(5/7) Account of Krishna's Appearance

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Krishna Janmastami Maha-Mahotsav
Kolkata-Worldwide, 12 August 2020, part 5

I am telling you what Sri Sukadev Goswami spoke from the tenth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. This is a chapter about the mystery of Baladev's and Krishna's appearance to destroy Kamsa.

After Vasudev and Devaki were married, Kamsa drove Vasudev's chariot on their way home, out of affection for his sister. Desiring to please his sister, Kamsa became Vasudev's sarathi. What is 'sarathi' in English? [Somebody suggests: a chariot driver.] A driver? It is necessary to use good language. A driver is like a car driver. It is necessary to use good English. Yes, a charioteer is good. So, Kamsa became Vasudev's charioteer and was taking them home. In the meantime, a message came from the sky, informing Kamsa that he would be killed by his sister's eighth son. Hearing this, Kamsa wanted to kill Devaki, but Vasudev pacified him in many ways. There are many slokas describing how Vasudev tried to please him and persuade him not to kill his sister. He pleaded with Kamsa, 'She is a poor lady, why do you want to kill her?' To save Devaki's life, Vasudev promised to give Kamsa all his sons as soon as they were born. Hearing Vasudev's promise, Kamsa became a little pleased.

When Devaki's first son appeared, Vasudev wanted to give the baby to Kamsa to keep his promise, but Kamsa thought, 'I will be killed by their eighth son, so why should I take their first one?' So, Kamsa actually first gave the baby back to Vasudev. But then, Narad came to Kamsa and told him about the Vraja-basis living near him, about the Vrishni dynasty and about his previous births, as the result of which Kamsa arrested Vasudev and Devaki and kept them chained in prison. One by one, he then destroyed six sons that Devaki had given birth to. Kamsa also put his father, Ugrasen, in prison.

With the help of Jarasandha, Agha, Baka and other demons, Kamsa started persecuting all members of the Yadava dynasty, forcing them to flee to various other kingdoms. The Lord then ordered Sri Yogamaya to appear in the womb of Yasoda and Baladev, the seventh son of Devaki, to appear in the womb of Rohini. Then, He appeared first in the heart of Vasudev and, from there, entered inside Devaki. Although Devaki's womb became impregnated through the potency of Maya, Devaki lamented because she had a miscarriage. Seeing Devaki's devotion to the Lord and her transcendental lustre, Kamsa was sure that the Supreme Lord would appear to destroy him, so he constantly thought about the Lord as his enemy and could see only Krishna in the whole world. Demigods came to Devaki's room and glorified Sri Krishna using various high words (words born of knowledge).

When the Supreme Lord appeared from the womb of Devaki showing His four-armed form, Vasudev and Devaki began to praise the Lord and then prayed to Him to conceal His opulent form. The Lord then manifested His two-armed form and described the previous births of Vasudev and Devaki.

So, when Lord Sri Hari appeared from Devaki's womb, He had four arms, but when Vasudev and Devaki began to pray to Him, realising that the Lord Himself had taken birth from them, the Lord concealed His form, and they could see His two-armed form.

After that, by the wish of the Supreme Lord, Vasudev became free from the chains and took Krishna to Nanda Maharaj's house. He placed Krishna on Yasoda's bed and returned with Yasoda's daughter (Yogamaya). When he came back, he placed the chains on himself as before. By the Lord's illusory potency, the sleeping guards then woke up. Hearing the cry of the baby girl, they reported the news about the birth of Devaki's child to Kamsa. Kamsa immediately went to the labour room and, ignoring Devaki's pleas not to kill the girl, grasped the baby girl and threw her against a rock. The girl slipped out of his hand and rose up in the air, showing her eight-armed form. She informed Kamsa that his death had already been born elsewhere.

Astonished at the falsehood of the message from the sky, Kamsa freed Vasudev and Devaki and asked Devaki forgiveness for killing her children. After that, Kamsa consulted his ministers, and, out of enmity to Vishnu who is behind all demigods, he ordered his followers to destroy demigods, sages, cows, brahmans and newborn babies.

After that, so many things happened, you all know how Kamsa tried to kill Krishna. So, this is how today's appearance of the Lord happened.

Jay Lord Sri Krishna ki jay.

— : • : —

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Prayerful Meditation
2) Misconceptions about Lord Krishna's Appearance
3) Entering Another Plane
4) Approaching Krishna's Pastimes
5) Account of Krishna's Appearance
6) Devotees' Character
7) Always Remember, Always Serve