Krishna Janmastami - The Advent of Lord Krishna

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The Advent of Lord Krishna

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER ONE - The Advent of Lord Krishna

CHAPTER TWO - Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Krishna in the Womb

CHAPTER THREE - The Birth of Lord Krishna

CHAPTER FOUR - Kaàsa Begins His Persecutions

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

The Advent of Lord Krishna

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 Bhümi, went to

see Lord Brahmä to tell of her calamities due to the demoniac kings.

Bhümi assumed the shape of a cow and presented herself before Lord

Brahmä 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 Brahmä became much

aggrieved, and he at once started for the ocean of milk, where Lord

Viñëu resides. Lord Brahmä was accompanied by all the demigods headed

by Lord Çiva, and Bhümi also followed. Arriving on the shore of the

milk ocean, Lord Brahmä began to pacify Lord Viñëu, 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

Puruña-sükta. Generally, the demigods offer their obeisances unto

Viñëu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by chanting the Puruña-

sükta. It is understood herein that the predominating deity of every

planet can see the supreme lord of this universe, Brahmä, whenever

there is some disturbance on his planet. And Brahmä can approach the

Supreme Lord Viñëu, not by seeing Him directly but by standing on the

shore of the ocean of milk. There is a planet within this universe

called Çvetadvépa, and on that planet there is an ocean of milk. It

is understood from various Vedic scriptures that just as there is the

ocean of salt water on this planet, there are various kinds of oceans

on other planets. Somewhere there is an ocean of milk, somewhere

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

other types of oceans. Puruña-sükta is the standard prayer which the

demigods recite to appease the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

Kñérodakaçäyé Viñëu. Because He is lying on the ocean of milk, He is

called Kñérodakaçäyé Viñëu. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

through whom all the incarnations within this universe appear.

After all the demigods offered the Puruña-sükta prayer to the Supreme

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

Brahmä personally sat in meditation, and there was a message-

transmission from Lord Viñëu to Brahmä. Brahmä then broadcast the

message to the demigods. That is the system of receiving Vedic

knowledge. The Vedic knowledge is received first by Brahmä from the

Supreme Personality of Godhead, through the medium of the heart. As

stated in the beginning of Çrémad-Bhägavatam, tene brahma hådä ya ädi-

kavaye: the transcendental knowledge of the Vedas was transmitted to

Lord Brahmä through the heart. Here also, in the same way, only

Brahmä could understand the message transmitted by Lord Viñëu, and he

broadcast it to the demigods for their immediate action. The message

was this: The Supreme Personality of Godhead would appear on the

earth very soon, along with His supreme powerful potencies, and as

long as He remained 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 would

also appear in due course of time. The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Himself, Krishna, would personally appear as the son of Vasudeva.

Before His appearance, all the demigods, along with their wives,

should appear in different pious families in the world just to assist

the Lord in executing His mission. The exact word used here is tat-

priyärtham, 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 Krishna, Ananta, who is

maintaining the universal planets by extending His millions of hoods,

would also appear on earth before Lord Krishna's appearance. They

were also informed that the external potency of Viñëu (Mäyä), with

whom all the conditioned souls are enamored, would also appear by the

order of the Supreme Lord, just to execute His purpose.

After instructing and pacifying all the demigods, as well as Bhümi,

with sweet words, Lord Brahmä, the father of all prajäpatis, or

progenitors of universal population, departed for his abode, the

highest material planet, called Brahmaloka.

The leader of the Yadu dynasty, King Çürasena, was ruling over the

country known as Mäthura, wherein lies the city of Mathurä, as well

as the district known as Çürasena, which was named after him. On

account of the rule of King Çürasena, Mathurä became the capital city

of all the kings of the Yadus. Mathurä was also made the capital of

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

family and knew that Mathurä is the place where Lord Çré Krishna

lives eternally, just as He also lives in Dvärakä.

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

Devaké, was going home on his chariot with his newly wedded wife. The

father of Devaké, 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, Kaàsa, the son of Ugrasena, in order to

please his sister, Devaké, 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 1,800 chariots. He also arranged for 200 beautiful girls

to follow his daughter. The kñatriya system of marriage, still

current in India, dictates that when a kñatriya 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 Krishna 5,000 years ago. So Vasudeva

brought home another 200 beautiful girls along with his wife Devaké.

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 Kaàsa was driving the

chariot, when suddenly there was a miraculous sound vibrated from the

sky which especially announced to Kaàsa: " Kaàsa, 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. "

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

Kaàsa was the most demoniac of all the Bhoja dynasty kings.

Immediately after hearing the prophecy from the sky, he caught hold

of Devaké's hair and was just about to kill her with his sword.

Vasudeva was astonished at Kaàsa'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

Kaàsa, 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 like 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 bodies change 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 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 mäyä, 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 Kaàsa 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

Yamaräja (the lord of punishment after death). Vasudeva appealed to

Kaàsa on behalf of Devaké, 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 child.

" The position is overall so delicate, " Vasudeva reasoned, " that if

you kill her, it will go against your high reputation. "

In this way Vasudeva tried to pacify Kaàsa by good instruction as

well as by philosophical discrimination, but Kaàsa was not to be

pacified because his association was demoniac. Because of his

demoniac associations, he was 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 Kaàsa, Vasudeva wondered how he

would protect his wife, Devaké. 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 Devaké; 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 Kaàsa—just as Kaàsa is thinking—then both Devaké

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

Devaké. "

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

body, just as there is no certainty how a 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 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. Mahäräja

Bharata was very faithfully executing the duties of self-realization,

but by chance he developed temporary affection for a deer, and in his

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

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

to Kaàsa with great respect, although Kaàsa was the most sinful man.

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

flatter a person like Kaàsa, a most vicious person. That is the way

of all diplomatic transactions. Although Vasudeva was deeply

aggrieved, he smiled outwardly. He addressed the shameless Kaàsa in

that way because he was so atrocious. Vasudeva said to Kaàsa, " 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. "

Kaàsa 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 Kaàsa. In this way, he returned to his home.

Each year thereafter, in due course of time, Devaké gave birth to a

child. Thus she 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 Kaàsa. 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, Kaàsa 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 Kaàsa

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 Kaàsa can act

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

the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Kaàsa 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 Devaké will

kill me. Why should I accept this child unnecessarily? You can take

him back. "

When Vasudeva was returning home with his firstborn child, although

he was pleased by the behavior of Kaàsa, he could not believe in him

because he knew that Kaàsa 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

Cäëakya Paëòita 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 Närada came to Kaàsa. He was informed of

Kaàsa's becoming compassionate to Vasudeva and returning his

firstborn child. Närada was very anxious to accelerate the descent of

Lord Krishna as soon as possible. He therefore informed Kaàsa that in

Våndävana personalities like Nanda Mahäräja and all the other cowherd

men and their wives, and on the other side Vasudeva, his father

Çürasena and all his relatives born in the family of Våñëi of the

Yadu dynasty, along with all their friends and well-wishers, were

actually demigods. Närada warned Kaàsa to be careful of them, since

Kaàsa and his friends and advisors were all demons. Demons are always

afraid of demigods. After being thus informed by Närada about the

appearance of the demigods in different families, Kaàsa at once

became very much alarmed. He understood that since the demigods had

already appeared, Lord Viñëu must be coming soon. He at once arrested

both his brother-in-law Vasudeva and Devaké and put them behind

prison bars.

