| Canto 10: The Summum Bonum | Chapter 1: The Advent of Lord Krishna: Introduction |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.1.65-66
risher vinirgame kamso
SYNONYMS
risheh — of the great sage Nārada; vinirgame — on the departure (after giving information); kamsah — Kamsa; yadūn — all the members of the Yadu dynasty; matvā — thinking of; surān — as demigods; iti — thus; devakyāh — of Devakī; garbha-sambhūtam — the children born from the womb; vishnum — (accepting) as Vishnu; ca — and; sva-vadham prati — fearing his own death from Vishnu; devakīm — Devakī; vasudevam ca — and her husband, Vasudeva; nigrihya — arresting; nigadaih — by iron shackles; grihe — confined at home; jātam jātam — each one who was born, one after another; ahan — killed; putram — the sons; tayoh — of Vasudeva and Devakī; ajana-śańkayā — with the doubt that they would be Vishnu.
TRANSLATION
After the departure of the great saint Nārada, Kamsa thought that all the members of the Yadu dynasty were demigods and that any of the children born from the womb of Devakī might be Vishnu. Fearing his death, Kamsa arrested Vasudeva and Devakī and chained them with iron shackles. Suspecting each of the children to be Vishnu, Kamsa killed them one after another because of the prophecy that Vishnu would kill him.
PURPORT
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, in his notes on this verse, has mentioned how Nārada Muni gave Kamsa this information. This incident is described in the Hari-vamśa. Nārada Muni went to see Kamsa by providence, and Kamsa received him very well. Nārada, therefore, informed him that any one of the sons of Devakī might be Vishnu. Because Vishnu was to kill him, Kamsa should not spare any of Devakī's children, Nārada Muni advised. Nārada's intention was that Kamsa, by killing the children, would increase his sinful activities so that Krishna would soon appear to kill him. Upon receiving the instructions of Nārada Muni, Kamsa killed all the children of Devakī one after another.
The word ajana-śańkayā indicates that Lord Vishnu never takes birth (ajana) and that He therefore appeared as Krishna, taking birth just like a human being (mānushīm tanum āśritam). Kamsa attempted to kill all the babies born of Devakī and Vasudeva, although he knew that if Vishnu were born, He would not be killed. Actually it came to pass that when Vishnu appeared as Krishna, Kamsa could not kill Him; rather, as foretold, it was He who killed Kamsa. One should know in truth how Krishna, who takes His birth transcendentally, acts to kill the demons but is never killed. When one perfectly understands Krishna in this way, through the medium of śāstra, one becomes immortal. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9):
"One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna."
Copyright © r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari