Chapter 43
The Message of Krishna's Advent
The
King who had achieved the destruction
of the
agitations caused by desire and thus
succeeded
in the elimination
of 'mind' folded his palms
together
and prayed, with
just one last desire urging him,
"Master! Time is
fast nearing its end, so far as
this body
is concerned. The culmination of the curse
of the
Sage is rushing fast towards me. Of course, I
am prepared
in every way to welcome it, most
gladly.
Nevertheless, so
long as I am resident in this
physical
habitation, I have
vowed, I will engage myself in
thoughts divine,
recapitulation of the divine, listening to the divine;
let that vow be not broken to the
slightest degree.
May the short balance of the allotted time be spent in
imprinting on my heart the charming lotus face of
Nandanandana, the lovely Divine
Child that
illumined the home of Nanda. May
that sportive
Form fill my consciousness and
overflow,
conferring on me
immeasurable Ananda. Describe to
me the shower of
auspiciousness that must have marked the hour when He was
born. What were the
miraculous events
and happenings that revealed to
the world at that
time that God had come to earth?
How did Kamsa
develop the cruel determination to
kill the Divine
Child and how was that
determination
fanned into a
raging flame as the days passed?
Tell me
the Story of the birth of that Kamsa and of
the Lord
as Krishna. May the final hour be blessed
by that
sacred story. It will certainly render my
breath
so holy that it
will find consummation in Gopala."
At this, Suka became
even more happy. "Maharaja!" he said, "I am also filled
with joy at the prospect of spending the few remaining
hours in reciting
the wondrous birth
and the divine sports of Gopala.
Gopala took birth
for the sake of establishing
Dharma
or Righteousness.
It is fraught with great mystery.
Only those who have
become ripe in wisdom, through
the chastening
process of divine activity can
unravel
that mystery and
grasp its meaning. For others the
world itself is a
whirlpool of vile sin; they revel in
its depths,
they sink and float and finally dissolve themselves in
it. We are under no compulsion to spend
a thought
on such persons.
Maharaja! Long long
ago, the world was ruled
by a king of the
Yadu dynasty, named Ahuka. A large
band of feudatories
surrounded his throne and
awaited his orders
and paid him reverential homage,
seeking peace and
prosperity through his beneficent
overlordship. He
had two sons, Devaka and Ugrasena.
When they grew old
enough to assume the responsibilities of administration,
the king had them married
and he placed on
their heads a share of his own
burden. Years
slipped by. Devaka had seven daughters and Ugrasena had
nine sons. Devaki is the eldest
of Devaka's
daughters; and, Kamsa is the eldest
of the
sons of Ugrasena. These two play vital roles
in the
story in which we are both
interested.
In olden days, Mathura
was the capital city of
the Yadu dynasty.
Within the precincts of this city, there lived the
tributary ruler of Yadu, Prince
Surasena by name.
He had ten sons and five daughters; the eldest son was
named Vasudeva. Kunthi
was his eldest
daughter. These princely families
lived side by side,
and the children grew. The flow
of time sped fast,
and urged by the force of historic
cause, produced
epoch-making consequences.
Devaki, the
daughter of Kamsa's paternal
Uncle, was given in
marriage to Vasudeva; the
marriage was
celebrated on a grand scale.
Rulers,
kings and emperors,
scholars, sages and saints
assembled in large
numbers. The city was packed
with distinguished
princes and personages. Kamsa
took special
interest in dealing out prolific
and pompous
hospitality to every one; he had no
sisters
of his own, he
loved Devaki as his dearest self;
so, he
dowered her with costly raiments,
precious
jewels, and all the
paraphernalia of regal glory.
Every one was
delighted at the grandeur of the festival. On the third
day, the bride had to be sent to
the groom's
home with all customary presents and
gifts;
so, Kamsa himself
drove the newly weds in a magnificent chariot. When they
were proceeding in a
colourful
procession through the decorated
streets
of the City,
suddenly there was a brilliant
lightning
flash over the
chariot; there was a blast of
terrific
sound as if the
world was being destroyed by a
deluge
all in one gulp.
