The Indian Dharma

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Gargaachaarya naming Yashoda’s new-born baby as “Krishna”. The couple had organized a grand “naming ceremony” as part of the “first month anniversary” of the new born. Even after a month had passed by, the swarms of people coming to Yashoda’s house hadn’t decreased even a bit. The curiosity to see the little baby was only increasing every passing day! People couldn’t take their eyes off the little one as they were overwhelmed upon seeing the baby! Thus, as days passed by, it was time for Yashoda and Nandagopa to celebrate the first month anniversary for their “special child” that has given her all the happiness over this one month. Hence, the couple arranges for a grand celebration and amidst that, Sage Gargaachaarya suits the name of “Krishna” to the child. Upon arrival, he takes a closer look at the baby and whispers this divine name into its ears.

As the new-born gets its name, the celebrations increase manifold! Now the people have a name to address the little one! Till this time, they were pampering the child without a name isn’t it? Now that has been taken care of! Little Krishna was the center of attraction for the whole of Gokula! As baby Krishna was becoming popular, this news somehow reaches Kamsa. As Kamsa comes to know how Baby Krishna was welcomed at Gokula with enormous celebrations, he was both scared, as well as agitated with anger! He was scared because he knew that his enemy is up and growing now, even though he tried hard to sabotage him during his birth itself. As the attempt failed due to divine intervention, Kamsa is not willing to give up any soon! He calls up one of his most trusted lieutenants, Poothana and explains thus, “Oh Poothana! Make your way to Gokula immediately! There would be a baby by name Krishna at the house of Yashoda and Nandagopa. You go there in a disguised form of a beautiful woman. Request Yashoda to have the baby on your lap. While doing so, try to breastfeed the baby and by that, feed poison into it. This would kill the baby then and there!”

As Kamsa orders thus, the plan is set! Poothana hurriedly makes her way to Gokula and to Yashoda’s house. As Poothana was a “Raakshasi” by nature, she had a very fearful form. However, as she nears Yashoda’s house, she assumes a disguised form of a beautiful woman and approaches Yashoda. It was only few minutes back, Yashoda had breastfed Baby Krishna, but He was still crying for more milk! It was as if Baby Krishna was waiting for Poothana to arrive and to take her to task! As Baby Krishna was crying aloud, Yashoda comes back from her kitchen to see what’s going on in the living room. It is at this time, Poothana knocks at the door, disguised as a beautiful woman! As Yashoda opens the door, Poothana enters inside with a beaming smile on her face. She talks to Yashoda thus, “Oh Yashoda! I’m coming from the neighboring town. I heard that you had given birth to a handsome baby! I was so eager to see it for the past one month or so, however, I got some time to drop in to your place only today. So if you give me permission, can I have a glance at your child?”

As Poothana asks thus, Yashoda did not realize that she was a “Raakshasi” and had come with a ploy. She innocently takes Baby Krishna from the cradle and hands Him over to Poothana. As Yashoda gives Baby Krishna to Poothana, little did she realize that she had “Yama-Dharma-Raaja” himself on her lap, instead of “just another baby”. Thus, as Poothana was glancing at Baby Krishna, she builds the trust with Yashoda and smartly sends her back into the kitchen. Now Poothana was alone with Baby Krishna. Sensing this opportunity to execute her ploy, Poothana takes Baby Krishna to her breasts and tries to feed the child with poison.

Now the game starts! As Baby Krishna starts feeding on Poothana’s breasts, He knew that it was poison that He was being fed with. He never showed out any reaction outside, but silently sucked her breasts in such a way that the baby drew up her breath totally! The ploy was totally defeated and Poothana was taken for a ride by Baby Krishna! Afterall He is Bhagawan Vishnu! How can He be taken for a ride like this so easily? As Baby Krishna was sucking the poison, He made sure that Poothana was a victim to her own “Karma” then and there! Unable to bear the pain of Baby Krishna sucking her life out, Poothana falls on the ground dead! All this unfolds within just seconds, although we narrate it in detail.

Upon hearing unbearable sounds from the living room, Yashoda comes running from the kitchen and sees her little new-born, crawling over the body of a huge Raakshasi (Demoness)! Stunned by what has happened, Yashoda’s first reaction was to ensure whether the baby was safe and secure! As she does that, she puts Baby Krishna back on the cradle and frantically cries for help! The entire town of Gokula rushes to Yashoda’s house and realizes what has just conspired! Gokula realizes that a great danger has been vetted off their darling Baby Krishna!

So for today, let us experience and enjoy the first “miracle” of Baby Krishna at Gokula. An important message from this incident awaits us in the next episode! Stay tuned! 😊

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We’re currently witnessing one of the most joyous moments in the entire Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana text wherein Bhagawan Krishna takes birth at Mathura city, then moves to Gokula, wherein for the first ten years of His incarnation, He is going to be the son of Yashoda and Nandagopa. We are at a stage wherein the new-born isn’t even given a name yet. Even before all these formal ceremonies take place, people in the Gokula town are celebrating with lot of grandeur, so as to welcome their darling child with loads of love and affection. Just like how we celebrate Shri Krishna Jayanti even today, the subsequent 2-3 days after the baby was born were all equivalent of the Shri Krishna Jayanti celebrations! People couldn’t hold back and control their excitement. They wanted to see the child again and again, infinite number of times! The moment the have a glance at the baby, they’re literally not able to take their eyes off!

