam. Still, in that furious feature, the river gave passage to

Vasudeva to cross, just as the great Indian Ocean gave a path to Lord Rama

when He was bridging over the gulf. In this way Vasudeva crossed the river

Yamuna. On the other side, he went to the place of Nanda Maharaja situated

in Gokula, where he saw that all the cowherd men were fast asleep. He took

the opportunity of silently entering into the house of Yasoda, and without

difficulty he replaced his son, taking away the baby girl newly born in the

house of Yasoda. Then, after entering the house very silently and exchanging

the boy with the girl, he again returned to the prison of Kamsa and silently

put the girl on the lap of Devaki. He again clamped the shackles on himself

so that Kamsa could not recognize that so many things had happened.

 

Mother Yasoda understood that a child was born of her, but because she was

very tired from the labor of childbirth, she was fast asleep. When she

awoke, she could not remember whether she had given birth to a male or a

female child.

 

Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Third Chapter of Krsna, "Birth of

Lord Krsna."