The flash and the blast stunned
prince
and peasant into
pillars of immobility. All music
was silenced
that very moment. That instant, the
silence
was broken by a few
clear words that exploded
through the
sky.
The words were: "0,
Emperor Kamsa! You are
behaving like a
fool, unaware of coming events!
This very
sister, whom you love as your own self,
whom you
are now taking so affectionately in this
chariot
with so much pomp
and pleasure - she will bear as
her eighth child
the person who will deal you
death!
Reflect on that
coming calamity."
The shining figure that
spoke these ominous words
disappeared from
the sky. The populace, the princes
and the scholars
who listened to the dreadful news
of doom lost all
trace of joy. Kamsa on the chariot
was filled with the
fury of fire. He lost control of
himself; he was
overcome by confusion; the reins
fell off
his grasp. His heart was aflame with hate.
His thoughts
fled fast into fiercer and fiercer fears. At
last,
they took a
decisive turn. With the sister alive,
the killer
will be born; when the sister's life is cut
she cannot
bring forth the person who can deal him death!
Thinking in this
strain, he lifted the sister from
her seat
at the back of the chariot, grasping her
plaited
hair! Forcing her
to stand up, he pulled his sharp
sword from out of
its scabbard with the vile
intention
of slicing off her
head. [See also Srimad
Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter
1]
Even the hardest heart
recoiled from the awful
sight. What a
frightful thing was this: that he
should
attempt to kill the
very sister whom he loved so long
so deeply and whom
he was escorting with such gusto,
was so stunning by
its contrast. No one could do anything to avert the
disaster.
Meanwhile, the
bridegroom Vasudeva, rose and
held both the hands
of Kamsa tight in his grasp. "Dear brother-in-law! I too
heard the Voice from the
sky. If harm comes
to you, we too are sharers, we do
not like any harm
affecting you. We pray for your
welfare, without
intermission. We shall never seek
to inflict injury
on you. For a brother like you, it
is not
proper to indulge in grievous disaster,
when everyone
is reveling in joy. Release your sister
from the
hold. If you have such firm faith in the
Voice
which declared that
you will suffer death from the
child that is to be
born, I solemnly assure you that I
shall entrust to
your care every child that is born
of her. I swear I
shall do so. Let me tell you that
this will solve
your fear; if on the other hand,
you become
a party to the slaughter of your sister,
while
this my offer is
there, it will bring about disaster
to you
and the kingdom, as reaction to this monstrous
sin.
When Vasudeva pleaded
thus most piteously,
Kamsa felt a little
relieved, realizing that there was
some validity in
what his brother-in-law was
saying.
He loosened his
hold and let Devaki fall into her
seat.
He said. "Well! Be
warned. Keep the word that you
have now given me."
With this, he directed his
younger brother to
take charge of the reins, and returned to his palace. Of
course, he returned; but, he
was torn between
fear of death, and affection for
his sister.
Though his bed was a soft bed of feathers,
he suffered
as if he lay on a bed of hot cinders. He
had no
appetite, no inclination to sleep. He was
plunged
in the terror of
death. Kamsa spent one full year
in this
state. The brothers-in-law were in constant contact with
each other.
Meanwhile, Devaki
became enceinte, and the
nine months drew to
a close. She delivered a son. "I
have given word, to
save your life," said Vasudeva
to Devaki, when he
handed over the new born babe,
rolled in warm
clothing, to the tender mercies of
Kamsa.
However, Kamsa had no
mind to kill the tender
baby; he was
delighted that his brother-in-law
had kept
his word. He said, "My dear brother-in-law,
this babe
can cause me no harm! The Voice from the
Sky warned
me only against the eight child!
Therefore,
take back this
child." Thus Vasudeva got the baby
alive and placed it
in the hands of Devaki. The mother
was happy that her
first born was restored to her;
she poured out her
heart in gratitude to God for this
blessing. She
conceived again and the parents
were afflicted
with grief at the fear of Kamsa and
what he
might do to the child; they wanted children,
but, dreaded
the fate that might befall them.