As days go by with all these celebrations, it is now going to be the first month anniversary for the baby! In today’s scenario, we do not even have the time nowadays to celebrate our yearly anniversaries (birthdays) properly, given our “fast-paced” lifestyle! But Yashoda was very particular that she celebrates her darling son’s anniversary every month! So on whichever day the baby’s birth star falls, there would be enormous amount of celebration at Yashoda’s place! In these lines, the first month’s anniversary arrives and she organizes a huge function! It is going to be the “naming ceremony” for the baby. As per the practice, the baby was put in a cradle and Yashoda was along with Nandagopa, swinging the cradle gently. However, the baby wasn’t liking the cradle much! He started crying profusely whenever he was put in the cradle! It was as if the baby was communicating the message to the world thus, “Oh fools! You’re trying to restrict the “Purushothama” of this world into this small cradle? I’m never going to fit into this how much ever you try!” As the baby was crying incessantly, Yashoda tried to keep the baby on her lap and console it. Even then the baby didn’t stop crying. It cried on and on! Again, it was like conveying a message to the world thus, “Oh! How can a “Parandhaama” be restricted to just the lap of a woman or a man? This is not going to be possible ever!” Thus, as the baby was crying on and on, Yashoda was clueless as to how to control the baby’s cry! Such was the notorious behavior that the baby was exhibiting right from Day one! 😊

Now as it was time for the “naming ceremony” and Sage Gargaachaarya was making his way through to Yashoda’s place. Sage Gargaachaarya was their “Kula-Guru” and it is he who is going to suit a name for this kid. As Sage Gargaachaarya has a deep look at the baby, he suited the name called “KRISHNA”. “Krishi” means “Mother Earth”. “Nah” means “A person who’s going to give infinite joy and bliss”. Thus, if we combine these two “Shabdhaas” together, the name “Krishna” means, “A person who has taken birth to give infinite joy and bliss to this entire world!” It is to be remembered by readers here that this was the very purpose for which Bhagawan Vishnu has incarnated here. We should remember the conversation between Bhoomadevi (who’s none other than Mother Earth Herself) and Bhagawan Vishnu at Vaikunta. Mother Bhoomadevi was in tears and requested Bhagawan Vishnu to incarnate and restore the “Dharma” and happiness in the world, isn’t it? If we relate this incident to the name which Sage Gargaachaarya has given to the baby, it nicely correlates. The very name “Krishna” means that He who has taken birth to restore the “Dharma” and “Happiness” in this world!

This very cradle wherein Baby Krishna was put in, can be worshipped even today. If we go to the place called Nandagrama near to Mathura city, we can see the cradle and the devotees who visit this place have to crawl their way from one corner of the temple premises, towards the cradle. This indicates that we’re visiting Baby Krishna, who is none other than the Supreme Consciousness in a human form with all our “Bhakti” and “Respect”, and at the same time, with all our love. As we crawl towards the cradle, we’ve to put up our hands and laugh heartily! This is a great divine place and all of us should visit Nandagrama when we get an opportunity to visit Mathura and Gokula. We’re of course going to see many more such places around Mathura city wherein Bhagawan Krishna had set foot. All of these places are extremely divine and with enormous sanctity even today. If we visit these places, we would definitely feel that Bhagawan Krishna is still amongst all of us.

Thus as the celebrations continue to galore, the naming ceremony comes to an end. It is at this time, when Kamsa tries to unleash his fury on this newly born Baby Krishna! Let us wait till the next episode as to what “tactics” is Kamsa going to unleash! Stay tuned! 😊

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We’re currently amidst huge celebrations at Gokula, wherein baby Krishna has just arrived the previous night! Upon seeing the little baby, Yashoda and Nandagopa are thrilled to bits! They’ve never seen such a handsome kid ever in their life till date! This is the same with other people in the town as well. As the news spread across the town, people started swarming into Yashoda’s place to have a glance at the little one! The entire town went up into a rapturous celebration. Every house had bright lamps lit with oil. Every house had garlands fitted to their entrances. It was as if Bhagawan Krishna was born at all their places! Needless to mention, Yashoda’s house too was brightly lit and with all the garlands, etc. People were moving in and out of her house to get a quick glimpse of the little child! The celebration at Gokula was as such Baby Krishna was the center of attraction for all of them!

Even we too do the same thing during the auspicious “Shri Krishna Jayanti” isn’t it? All of us celebrate it with such a grandeur that one would really doubt if Baby Krishna has taken re-birth in all of our homes! 😊 In fact, this is how we should celebrate Bhagawan’s “important days”. Whether it is Shri Rama Navami or Shri Krishna Jayanti, we should celebrate all these festivals with lot of grandeur. This is in fact, one outcome of our ardent “Bhakti” towards Bhagawan. Also of course, to go with all of these, we would get an opportunity to consume lot of nicely cooked food! 😊 Especially during the Shri Krishna Jayanti celebration, it is a norm at most of our places in India that we make different varieties of sweets and savories for our Baby Krishna and in turn, we’re going to consume all of it after offering them to Him! As Bhakti is important for all of us, so is the “Prasadham” (Food offered to Bhagawan) too.

In fact, this is a very important message for all of us – Whenever we go to any temple to worship Bhagawan, we should know what “Prasadham” is famous in which temple! For instance, the moment we think of Tirupati-Tirumala, we would immediately remember the “Laddu Prasaadham” isn’t it? Similarly, if we remember the Parthasarathy Swamy Temple at Triplicane in Chennai, we would immediately remember the “Sweet Pongal”! In similar lines, there are designated “Prasadham” items that are extremely significant in each of the prominent temples in our Bhaarata Desha. Thus, as we worship Bhagawan, He gives out all His compassion and love towards us in the form of the “Prasadham”. Hence, we should make it a point that we receive the “Prasadham” with our utmost gratitude whenever we visit any temple. Since this directly comes from Bhagawan, it is all the more significant. Afterall this is not prepared at any of our homes isn’t it? 😊

Moving on thus, as Baby Krishna is being welcomed, Gokula too witnessed truckloads of “Prasadham” being distributed by Nandagopa and Yashoda to all the people who come to glance the little one! Since Gokula was filled with cows and calves, milk was something that was in abundance! The moment we say “milk”, all the milk products like butter, ghee, curd, etc. start gaining lot of prominence as well! Hence, the Prasadham that was being offered to all of them were all rich in milk content! Afterall Bhagawan Krishna Himself is as pure as the milk’s white color and hence it is needless to even say that the Prasadham was also as pure as the milk! With all this in place, Yashoda and Nandagopa created a nice “queuing system” at their place – People who come to see Baby Krishna, should come in the line, see the baby, glance it, come to the other side, receive the “Prasaadham” and depart! 😊

