The Glory of Krishna Avathar Part - 1
The Glory of Krishna Avathar Part - 1
EMBODIMENTS of love! It was the middle of Dwapara Yuga. Unable to bear the atrocities commited on good people by demonic rulers, the Goddess of Earth prayed to the Lord in many ways. Offering solace to the grief-stricken Goddess, the Lord said; "Dhevi! You may return to the earth. I shall do what needs to be done. You will be relieved of your Burden." Encouraging her in this way the Lord sent Mother Earth back to the world.
Thereafter, the Lord summoned all the Dhevas (denizens of the celestial world) and directed them to take birth as Yaadhavas. The originator of the Yaadhava clan is Yayaathi. His eldest son was known as Yadhu. The descendants of Yadhu came to be known in course of time as Yaadhavas. Among the yaadhavas, there was a chief known as Aahuka, who was a righteous person, wedded to truth. The characters figuring in the Krishna legend belong to Aahuka's lineage. Aahuka had two sons Dhevaka and Ugrasena. Kamsa was the son of Ugrasena. Dhevaki was the daughter of Dhevaka. Kamsa had no sister of his own. He had great affection for his cousin Dhevaki, whom he treated as his own uterine sister.
The warning to Kamsa from the ethereal voice
In the Yaadhava clan, there was one Vasudheva, the son of Shura. Vasudheva was one of the
satraps in the Yaadhava kingdom. He was known as one who stood by his plighted word.
Ugrasena and Kamsa, after a great deal of search, picked upon Vasudheva as a suitable
bridegroom for Dhevaki. Vasudheva already had a wife by the name Rohini. In those times,
there were no restrictions regarding polygamy. Because he had no child through Rohini,
Vasudheva agreed to marry Dhevaki.
After the marriage, Kamsa got ready his chariot to take Vasudheva and Dhevaki to their home. Kamsa drove the chariot himself with a heavy heart, overwhelmed by the prospect of separation from his beloved cousin. Dhevaki was as dear to Kamsa as his life-breath. At the time of her leaving her paternal home, Dhevaki was presented with many precious gifts by Ugrasena, besides a retinue of elephants, horses and guardsmen.
While the chariot was proceeding in a grand manner, all of a sudden a loud voice was heard from the sky: "You fool! You do not know what is in store for you. The one who will slay you for all your misdeeds will be born as the eighth child of your sister." After saying this, the ethereal spirit vanished.
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| The ethereal voice alerts Kamsa about his ominous destiny |
The moment Kamsa heard these words, he flew into a rage. He jumped down from the chariot, seized Dhevaki by the hair, unsheathed his sword to cut off her head.
Vasudheva, who was the very embodiment of peace, truth and righteousness, held Kamsa's hands and asked him why he was worried so much over the prospect of death. "Death is inevitable, whether today or in time to come. Whatever you may do to protect yourself, death will come in its own time even if you hide yourself in a forest. All beings that are born are destined to die. Kamsa! The ethereal voice declared that death will come to you from the hands of the eighth child (of Dhevaki) and not immediately There are many years ahead before the eight child. It is not proper that you should lose your temper. Release the girl whom you had loved as your sister. I shall hand over to you every child that is born to her."
When Vasudheva gave his pledge, Kamsa realised the truth of his words and released Dhevaki from his hold. Kamsa returned to his palace without getting back into the chariot.
Sage Naaradha's advice to Kamsa
Vasudheva and Dhevaki reached their home with heavy hearts. As days passed by and Kamsa was immersed in worry about the prospect of death, Sage Naaradha came to him one day. After talking about world affairs in general, before leaving, Naaradha told Kamsa-"You are verily a fool. You are not aware of your real plight. The ethereal voice said that (Dhevaki's) eighth child will be your slayer. But you cannot know from which of her children death will come to you. You cannot rake a chance with any of them."From that moment Kamsa's distress and fear increased. He commanded Vasudheva to hand over to him every child. He killed six of the newborn children as they were handed over to him.
When Dhevaki was enceinte for the seventh time, Sriman Naarayana made all arrangements to carry out His promise to Mother Earth. To promote the welfare of the world, to establish Dharma among mankind, to uphold truth and to instill devotion to God in humanity, the Divine process had to be set in motion. The Dhevas took birth as Yaadhavas.
