Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.1.23

vasudeva-grihe sākshād

bhagavān purushah parah

janishyate tat-priyārtham

sambhavantu sura-striyah

SYNONYMS

vasudeva-grihe — in the house of Vasudeva (who would be the father of Krishna when the Lord appeared); sākshāt — personally; bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has full potency; purushah — the original person; parah — who is transcendental; janishyate — will appear; tat-priya-artham — and for His satisfaction; sambhavantu — should take birth; sura-striyah — all the wives of the demigods.

TRANSLATION

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Krishna, who has full potency, will personally appear as the son of Vasudeva. Therefore all the wives of the demigods should also appear in order to satisfy Him.

PURPORT

In Bhagavad-gītā (4.9) the Lord says, tyaktvā deham punar janma naiti mām eti: [Bg. 4.9] after giving up the material body, the devotee of the Lord returns home, back to Godhead. This means that the devotee is first transferred to the particular universe where the Lord is at that time staying to exhibit His pastimes. There are innumerable universes, and the Lord is appearing in one of these universes at every moment. Therefore His pastimes are called nitya-līlā, eternal pastimes. The Lord's appearance as a child in the house of Devakī takes place continuously in one universe after another. Therefore, the devotee is first transferred to that particular universe where the pastimes of the Lord are current. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, even if a devotee does not complete the course of devotional service, he enjoys the happiness of the heavenly planets, where the most pious people dwell, and then takes birth in the house of a śuci or śrīmān, a pious brāhmana or a wealthy vaiśya (śucīnām śrīmatām gehe yoga-bhrashto 'bhijāyate). Thus a pure devotee, even if unable to execute devotional service completely, is transferred to the upper planetary system, where pious people reside. From there, if his devotional service is complete, such a devotee is transferred to the place where the Lord's pastimes are going on. Herein it is said, sambhavantu sura-striyah. Sura-strī, the women of the heavenly planets, were thus ordered to appear in the Yadu dynasty in Vrindāvana to enrich the pastimes of Lord Krishna. These sura-strī, when further trained to live with Krishna, would be transferred to the original Goloka Vrindāvana. During Lord Krishna's pastimes within this world, the sura-strī were to appear in different ways in different families to give pleasure to the Lord, just so that they would be fully trained before going to the eternal Goloka Vrindāvana. With the association of Lord Krishna, either at Dvārakā-purī, Mathurā-purī or Vrindāvana, they would certainly return home, back to Godhead. Among the sura-strī, the women of the heavenly planets, there are many devotees, such as the mother of the Upendra incarnation of Krishna. It was such devoted women who were called for in this connection.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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