As people swarm in to witness Baby Krishna, they do not have the heart to take their eyes off the little one! Amongst the many people who came, there were few aged ladies who were like grandmothers. They requested Yashoda thus, “Oh Yashoda! This child is looking so adorable! Can we have the child on our lap for sometime? We would like to pamper the child to our heart’s content!” Upon hearing this request from the grandmothers, Yashoda couldn’t tell a “No” to them on their face, because she had to give respect to their age! Hence she replied thus, “Oh grandmothers! No problem! You can have the baby on your lap, but only for a few minutes. This is because, it is still a new-born baby and there is a possibility of it contracting some diseases if many people touch it at the same time! Hence, please be careful with the baby!” As the grandmothers have the baby in their lap, they smile at it and ask lovingly to the baby thus, “Oh my darling child! Why are you smiling like this? Tell me! Tell me! Who’s your mother? Who’s your father? Where are they?”

As the baby listens to all of these, it smiles even brighter! This was like making fun of these aged grandmothers, who didn’t realize that this baby was none other than Bhagawan Vishnu Himself! However, the baby too decided to conceal its real identity! Thus, it lifts up its small tender fingers, points them at Nandagopa and smiles at him! 😊 Upon seeing this gesture from the little baby, people were thrilled and exclaimed thus, “Oh wow! See how correctly the baby identifies its father! Upon looking at Nandagopa and this baby, both look so alike!”

Upon hearing this from the people, Bhagawan Vishnu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry! Afterall Nandagopa was never His real father! It was Vasudeva! Moreover, who on this earth can be a father of the Father? 😊 It is Bhagawan Vishnu who is the divine father to all of us! Given this fact, how can we proclaim that we are Bhagawan’s father? Anyway, Bhagawan Vishnu was overjoyed with the people’s innocence and the amount of devotion they had towards Him!

So for today, let us also be in this state of experiencing Baby Krishna’s beauty and childish plays. We shall wait till the next episode to continue this experience further! Stay tuned! 😊

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed how Yoga-Maya unleashed her illusionary powers to fool Kamsa and let Bhagawan Vishnu escape the wrath of his treacherous hands. The entire plan was set up and accordingly, Vasudeva transported Baby Krishna to Gokula and in turn, bring Yashoda’s baby girl to Mathura’s prison. As Kamsa hears the loud cry of the baby girl, he rushes to the prison and tries to have a go at it! However, the baby girl was none other than Yoga-Maya herself! As Kamsa was about to stab the baby girl, it flew away from his hands and it breaks into a rapturous thunderous laughter from above. Seeing this, Kamsa was stunned to bits! Yoga-Maya mocks at the foolishness of Kamsa and reveals that his enemy had already taken birth and is now growing up in Gokula! Yoga-Maya again warns Kamsa that he cannot do anything to stop the child from growing up and eventually killing him too! Saying thus, Yoga-Maya disappears! The child never comes back to earth again!

As Kamsa listens to this, he doesn’t know what to do at this stage. He was perplexed as to how did this eighth child escape from the tightly secured prison. This was a mystery that Kamsa couldn’t comprehend. Hence, he now thinks of new strategies as to how to take on the new-born baby and kill it during it’s childhood itself. Anyway, Kamsa had no other option now. He tried hard to kill the child during the birth itself, but somehow that didn’t happen. Now that the child has taken birth and is safe and secure at Gokula, Kamsa starts enquiring the whereabouts of this child. It was a nightmarish time for Kamsa for the next 10 years. It is only during Bhagawan Krishna’s 10’th year is He going to kill Kamsa.

Now, Kamsa calls upon all the people who have extreme “Asura-Shakti”. Kamsa calls out to all of them thus:

“Kamsayeva prasannaabhyaam vishuddham prathibhaashitaha!

Moolam hi vishnur devaanaam yatra dharmah sanaatanaha!!

Tasyacha brahmagovipraaha tapo yagnyaa sa dakshinaaha!!”

As all of them descend on to Kamsa’s place, he explains the situation thus, “Oh Raakshasas! This Vishnu has again come down to this earth in the form of a little baby at Gokula. He is going to be a huge threat for all of us, if we’re not going to finish him then and there! Hence, I require the co-operation of all of you and your strong powers that you’ve got. Let us form strategies to finish this little boy off, before he starts posing a danger to all our existence! We should act quickly now, else it is going to be a huge question of our survival!” Saying thus, Kamsa calls out Poothana, Arishtaasura, Pralambaasura, Trinaavarthaasura, Keshi, Vatsaasura, Kavitsaasura, Shakataasura, Aghaasura, Dhenukaasura, etc. and entrusts the job of finishing off the little boy.

As Kamsa is fretting out in fear and frustration on this side of the Yamuna river, the other side is all in huge celebration! The entire Gokula village is up in happiness and all people were taking turns to congratulate Nandagopa and Yashoda for the arrival of this baby child! As people come in large numbers to see the child, they’re attracted so much by it’s rapturing beauty and smile! As people come, nobody has the heart to go back to their own places. All of them sit amidst the living room of the Yashoda-Nandagopa couple and are singing praises for this little child! Of course, Yashoda and Nandagopa were also thrilled to happiness! Words cannot explains how happy the couple was! If Bhagawan arrives at our place, how much of overwhelming happiness would all of us have? We should imagine this now, as to how Gokula would have been as little Krishna arrived there overnight! 😊

As all this is happening, Yashoda takes the little baby and puts it on the cradle. She wants everybody to see the beautiful baby in the even more beautifully crafted cradle. This combination is so absorbing and attracting that people couldn’t take their eyes off the little one! At one point, the crowd of people was so much, that they had to literally form queues to let people see the baby and go! Even today we have this robust queuing system at Tirupati-Tirumala isn’t it? In other temples too, if there is a special event like that of “Vaikunta-Ekaadashi”, we would be able to see thousands of devotees thronging the temple. In order to control the crowd effectively, there would be a huge queuing system. This is exactly what Yashoda and Nandagopa had to resort to! As the crowds started to pour in from all directions, they had no other option but to erect queues to organize people! We can then imagine how many people would have come to worship Baby Krishna.