Within the prison, shackled in iron chains, Vasudeva and Devaké gave

birth to a male child year after year, and Kaàsa, thinking each of

the babies to be the incarnation of Viñëu, killed them one after

another. He was particularly afraid of the eighth child, but after

the visit of Närada, he came to the conclusion that any child might

be Krishna. Therefore it was better to kill all the babies who took

birth from Devaké and Vasudeva.

This action of Kaàsa 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 members of the demoniac, greedy royal order can kill

anyone for their nefarious ambitions.

Kaàsa was made aware of his previous birth by the grace of Närada. He

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

Kälanemi and that he was killed by Viñëu. Having taken his birth in

the Bhoja family, he decided to become the deadly enemy of the Yadu

dynasty; Krishna was going to take birth in that family, and Kaàsa

was very much afraid that he would be killed by Krishna, just as he

had been 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 Çürasena, Vasudeva's father. He declared

himself the king of all such places.

Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the First Chapter of Krishna,

" The Advent of Lord Krishna. "

 

 

CHAPTER TWO

Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Krishna in the Womb

King Kaàsa not only occupied the kingdoms of the Yadu, Bhoja and

Andhaka dynasties and the kingdom of Çürasena, but he also made

alliances with all the other demoniac kings, as follows: the demon

Pralamba, demon Baka, demon Cäëüra, demon Tåëävarta, demon Aghäsura,

demon Muñöika, demon Ariñöa, demon Dvivida, demon Pütanä, demon Keçé

and demon Dhenuka. At that time, Jaräsandha was the king of Magadha

province (known at present as Bihar state). Thus by his diplomatic

policy, Kaàsa consolidated the most powerful kingdom of his time,

under the protection of Jaräsandha. He made further alliances with

such kings as Bäëäsura and Bhaumäsura, until he was the strongest.

Then he began to behave most inimically towards the Yadu dynasty,

into which Krishna was to take His birth.

Being harassed by Kaàsa, the kings of the Yadu, Bhoja and Andhaka

dynasties began to take shelter in different states such as the state

of the Kurus, the state of the Païcälas, and the states known as

Kekaya, Çälva, Vidarbha, Niñadha, Videha and Koçala. Kaàsa broke the

solidarity of the Yadu kingdom, as well as the Bhoja and Andhaka. He

made his position the most solid within the vast tract of land known

at that time as Bhärata-varña.

When Kaàsa killed the six babies of Devaké and Vasudeva one after

another, many friends and relatives of Kaàsa approached him and

requested him to discontinue these heinous activities. But all of

them became worshipers of Kaàsa.

When Devaké became pregnant for the seventh time, a plenary expansion

of Krishna known as Ananta appeared within her womb. Devaké was

overwhelmed with both jubilation and lamentation. She was joyful, for

she could understand that Lord Viñëu had taken shelter within her

womb, but at the same time she was sorry that as soon as her child

would come out, Kaàsa would kill Him. At that time the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, Krishna, being compassionate upon the Yadus,

who were fearful due to the atrocities committed by Kaàsa, ordered

the appearance of Yogamäyä, His internal potency. Krishna is the Lord

of the universe, but He is especially the Lord of the Yadu dynasty.

This Yogamäyä is the principal potency of the Personality of Godhead.

In the Vedas it is stated that the Lord, the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, has multipotencies. Paräsya çaktir vividhaiva çrüyate. All

the different potencies are acting externally and internally, and

Yogamäyä is the chief of all potencies. He ordered the appearance of

Yogamäyä in the land of Vrajabhümi, in Våndävana, which is always

decorated and full with beautiful cows. In Våndävana, Rohiëé, one of

the wives of Vasudeva, was residing at the house of King Nanda and

Queen Yaçodä. Not only Rohiëé but many others in the Yadu dynasty

were scattered all over the country due to their fear of the

atrocities of Kaàsa. Some of them were even living in the caves of

the mountains.

The Lord thus informed Yogamäyä: " Under the imprisonment of Kaàsa are

Devaké and Vasudeva, and at the present moment My plenary expansion,

Çeña, is within the womb of Devaké. You can arrange the transfer of

Çeña from the womb of Devaké to the womb of Rohiëé. After this

arrangement, I am personally going to appear in the womb of Devaké

with My full potencies. Then I shall appear as the son of Devaké and

Vasudeva. And you shall appear as the daughter of Nanda and Yaçodä in

Våndävana.

" Since you will appear as My contemporary sister, and since you will

quickly satisfy desires for sense gratification, people within the

world will worship you with all kinds of valuable presentations:

incense, candles, flowers and offerings of sacrifice. People who are

after materialistic perfection will worship you under the different

forms of your expansions, which will be named Durgä, Bhadrakälé,

Vijayä, Vaiñëavé, Kumudä, Caëòikä, Kåñëä, Mädhavé, Kanyakä, Mäyä,

Näräyaëé, Éçäné, Çäradä and Ambikä. "

Krishna and Yogamäyä appeared as brother and sister—the Supreme

Powerful and the supreme power. Although there is no clear

distinction between the Powerful and the power, power is always

subordinate to the Powerful. Those who are materialistic are

worshipers of the power, but those who are transcendentalists are

worshipers of the Powerful. Krishna is the Supreme Powerful, and

Durgä is the supreme power within the material world. Actually people

in the Vedic culture worship both the Powerful and the power. There

are many hundreds and thousands of temples of Viñëu and Devé, and

sometimes they are worshiped simultaneously. The worshiper of the

power, Durgä, or the external energy of Krishna, may achieve all

kinds of material success very easily, but anyone who wants to be

elevated transcendentally must engage in worshiping the Powerful in

Krishna consciousness.

The Lord also declared to Yogamäyä, " My plenary expansion, Ananta

Çeña, is within the womb of Devaké. On account of being forcibly

attracted to the womb of Rohiëé, He will be known as Saìkarñaëa and

will be the source of all spiritual power, or bala, by which one can

attain the highest bliss of life, which is called ramaëa. Therefore

the plenary portion Ananta will be known after His appearance either

as Saìkarñaëa or as Balaräma. "

In the Upaniñads it is stated, näyam ätmä bala-hénena labhyaù. The

purport is that one cannot attain the supreme platform of self-

realization without being sufficiently favored by Balaräma. Bala does

not mean physical strength. No one can attain spiritual perfection by

physical strength. One must have the spiritual strength which is

infused by Balaräma, or Saìkarñaëa. Ananta, or Çeña, is the power

which sustains all the planets in their different positions.

Materially this sustaining power is known as the law of gravitation,

but actually it is a display of the potency of Saìkarñaëa. Balaräma,

or Saìkarñaëa, is spiritual power, or the original spiritual master.

Therefore Lord Nityänanda Prabhu, who is also the incarnation of

Balaräma, is the original spiritual master. And the spiritual master

is the representative of Balaräma, the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, who supplies spiritual strength. In the Caitanya-caritämåta

it is confirmed that the spiritual master is the manifestation of the

mercy of Krishna.

Thus ordered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Yogamäyä

circumambulated the Lord and then appeared within this material world

according to His order. When Yogamäyä, the supreme power of the

supremely powerful Personality of Godhead, transferred Lord Çeña from

the womb of Devaké to the womb of Rohiëé, both Devaké and Rohiëé were

under Yogamäyä's spell, which is called yoga-nidrä. When this was

done, people understood that Devaké's seventh pregnancy had been a

miscarriage. Thus although Balaräma appeared as the son of Devaké, He

was transferred to the womb of Rohiëé to appear as her son. After

this arrangement, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, who is

always ready to protect His unalloyed devotees, entered within the

mind of Vasudeva as the Lord of the whole creation, with full

inconceivable potencies. It is understood in this connection that

Lord Krishna first of all situated Himself in the unalloyed heart of

Vasudeva and was then transferred to the heart of Devaké. He was not

put into the womb of Devaké by seminal discharge. The Supreme

Personality of Godhead, by His inconceivable potency, can appear in

any way. It is not necessary for Him to appear in the ordinary way,

by seminal injection within the womb of a woman.

