Descent of Lord Krishna - Aug 29/30 2021

Dear Devotees,

Happy Janmastami, the most auspicious day of the year when Lord Krishna from Goloka Vrindavana descends upon earth to give pleasure to devotee, protect the devotees and annihilate the demons.?In this dance drama based on Srila Prabhupada’s Krishna Book, we will make a small attempt to provide a visual of what happened 5045 years ago in Mathura, Gokula and Vrindavan.?These are the places you can visit today in India and relive the past.?If anyone thinks these are simple stories, take pity on them and give them some Krishna prasadam so that they can enter the lilas of Krishna. I thank His Holiness Harivilasa Maharaja and temple management for giving me this opportunity to present the lord’s pastimes once again on the Advent of Lord Sri Krishna.?

Over 5045 years ago Vasudeva, the son of Surasena, just after marrying Devaki, was going home on his chariot with his newly wedded wife. At that time, Kamsa, the son of Ugrasena, in order to please his sister, Devaki, had voluntarily taken the reins of the horses of Vasudeva's chariot and was driving. According to the custom of the Vedic civilization, when a girl is married, the brother takes the sister and brother-in-law to their home.? The procession was passing very pleasingly; suddenly there was a miraculous sound vibrated from the sky which especially announced to Kamsa: "Kamsa: you are such a fool. You are driving the chariot of your sister and your brother-in-law, but you do not know that the eighth child of this sister will kill you."

Kamsa was the son of Ugrasena, of the Bhoja dynasty. It is said that Kamsa was the most demonic of all the Bhoja dynasty kings. Immediately after hearing the prophecy from the sky, he caught hold of Devaki's hair and was just about to kill her with his sword.

Vasudeva thought of his wife as follows: "For the present let me save the life of Devaki, then later on, if there are children, I shall see how to save them." He further thought, "If in the future I get a child who can kill Kamsa--just as Kamsa is thinking--then both Devaki and the child will be saved because the law of Providence.?

Vasudeva said to Kamsa, "My dear brother-in-law, please consider that you have no danger from your sister. You are awaiting some danger because you have heard a prophetic voice in the sky. But the danger is to come from the sons of your sister, who are not present now. And who knows? There may or may not be sons in the future. Considering all this, you are safe for the present. Nor is there cause of fear from your sister. If there are any sons born of her, I promise that I shall present all of them to you for necessary action."

Kamsa let them go and after birth of the first child Vasudeva presented the child to Kamsa as promised.?Kamsa became compassionate and said "My dear Vasudeva, you need not present this child to me. I am not in danger from this child. I have heard that the eighth child born of you and Devaki will kill me. Why should I accept this child unnecessarily? You can take him back." But later by the instigation of Narada who wanted to accelerate the arrival of Lord Krishna he put Vasudeva and Devaki in prison.?Within the prison, shackled in iron chains, Vasudeva and Devaki gave birth to a male child year after year, and Kamsa, thinking each of the babies to be the incarnation of Vishnu, killed them one after another.??

When Devaki became pregnant for the seventh time, a plenary expansion of Krishna known as Ananta appeared within her womb. The Supreme Personality of Godhead ordered the appearance of?Yogam?y??in the land of Vrajabhümi, in Vrindavana, which is always decorated and full with beautiful cows. In Vrindavana, Rohini, one of the wives of Vasudeva, was residing at the house of King Nanda and Queen Ya?od?.

The Lord thus informed?Yogam?y?:?"Under the imprisonment of Kamsa are Devaki and Vasudeva, and at the present moment, My plenary expansion, Ananta Sesha, is within the womb of Devaki. You can arrange the transfer of Ananta Sesha from the womb of Devaki to the womb of Rohini.

The Lord also declared to?Yogam?y??that His plenary expansion, Ananta Sesha, was within the womb of Devaki. On account of being forcibly attracted to the womb of Rohini, He will be known as Sankarshana and would be the source of all spiritual power or?bala,?by which one could be able to attain the highest bliss of life which is called?rama.

The eternal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with full potencies was transferred from the mind of Vasudeva to the mind of Devaki, exactly as the setting sun's rays are transferred to the full moon rising in the east.

Later Kamsa, however, saw the transcendental beauty of his sister Devaki, and he at once concluded that the Supreme Personality of Godhead had taken shelter in her womb.?Kamsa finally decided not to kill Devaki right away but to wait for the inevitable future. But his mind became absorbed in animosity against the Personality of Godhead.

"At the present," the demigods prayed, "the Supreme Lord Krishna is appearing just for the maintenance of this manifestation."? "Our dear Lord," the demigods prayed, "it is very difficult to understand Your eternal form of personality. People in general are unable to understand Your actual form; therefore, You are personally descending to exhibit Your original eternal form.”

Devaki was very much afraid of her brother Kamsa because he had already killed so many of her children. She used to remain very anxious about Krishna. In the?Vishnu Purana?it is stated that in order to pacify Devaki, all the demigods, along with their wives, used to always visit her to encourage her not to be afraid that her son would be killed by Kamsa

When Vasudeva was convinced that the newborn child was the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, he bowed down with folded hands and began to offer Him prayers. At that time Vasudeva was in the transcendental position, and he became completely free from all fear of Kamsa.

Devaki, the mother of Krishna, offered her prayers. "My dear Lord, Your eternal forms, like N?r?yana, Lord R?ma, Ananta Shesha, Var?ha, Narasimha, V?mana, Baladeva, and millions of similar incarnations emanating from Vishnu, are described in the Vedic literature as original.”

The lord said “I assure you that this time you shall go back to home, back to Godhead, on account of your perfection in your mission. I know you are very concerned about Me and afraid of Kamsa. Therefore I order you to take Me immediately to Gokula and replace Me with the daughter who has just been born to Yashoda."?

“Vasudeva came onto the bank of the Yamuna and saw that the water of the Yamuna was roaring with waves and that the whole span was full of foam. Still, in that furious feature, the river gave passage to Vasudeva to cross”

Then, Vasudeva went to the place of Nanda Maharaja situated in Gokula, entered the house in Vrindavan very silently and exchanging Krishna with Yogamaya, Vasudeva again returned to the prison of Kamsa and silently put the girl on the lap of Devaki.

Reference: https://krsnabook.com/