As celebrations are beautifying the Gokula town, let us also try and join into these happy moods! Afterall it is Bhagawan who has taken birth! So let us also join this queue of people through our hearts and worship our Baby Krishna! We shall be in this beautiful experience for the whole of today and in tomorrow’s episode we shall witness the interesting “naming ceremony” for the newly born child! This is going to be a very important episode! Stay tuned! 😊

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We’ve witnessed in our previous episode that Vasudeva is taking Bhagawan Vishnu, who has just incarnated in the form of a little baby, to Gokula by crossing the Yamuna river. Vasudeva takes the baby in a small basket and walks out of the prison complex. At the same time, Yoga-Maya unleashes her illusion and clears the way for Vasudeva to proceed further. Finally, Vasudeva crosses the Yamuna river and enters into the small town of Gokula. He straightaway proceeds towards Yashoda-Nandagopa’s place, places this baby there, takes the girl baby from that cradle and hurries his way back! Due to the tiredness of her pregnancy, Yashoda was not aware of all these events that were unfolding. In fact, she wasn’t even aware whether she had delivered a male or a female child. It is at this point did Vasudeva make the “exchange” of babies!

Now moving on further, Vasudeva hurries back to the prison complex and till then, as we’ve seen, all the security guards were asleep till that point! All the iron rods that were used to tie Vasudeva’s hands and legs were broken till that point. All the prison doors were broken and the entire place was opened up! However, as Vasudeva makes his way back into the prison, all the security guards wake up to their normal position. The iron rods take their place around Vasudeva’s hands and legs! The prison doors automatically close! The situation now is as if nothing has happened at all! Such was the power of the Yoga-Maya, which Vasudeva has carried in the basket from Yashoda’s house.

Now what is the message for all of us from this section of the “Krishna-Jananam”? If we surrender to Bhagawan Krishna’s lotus feet, all the “Samsaara” would automatically wiggle off and thus pave the way for all of us to attain “Moksha”! 😊 This is exactly what has happened to Vasudeva here too isn’t it? As Vasudeva came in contact with Bhagawan Vishnu and when he touched the little child, automatically all the prison doors, the iron-rod bonding, etc. broke away! By doing so, Bhagawan sends out a clear message to all of us that just like how Vasudeva’s prison barriers were broken away, our “Samsaara” barriers would also be broken away by Bhagawan Krishna, if we surrender to His lotus feet! This is what we’ve to understand from all of these important discussions. As I’ve been repeatedly emphasizing multiple times now, our ancestors have encapsulated enormous amounts of important messages inside the stories that they’ve narrated. Just as how the narrative of “Krishna-Jananam” is important for all of us to understand, so are the important messages that are hidden inside this story as well! Hence, while reading the story part, we should also understand the underlying messages that Bhagawan is trying to convey from every action of His! As we move on into the “Krishna-Leela” episodes in the coming days and weeks, all the stories associated with it are going to be extremely interesting, absorbing and are going to bring tears of joy in all our eyes! But simultaneously, we should also understand why Bhagawan Krishna had unleashed all the divine plays! Hence, this is important for all of us to note and understand.

Moving on thus, after all this fiasco has taken place, the little girl child is in the prison of Devaki and Vasudeva! This child is crying profusely. Normally it is believed that girl children cry more profusely than boy children! As the child is crying aloud, Kamsa gets alerted! Till that time, he was walking round and round in his room, waiting to hear the birth of the eighth child. The very fact that this eighth child is going to be Kamsa’s enemy is haunting him day and night and he has totally lost his sleep! Now as the cry is heard, Kamsa immediately jumps up and rushes towards the prison wherein Devaki and Vasudeva were sitting. As Vasudeva approaches with the new-born child, quite as usual, Kamsa immediately grabs it from his hands and has a look at it! One thing that Kamsa did not expect was that, this child would be a girl! Kamsa was surprised! He was expecting a male child to be the eighth baby of Vasudeva, but here itself he got fooled royally! Anyway, irrespective of being a male or a female child, an enemy is an enemy, isn’t it? Kamsa remembers Sage Naarada’s words here! It should be remembered by readers that Sage Naarada had “motivated” Kamsa to kill all the eight children, irrespective of whatever gender it might be! Hence, Kamsa decides to go for the kill.

As Kamsa tries to do his “usual practice” of banging the new-born on to the wall, to his utter shock, the girl child flew into the air from his hands! It is to be remembered that this is the very same “Yoga-Maya” that has unleashed all the illusions that we’ve seen so far. As Kamsa tries killing her thus, she lets out a thunderous laugh from the sky and mocks at Kamsa thus, “Oh Kamsa! I’ve seen fools in this earth, but amongst all the fools, you’re the greatest fool now! You’re trying to kill the wrong person. The real enemy of yours has already taken birth and is now safe and secure at Gokula! Stop him if you can!” As Yoga-Maya mocks Kamsa thus, she never returned back! She flew away into the skies and reached “Moksha” then and there! Of course, she has been of great help to Bhagawan Krishna and has involved herself meticulously in the “Krishna-Kainkarya” (Selfless service to Bhagawan Krishna). Thus, she rightfully reached the place where she should belong!

This message from Yoga-Maya shocks Kamsa to bits! How did this eighth child escape the prison doors? How did all this unfold overnight? Are these words of this child true? Kamsa becomes extremely nervous here! What is going to be his next action plan? What is Kamsa going to do to “capture and kill” Devaki’s eighth child? Let’s wait for the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 😊

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We’ve witnessed in the previous episode, an extended discussion on Bhagawan Vishnu’s divine incarnation as the eighth child of Devaki and Vasudeva. In due course, we had understood the important reason and the background behind why Bhagawan Vishnu was born to this couple and not to anybody else. We’ve seen that it was due to their ardent devotion towards Bhagawan Vishnu for three consecutive births, Bhagawan had to honor them in such a way that He used this couple thrice to incarnate in this world! This incarnation of Bhagawan Vishnu happened for the third time as the son of this couple of Devaki and Vasudeva. This was revealed by Bhagawan Himself to Vasudeva and Devaki in the prison complex. With this, the couple understood that this child was none other than Bhagawan Vishnu Himself, who has used them as a means to incarnate in this world and to achieve a great mission!

