"But, O King, thon hast no fear from her: Surely I would make over to
thee her sons, from whom thou hast fear." Kansa desisted from his cruel
act and Vasudeva went home with his bride, pleased for the time being.
In time Devaki brought forth eight sons and one daughter.
The truthful Vasudeva presented his first son Kirtimat to Kansa. The
king admired the firmness of his brother-in-law and smilingly said: --
"Take back this child. I have no fear from him. From your eighth born my
death is ordained." "So let it be" exclaimed Vasudeva, and he took back
his son. But he had very little faith in the words of Kansa.
Kansa learned from Narada that Nanda, Vasudeva and others of their dan,
their wives and even the clansmen of Kansa, his friends and relatives,
were partial incarnations of the Devas. He further learned from the
Rishi that preparations were being made for the lolling of the Daityas,
whose power menaced the Earth.
When the Rishi left Kansa, he took all the members of the Yadu clan for
Devas and every child of Devaki for Vishnu that was to kill him. He now
confined Vasudeva and Devaki in his own house and put them in fetters.
He put to death every son that was born to them.
He knew himself to be Kalanemi who had been, in another birth, killed by
Vishnu. He fell out with the Yadus, deposed his own father Ugra Sena and
became himself the King.
With the alliance of the Magadhas (people of Magadha or ancient Bihar)
and with the help of Pralamba, Baka, Chanura, Trinavarta, Agha,
Mushtika, Arishta, Dvivid, Putana, Kesi, Dhenuka, Vana, Bhouma and other
Asuras, Kansa tormented the Yadus. They fled away to the kingdoms of
Kuru, Panchala, Kekaya, Salva, Vidarbha, Nishadha, Videha, and Kausala.
Some only remained behind and they followed the behests of Kansa.
Six sons of Devaki were killed, one by one, by Kansa.
The seventh, the abode of Vishnu, whom they call Ananta, appeared in the
womb of Devaki, causing both joy and grief to his parents.
Vishnu, the Atma of all beings, knew the sufferings of His own
followers, the Yadus, at the hands of Kansa. He summoned Yoga Maya and
commanded her as follows. "Go forth, blessed Devi! to Vraja, which is
adorned by Gopas and Gos (_Go_ is ordinarily a cow. _Gopa_, go and pa is
a preserver of cow, a cowherd. Vraja or Go-kula was the chief town of
Nan da, the king of the Gopas). Rohini, wife of Vasudeva, dwells in
Gokula the kingdom of Nanda. Other wives of Vasudeva lie hidden at other
places, for fear of Kansa. The child in the womb of Devaki is my Sesha
named abode. Draw it out and place it in the womb of Rohini. I shall
myself become the son of Devaki as a part of myself. Thou shalt be born
of Yasoda, the wife of Nanda. Men shall worship thee as the giver of all
desires and boons, with incense, presents and sacrifices. They shall
give thee names and make places for thee on the Earth. Durga,
Bhadrakali, Vijaya, Vaishnavi, Kamada, Chandika, Krishna, Madhavi,
Kanyaka, Maya, Narayani, Isani, Sarada and Ambika -- these shall be thy
names. For thy _drawing out (Sankarshana)_ the child shall be called
Sankarshana, He shall be called Rama, from his attractiveness (_ramana_)
and Bala from his uncommon strength (_bala_)."
"So let it be, Om!" said Bhagavati, and she carried out the behests of
the Lord. By inducing the sleep of Yoga, she removed the child from the
womb of Devaki to that of Rohini. People thought Devaki had miscarried.
Then Bhagavan, the Atma of the Universe, the dispeller of all the fears
of his votaries, entered the Manas of Vasudeva in part. Devaki bore in
her Manas this part of Achyuta, even as the East bears the moon. Her
lustre being confined to the prison-room could not please others, even
like fire confined as heat or like Sarasvati confined in the cheat who
keeps his wisdom to himself. Kansa saw an unusual glow round his sister
such as he had never witnessed before. He exclaimed "Surely Hari is born
in this womb, He who is to take away my life. What shall I do this day?
He comes on a mission and His energy will be all directed towards that
end. Am I then to kill my sister? But the killing of a pregnant female,
my own sister, will ruin my fame, my wealth and my life. By the
performance of such a heinous act, one becomes dead even when alive. Men
curse him for his evil deeds and after death he enters the regions of
absolute darkness."
Kansa by his own persuasion restrained himself from doing any violent
act and he waited with feelings of bitterness for the time when Hari was
to be born. But whether sitting or lying down, eating or walking, he
thought of Vishnu and saw Him everywhere in the Universe.
Brahma, Siva, the Rishis, the Devas adored Vishnu in the womb of Devaki.
"True in thy will, attainable by Truth, the one Truth before, after and
in creation, the root of the Universe, and underlying the Universe as
its only Reality, Thou from whom all true sayings and true perceptions
do proceed, Truth Thyself, we take Thy shelter."
"The primal Jiva tree stands on the field of Prakriti. Joy and sorrow
are its fruits. The three gunas (Satva, Rajas and Tamas) are its three
roots. Dharma (the means of attaining objects), Artha (the objects),
Kama (desires) and Moksha (freedom from desires), these are its fourfold
juice, the five senses are its sources of perception, the six sheaths
form its chief feature, the seven constituents of the physical body
(_dhatus_) form its skin, the five Bhutas, Manas, Buddhi and Ahankara
are its eight branches, the nine openings are its holes, the ten Pranas,
or physiological functions, are its leaves and Jivatma and Paramatma are
the two birds sitting on this tree. Thou art the one root of this tree,
it ends in Thee and it is preserved by Thee. Those that are deluded by
Thy Maya see manifold forms in place of Thy real self, but not so the
wise. Thou art consciousness itself. For the good of the world, Thou
dost assume Satva-made forms, which bring joy to all good people and woe
to the evil-minded."
