That was the dark fortnight of the rainy month of Sravana. It was almost middle of the night. The moon had not yet risen. The sky was pitch dark. There were lightning and thunder storms, followed by torrential rains. The river Yamuna had flooded.
Kamsa was taking rest in his palace, unable to fall asleep. He knew very well that any moment Devaki was going to give birth to her eighth child. The taunting tone of the ‘voice from skies’ was still reverberating in his ears. Will it really happen? He kept thinking. He tried to fall asleep, reassuring himself that nothing of that sort could happen since both Vasudeva and Devaki were imprisoned in a high security prison guarded by his trusted soldiers.
But...
All of a sudden everything was quiet. Even the thundering clouds seemed to mellow down their sound into mild whisper. The roaring winds turned into gentle breeze. The muddy water of the turbulent river suddenly cleared out. The skies were lit up with clusters of stars. The lotuses and lilies in the lakes bloomed as if the dawn was approaching. The forest trees burst out with fragrant flowers. And swarms of sweetly humming bees were busily sucking the nectar. The birds started celebrating, with their sweet voices.
It was not just the earth, even the heavens were rejoicing. Divine singers like Kinnaras and Gandharvas were singing with joy. The celestial dancers like Vidyadhara and Apsara, started to dance, celebrating the occasion. Divine sages like Siddhas and Charanas started reciting the prayers of God. Some elated divine beings even started showering flowers from the skies.
What was the occasion?
The one who is ‘never born’, the one who is ‘all pervading’, the one who has ‘no specific form’ had come down to earth as the eighth child of Devaki. Both Devaki and Vasudeva were pleased to see the God appear before them in human form. But it was not any ordinary human form. That form had four arms with various weapons in each. He was bedecked with jewelry from head to toe. He was smiling with divine grace.
Both Devaki and Vasudeva forgot all their fears. They started praising the God.
“Oh God, it is such a delight to have a glimpse of you. I would like to keep gazing at your beautiful face again and again.
Those tender childlike cheeks of yours, that face beaming with glory, I would like to keep looking at your face again and again. There is nothing more pleasant than that.
Your dress is glowing like the early morning sun. Your gem studded necklace is shining brightly. Your eyes are like the lotus flower. Your cheeks are tender. You are wearing a dazzling crown.
I would like to keep gazing at you, to my heart’s content”
What you just heard in the background was a famous devotional song composed by the well-known poet saint Tyagaraja in Telugu language. The voice was that of well known Indian classical singer Dr. Balamurali Krishna*.
Vasudeva and Devaki kept praising the divine form of God again and again. When God was with them why should they worry about Kamsa or anyone else? All their past miseries had come to an end and there was nothing to be afraid of.
But that elation was only for a moment.
The mother in Devaki was alerted. She was worried about her child. What would happen if someone sees the child? If it were an ordinary small baby, probably she could have somehow hidden him somewhere. But how could she hide someone so gigantic, and that too with nonhuman features like four hands and glowing with radiance? As such, the prison was surrounded by soldiers, each of whom was more cruel than Kamsa himself. What if they come to know? Surely, they would grab her child and take him to Kamsa!
How foolish of her! How could she hide someone who is all pervading? Is there any place which could contain him? But she was a mother after all! Motherly concern does not think about such things.
The God smiled at Devaki’s fears. He told her that he had come to her in that form because it was her wish in her previous life that God in that form should take birth as her child. Devaki had forgotten that. But God had not ;-)
But Devaki was not prepared to listen to all that explanation. She pleaded to God to transform himself into a normal human babe as if she had just given birth to him.
Nothing is impossible to God. And Lo! There he was, a helpless human kid, just out of his mother’s womb, casting an innocent smile at his parents! Devaki was a bit relieved. But still, on day break any way the news would go to Kamsa. What if he came and took off her kid? How was she going to protect him from such a merciless tyrant?
As if the God understood her fears, he waved his hand – and there was his divine magic. Both Devaki and Vasudeva went into trance. As if under a spell, Vasudeva lifted the child and placed it on his head and started walking. But how was he going to come out of the prison cell?
Everything is possible when God wills. The heavy locks that had held the prison doors closed, unlocked all on their own. As Vasudeva moved towards the doors, the doors flung wide open. But what about the guards patrolling outside! Not to worry, they were all fast asleep as if they were drugged. There was none who was in a position to stop Vasudeva.