Moving on thus, as the divine voice replies and reveals this truth to Vasudeva, he poses another important question to the child. Vasudeva asks thus, “Oh Bhagawan! Now that you’ve incarnated in such a beautiful form, isn’t it my duty as a father to protect you? Do you understand where you are right now? You’re amidst a prison with a tight security. If Kamsa comes to know of your birth, next minute your life would be in a great danger. So please guide me on what should I do, so that you remain safe and secure from this wicked Kamsa!” The divine voice answers back thus, “Oh Vasudeva! You needn’t worry about all that. All you’ve to do now is to take me in a small basket, walk across the Yamuna river, leave me in Yashoda’s house at Gokula and in turn, bring Yashoda’s baby daughter here. I shall unleash my illusionary powers and clear the way for you!”

As per the divine instruction, Vasudeva takes the baby in a small basket and keeps it on his head. As Vasudeva is about to start walking, all the security guards in the prison fall down on the floor, fast asleep! The prison doors open! Yoga-Maya is now unleashing all her power of illusion. Vasudeva keeps walking and finally sets his foot amidst the waters of River Yamuna. Even today, we can worship this divine place wherein Bhagawan Krishna was born, the divine Yamuna river, which Vasudeva is currently crossing. This is collectively referred to as the “Krishna-Janma-Bhoomi”. Even today if we worship Mathura city, we would be able to feel the divine presence of Bhagawan Krishna. The very prison wherein Bhagawan incarnated can be worshipped today. There is a small prison complex that is present today near to the main temple of Bhagawan Krishna. Inside this prison complex there is a small slab and it is on this slab, Bhagawan Krishna incarnated from Devaki’s womb. Around this place, there are small temples for Bhagawan Krishna, and these are very beautiful and divine. If we visit Mathura, we should not miss to visit all of these places. Amidst a small distance from this place, is the famous Vrindavan, wherein Bhagawan Krishna has spent all of His childhood days, playing with all His friends and Gopikas.

Thus, Vasudeva takes the orders from Bhagawan and executes it. He crosses the Yamuna river and as Vasudeva walks through, the water level starts to go up! Gradually the water level rises from Vasudeva’s foot to knees to hips to chest to his neck level! However, Vasudeva was walking unfazed! As Bhagawan Vishnu was in the basket, His feet was protruding outside of it. As the waters of the river touched Bhagawan’s divine feet, it started to recede down to normal levels!

As this happens, immediately Sage Sukhaachaarya explains to King Parikshit thus, “Oh Parikshit! Look at the beauty here. This river Yamuna had the unique opportunity to worship Bhagawan’s divine feet immediately after He had incarnated! The moment Bhagawan’s feet touched the waters, it’s level started receding. This shows that if Bhagawan’s divine intervention happens, all our “Ahankara” (Arrogance), “Mamakara” (Self-pride) would come down, just like how the water level comes down!” What a unique message is this for all of us!

Thus, as Vasudeva crosses over the river Yamuna, he straightaway proceeds to Gokula and to Yashoda’s place. He picks up the baby girl from there and replaces it with this baby boy. All this happens when everybody is fast asleep and nobody knows an inch of what is unfolding – Thanks to the illusion of Yoga-Maya! Thus, Vasudeva returns back to the prison with the baby girl and the operation was successful! What is going to unfold next? Was Kamsa able to kill this baby girl? Let us wait till the next episode and witness it! Stay tuned! 😊

• 

We’re at an exciting phase of the entire Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana text wherein Bhagawan Vishnu is incarnating as the darling son of Devaki and Vasudeva at the Mathura prison. We had witnessed this divine moment yesterday and as Bhagawan Vishnu incarnates, all the Devas, Bhagawan Brahma, Mother Bhoomadevi, etc. were extremely happy and shower flowers of praise on the little child. As Bhagawan Vishnu incarnates, more than anybody else, He Himself is extremely happy – Atlast after so many Yugas, He has two parents! 😊 All of us know that Bhagawan Vishnu is the creator of the entire world, and if He has to have two creators in the form of Devaki and Vasudeva, how fortunate is this couple to give birth to Bhagawan Himself? With this extreme happiness, the little child is smiling continuously. Normally we would see that in most cases, newly born babies would come out of the mother’s womb with lot of crying. However, Bhagawan Vishnu’s case was the opposite here – As He incarnates as a little child to Devaki and Vasudeva, He is in all smiles! Of course, this smile has multiple meanings hidden inside, which we’re going to witness all through this tenth “Skandha” in the following episodes. We’re going to witness how Bhagawan Krishna was an expert in playing tricks with everybody around, thus creating a funny as well as a divine experience for all His ardent devotees!

Moving on thus, as Bhagawan takes birth, Devaki and Vasudeva were thrilled to bits upon seeing their little baby. However, they couldn’t celebrate that joyous moment even a bit, because, if this news reaches Kamsa, all of us know what he is going to do next! Hence, Devaki and Vasudeva were perplexed as to what to do and how do save this child from the wrath of Kamsa’s hands! As Vasuedva looks at the child with the Shanka and Chakra in its elbows, he realizes that this baby is not an ordinary one. There is some divinity in this child, unlike the previous ones. Hence, Vasudeva folds his hands in respect, and with all his smiles, love and compassion towards the baby, asks thus, “Oh my darling child! I’m sure that you’re not an ordinary child by the way you appear. Please tell me who are you really! I’m so eager and curious to know. Moreover, since you’re seeming like a divine child, isn’t it the duty of your father to protect you from death? Your uncle Kamsa is waiting to kill you any moment. Hence, please tell me who you are and how do I protect you.”