When Vasudeva was sustaining the form of the Supreme Personality of

Godhead within his heart, he appeared just like the glowing sun,

whose shining rays are always unbearable and scorching to the common

man. The form of the Lord situated in the pure unalloyed heart of

Vasudeva is not different from the original form of Krishna. The

appearance of the form of Krishna anywhere, and specifically within

the heart, is called dhäma. Dhäma refers not only to Krishna's form

but also to His name, His qualities and His paraphernalia. Everything

becomes manifest simultaneously.

Thus the eternal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with full

potencies was transferred from the mind of Vasudeva to the mind of

Devaké, exactly as the setting sun's rays are transferred to the full

moon rising in the east.

Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thus entered the body of

Devaké from the body of Vasudeva without being subject to any of the

conditions of an ordinary living entity. Since Krishna was there, it

is to be understood that all His plenary expansions, such as

Näräyaëa, and incarnations like Lord Nåsiàha and Varäha, were with

Him, and They also were not subject to the conditions of material

existence. In this way, Devaké became the residence of the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, who is one without a second and the cause of

all creation. Devaké became the residence of the Absolute Truth, but

because she was confined within the house of Kaàsa, she looked just

like a suppressed fire, or like misused education. When fire is kept

in a jug, the illuminating rays of the fire cannot be very much

appreciated. Similarly, misused knowledge, which does not benefit the

people in general, is not very much appreciated. So Devaké was kept

within the prison walls of Kaàsa's palace, and no one could see her

transcendental beauty, which resulted from her conceiving the Supreme

Personality of Godhead.

Kaàsa, however, saw the transcendental beauty of his sister Devaké,

and he at once concluded that the Supreme Personality of Godhead had

taken shelter in her womb. She had never before looked so wonderfully

beautiful. He could distinctly understand that there was something

wonderful within the womb of Devaké. In this way, Kaàsa became

perturbed because he was sure that the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, who would kill him in the future, had now come. Kaàsa began

to think, " What is to be done with Devaké? Surely she has Viñëu or

Krishna within her womb, so it is certain that Krishna has come to

execute the mission of the demigods. And even if I immediately kill

Devaké, His mission cannot be frustrated. " Kaàsa knew very well that

no one can frustrate the purpose of Viñëu. Any intelligent man can

understand that the laws of God cannot be violated. His purpose will

be served in spite of all impediments offered by the demons. Kaàsa

thought, " If I kill Devaké at the present moment, Viñëu will enforce

His supreme will more vehemently. To kill Devaké just now would be a

most abominable act. No one desires to kill his reputation, even in

an awkward situation; if I kill Devaké now, my reputation will be

spoiled. Devaké is a woman, and she is under my shelter; she is

pregnant, and if I kill her, immediately my reputation, the results

of my pious activities and my duration of life will all be finished. "

He further deliberated, " A person who is too cruel is as good as

dead, even in this lifetime. No one likes a cruel person during his

lifetime, and after his death, people curse him. On account of his

self-identification with the body, he must be degraded and pushed

into the darkest region of hell. " Kaàsa thus meditated on all the

pros and cons of killing Devaké at that time.

Kaàsa finally decided not to kill Devaké right away but to wait for

the inevitable future. But his mind became absorbed in animosity

against the Personality of Godhead. He patiently waited for the

deliverance of the child, expecting to kill Him, as he had done

previously with the other babies of Devaké. Thus being merged in the

ocean of animosity against the Personality of Godhead, he began to

think of Krishna or Viñëu while sitting, while sleeping, while

walking, while eating, while working—in all the situations of his

life. His mind became so much absorbed with the thought of the

Supreme Personality of Godhead that indirectly he could see only

Krishna or Viñëu around him. Unfortunately, although his mind was so

absorbed in the thought of Viñëu, he is not recognized as a devotee

because he was thinking of Krishna as an enemy. The state of mind of

a great devotee is also to be always absorbed in Krishna, but a

devotee thinks of Him favorably, not unfavorably. To think of Krishna

favorably is Krishna consciousness, but to think of Krishna

unfavorably is not Krishna consciousness.

At this time Lord Brahmä and Lord Çiva, accompanied by great sages

like Närada and followed by many other demigods, invisibly appeared

in the house of Kaàsa. They began to pray to the Supreme Personality

of Godhead in select verses, which are very pleasing to the devotees

and which award fulfillment of their desires. The first words they

spoke acclaimed that the Lord is true to His vow. As stated in the

Bhagavad-gétä, Krishna descends to this material world just to

protect the pious and destroy the impious. That is His vow. The

demigods could understand that the Lord had taken His residence

within the womb of Devaké to fulfill His vow, and they were very glad

that the Lord was appearing in order to fulfill His mission.

Then the demigods addressed the Lord as satyaà param, or the Supreme

Absolute Truth. Everyone is searching after the truth. That is the

philosophical way of life. The demigods give information that the

Supreme Absolute Truth is Krishna. One who becomes fully Krishna

conscious can attain the Absolute Truth. Krishna is the Absolute

Truth because, unlike relative truth, He is Truth in all the three

phases of eternal time. Time is divided into past, present and

future. Krishna is Truth always—past, present and future. In the

material world everything is being controlled by supreme time, in the

course of past, present and future. But before the creation, Krishna

was existing, and when there is creation, everything is resting in

Krishna, and when this creation is finished, Krishna will remain.

Therefore, He is Absolute Truth in all circumstances. If there is any

truth within this material world, it emanates from the Supreme Truth,

Krishna. If there is any opulence within this material world, the

cause of the opulence is Krishna. If there is any reputation within

this material world, the cause of the reputation is Krishna. If there

is any strength within this material world, the cause of such

strength is Krishna. If there is any wisdom and education within this

material world, the cause of such wisdom and education is Krishna.

Therefore Krishna is the source of all relative truths.

This material world is composed of five principal elements— earth,

water, fire, air and ether—and all such elements are emanations from

Krishna. The material scientists accept these primary five elements

as the cause of the material manifestation, but the elements in their

gross and subtle states are produced by Krishna. The living entities

who are working within this material world are products of His

marginal potency. In the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gétä, it is

clearly stated that the whole manifestation is a combination of two

kinds of energies of Krishna, the superior energy and the inferior

energy. The living entities are the superior energy, and the dead

material elements are His inferior energy. In its dormant stage,

everything remains in Krishna.

The demigods continued to offer their respectful prayers unto the

supreme form of the Personality of Godhead, Krishna, by analytical

study of the material manifestation. What is this material

manifestation? It is just like a tree. A tree stands on the ground.

Similarly, the tree of the material manifestation is standing on the

ground of material nature. This material manifestation is compared to

a tree because a tree is ultimately cut off in due course of time. A

tree is called våkña. Våkña means that thing which will be ultimately

cut off. Therefore, this tree of the material manifestation cannot be

accepted as the Ultimate Truth, because it is influenced by time. But

Krishna's body is eternal: He existed before the material

manifestation, He is existing while the material manifestation is

continuing, and when it will be dissolved, He will continue to exist.

Therefore only Krishna can be accepted as the Absolute Truth.