Meanwhile, the sage
Narada, who roams wide
from world to
world, singing the praise of the
Lord,
appeared in Kamsa's
Court; he inquired from the
Emperor whether he
was well and whether the kingdom was safe and prosperous.
During the conversation, Narada revealed that the Yadavas
were the gods
come as men, and
that Kamsa was an incarnation of
Kalanemi, a famous
Asura.
He also said that the son
to be born as the
eighth son of Devaki will
undermine
the brood of Asuras
and be the destroyer of the life
of Kamsa himself.
This acted like the pouring of oil
or fuel on fire.
Not content with this, he said, while taking leave of
Kamsa, "Take every day that you
manage to live as
equal to a decade or more. Do not
disregard death, as
a distant contingency!" [See also SB,
Canto 1, Chapter 1: The
Advent of Lord Krishna:
Introduction]
Hearing this warning,
Kamsa was plunged into
deeper anxiety. He
feared that even little babes
might
bring about his
death, and sent word for Vasudeva
to come to him.
Poor Vasudeva came shivering in
mortal dread, lest
some dire calamity might descend
upon his head. When
he put in his appearance, Kamsa
flew into a rage,
and roared the question at his
face,
"How many children
have you now?" Vasudeva had
no tongue to
answer; fear that something
terrible
may happen if his
answers overpowered him; his lips
quivered, as he
replied, "Now, I have six!" Kamsa
yelled. "Well!
Tomorrow morning, at dawn, you
must bring
all the six and hand them over to me!" He uttered no word
in return. He had to honour his
word.
But, attachment to
his offspring drew him back. He
moved as if he was
but a corpse that had managed
to be alive! He
came to where Devaki was fondling
the six sons on her
lap! When he told her that Kamsa
had asked that the
sons be given over to him, she
held them in fast
embrace and suffered agony that
passes
imagination.
Maharaja! For the sake
of prolonging one single
life, see how many
innocent lives are sacrified! You
may wonder why this
horrid sin! But, who can unravel the mystery of the
Divine? To the outward eye,
it appears to be
unpardonable infanticide. The
inner
eye may perceive in
it the fruition of the sins committed by those very babes
in the past or the culmination of some curse that was
pronounced on them!
It may well be
their passing into a superior level
of birth.
Who knows what lies in the recesses of
their
past, or in the
caves of their future? Who knows
why they
were born, why they live and why they die?
The world
observes only the interval between birth
and death;
they concerned themselves only with
that limited
period. But, the Master and Sovereign of
all the
Worlds, past, present and future, does not do
like that.
He has more compassion than all men. He showers Grace,
weighing the three tenses of time,
the three
tiers of space, and the three traits of
character.
He knows best, more
than any man; so, the only recourse for man is to believe
that everything is His
Will and be at
peace, and immerse himself in the
contemplation of
His Glory and Grace.
Maharaja! Next day, as
soon as the sun rose above
the horizon,
Vasudeva took the children most unwillingly, with the
help of attendants, and, with eyes
firmly closed, he
gave them over to Kamsa, and burst
into tears. The
ego-centered maniac caught hold of
each of them by the
leg and beat them out of shape
on the hard floor!
Helpless to interfere and prevent,
the unfortunate
Vasudeva retraced his steps home,
with a heavy heart,
lamenting over the gigantic sin
that brought about
this woeful recompense. The royal
couple were wasted
in body through the terrific agony
they underwent and
bore it silently together. They
felt every moment
of living as an unbearable burden.
"God's Will must
prevail; one has to live, until
life lasts"
they consoled themselves; toughened by
this feeling,
they were dissolving their strength and physique in the
streams of tears that grief engendered.
Meanwhile, the seventh
pregnancy! And surprisingly, it was aborted in the
seventh month! Was it
necessary to inform
Kamsa? If yes, how? They could
not find the
answer. When Kamsa knew about
this,
he suspected that
the sister was capable of some
stratagem to
deceive him and so, he put her and
her husband
in a closely guarded prison.
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