A Study of the Bhagavata Purana or Esoteric Hinduism Part 48

THE BIRTH OF SRI KRISHNA.

*SKANDHA X. CHAP. 1-3.*

_Said Suka_: - The G.o.ddess Earth, being oppressed by the heavy load of tens of thousands of Daitya hosts, who were born as arrogant kings, sought the shelter of Brahma. She took the form of a cow, and with tears running down her cheeks, piteously related her grievances to the Lord of Creation. Brahma took Siva and the Devas with him, and went over to the Ocean of milk (Kshira Samudra), the abode of Vishnu. There he adored the Lord of Preservation and heard the Divine voice, which he thus explained to the Devas: -

"Even before this, the Lord knew about the grievances of the G.o.ddess of Earth. Go, take your births, as parts of yourselves, in the clan of the Yadus. The Lord of Lords, by governing His Kala Sakti, shall appear on the Earth and relieve her pressure. The Supreme Purusha Himself shall be born in the family of Vasudeva. Let the Deva girls take their births for His gratification. The thousand-mouthed, self-illumining Ananta, who is only a part of Vasudeva, shall be the elder-born, that he may do what pleases Hari. Bhagavati, the Maya of Vishnu, who keeps the whole world under delusion, shall also incarnate in part, as desired by the Lord, for doing His work."

Saying all this to the Devas, and giving words of consolation to the G.o.ddess of Earth, Brahma went back to his own abode.

Sura Sena, the chief of the Yadus, ruled over the town of Mathura. Hence it became the chief seat of the Yadu kings. It is a sacred town, the constant seat of Hari.

Once upon a time, at Mathura. Vasudeva drove in his chariot with his newly married wife Devaki. The marriage presents were innumerable.

Kansa, the son of Ugrasena, held the reins of the horses himself, so eager was he to please his sister Devaki.

On the way, an incorporeal voice, addressing Kansa, said: -

"O ignorant one! the eighth child of her whom thou art now driving shall be thy slayer."

The cruel Kansa instantly took sword in hand and caught Devaki by her hair.

Vasudeva pacified him with these words: -

"Thy virtues are well known. Why shouldst thou kill a female, thine own sister, at marriage. Death is certain, this day or a hundred years hence. Man takes body after body under the action of Karma, as he takes step after step in walking, or even as the leech takes blade after blade of gra.s.s in moving.

"As in dream there is a reflex perception of what is seen and heard in waking, and as in that perception the man forgets his former self and becomes a reflex of that self, so a man gives up his former body and becomes forgetful of it.

"To whatever body the mind is drawn by fruit - bearing Karma, the Jiva a.s.sumes that body as its own.

"The wind shakes the water and the Son or moon, reflected on its bosom, appears as if shaken. So by ascription, the Purusha has the attributes of the body. He who does evil to another has to fear evil from others.

"This girl, thy younger sister, is motionless with fear. Thou art not ent.i.tled to kill her."

But persuasion was of no avail, as Kansa was under the influence of the Daityas.

Vasudeva then thought how he could ward off the present danger, leaving the future to take care of itself.

Addressing Kansa he said: -

"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 l.u.s.tre 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 const.i.tuents 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 a.s.sume 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 compa.s.sion 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 a.s.sumed. 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.