The Kaöha Upaniñad also cites this example of the tree of material

manifestation standing on the ground of material nature. This tree

has two kinds of fruits, distress and happiness. Those who are living

on the tree of the body are just like two birds. One bird is the

localized aspect of Krishna known as the Paramätmä, and the other

bird is the living entity. The living entity is eating the fruits of

this material manifestation. Sometimes he eats the fruit of

happiness, and sometimes he eats the fruit of distress. But the other

bird is not interested in eating the fruit of distress or happiness

because he is self-satisfied. The Kaöha Upaniñad states that one bird

on the tree of the body is eating the fruits, and the other bird is

simply witnessing. The roots of this tree extend in three directions.

This means that the root of the tree is the three modes of material

nature: goodness, passion and ignorance. Just as the tree's root

expands, so, by association of the modes of material nature

(goodness, passion and ignorance), one expands his duration of

material existence. The tastes of the fruits are of four kinds:

religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and,

ultimately, liberation. According to the different associations in

the three modes of material nature, the living entities are tasting

different kinds of religiosity, different kinds of economic

development, different kinds of sense gratification and different

kinds of liberation. Practically all material work is performed in

ignorance, but because there are three qualities, sometimes the

quality of ignorance is covered with goodness or passion. The taste

of these material fruits is accepted through five senses. The five

sense organs through which knowledge is acquired are subjected to six

kinds of whips: lamentation, illusion, infirmity, death, hunger and

thirst. This material body, or the material manifestation, is covered

by seven layers: skin, flesh, blood, marrow, bone, fat and semen. The

branches of the tree are eight: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind,

intelligence and ego. There are nine gates in this body: the two

eyes, two nostrils, two ears, one mouth, one genital, one rectum. And

there are ten kinds of internal air passing within the body: präëa,

apäna, udäna, vyäna, samäna, etc. The two birds seated in this tree,

as explained above, are the living entity and the localized Supreme

Personality of Godhead, Paramätmä.

The root cause of the material manifestation described here is the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead

expands Himself to take charge of the three qualities of the material

world. Viñëu takes charge of the mode of goodness, Brahmä takes

charge of the mode of passion, and Lord Çiva takes charge of the mode

of ignorance. Brahmä, by the mode of passion, creates this

manifestation, Lord Viñëu maintains this manifestation by the mode of

goodness, and Lord Çiva annihilates it by the mode of ignorance. The

whole creation ultimately rests in the Supreme Lord. He is the cause

of creation, maintenance and dissolution. And when the whole

manifestation is dissolved, in its subtle form as the Supreme Lord's

energy it rests within His body.

" At the present, " the demigods prayed, " the Supreme Lord Krishna is

appearing just for the maintenance of this manifestation. Actually

the Supreme Cause is one, but, being deluded by the three modes of

material nature, less intelligent persons see that the material world

is manifested through different causes. Those who are intelligent can

see that the cause is one, Krishna. " As it is stated in the Brahma-

saàhitä, sarva-käraëa-käraëam. Krishna, the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, is the cause of all causes. Brahmä is the deputed agent for

creation, Viñëu is the expansion of Krishna for maintenance, and Lord

Çiva is the expansion of Krishna for dissolution.

" Our dear Lord, " the demigods prayed, " it is very difficult to

understand Your eternal form or personality. People in general are

unable to understand Your actual form; therefore You are personally

descending to exhibit Your original eternal form. Somehow people can

understand the different incarnations of Your Lordship, but they are

puzzled to understand the eternal form of Krishna with two hands,

moving among human beings exactly like one of them. This eternal form

of Your Lordship gives ever-increasing transcendental pleasure to the

devotees, but for the nondevotees this form is very dangerous. " As

stated in the Bhagavad-gétä, Krishna is very pleasing to the sädhus

(pariträëäya sädhünäm). But this form is very dangerous for the

demons because Krishna also descends to kill the demons. He is,

therefore, simultaneously pleasing to the devotees and dangerous to

the demons.

" Our dear lotus-eyed Lord, You are the source of pure goodness. There

are many great sages who simply by samädhi, or transcendentally

meditating upon Your lotus feet and thus being absorbed in Your

thought, have easily transformed the great ocean of nescience created

by the material nature into no more than the water in a calf's

hoofprint. " The purpose of meditation is to focus the mind upon the

Personality of Godhead, beginning from His lotus feet. Simply by

meditation on the lotus feet of the Lord, great sages cross over this

vast ocean of material existence without difficulty.

" O self-illuminated one, the great saintly persons who have crossed

over the ocean of nescience by the help of the transcendental boat of

Your lotus feet have not taken away that boat. It is still lying on

this side. " If one takes a boat to cross over a river, the boat also

goes with one to the other side of the river. And so when one reaches

the destination, how can the same boat be available to those who are

still on this side? To answer this difficulty, the demigods say in

their prayer that the boat of the Lord's lotus feet is not taken

away. The devotees still remaining on this side are able to pass over

the ocean of material nature because the pure devotees do not take

the boat with them when they cross over. When one simply approaches

the boat, the whole ocean of material nescience is reduced to the

size of the water in a calf's hoofprint. Therefore, the devotees do

not need to take the boat to the other side: they simply cross the

ocean immediately. Because the great saintly persons are

compassionate toward all conditioned souls, the boat is still lying

on this side. In other words, one can meditate upon the lotus feet of

the Lord at any time, and by so doing one can cross over the great

ocean of material existence.

Meditation means concentration upon the lotus feet of the Lord. Lotus

feet indicate the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But those who are

impersonalists do not recognize the lotus feet of the Lord, and

therefore their object of meditation is something impersonal. The

demigods express their mature verdict that persons who are interested

in meditating on something void or impersonal cannot cross over the

ocean of nescience. Such persons are simply imagining that they have

become liberated. " O lotus-eyed Lord! Their intelligence is

contaminated because they fail to meditate upon the lotus feet of

Your Lordship. As a result of this neglectful activity, the

impersonalists fall down again into the material way of conditioned

life, although they may temporarily rise to the point of impersonal

realization. " Impersonalists undergo severe austerities and penances

to merge themselves into the Brahman effulgence, or impersonal

Brahman existence. But their minds are not free from material

contamination; they have simply tried to negate the material ways of

thinking. That does not mean that they have become liberated. Thus

they fall down.

In the Bhagavad-gétä it is stated that the impersonalist has to

undergo great tribulation in realizing his ultimate goal. At the

beginning of Çrémad-Bhägavatam it is also stated that without

devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one cannot

achieve liberation from the bondage of fruitive activities. The

statement of Lord Krishna is there in the Bhagavad-gétä, and in

Çrémad-Bhägavatam the statement of the great sage Närada is there,

and here also the demigods confirm it. " Persons who have not taken to

devotional service are understood to have come short of the ultimate

purpose of knowledge and are not favored by Your grace. " The

impersonalists simply think that they are liberated, but actually

they have no feeling for the Personality of Godhead. They think that

when Krishna comes into the material world He accepts a material

body. They therefore overlook the transcendental body of Krishna.

This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gétä: avajänanti mäà müòhäù.

In spite of conquering material lust and rising to the point of

liberation, the impersonalists fall down. If they are engaged just in

knowing things for the sake of knowledge and do not take to the

devotional service of the Lord, they cannot achieve the desired

result. Their achievement is the trouble they take, and that is all.