Upon Vasudeva’s questions, a divine voice arises out of nowhere! This little baby is looking on with all its innocence. The divine voice explains thus, “Oh Vasudeva! Both yourself and Devaki had once upon a time performed a serious penance, three births before this. During that time, you were born as “Prishni” and “Sutapa”. As you were in your penance, you wished that Bhagawan Vishnu should take birth as your child, three times. Accordingly, Bhagawan Vishnu took birth as “Prishni-Garbha” in the same birth. During the subsequent birth, both of you were born as Aditi and Kashyapa. To this couple, Bhagawan Vishnu was born as Vaamana Moorthy. Thus, this is your third subsequent birth as a couple as Vasudeva and Devaki. Thus, Bhagawan Vishnu has taken birth for the third time to both of you. Hence, this divine baby is none other than Bhagawan Vishnu Himself and He has fulfilled the essence of your sincere penance. Moreover, Bhagawan Vishnu has used your ardent devotion to fulfill His divine mission that is going to unfold in the coming years!”

As Vasudeva and Devaki hear this divine voice, they are in tears of joy! Upon looking at this divine child, they now know who this divine child is! They couldn’t believe their ears! This was an emotional and a divine moment for the couple! Finally their wish was fulfilled by Bhagawan, even after three births! Thus, the important lesson for all of us from this episode is that, all what is important for Bhagawan is our sincere prayer and effort towards Bhakti. If we are sincere in our attempt, Bhagawan knows when to fulfill our wishes. He would definitely do it when the right time comes. Hence, we should understand here that just because our wishes are not fulfilled today at the very same moment, it doesn’t imply that Bhagawan hasn’t heard our ardent prayers. We should not lose hope and faith on Bhagawan! Afterall He is our divine father isn’t it? Just like how our father knows what is good or bad for us at what time of our life, our divine father called Bhagawan knows what is good or bad for us at what time. We can witness here too in the case of Devaki and Vasudeva – Even after three births, Bhagawan remembers their ardent prayers and thus fulfills their wish of being born as their son, isn’t it? What more proof do we want in this world, to establish the fact that Bhagawan remembers us always in His thoughts? He never lets down His devotees even a bit.

Thus, all what is important for us is that, we should have the faith on Bhagawan and should only keep increasing our “Bhakti” day after day. We should have the confidence that whatever hurdles we face in life, Bhagwan is always there to protect us. We can witness in this case of Devaki and Vasudeva too – How many hurdles they had to face? First of all, being in a prison ever since the day of their marriage is itself one of the biggest hurdles! On top of that, they were chained with steel rods 24*7, without any break! Worst of all, six of their new-born babies were killed on the spot and in front of their own eyes! How disastrous could this be for a parent to see their little child being killed in front of their own eyes? Is there a greater misery than this for a mother or a father? They had to undergo all of this isn’t it? Even then, they were mentally strong and were eagerly awaiting the divine birth of Bhagawan. Now of course, we’re witnessing that they’ve reaped the benefit of their patience, prayers and confidence that they had on Bhagawan Vishnu! This is the important lesson that all of us have to learn today.

So let us understand and realize this lesson and let us continue to keep enjoying baby Krishna’s birth episode for today as well. We shall wait till the next episode to witness how Yoga-Maya is going to unleash her power to protect Baby Krishna from Kamsa! Stay tuned! 😊

• 

We’re currently at a crucial and an important juncture as all of us are awaiting Bhagawan Vishnu’s incarnation in this world, so as to restore the “Dharma” and to destroy the “Adharma” that was growing manifold. As the sequence of events continued at Mathura and as per the instruction of Bhagawan Vishnu to Yoga-Maya, she starts playing the tricks, wherein firstly Devaki’s seventh child was transferred into the womb of Vasudeva’s other wife by name Rohini. Thus, the seventh child was saved from the wrath of Kamsa. Secondly, Yoga-Maya herself enters into the womb of Yashoda in Gokula and is waiting to be born as a daughter to Nandagopa and Yashoda. Meanwhile, at the same time, Bhagawan Vishnu Himself enters into the womb of Devaki and is about to incarnate as her eighth child.

Meanwhile, the news that Devaki was carrying the eighth child reaches Kamsa. Upon hearing this, he initially shuddered with fear that finally the time has come for his dreadful enemy to take birth! As Kamsa was in a savage resolution to somehow kill the child immediately after it is born, Yoga-Maya again plays her trick here. As Bhagawan Vishnu grows inside Devaki’s womb, all the Devas, Bhagawan Brahma, Mother Bhoomadevi, etc. pray their worship to Him and are eagerly awaiting Bhagawan’s birth. Finally the day arrived when Bhagawan had to come out of Devaki’s womb. It was the night time and all aspects of nature including rivers, lakes, forests, etc. were eagerly awaiting Bhagawan’s incarnation. All the Devas were assembling together to witness the divine birth of Bhagawan Vishnu. As the time approaches closer and closer, all the “Apsaras” women start staging a beautiful “welcome dance” for Bhagawan Vishnu. As the dance goes by, all the Devas including Indra shower flowers all over the world, depicting a divine gesture of what is going to unfold within the next few minutes.

As time gradually goes by into the middle of the night, the entire world came to a standstill. Kamsa is also fast asleep and so are the prison’s security guards. It is at this middle of the night is Bhagawan Vishnu incarnating in this world! A divine light flashes across the world as Bhagawan Vishnu incarnates with four hands and with the “Shanka” and “Chakra”! The little child has a divine smile in its face as it takes birth. As the child takes birth, it is showing all characteristics that show to the world that this is not an ordinary child. This is an incarnation of Bhagawan Vishnu Himself! As the little child is born, unlike other normal children which cry during the process, this child is all in smiles! It was like communicating to the world that this child is none other than Bhagawan Narayana Himself who hasn’t taken birth because of “Karma”! Rather, He has taken birth to wash away all our “Karma”! 😊 He has taken birth due to His unending compassion towards all of His devotees! He has taken birth to educate the world as to how to lead a happy and a contented life in this world. He has taken birth to grant the highest “Moksha” for all His devotees who follow the path of “Dharma”! Thus, with all these missions in His hands, Bhagawan lets out a divine smile, which attracts all the Devas including Indra! Bhagawan Brahma’s heart is melting with joy and compassion! Mother Bhoomadevi is happy that finally her prayers have been answered by Bhagawan! It is to be remembered that it was only upon the ardent request and cries of Mother Bhoomadevi that Bhagawan has planned this entire “mission”!