Vasudeva moved out of the prison with no difficulty at all. But it was raining outside. Would not the child get wet in that rain? Not to worry. A huge cobra came from nowhere and held its hood wide open over the child, preventing it from getting wet.
Where was Vasudeva going to take that child? No place in Mathura was safe for the child since nothing could escape Kamsa’s eyes. The only place was Gokul, on the other bank of river Yamuna. Nandagopa, the headman of Gokul was a close friend of Vasudeva. Besides, being cowherds, Nandagopa and his people would be least suspected by Kamsa. Not that Vasudeva was consciously thinking about all this. It was divine magic which was guiding him.
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| Vasudeva carrying Krishna to Gokul |
The river Yamuna was roaring with floods. There were huge tides and it would have been impossible for any human being to cross the river in such a turbulent state. But not when God wills otherwise. The river at once calmed down. Vasudeva could easily walk across the river carrying the child on his head.
Without his knowledge about what was happening, Vasudeva reached Nandagopa’ s house. The doors were wide open as if his arrival was expected. But there was none to receive him. Whoever was inside were in deep sleep. Vasudeva moved straight to Nandagopa’s bedroom.
As if by divine coincidence, Yashoda, Nandagopa’s wife had just given birth to a female child. But Yashoda was almost unconscious due to labor trauma. She did not take any note of Vasudeva entering her bedroom. Even her maids were fast asleep.
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| Vasudeva exchanging Krishna with Yashoda's newborn |
Vasudeva went near Yashoda. Placed his child near her and lifted the female child, just born to Yashoda. He came out of Nandagopa’ s house, quite unnoticed by anyone. He retraced his steps and finally reached the prison cell in Mathura. He placed the female child by the side of sleeping Devaki. That was when he came out of his trance. He slowly started guessing what could have happened, based on faint memories.
The prison doors automatically closed and got locked as before. Everything looked like before. Devaki too came out of the trance. She came to know what had happened. The drama was almost over.
The newborn female child, like all newborns, started wailing aloud. That woke up all the soldiers who were sleeping outside. They were startled and probably cursed themselves for loosing their senses. They knew that Devaki had given birth to a child. They ran to Kamsa’s palace to deliver the news to him.
Kamsa came running, to have a glimpse of his enemy who had come as the eighth child of Devaki. Little did he know the magic done by God!
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| Yoga Maya escaping the hands of Kamsa |
Kamsa entered the prison cell. He grabbed the female child ignoring the pleas of poor Devaki. He lifted the child with its legs and hit it hard to the prison walls. His intention was to crush the head of the child. He wanted to get rid of his enemy once for all.
But how could he have done it? The reason was that this child was none other than Yoga Maya – God’s feminine power. She slipped out of Kamsa’s hands and sprung into the skies. She took the form of a fierce Goddess with several arms. She ridiculed Kamsa by saying
“You foolish man! I am not the one who has come to kill you. That one has already taken birth and he is elsewhere.”
Hearing the voice of Yoga Maya, Kamsa was convinced that he had failed in saving his life. All his attempts have been futile. He cursed himself for his helplessness. He recollected how he had killed all the previous children born to Devaki, how he had mercilessly imprisoned his own sister. All that was in vain. Nothing could save him from the impending death since he did not even know where his enemy was at that moment.
Kamsa repented for whatever had happened. He apologized to his sister as well his brother-in-law. He released them from the prison, almost accepting the inevitability of his death from his enemy who was hiding in an unknown place.
Kamsa consulted his ministers about what should be his next course of action. How should he protect himself?
Kamsa’s advisers were as wicked as Kamsa. They advised Kamsa not to take things lying down. They wanted him to do everything possible to hunt down his enemy, no matter where he was at that time. After a prolonged consultation, Kamsa came up with the proclamation
“Kill all male children born in the kingdom in the past one week”
That was a royal order and the soldiers went in all directions looking for newborns. They mercilessly killed whoever they found. There was massacre of many an innocent child.
Could they trace Krishna who was safe in Gokul? Or was he safe there? Let us discuss that in the next episode.
Very interesting episode of Krishna's birth - one thing is understood from this story is that whatever destoned happen will happen - nobody can change the fate
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