It is clearly stated in the Bhagavad-gétä that to realize Brahman

identification is not all. Brahman identification may help one become

joyful without material attachment or detachment and to achieve the

platform of equanimity, but after this stage one has to take to

devotional service. When one takes to devotional service after being

elevated to the platform of Brahman realization, he is then admitted

into the spiritual kingdom for permanent residence in association

with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the result of

devotional service. Those who are devotees of the Supreme Personality

of Godhead never fall down like the impersonalists. Even if the

devotees fall down, they remain affectionately attached to their

Lord. They can meet all kinds of obstacles on the path of devotional

service, and freely, without any fear, they can surmount such

obstacles. Because of their surrender, they are certain that Krishna

will always protect them. As it is promised by Krishna in the

Bhagavad-gétä, " My devotees are never vanquished. "

" Our dear Lord, " the demigods continued, " You have appeared in Your

original unalloyed form, the eternal form of goodness, for the

welfare of all living entities within this material world. Taking

advantage of Your appearance, all of them can now very easily

understand the nature and form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Persons who belong to the four divisions of the social order (the

brahmacärés, the gåhasthas, the vänaprasthas and the sannyäsés) can

all take advantage of Your appearance.

" Dear Lord, husband of the goddess of fortune, devotees who are

dovetailed in Your service do not fall down from their high position

like the impersonalists. Being protected by You, the devotees are

able to traverse over the heads of many of Mäyä's commanders in

chief, who can always put stumbling blocks on the path of liberation.

My dear Lord, You appear in Your eternal transcendental form for the

benefit of the living entities so that they can see You face to face

and offer their worshipful sacrifices by ritualistic performance of

the Vedas, mystic meditation and devotional service as recommended in

the scriptures. Dear Lord, if You did not appear in Your eternal

transcendental form, full of bliss and knowledge—a form which can

eradicate all kinds of speculative ignorance about Your position—then

all people would simply speculate about You according to their

respective modes of material nature. "

The appearance of Krishna is the answer to all imaginative

iconography of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Everyone imagines

the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead according to his mode

of material nature. In the Brahma-saàhitä it is said that the Lord is

the oldest person. Therefore a section of religionists imagine that

God must be very old, and therefore they depict a form of the Lord

like a very old man. But in the same Brahma-saàhitä, that is

contradicted: although He is the oldest of all living entities, He

has His eternal form as a fresh youth. The exact words used in this

connection in Çrémad-Bhägavatam are vijïänam ajïäna-bhidäpamärjanam.

Vijïänam means transcendental knowledge of the Supreme Personality of

Godhead. Vijïänam is also experienced knowledge. Transcendental

knowledge has to be accepted by the descending process of disciplic

succession as Brahmä presents the knowledge of Krishna in the Brahma-

saàhitä. The Brahma-saàhitä is vijïänam as realized by Brahmä's

transcendental experience, and in that way he presented the form and

the pastimes of Krishna in the transcendental abode. This knowledge

is ajïäna-bhidäpamärjanam, that which can smash all kinds of

speculation in ignorance. People are imagining the form of the Lord:

sometimes He has no form and sometimes He has form, according to

their different imaginations. But the presentation of Krishna in the

Brahma-saàhitä is vijïänam—scientific, experienced knowledge given by

Lord Brahmä and accepted by Lord Caitanya. There is no doubt about

it. Krishna's form, Krishna's flute, Krishna's color—everything is

reality. Here it is said that this vijïänam is always defeating all

kinds of speculative knowledge. " Therefore, without Your appearing as

Krishna, as You are, neither ajïäna-bhidä (the nescience of

speculative knowledge) nor vijïänam would be realized. Ajïäna-

bhidäpamärjanam—by Your appearance the speculative knowledge of

ignorance will be vanquished, and the real experienced knowledge of

authorities like Lord Brahmä will be established. Men influenced by

the three modes of material nature imagine their own God according to

the modes of material nature. In this way God is presented in various

ways, but Your appearance will establish what the real form of God

is. "

The highest blunder committed by the impersonalists is to think that

when the incarnation of God comes He accepts the form of matter in

the mode of goodness. Actually the form of Krishna or Näräyaëa is

transcendental to any material idea. Even the greatest impersonalist,

Çaìkaräcärya, has admitted, näräyaëaù paro 'vyaktät: the material

creation is caused by the avyakta (impersonal) manifestation of

matter, or the nonphenomenal total reservoir of matter, but Krishna

is transcendental to that material conception. That is expressed in

Çrémad-Bhägavatam as çuddha-sattva, or transcendental. He does not

belong to the material mode of goodness, and He is above the position

of material goodness. He belongs to the transcendental, eternal

status of bliss and knowledge.

" Dear Lord, when You appear in Your different incarnations, You take

different names and forms according to different situations. Lord

Krishna is Your name because You are all-attractive; You are called

Çyämasundara because of Your transcendental beauty. Çyäma means

blackish, yet it is said that You are more beautiful than thousands

of Cupids (kandarpa-koöi-kamanéya). Although You appear in a color

which is compared to the blackish cloud, because You are

Transcendental Absolute, Your beauty is many, many times more

attractive than the delicate body of Cupid. Sometimes You are called

Giridhäré because You lifted the hill known as Govardhana. You are

sometimes called Nandanandana or Väsudeva or Devakénandana because

You appear as the son of Mahäräja Nanda or Vasudeva or Devaké.

Impersonalists think that Your many names or forms are according to a

particular type of work and quality because they accept You from the

position of a material observer.

" Our dear Lord, the way of understanding is not to study Your

absolute nature, form and activities by mental speculation. One must

engage himself in devotional service; then one can understand Your

absolute nature and Your transcendental form, name and qualities.

Actually only a person who has a little taste for the service of Your

lotus feet can understand Your transcendental nature or form and

qualities. Others may go on speculating for millions of years, but it

is not possible for them to understand even a single part of Your

actual position. " In other words, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

Krishna, cannot be understood by the nondevotees because there is a

curtain of Yogamäyä which covers Krishna's actual features. As

confirmed in the Bhagavad-gétä, nähaà prakäçaù sarvasya. The Lord

says, " I am not exposed to anyone and everyone. " When Krishna came,

He was actually present on the Battlefield of Kurukñetra, and

everyone saw Him. But not everyone could understand that He was the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. Still, everyone who died in His

presence attained complete liberation from material bondage and was

transferred to the spiritual world.

" O Lord, the impersonalists or nondevotees cannot understand that

Your name is identical with Your form. " Since the Lord is absolute,

there is no difference between His name and His actual form. In the

material world there is a difference between form and name. The mango

fruit is different from the name of the mango. One cannot taste the

mango fruit simply by chanting " mango, mango, mango. " But the devotee

who knows that there is no difference between the name and the form

of the Lord chants Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare

Hare / Hare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare and realizes that

he is always in Krishna's company.

For persons who are not very advanced in absolute knowledge of the

Supreme, Lord Krishna exhibits His transcendental pastimes. They can

simply think of the pastimes of the Lord and get full benefit. Since

there is no difference between the transcendental name and form of

the Lord, there is no difference between the transcendental pastimes

and the form of the Lord. For those who are less intelligent (like

women, laborers or the mercantile class), the great sage Vyäsadeva

wrote the Mahäbhärata. In the Mahäbhärata Krishna is present in His

different activities. The Mahäbhärata is history, and simply by

studying, hearing and memorizing the transcendental activities of

Krishna, the less intelligent can also gradually rise to the standard

of pure devotees.

The pure devotees, who are always absorbed in the thought of the

transcendental lotus feet of Krishna and who are always engaged in

devotional service in full Krishna consciousness, are never to be

considered to be in the material world. Çréla Rüpa Gosvämé has

explained that those who are always engaged in Krishna consciousness

with body, mind and activities are to be considered liberated even

within this body. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gétä: those who

are engaged in the devotional service of the Lord have already

transcended the material position.