Thus, as the child is born, it’s beauty attracts everyone around and of course Devaki and Vasudeva as well! How can parents be exempted from this joy? Devaki takes a look at her new-born with motherly love and compassion and as the child smiles at her, tears of joy roll down her cheeks! Her heart melts with happiness! Vasudeva too couldn’t take his eyes of the child! This was the divine moment that all of us were waiting for! So for today, let us enjoy this divine moment of Bhagawan’s incarnation and let us imagine Baby Krishna in our minds and hearts! We shall wait till the next episode to see how Yoga-Maya is going to unleash her next set of agenda! 😊 Stay tuned! 😊

• 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed how Sage Naarada plays spoilsport in Kamsa’s fortunes and “motivates” him to kill all children that are born to Devaki and Vasudeva. As Kamsa lets alone Vasudeva’s first child, he was confused whether he was going to commit a heinous crime and finally took a decision to refrain from it. Anyway it was only the eighth child that is going to be a problematic one, and hence he decides to “wait and watch” till the eighth one is born. However, Sage Naarada does a timely intervention and confuses Kamsa! He explains to Kamsa in such a way that it creates a doubt in his mind whether Vasudeva would cheat him. What if Vasudeva gives the fourth child to be killed, instead of the eighth one, as all the eight are going to look alike? Also, Sage Naarada creates a “play” wherein he explains that the Devas have plotted against Kamsa and that, Vasudeva is also part of that “team” which has created a ploy against him!

As Kamsa listens to Sage Naarada’s words, he gets convinced that the Devas are plotting against him and that, he should kill all the eight children, instead of falling into the trap of waiting till the eighth one is born! Hence he recalls Vasudeva with the baby, snatches the new-born from his hands, smashes it against the wall and puts it to death! This saga continues for the next five babies as well. Now, as Devaki becomes pregnant for the seventh baby, something unusual happens. This is where the “Divine Sankapla” (Will) works out. It is at this time, Bhagawan Vishnu orders “Yoga-Maaya” to execute certain important tasks. This “Yoga-Maaya” is a form of “Shakti” in the female form. Thus, Bhagawan Vishnu orders Her thus, “Oh Yoga-Maaya! I order you to execute two things on an urgent basis! Please understand that Devaki is carrying the seventh child in her womb. Firstly, transfer that womb into another woman by name “Rohini” at Gokula. This Rohini is Vasudeva’s another wife. Hence, let her bear this seventh child in her womb. This child would be born with the name “Sankarshana” or “Balarama”, who is going to be the incarnation of Bhagawan Aadisesha Himself! All this should happen without the knowledge of either Kamsa or Devaki or Vasudeva!”

Saying thus, Bhagawan Vishnu continues further, “And now for the second order – I’ll incarnate as Devaki’s eighth child. Now if Kamsa comes and asks how come the eighth child was born before the seventh one, we can establish that the seventh child had a premature death in Devaki’s womb! It is at the same time when Yashoda at Gokula would get pregnant too and would be carrying a child in her womb. She would deliver a baby girl. You should incarnate as that baby girl for Yashoda. Also, you should unleash your illusion in such a way that it would help Vasudeva transfer me from Mathura to Gokula and in turn bring you from Gokula to Mathura! When this “transfer” and “swapping” of babies are happening, nobody should know anything of this! You should shed your illusion (Maya) in such a way that everybody falls fast asleep and the entire fiasco is executed!”

The plan was thus made! A clear roadmap was given to Yoga-Maya and she is now getting to task! According to the plan, Yoga-Maya uses her divine power to transfer Devaki’s seventh child to Rohini’s womb. Later, Rohini gives birth to Balarama. Thus, the seventh child was saved from the wrath of Kamsa! This happens totally without the knowledge of Kamsa and he is fooled right royally! 😊 Of course, Kamsa knew that Devaki was carrying the seventh child, but all of a sudden there was no news about its birth. For the previous six children, the security guards of the prison would hear a new-born baby crying and they would immediately alert Kamsa that a child is born to the couple. At the same time, Vasudeva too would bring the new born to Kamsa for killing. But for this seventh child, nothing of that sorts happen! There was no clue about the child taking birth! However, as Kamsa enquires, Devaki and Vasudeva explain to him that this child has died in Devaki’s womb itself, and that, the pregnancy has been aborted. Upon hearing this, Kamsa too was convinced at that point as he had tight security amidst the prison complex and he knew that Vasudeva cannot escape with the child anywhere outside.

However, after almost a year, Kamsa again gets the news that Devaki was carrying. Bhagawan Vishnu has entered into Devaki’s womb finally! This was the eighth pregnancy! This is the child that Kamsa is dreading about! Whereas, the entire world including Devas and other celestial beings, Sage Naarada, etc. were all eagerly waiting for Bhagawan Vishnu to take birth! As Devaki starts to carry Bhagawan Vishnu in her womb, all the Devas, Bhagawan Brahma, Sage Naarada, etc. come down to Mathura and pay their respects to the womb thus, “Oh Bhagawan Vishnu! You’re happy residing at Vaikunta! But for the benefit of this world and to restore the “Dharma”, and as per our request, you are going to take birth with a great mission in hand! We salute you for your kind gesture and compassion! With your incarnation, the entire world is going to be reformed and benefitted as “Dharma” is going to be restored back!”