Vishnu summoned His allpervading Yoga Shakthi (The Cosmic Energy), and said "Go forth immediately and enter the womb of Yasodha."
Summoning Aadhisesha (the Divine Serpent) the Lord directed him to go to Gokulam and enter the womb of Rohini (Vasudheva's elder wife). "I shall be entering the womb of Dhevaki."
Krishna's birth in prison
In Dhevaki's seventh pregnancy, the Lord had the foetus transferred to Rohini's womb and Kamsa was informed that Dhevaki had an abortion. Krishna made His advent in her eighth pregnancy Apprehending danger from Kamsa, Vasudheva arranged to send Rohini to Nandha's home. Rohini was a sister of Yasodha.
Expecting mortal danger to himself from the eighth child of Dhevaki, Kamsa kept Vasudheva and Dhevaki in a heavily guarded prison. He kept the key of the' prison lock with himself.
Dhevaki gave birth to a son on an Ashtami (eight day after the New Moon) in the asterism
Rohini. The Child that was born was the Lord Himself with all His effulgence and all the
insignia of Vishnu. On the child's chest was the Srivathsa mole. The Kausthubha ornament shone
brilliantly.
Dhevaki and Vasudheva folded their hands in adoration, blinded by the effulgence of
the Divine Child. They felt that their lives had been redeemed by the birth of the Lord, whom
they saw with their own eyes. Approaching the baby and caressing his palms and feet, they
prayed to the Lord: "Thanks to our good fortune, you have taken birth as our son. But we are not
in a position to protect you. You must use your divine potency to get away from this prison by
any means.
The ways of the Divine are marvellous and mysterious
Vasudheva sat beside the child and started praying. Immediately a basket appeared before him.
Placing the Divine child in the basket he looked at the prison door. He saw that it was open. The
ways of the Divine are marvellous and mysterious, felt Vasudheva. He stepped out of the prison.
He found all the guards sound asleep. As he came out, there was a heavy downpour. The
Yamuna was in spate. He prayed to Naarayana to see that there was no impediment in the way of
his mission to protect the Divine child. The Yamuna gave him passage. He reached Nandha's
house.The same day Yasodha had given birth to a child. Yasodha was unconscious. The child was none other than Maayaadhevi. When she was born, both Nandha and Yasodha were in a state of trance. Leaving the infant Krishna by the side of Yasodha, Vasudheva returned to Mathura with the other child. When Vasudheva left Nandha's house, the child left beside Yasodha uttered a cry. Yasodha and Nandha did not know whether the newborn was a boy or girl. On hearing the child's cry, Yasodha looked at it and found that it was a boy.
Kamsa's nightmare about his killer
From that moment, Kamsa was engaged in finding out the whereabouts of the child that was to be his slayer. He released Vasudheva and Dhevaki from prison.
Once, Vasudheva and Nandha, as satraps in Kamsa's kingdom, came to Mathura to pay their annual tribute to him. While they were returning, Vasudheva and Nandha were lamenting over their plight. Vasudheva observed that in Repalle (Nandha's place) some inauspicious events seemed to be impending. "In Gokulam also some untoward events are likely to happen. Nandha, do not stay in Mathura for long. Leave the place immediately:"
On hearing this warning, Nandha immediately returned to Repalle. In Repalle, demoniac elements were all the time moving about actively. The first of them was Puthana. She lost her life while giving suck to Krishna. This Puthana in a previous life was Rathnavali, the daughter of Emperor Bali. The Lord as Vamana appeared as an extremely handsome young lad at the sacrifice being performed by Bali. Rathnavali was charmed by the beauty of Vamana and felt how much she would have enjoyed rearing him if he had been her son. As she was having these thoughts, she found that Vamana had placed his foot on Bali's head (after he had measured two footsteps).
Enraged at this sight, she was filled with desire to kill him. Because she desired at first to fondle Vamana as a child and later to kill him, she was born as Puuthana and came to Krishna to feed him and kill him. In the end, she lost her life.
The Lord has His own ways of fulfilling the desires of people. Hence, it is essential to have good thoughts and good desires.
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