Krishna appears in order to give a chance to both the devotees and

the nondevotees for realization of the ultimate goal of life. The

devotees get the direct chance to see Him and worship Him. Those who

are not on that platform get the chance to become acquainted with His

activities and thus become elevated to the same position.

" Our dear Lord, O supreme controller, when You appear on earth, all

the demons like Kaàsa and Jaräsandha will be vanquished, and all good

fortune will be ushered into the world. When You walk on the globe,

Your lotus feet will impress on the ground the marks of Your sole,

such as the flag, the trident and the thunderbolt. Thus You will

grace both the earth and us on the heavenly planets who shall see

those marks.

" O dear Lord, " the demigods continued, " You are unborn; therefore we

do not find any reason for Your appearance other than for Your

pleasurable pastimes. " Although the reason for the appearance of the

Lord is stated in the Bhagavad-gétä (He descends just to give

protection to the devotees and vanquish the nondevotees), actually He

descends for His pleasure-meeting with the devotees, not really to

vanquish the nondevotees. The nondevotees can be vanquished simply by

one kick of material nature. " The actions and reactions of material

nature (creation, maintenance and annihilation) are being carried out

automatically. But simply by taking shelter of Your holy name the

devotees are sufficiently protected, because Your holy name and Your

personality are nondifferent. " The protection of the devotees and the

annihilation of the nondevotees are actually not the business of the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. When He descends, it is just for His

transcendental pleasure. There cannot be any other reason for His

appearance.

" Our dear Lord, You are appearing as the best of the Yadu dynasty,

and we are offering our respectful humble obeisances unto Your lotus

feet. Before this appearance, You also appeared as the fish

incarnation, as the horse incarnation, as the tortoise incarnation,

as the half-man, half-lion incarnation, as the boar incarnation, as

the swan incarnation, as King Rämacandra, as Paraçuräma and as many

other incarnations. You appeared just to protect the devotees, and we

request You in Your present appearance as the Supreme Personality of

Godhead Himself to give us similar protection all over the three

worlds and remove all obstacles for the peaceful execution of our

lives.

" Dear mother Devaké, within your womb is the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, appearing along with all His plenary extensions. He is the

original Personality of Godhead, appearing for our welfare. Therefore

you should not be afraid of your brother, the King of Bhoja. Your son

Lord Krishna, who is the original Personality of Godhead, will appear

for the protection of the pious Yadu dynasty. The Lord is appearing

not alone but accompanied by His immediate plenary portion,

Baladeva. "

Devaké was very much afraid of her brother Kaàsa because he had

already killed so many of her children. So she was very anxious about

Krishna. In the Viñëu Puräëa it is stated that in order to pacify

Devaké, all the demigods, along with their wives, used to visit her

to encourage her not to be afraid that her son would be killed by

Kaàsa. Krishna, who was within her womb, was to appear not only to

diminish the burden of the world but specifically to protect the

interests of the Yadu dynasty, and certainly to protect Devaké and

Vasudeva. It is understood that Krishna had been transferred from the

mind of Vasudeva to the mind of Devaké, and from there to her womb.

Thus all the demigods worshiped Devaké, the mother of Krishna.

After thus worshiping the transcendental form of the Lord, all the

demigods, with Lord Brahmä and Lord Çiva placed in front, departed

for their heavenly abodes.

Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Chapter of Krishna,

" Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Krishna in the Womb. "

 

 

CHAPTER THREE

The Birth of Lord Krishna

In the Bhagavad-gétä the Lord says that His appearance, birth and

activities are all transcendental and that 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 Rohiëé

was predominant. This star is considered to be very auspicious and is

under the direct supervision of Brahmä. 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 Krishna'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 and 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 brähmaëas,

who were accustomed to offering sacrifices in the fire, found their

homes very pleasant for offerings. Due to disturbances created by the

demoniac kings, the sacrificial fire had been almost stopped in the

houses of brähmaëas, but now they could find the opportunity to start

the fire peacefully. Being forbidden to offer sacrifices, the

brähmaëas had been very much distressed in mind, intelligence and

activities, but just on the point of Krishna's appearance,

automatically their minds became full of joy because they could hear

transcendental vibrations in the sky 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 Cäraëas began to

offer prayers in the service of the Personality of Godhead. In the

heavenly planets, the angels along with their wives, as well as the

Vidyädharas along with their wives, 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 Viñëu, who is residing

within the heart of every living entity, appeared in the darkness of

night as the Supreme Personality of Godhead before Devaké, who also

appeared as one of the demigoddesses. The appearance of Lord Viñëu at

that time could be compared to the rising of the full moon over the

eastern horizon. The objection may be raised that since Lord Krishna

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

Krishna 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 Krishna he could appear just as a full moon.

In an astronomical treatise by the name Khamaëikya, the

constellations at the time of the appearance of Lord Krishna 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 Çrévatsa, wearing the jeweled necklace of kaustubha stone,

dressed in yellow silk, appearing dazzling like a bright blackish

cloud, wearing a helmet bedecked with the vaidürya 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

Krishna 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 Kaàsa, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead, Viñëu, or

Krishna, 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 and millions of times

should I be prepared to observe this auspicious ceremony! "

When Vasudeva, who is also called Änakadundubhi, was looking at his

newborn baby, he was so happy that he wanted to give many thousands

of cows in charity to the brähmaëas. According to the Vedic system,

whenever there is an auspicious ceremony in the kñatriya king's

palace, out of joy the king gives many things in charity. Cows

decorated with golden ornaments are delivered to the brähmaëas and

sages. Vasudeva wanted to perform a charitable ceremony to celebrate

Krishna's appearance, but because he was shackled within the walls of

Kaàsa's prison, this was not possible. Instead, within his mind he

gave thousands of cows to the brähmaëas.

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 Kaàsa. 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 Kaàsa 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 Devaké, the wife of Vasudeva. To eradicate this

argument, Vasudeva said, " My dear Lord, it is not a very wonderful

thing that You have appeared within the womb of Devaké, because the

creation was also made in that way. You were lying in the Causal

Ocean as Mahä-Viñëu, and by Your breathing process, innumerable

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

universes as Garbhodakaçäyé Viñëu. Then again You expanded Yourself

as Kñérodakaçäyé Viñëu and entered into the hearts of all living

entities and entered even within the atoms. Therefore Your entrance

into the womb of Devaké 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 have appeared as a child in the

womb of Devaké, 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 the Brahma-saàhitä 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 also

stated in the Bhagavad-gétä that the Lord is the support of the

Brahman effulgence. Therefore, 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

Garbhodakaçäyé Viñëu; He is also within the atom. The existence of

the atom is due to His presence. Nothing can be separated from His

existence. In the Vedic injunctions we find that the Supreme Soul, or

the root cause of everything, has to be searched out because nothing

exists independently of the Supreme Soul. Therefore the material

manifestation is also a transformation of His potency. Both inert

matter and the living force—the 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.

Krishna 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

Supreme Brahman and the controller of everything, there is nothing

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

nature works under Your superintendence, just like a government

officer working under the orders of the chief executive. The

influence of subordinate activities cannot affect You. Since You are

the Supreme Brahman, everything is existing within You, and since all

the activities of material nature are controlled by Your Lordship,

none of these activities affect You.

