A story · Krishna Lilas · Before He Comes

The Prophecy and Kansa's Remorse

Bhagavata Purana 10.4 · read aloud in the app

The story · English

The palace gates were tightly shut, just as they had always been. But suddenly, the sound of a baby's cry pierced the silence, waking the guards. They hurried to the King, who had been waiting in agitation, and told him that Devaki had given birth. Kansa leaped from his bed in a panic, his hair falling loose from his head as he scrambled toward the birth chamber. Devaki, heartbroken and desperate, pleaded with her brother. 'She is your daughter-in-law,' she begged. 'Do not kill a woman. Driven by fate, you have already destroyed so many of my babies, who were like sparks of fire. Please, let this one daughter live.'

Kansa, however, remained cold. Devaki wept and begged him pitifully, but the cruel king rebuked her. He snatched the newborn girl from her mother's arms and dashed the infant against a stone slab. But the child slipped from his hand and rose into the sky, and there she was seen as a magnificent goddess, the younger sister of Vishnu, eight-armed and radiant. She wore divine garlands, jeweled ornaments, and celestial clothing. In her hands, she held a bow, a trident, a sword, a conch, a discus, and a mace. Siddhas, Charanas, Gandharvas, Apsaras, Kinnaras and Uragas surrounded her, offering oblations and singing her praises.

The goddess looked down at Kansa and spoke with authority: 'Fool, what will you gain by killing me? The one who will kill you, your old enemy, has already been born somewhere else. Do not kill helpless infants for nothing.' With these words, the divine Maya disappeared into the world, taking on many names and forms. Kansa was stunned. Overcome with a sudden, profound shock, he spoke humbly to Devaki and Vasudeva. 'Oh, my sister! I have committed terrible sins,' he cried. 'I have killed so many children. I have abandoned all mercy and kinship. I am like a dead man who still breathes.'

Kansa told them not to grieve, for every creature reaps its own deeds under fate and the self is never killed; only one blind to the self believes that he kills or is killed. He begged for forgiveness and, weeping, fell at the feet of his sister and her husband, then freed them from their fetters. Devaki forgave her brother, and Vasudeva smiled, explaining that the blindness of ignorance makes people see a difference between themselves and others, leading them to be driven by greed, fear, and hatred. Pleased, the two gave Kansa leave, and he returned home. However, as soon as the night passed, he called his ministers. He told them everything the goddess Yoganidra had said.

The ministers, who were actually enemies of the gods, urged Kansa to be ruthless. 'Then this very day we will kill every infant in the towns, villages and cowherd settlements, whether under ten days old or older,' they said. They argued that the gods were weak and terrified of his bow. They suggested a darker plan: Vishnu is the root of the gods, and his own root is the Vedas, the cows, the Brahmanas, austerity and sacrifices with their fees, so Kansa should dig out that root. 'Kill the Brahmanas, the ascetics, and the cows,' they advised, 'for these are the very body of Vishnu.' Blinded by this evil counsel, Kansa ordered his shape-shifting Danavas to spread across the directions and slaughter the virtuous. He believed that by destroying the holy, he could secure his own survival.

कथा · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: The Night Krishna Was Born · Bhagavata Purana 10.3
• All of Krishna Lilas · Ask Krishna about it

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