As he gets the news that Devaki was carrying, Kamsa shudders for a moment, but however makes up his mind to go for the rampage. As months pass by, all were eagerly waiting for Bhagawan Vishnu to incarnate! With this same eagerness, let us also wait till the next episode to witness how Bhagawan Vishnu is going to be born as Devaki’s darling son and what are the events that are going to unfold after Bhagawan takes birth. Stay tuned for an interesting and an absorbing episode tomorrow! 😊

• 

We’ve witnessed in the previous episode, the continuation of the discussion between Bhagawan Vishnu and the team consisting of Mother Bhoomadevi, Devas and Bhagawan Brahma. According to the team’s request, Bhagawan Vishnu concludes that the time has come for Him to incarnate in this world yet another time, to set things right and thus, to restore the “Dharma”. As we’ve witnessed that the “Yaadava” clan was starring at a brink, because King Yayaati denied the kingdom and successorship position to his eldest son Yadu. Hence, to uplift this Yaadava clan, Bhagawan Vishnu decides to incarnate as part of this clan, and as a son to Devaki and Vasudeva.

We’ve already witnessed in the previous “Skandha” that Kamsa was Devaki’s brother and it was Kamsa who arranged Devaki’s marriage with Vasudeva. After the marriage, Kamsa was driving the chariot, taking the couple to Mathura city, while the divine voice sounded from the skies that it is going to be time for Kamsa’s lifespan very soon! The enemy of Kamsa is going to be the eighth child that is going to be born to this very couple of Devaki and Vasudeva! As we’ve witnessed henceforth, Kamsa imprisons both of them at Mathura and subsequently, as per an agreement between him and Vasudeva, the first six babies were mercilessly killed.

Here, Sage Sukhaachaarya narrates an important event. As Vasudeva brings the fist child to Kamsa with his trembling hands, Kamsa snatches the child and is going to hit it on a nearby wall and kill it. As he was going to do thus, Vasudeva stops him for a moment and explains thus, “Oh Kamsa! Why are you in a hurry like this? Please listen to what I’ve got to say. As per the divine voice, it is only the eighth child that is going to be your enemy, isn’t it? If that is the case, why should you kill the first seven of them? Anyway, they are not going to be of any harm to you. Moreover, if you’re killing a baby, you would get into one of the greatest sins in this world, called “Sishu-Hatha”. For this, even if you go to fourteen different “Naraka-Lokhas”, this particular sin would not be washed away! Hence, think before you commit this crime!”

Upon hearing this from Vasudeva, Kamsa’s mind got into a confusion. He thinks for a moment and comes to a conclusion that Vasudeva’s words were correct and makes sense. Afterall it’s only the first child now, isn’t it? Why kill an innocent child for no fault of it’s? It’s only the eighth one which is going to be the culprit isn’t it? Hence, Kamsa decides to “wait and watch”! Thus, he makes up his mind and returns the baby to Vasudeva! Upon having the baby back in his hands, Vasudeva couldn’t believe what was happening! How come Kamsa’s arrogance took a back seat just like that? As Vasudeva re-obtained the baby, he was extremely happy and relieved that his child is safe! Kamsa too let him go back to the prison. Now, Vasudeva starts walking back to the prison with the new-born baby in his hands!

It is at this time an important event takes place. Sage Naarada arrives at the scene and he straightaway goes to meet Kamsa! It is always known that if Sage Naarada comes somewhere, he would wreak havoc, but finally, people would realize that it was for something beneficial! It is the same case here too! Sage Naarada knows that this Kamsa is a fickle-minded person and thus, he wants Kamsa to commit the crime of “Sishu-Hatha”. Afterall, there should be some valid reasons for the upcoming eighth child to kill Kamsa, isn’t it? Hence, Sage Naarada hurries to Kamsa and asks him in a tensed tone thus, “Oh Kamsa! I know that you’re starring at a great danger for your life! It looks like the first baby is born to your sister Devaki! I’m sure you must have killed it, as per your “beautiful and concrete” strategy! I just wanted to come and take a “status-update” whether your “strategy implementation” is going on well! 😊 So tell me! Have you killed the first baby?”

By the tone with which Sage Naarada asked Kamsa, again made him confused! He is right royally falling into Sage Naarada’s trap! The moment Sage Naarada sees Kamsa getting confused, he continues thus, “Oh Kamsa! By the look of your body language, it seems something is wrong with you! I’ve always seen you as an epitome of confidence and now what has happened? Haven’t you killed the baby? Haven’t you executed your strategy as per the plan?” As Sage Naarada questions him thus, Kamsa replies back thus, “Oh great Sage! I wanted to kill it. However, Vasudeva’s appealing words made me compassionate for the little one and I didn’t kill it. Instead, I gave it back to Vasudeva!”

Listening to Kamsa’s reply thus, Sage Naarada replies back and tempts him again thus, “Oh Kamsa! Look who is talking about compassion! I’ve never seen you this compassionate till date! But anyways, let me tell you something very important here – Look how the Devas are trying to fool you! Every year there is going to be a child born to Devaki. Since, this is going to be back to back for the next eight years, all babies would look the same as they grow up! Hence, if all of them stand one after the other, you might not even know which is the first and which is the eighth baby! Given this confusion, how will you know if Vasudeva wrongly points out the first one as the eighth one and the sixth one as the fourth one? Oh Kamsa! Afterall Vasudeva is a father! He would not like his children to bear the brunt of your strength! Hence, he might cheat you and you would thus end up killing all children, except the eighth one! Thus, if you leave this child alive at this moment now, you’re going to face this imminent danger and you are going to thus fall into the trap that the Devas have laid for you! Hence, my advice to you would be that, you should start killing each and every child as and when it is born! Don’t let it till the end and then be sorry for yourself!”

As Sage Naarada replies thus, Kamsa’s mind got even more confused! He has now totally fallen into the trap that Sage Naarada has laid down! In fact, whatever Sage Naarada had said so far was all false! It was a totally fake narrative, just to make Kamsa kill the child. But Kamsa unfortunately did not understand this trap. Since these words came from a great Sage, he believed them blindly! Thus, he re-called Vasudeva who was now about to reach the prison with the child in hand! He thus snatches the baby from Vasudeva’s hands and kills it immediately! This process of killing the new-borns continued till the sixth child.

As Devaki was carrying the seventh child in her womb, something strange happened! What was the event that conspired during this time? Let’s wait till the next episode to witness in detail! Stay tuned! 😊