" You are called çuklam. Çuklam, or " whiteness,' is the symbolic

representation of the Absolute Truth because it is unaffected by the

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

Brahmä represents the quality of passion for creation. Darkness is

entrusted to Lord Çiva because he annihilates the cosmos. The

creation, annihilation and maintenance of this cosmic manifestation

are conducted by Your potencies, yet You are always unaffected by

those qualities. As confirmed in the Vedas, harir hi nirguëaù säkñät:

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. Yet 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 in order to kill the uncivilized

Kaàsa and his followers. But knowing that You were to appear in order

to kill him and his followers, he has already killed so many of Your

predecessors, Your 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, Devaké, the mother of Krishna, offered

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

atrocities. Devaké said, " My dear Lord, Your eternal forms, like

Näräyaëa, Lord Räma, Hayaçérña, Varäha, Nåsiàha, Vämana, Baladeva and

millions of similar incarnations emanating from Viñëu, 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 evercognizant 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 Viñëu.

" After many millions of years, when Lord Brahmä 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 then enters, by

the force of time, into the nonmanifested total material energy, the

total material energy enters into the energetic pradhäna, and the

pradhäna enters into You. Therefore after the annihilation of the

whole cosmic manifestation, You alone remain with Your transcendental

name, form, qualities and paraphernalia.

" My Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You be-cause 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.

" All the conditioned souls are continually fleeing from one body to

another and one planet to another, yet they do not get free from the

onslaught of birth and death. But when one of these fearful living

entities comes under the shelter of Your lotus feet, he can lie down

without anxiety of being attacked by formidable death. " This

statement by Devaké is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gétä by the Lord

Himself. There the Lord says that even after traveling all over the

universe, from Brahmaloka to Pätälaloka, one cannot escape the attack

of birth, death, disease and old age. But one who enters the kingdom

of God, the Lord says, is never again obliged to come to the material

world.

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

the son of Ugrasena, Kaàsa. 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-gétä by assuring Arjuna, " You may declare

to the world, My devotee shall never be vanquished. "

While thus praying to the Lord for rescue, mother Devaké nonetheless

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 Kaàsa 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 Kaàsa is due to Your

appearance. My Lord Madhusüdana, Kaàsa may not 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 Viñëu—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 Devaké, the Lord replied, " My dear mother,

in the millennium of Sväyambhuva Manu, My father Vasudeva was living

as one of the Prajäpatis. His name at that time was Sutapä, and you

were his wife named Påçni. At that time, when Lord Brahmä was

desiring to increase the population, he requested you to generate

offspring. You controlled your senses and performed severe

austerities. By practicing the breathing exercises 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 influences of material laws. In executing your

austerity, you used to eat only the leaves of the trees which fell to

the ground. Then with a 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 material bondage, under

the influence of My energy you asked Me to become your son. "

In other words, to appear in the material world the Lord selected His

mother and father—namely Påçni and Sutapä, respectively. Whenever the

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

He selected Påçni and Sutapä perpetually as His mother and father.

And on account of this, neither Påçni nor Sutapä could ask the Lord

for liberation. Liberation is not so important as the transcendental

loving service of the Lord. The Lord could have awarded Påçni and

Sutapä 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 Påçni and Sutapä

retired 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 Påçni became pregnant and gave birth to the

child. The Lord spoke to Devaké and Vasudeva: " At that time My name

was Påçnigarbha. In the next millennium you took birth as Aditi and

Kaçyapa, 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

Vämanadeva. I gave you the benediction that I would take birth as

your son three times. The first time I was known as Påçnigarbha, born

of Påçni and Sutapä, the next birth I was Upendra, born of Aditi and

Kaçyapa, and now for the third time I am born as Krishna from you,

Devaké and Vasudeva. I have appeared in this Viñëu 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 have believed that the Supreme Personality

of Godhead had 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 home, back to

Godhead, on account of your perfection in your mission. I know you

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

you to take Me immediately to Gokula and exchange Me with the

daughter who has just been born to Yaçodä. "

Having spoken thus to His father and mother, the Lord turned Himself

into an ordinary child in their presence and remained silent.

Being ordered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva

prepared to take his son from the delivery room, and exactly at that

time, a daughter was born to Nanda and Yaçodä. She was Yogamäyä, the

internal potency of the Lord. By the influence of this internal

potency, Yogamäyä, all the residents of Kaàsa'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 Krishna

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

sunlight.

In the Caitanya-caritämåta it is said that Krishna is just like

sunlight and that wherever there is Krishna, the illusory energy,

which is compared to darkness, cannot remain. When Vasudeva was

carrying Krishna, the darkness of the night disappeared. All the

prison doors automatically opened. At the same time there was thunder

in the sky and severe rainfall. While Vasudeva was carrying his son

Krishna in the falling rain, Lord Çeña 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 Yamunä

and saw that the water of the Yamunä 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 Räma when He was bridging over the gulf. In

this way Vasudeva crossed the river Yamunä. On the other side, he

went to the place of Nanda Mahäräja, 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 Yaçodä, and without difficulty he

exchanged his son with the baby girl newly born in the house of

Yaçodä. Then, after entering the house very silently and exchanging

the boy with the girl, he returned to the prison of Kaàsa and

silently put the girl on the lap of Devaké. He again clamped the

shackles on himself so that Kaàsa could not recognize that so many

things had happened.

Mother Yaçodä understood that a child was born to 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 Krishna,

" The Birth of Lord Krishna.

 

 

 

CHAPTER FOUR

Kaàsa Begins His Persecutions

After Vasudeva adjusted things as they had been before he carried

Krishna to Gokula, and all the doors and gates became similarly

closed, the gatekeepers awoke and heard the newborn child crying.

Kaàsa was waiting to hear the news of the child's birth, and the

gatekeepers immediately approached him and informed him that the

child was born. At that time, Kaàsa got up from his bed very quickly

and exclaimed, " Now the cruel death of my life is born! " Kaàsa became

perplexed now that his death was approaching, and his hair scattered.

Immediately he proceeded toward the place where the child was born.

Devaké, on seeing her brother approaching, prayed in a very meek

attitude to Kaàsa: " My dear brother, please do not kill this female

child. I promise that this child will be the wife of your son;

therefore don't kill her. You are not to be killed by any female

child. That was the prophecy. You are to be killed by a male child,

so please do not kill her. My dear brother, you have killed so many

of my children who were just born, shining as the sun. That is not

your fault. You have been advised by demoniac friends to kill my

children. But now I beg you to excuse this girl at least. Let her

live as my daughter. "

Kaàsa was so cruel that he did not listen to the pitiful prayers of

his sister Devaké. He forcibly grabbed the newborn child to rebuke

his sister and attempted to dash her on the stone mercilessly. This

is a graphic example of a cruel demon who could sacrifice all

relationships for the sake of personal gratification. But immediately

the child slipped out of his hands, went up into the sky and appeared

with eight arms as the younger sister of Viñëu. She was decorated

with nice garments and flower garlands and ornaments; in her eight

hands she held a bow, lance, arrows, sword, conchshell, disc, club

and shield.

Seeing the appearance of the child (who was actually the goddess

Durgä), all the demigods from different planets like Siddhaloka,

Cäraëaloka, Gandharvaloka, Apsaroloka, Kinnaraloka and Uragaloka

presented her with various articles and began to offer their

respective prayers. From above, the goddess addressed Kaàsa: " You

rascal, how can you kill me? The child who will kill you is already

born before me somewhere within this world. Don't be so cruel to your

poor sister. " After this appearance, the goddess Durgä became known

by various names in various parts of the world.

After hearing these words, Kaàsa became very much overwhelmed with

fear. Out of pity, he immediately released Vasudeva and Devaké from

the bondage of their shackles and very politely began to address

them. He said, " My dear sister and brother-in-law, I have acted just

like a demon in killing my own nephews—your children—and thereby I

have given up all consideration of our intimate relationship. I do

not know what will be the result of these envious acts of mine.