"O Lotus-eyed, thou art the abode of Satva. Thy votaries, by
concentrating their minds on Thee and by resorting to Thy feet which
serve as boats to them, make an easy ford of this Ocean of recurring
births (_Sansara_)."
"O Self manifest, the Ocean of recurring births, which is formidable and
unfordable to others, gives way before Thy votaries, even at the mere
touch of the boat of Thy feet. So while they cross themselves, even
without the boat, they leave that boat for others, for they have
boundless compassion for other beings." (_i.e._ Thy votaries lay down
the path of Bhakti. _Sridhara_.)
"There are others (followers of the Path of wisdom) who consider
themselves liberated (_Mukta_). But their intellect is impure as they
have no Bhakti in Thee. By ascetic efforts they rise to (near about) the
Supreme abode, but (being overpowered by obstacles) they fall down, by
their disregard of Thy feet."
"But Thy votaries, O Madhava, never slip away from Thy path for they are
bound by their attachment to Thee and Thou dost preserve them. So
fearlessly they tread over the heads of Vinayaka hosts. (The Vinayaka
are elementals who are supposed to cause obstacles to all good works)."
"Thy body is pure Satva, for the preservation of the Universe. That body
becomes the means of attaining the fruits of (devotional?) karma. It is
by reason of that body that men are able to worship Thee by means of
Veda, Kriya Yoga, Tapas and Samadhi." (There could be no worship, if no
body had been assumed. Hence there could be no _attainment of the fruits
of Karma, Sridhara_. This is not intelligible, if ordinary Karma is
meant.)
"If this Satva body of Thine had not existed, direct perception would
not be possible. For through Thy manifestations in (the world of) the
Gunas, thoughts can (at last) reach Thee. The Gunas only relate to Thee
and are themselves manifested by Thee." (By devotion to the pure Satva
body, the mind partakes of its character _i.e._ becomes purely Satvic.
Then by the favor of Vishnu, there is direct perception, _i.e._ the form
is not the object of direct perception but the means of direct
perception. But these forms only serve the purpose of devotion. The
Purusha can not be known by these forms. Hence the following Sloka,
_Sridhara_).
"Thy Name (nama) and Thy Form (rupa) are not however to be known by Thy
attributes, births and deeds. For Thou art their Seer and Thy Path is
beyond the reach of Manas and speech. Still in the act of devotion, Thy
votaries realise Thee. By hearing, uttering, causing others to remember
and by meditating on Thy blessed names and forms in devotional
practices, one becomes fixed in mind on Thy Lotus Feet and does not then
stand the chance of another birth."
"By Thy birth, the pressure on the Earth is removed. The marks of Thy
feet already adorn her. Heaven and Earth look favored by Thee."
"What else can be the cause of Thy birth but a mere fancy on Thy part,
for even the birth, life and death of Jivatmas are but seeming things
caused by Thy Avidya."
"The Fish, the Horse, the Tortoise, the Man Lion, the Boar, the Swan, in
these and in Kings, Brahmanas and wise men, Thou hast incarnated. As
thou dost preserve us and preserve this Triloki, so dost Thou take away
the load from off the Earth. Our salutations to Thee."
"And mother Devaki, the Great Purusha Himself is in Thy womb in part,
for our good. Fear not then from Kansa, whose death is near at hand. Thy
Son shall be the Saviour of the Yadus."
Having thus adored the Lord, the Devas left the place.
In time, when all nature looked still and there was joy in heaven and
earth, Sri Krishna was born under the influence of the Rohini
constellation. It was all dark at dead of night. He had four hands
bearing Sankha, Chakra, Gada, and Padma. The mark of Srivatsa the
Kaustubha gem, the yellow cloth, the crown on the head glittering with
stones, the brilliant ear-rings all marked Him out as the Purusha, and
Vasudeva and Devaki adored Him as such. Devaki asked him to withdraw his
lordly form with four hands.
Said Bhagavan, addressing Devaki.
"In the Svayambhuva Manvantara, thou wert called Prisni, and this
Vasudeva, Prajapati Sutapas. Commanded by Brahma to beget progeny, thou
didst make austere Tapas and prayed for a son even like unto my own
self. So I was born of thee as Prisni-Garbha. This was my first
Incarnation. When you two were Aditi and Kasyapa, I was born of you as
Upendra, otherwised called Vamana (the Dwarf). This was my second
Incarnation. In this my third Incarnation, I am again born unto you.
This form is shown to thee to remind thee of those previous births. Thou
shalt attain my supreme state by meditating on me both as a son and as
Brahma."
Then He assumed the form of an ordinary child.
Directed by Him, Vasudeva took Him to Vraja, the Kingdom of Nanda. The
fetters loosened. The gate opened wide. The gate keepers fell into deep
sleep. Though there was a heavy downpour of rain, the serpent Sesha gave
shelter under his thousand hoods. The river Yamuna, deep in flood,
fretting and foaming under the storm, made way for Vasudeva. The Gopas
were all fast asleep in Vraja. Vasudeva placed his own son by the side
of Yasoda and took her new born daughter away and placed her near
Devaki. He then put on his fetters and remained confined as before.
Yasoda knew that she had a child, but the labour pains and sleep made
her quite forget the sex of the child.