Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.2.21

kim adya tasmin karanīyam āśu me

yad artha-tantro na vihanti vikramam

striyāh svasur gurumatyā vadho 'yam

yaśah śriyam hanty anukālam āyuh

SYNONYMS

kim — what; adya — now, immediately; tasmin — in this situation; karanīyam — is to be done; āśu — without delay; me — my duty; yat — because; artha-tantrah — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is always determined to protect the sādhus and kill the asādhus; na — does not; vihanti — give up; vikramam — His prowess; striyāh — of a woman; svasuh — of my sister; guru-matyāh — especially when she is pregnant; vadhah ayam — the killing; yaśah — fame; śriyam — opulence; hanti — will vanquish; anukālam — forever; āyuh — and the duration of life.

TRANSLATION

Kamsa thought: What is my duty now? The Supreme Lord, who knows His purpose [paritrānāya sādhūnām vināśāya ca dushkritām Bg. 4.8], will not give up His prowess. Devakī is a woman, she is my sister, and moreover she is now pregnant. If I kill her, my reputation, opulence and duration of life will certainly be vanquished.

PURPORT

According to Vedic principles, a woman, a brāhmana, an old man, a child and a cow should never be killed. It appears that Kamsa, although a great enemy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, was aware of the Vedic culture and conscious of the fact that the soul transmigrates from one body to another and that one suffers in the next life according to the karmas of this life. Therefore he was afraid of killing Devakī, since she was a woman, she was his sister, and she was pregnant. A kshatriya becomes famous by performing heroic acts. But what would be heroic about killing a woman who, while confined in his custody, was under his shelter? Therefore, he did not want to act drastically by killing Devakī. Kamsa's enemy was within Devakī's womb, but killing an enemy in such a nescient state would not be an exhibition of prowess. According to kshatriya rules, an enemy should be fought face to face and with proper weapons. Then if the enemy is killed, the victor becomes famous. Kamsa very conscientiously deliberated upon these facts and therefore refrained from killing Devakī, although he was completely confident that his enemy had already appeared within her womb.

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