Probably I shall be sent to the hell where killers of brähmaëas go. I

am surprised, however, that the celestial prophecy has not come true.

False propaganda is not found only in human society. Now it appears

that even the celestial denizens speak lies. Because I believed in

the words of the celestial denizens, I have committed so many sins by

killing the children of my sister. My dear Vasudeva and Devaké, you

are both very great souls. I have nothing to instruct you, but still

I request that you not be sorry for the death of your children. Every

one of us is under the control of superior power, and that superior

power does not allow us to remain together. We are bound to be

separated from our friends and relatives in due course of time. But

we must know for certain that even after the disappearance of the

different material bodies, the soul remains intact eternally. For

example, there are many pots made of earthly clay, and they are

prepared and also broken. But in spite of this, the earth remains as

it is perpetually. Similarly, the bodies of the soul under different

conditions are made and destroyed, but the spirit soul remains

eternally. So there is nothing to lament over. Everyone should

understand that this material body is different from the spirit soul,

and so long as one does not come to that understanding, he is sure to

accept the processes of transmigration from one body to another. My

dear sister Devaké, you are so gentle and kind. Please excuse me—

don't be aggrieved by the death of your children, which I have

caused. Actually this was not done by me, because all these are

predestined activities. One has to act according to the predestined

plan, even unwillingly. People misunderstand that with the end of the

body the self dies, or they think that one can kill another living

entity. All these misconceptions oblige one to accept the conditions

of material existence. In other words, as long as one is not firmly

convinced of the eternality of the soul, one is subjected to the

tribulation of being killer and killed. My dear sister Devaké and

brother-in-law Vasudeva, kindly excuse the atrocities I have

committed against you. I am very poor-hearted, and you are so great-

hearted, so take compassion upon me and excuse me. "

While Kaàsa was speaking to his brother-in-law and sister, tears

flowed from his eyes, and he fell down at their feet. Believing the

words of Durgä-devé, whom he had tried to kill, Kaàsa immediately

released his brother-in-law and sister. He personally unlocked the

iron shackles and very sympathetically showed his friendship for his

family members.

When Devaké saw her brother so repentant, she also became pacified

and forgot all his atrocious activities against her children.

Vasudeva also, forgetting all past incidents, spoke smilingly with

his brother-in-law. Vasudeva told Kaàsa, " My dear fortunate brother-

in-law, what you are saying about the material body and the soul is

correct. Every living entity is born ignorant, misunderstanding this

material body to be his self. This conception of life is due to

ignorance, and on the basis of this ignorance we create enmity or

friendship. Lamentation, jubilation, fearfulness, envy, greed,

illusion and madness are different features of our material concept

of life. A person influenced like this engages in enmity due only to

the material body. Being engaged in such activities, we forget our

eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. "

Vasudeva took the opportunity of Kaàsa's benevolence and informed him

that his atheistic activities were also due to this misconception of

life—namely taking the material body to be the self. When Vasudeva

talked with Kaàsa in such an illuminating way, Kaàsa became very much

pleased, and his guilt for killing his nephews subsided. With the

permission of his sister Devaké and brother-in-law Vasudeva, he

returned to his home with a relieved mind.

But the next day Kaàsa called all his counselors together and

narrated to them all the incidents that had happened the night

before. All the counselors of Kaàsa were demons and eternal enemies

of the demigods, so they became depressed upon hearing their master

speak of the night's events. And although they were not very much

experienced or learned, they began to give instructions to Kaàsa as

follows: " Dear sir, let us now make arrangements to kill all children

who were born within the last ten days in all towns, counties,

villages and pasturing grounds. Let us execute this plan

indiscriminately. We think that the demigods cannot do anything

against us if we perform these atrocities. They are always afraid of

fighting with us, and even if they wish to check our activities, they

will not dare to do so. Because of your immeasurable strength, they

fear your bow. Indeed, we have practical experience that whenever you

stood to fight with them and began to shower your arrows on them,

they immediately fled in all directions just to save their lives.

Many of the demigods were unable to fight with you, and they

immediately surrendered themselves unto you by loosening their

turbans and the tufts of hair on their heads. With folded hands they

begged you to spare them and said, " My lord, we are all afraid of

your strength. Please release us from this dangerous fight.' We have

also seen many times that you would never kill such surrendered

fighters when they were all fearful, their bows, arrows and chariots

broken, forgetful of their military activities and unable to fight

with you. So actually we have nothing to fear from these demigods.

They are very proud of being great fighters in peacetime outside the

war field, but actually they cannot show any talent or military power

on the war field. Although Lord Viñëu, Lord Çiva and Lord Brahmä are

always ready to help the demigods, headed by Indra, we have no reason

to be afraid of them. As far as Lord Viñëu is concerned, He has

already hidden Himself within the hearts of all living entities, and

He cannot come out. As far as Lord Çiva is concerned, he has

renounced all activities; he has already entered into the forest. And

Lord Brahmä is always engaged in different types of austerities and

meditation. And what to speak of Indra—he is a straw in comparison to

your strength. Therefore we have nothing to fear from any of these

demigods. But we must not neglect them, for the demigods are our

determined enemies. We must be careful to protect ourselves. To root

them out from their very existence, we should just engage ourselves

in your service and be always ready for your command. "

The demons continued to say, " If there is some disease in the body

which is neglected, it worsens and becomes incurable. Similarly, when

one is not careful about restraining the senses and lets them loose,

it is then very difficult to control them. Therefore, we must now be

very careful of the demigods before they get too strong to be

subdued. The foundation of strength of the demigods is Lord Viñëu,

because the ultimate goal of all religious principles is to satisfy

Him. The Vedic injunctions, the brähmaëas, the cows, austerities,

sacrifices, performances of charity and distribution of wealth are

all for the satisfaction of Lord Viñëu. So let us immediately begin

by killing all the brähmaëas who are in charge of the Vedic knowledge

and the great sages who are in charge of sacrificial ritualistic

performances. Let us kill all the cows, which are the source of

butter, which is so necessary for performing sacrifices. Please give

us your permission to kill all these creatures.

" Actually the limbs of the transcendental body of Lord Viñëu are the

brähmaëas, the cows, Vedic knowledge, austerity, truthfulness, sense

and mind control, faithfulness, charity, tolerance and performance of

sacrifices. Lord Viñëu is situated in everyone's heart and is the

leader of all demigods, including Lord Çiva and Lord Brahmä.

Therefore we think that to persecute the great sages and brähmaëas is

to kill Lord Viñëu. "

Thus being advised by his demoniac ministers, Kaàsa, who was from the

very beginning the greatest rascal, decided to persecute the

brähmaëas and Vaiñëavas, being entrapped by the shackles of all-

devouring, eternal time. He ordered the demons to harass all kinds of

saintly persons, and then he entered his house. The adherents of

Kaàsa were all influenced by the mode of passion as well as

illusioned by the mode of ignorance, and their only business was to

create enmity with saintly persons. Such activities can only reduce

one's duration of life. The demons accelerated the process and

invited their deaths as soon as possible. The result of persecuting

saintly persons is not only untimely death. The act is so offensive

that the perpetrator also gradually loses his beauty, his fame and

his religious principles, and thus his promotion to higher planets is

checked. Driven by various kinds of mental concoctions, the demons

diminish all kinds of auspiciousness. An offense at the lotus feet of

the devotees and brähmaëas is a greater offense than that committed

at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A

civilization that commits such sinful activities generally loses all

faith in the Supreme Lord, and such a godless civilization becomes

the source of all calamities in human society.

Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Fourth Chapter of Krishna,

" Kaàsa Begins His Persecutions. "