The Heart of the Bhagavatam 322 Canto X Chapter One: The Advent of Lord Krishna Once upon a time, when Mother Earth was overwhelmed by the military forces of various demons disguised as kings, she went to Lord Brahma for help. Assuming the form of a cow, Mother Earth approached Lord Brahma with tear- lled eyes and r elated her troubles. After hearing her sad tale, Lord Brahma led Mother Earth, Lord Shiva and the other demigods to the shores of the Ocean of Milk. There the demigods worshiped Lord Vishnu by reciting Vedic mantras, for He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Master and Maintainer of the whole universe and the One Who relieves the suffering of all. Entering a trance state, Lord Brahma received a message from Lord Vishnu, and then relayed this to the demigods: “O great demigods, hear the word of Lord Ksirodakasayi Vishnu and follow this order without delay. Having heard our petition, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will soon appear personally as the Son of Vasudeva. For as long as He manifests on Earth to lessen her burden, you demigods should all appear as children of the Yadu dynasty. Your wives should also go in order to satisfy Him. Krishna’s foremost manifestation, Sankarsana, Who is the origin of all Incarnations within the material world, will also appear, being known as Baladeva, just to assist Krishna in His Pastimes. Vishnu-maya, the Lord’s energy Who is equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, will also come, accompanied by Her different potencies, just to execute the desire of the Lord.” Having thus advised the demigods and soothed Mother Earth, this universe’s all-powerful Lord Brahma returned to Brahmaloka. King Surasena, the leader of the Yadus, ruled over the district known as Mathura, a place very closely connected to Krishna, for He lives there eternally. Once upon a time, the son of Surasena, Vasudeva, just after marrying Devaki, mounted his chariot to bring his new wife home. Kamsa, son of Ugrasena and brother to Devaki, became their chariot driver just to please his sister and took the reins of the horses. When the young bride and groom started for home, bugles, drums and kettledrums sounded in concert for their pleasure. While joyfully guiding the chariot along the road, the procession was stopped in its tracks by a mysterious celestial voice that said, “Kamsa, you fool! The eighth child of this couple you are driving will kill you!” Being very sinful, Kamsa was the most demonic of the Bhoja dynasty kings. Upon hearing this voice from the sky, he immediately grabbed Devaki’s hair with one hand, drew his sword with the other, and prepared to behead Devaki. Intent on saving his new bride from her demonic brother, who was so shamelessly cruel that he was ready to murder his sister, great-souled Vasudeva, the future father of Krishna, spoke diplomatically: “My dear brother-in-law, Kamsa, great hero and pride of the Bhoja dynasty, how can one so quali ed as you kill a woman, especially your sister, on her wedding day? For one who has taken birth, death is certain, either today or in a hundred years. Death is sure for everyone! When the present body becomes dust, the living being automatically gets another material body, according to his karma. When he gets his The Heart of the Bhagavatam Canto X 323 next body, he leaves the old one. It is just like a person walking, putting one foot on the ground and then lifting the other, or like a worm transferring itself from one leaf to another. Similarly, the materially illusioned soul takes another body and then relinquishes the one he had before. “According to the mind’s thinking, feeling and willing at the time of death, which is a result of its fruitive activity, one gets a particular body. Changes of the body and differences of body are due to the ickering mind. Except for this, the soul would r emain content with its original spiritual body. Since, therefore, envious and sinful activities produce a body of suffering in the next life, why act sinfully? In consideration for one’s own welfare, one should never envy anyone, for envy always means to reap harm from others, either now or in the future. This girl, Devaki, your younger sister, is as dear as a daughter to you and should be affectionately maintained. Be merciful and don’t kill her! She deserves your love and protection.” Being a Rakshasa, Kamsa was very cruel and could not be paci ed; neither c ould he be intimidated by any philosophy or logic presented by Vasudeva. He cared nothing for sinful reactions in this life, nor a degraded birth in the next. Seeing Devaki’s life in great danger, Vasudeva thought quickly and conceived another idea to avert this crisis: “If I deliver all my sons to Kamsa, who is like Death Personi ed, perhaps I can save Devaki’s life. Then, perhaps, Kamsa may die before my sons are born, or, if he is really destined to be killed by my son, perhaps one of them may do it. For the present, just let me try promising to hand over my sons to him, in order to avoid this immediate threat.” Thus thinking, Vasudeva submitted his proposal respectfully and smilingly to Kamsa: “O most reasonable one, from what you heard from this heavenly omen, you have nothing to fear from your sister, only from her sons. Therefore, I offer you my vow that any son born from her will immediately be delivered to you!” Kamsa was persuaded by this logic, and since he believed Vasudeva’s word of honor implicitly, gave up his intent to kill Devaki. Vasudeva congratulated him on his honorable decision and entered his house. Every year after that, Devaki gave birth to a child, altogether eight sons and one daughter, Subhadra. Vasudeva was very intent on keeping his promise. Although it was very painful for him to do, he took his rstborn son, Kirtiman, to Kamsa and delivered him into his hands. Nothing is painful for a saintly soul who knows the truth: that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Cause of all causes and all that is. Therefore, what cannot be forsaken for His sake by those who are fully surrendered to Him and His service? When Kamsa perceived the truthfulness and equanimity of Vasudeva, despite Vasudeva’s love for his son, he was very pleased and with a smile said, “O Vasudeva, take your child and go home! This child is of no concern to me. It is the eighth child I fear.” Vasudeva happily took back his child and went home, but because he knew Kamsa’s bad character, he could not trust Kamsa’s word. All the residents of Vrindavana and the Vrishni dynasty, including King Nanda, Vasudeva and Devaki, as well as their family, relatives and well-wishers, were actually heavenly denizens. Even those who appeared externally to be supporters of Kamsa were, in truth, demigods. Soon thereafter, sage Narada visited Kamsa and related the real truth The Heart of the Bhagavatam 324 Canto X behind the presence of these demigods, of how the Earth had become overburdened with demonic persons and would soon be relieved by their annihilation. From then on, Kamsa became very fearful and suspicious of everyone. Thinking that everyone in the Yadu dynasty must be a demigod, and that any child born of Devaki might be Vishnu, Kamsa immediately arrested Devaki and Vasudeva and imprisoned them with iron shackles. He mercilessly killed all their children, one after another, fearful of the prediction of his death at the hand of Vishnu. To protect their sense grati cation, wealth and power, even worldly kings f requently kill their rivals indiscriminately, including mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers or friends. In a former life, Kamsa had been the great demon, Kalanemi, and had been slain by Vishnu. Hearing of this from Narada, Kamsa became inimical to everyone in the Yadu dynasty. This very powerful son of Ugrasena, Kamsa, even dethroned and incarcerated his own father, and personally ruled the states known as Surasena. Commentary on Chapter One The descent of the Lord to this mortal world is the greatest miracle and the most rewarding event. A miracle is an occurrence that apparently contradicts natural law. The manifestation of the Absolute in the realm of duality is certainly a paradox. It is the inclusion of the Whole in a part, of eternity in time. Eternity is all-inclusive whereas time discretely breaks into past, present, and future. Therefore, the descent of the Absolute is a logical impossibility. Still, it is a fact, and the greatest fact, for it reveals the fullness of Reality. If existence is ultimately to make any sense, it must transcend the limitations of duality and encompass the greater reality of the Whole. But the part cannot possibly encompass the Whole. Yet, it is possible for the Absolute Whole to infuse Itself into the part. Indeed, the Fourth Chapter of the Gita says: By knowing this truth of My pastimes and birth, Transcendent, yet manifest now on this earth, One never returns to this valley of pain, But goes to Vaikuntha, My home to regain. (Ch. 4) Proper perception and understanding is a real need for imperfect humanity. To instill perfect understanding, the Absolute Personality of Godhead Himself descends to do the job. Thus in almost every culture, we have an account of the Person of Absolute Reality coming to this world of duality for the purpose of giving His fallen children divine guidance.