Canto Ten - Chapter 4

Śrī Śuka said: The outer and inner doors of the prison all closed again just as before. Then the guards of the house heard the infant's cry and arose.

They hurried to Devakī, learned that her child had been born, and reported it to the Bhoja king, who had been waiting in agitation.

Thinking, 'This is the appointed time,' Kaṃsa sprang from his bed in alarm and rushed toward the birthing room. His hair had come loose, and he stumbled as he ran.

The helpless and virtuous Devakī spoke piteously to her brother: 'This girl will become your daughter-in-law, fortunate brother. You must not kill a woman.

Brother, you have already killed many infants as radiant as fire. Please spare this one daughter, whom destiny has sent.

I am your younger sister, helpless and bereft of my children. O lord, be merciful to this unfortunate woman and give me this last child.'

Śrī Śuka said: Devakī clasped her daughter to her breast and wept most piteously as she begged him. But the wicked Kaṃsa rebuked her and tore the child from her hands.

Grasping his sister's newborn daughter by the feet, Kaṃsa, whose selfishness had uprooted every trace of affection, tried to smash her upon a stone.

The child slipped from his hands, rose instantly into the sky, and appeared as the goddess, the younger sister of Viṣṇu, with eight mighty arms bearing weapons.

Adorned with divine garlands, garments, unguents, and jeweled ornaments, she held a bow, trident, arrows, shield, sword, conch, disc, and mace.

Siddhas, Cāraṇas, Gandharvas, Apsarās, Kinnaras, and Nāgas presented her with abundant offerings and praised her. She then spoke these words.

'Fool, what will you gain by killing me? The one who will end your life has already been born elsewhere. Your former enemy may be anywhere. Do not uselessly harm these helpless people.'

Having addressed Kaṃsa in this way, the divine goddess Māyā appeared upon the earth in many places and came to be known by many names.

Hearing what she had said, Kaṃsa became utterly astonished. He released Devakī and Vasudeva and addressed them humbly.

'Alas, my sister! Alas, my brother-in-law! I am so sinful that, like a man-eating demon, I have killed so many of your children.

Cruel and wicked, I have abandoned compassion, relatives, and friends. To what worlds will I go after death? Like a killer of a brāhmaṇa, I am dead even while breathing.

Not only human beings but even destiny may speak falsely. Trusting its prophecy, sinful as I am, I killed my sister's infants.

Most fortunate ones, do not grieve for your sons, who have experienced the results of their own actions. Living beings are subject to destiny and do not always remain together in one place.

Just as bodies made of earth appear and disappear upon the earth while the earth itself does not undergo their changes, so the Self does not pass through the transformations of these bodies.

One who does not understand this identifies the Self incorrectly and perceives separation. Because of that error, union with and separation from bodies continue, and saṃsāra does not cease.

Therefore, gentle sister, do not grieve even for the sons I killed, for every being helplessly receives the result of its own deeds.

As long as one who does not see the Self thinks, 'I am being killed' or 'I am the killer,' that ignorant person remains identified with the body and experiences the roles of sufferer and tormentor.

You are saintly and affectionate toward the distressed. Please forgive my wickedness.' Speaking in this way with tears upon his face, Kaṃsa, their brother-in-law, grasped the feet of his sister and Vasudeva.

Trusting the words of the goddess, he released Devakī and Vasudeva from their chains and tried to display affection toward them.

Devakī let go of her anger toward her repentant brother and forgave him. Vasudeva also forgave him and, smiling, spoke.

'Most fortunate Kaṃsa, what you have said about embodied beings is true. The egoistic ideas of 'I' and of 'mine and another's' arise from ignorance.

Those whose vision is divided become filled with grief, joy, fear, hatred, greed, delusion, and pride. They do not see that material conditions act upon one another, but imagine that one person kills another.'

Śrī Śuka said: Thus addressed with pure words by the now-contented Devakī and Vasudeva, Kaṃsa received their permission and entered his palace.

When that night had passed, Kaṃsa summoned his ministers and told them everything Yogamāyā had said.

Hearing their master's account, the foolish Daityas, enemies of the gods and already enraged against them, spoke to him.

'If this is so, O king of the Bhojas, then today we shall kill every child in the towns, villages, cowherd settlements, and elsewhere, whether less than ten days old or slightly older.

What can the gods, who fear battle, accomplish by their efforts? The sound of your bowstring keeps their minds perpetually terrified.

When your volleys of arrows strike them from every side, they abandon the fight in their desire to live and devote themselves to flight.

Some celestial beings stand pitifully with folded hands and weapons laid down. Others loosen their garments and hair and cry, 'We are afraid!'

You do not kill those who have forgotten their weapons and missiles, lost their chariots, become overwhelmed by fear, turned away while attending to something else, broken their bows, or ceased fighting.

What concern need we have for gods who act heroic only in safety and boast outside the battlefield? What of Hari, who dwells in seclusion, or Śambhu, who lives in the forest? What of weak Indra or Brahmā, absorbed in austerity?

Even so, we believe the gods, being our enemies, must not be ignored. Therefore command us, your faithful servants, to dig out their very roots.

When people neglect a disease in the body, it becomes firmly rooted and can no longer be cured. Likewise, when the senses are neglected, they become uncontrollable, and when an enemy is allowed to grow strong, he cannot be dislodged.

Viṣṇu is the root of the gods and the abode of eternal dharma. The roots of Viṣṇu are sacred knowledge, the cows, the brāhmaṇas, austerity, sacrifice, and the gifts offered with sacrifice.

Therefore, O king, with every means at our command we shall kill the brāhmaṇas who speak sacred knowledge, the ascetics devoted to sacrifice, and the cows who supply the offerings.

The brāhmaṇas, cows, Vedas, austerity, truthfulness, control of the senses and mind, faith, compassion, tolerance, and sacrifices are all bodies of Hari.

He is the ruler of all the gods, the enemy of the demons, and the indwelling Lord of the heart. All the deities, including Īśvara and four-faced Brahmā, are rooted in Him. The sure means to kill Him is therefore to persecute the sages.'

Śrī Śuka said: After consulting in this way with his evil ministers, the wicked demon Kaṃsa, already bound by the noose of Time, decided that violence against sacred knowledge was beneficial.

He ordered demons who delighted in destruction and could assume any form to spread through the directions and slaughter the saintly, and then he entered his palace.

Dominated by rajas and their minds bewildered by tamas, those demons began to persecute the saints. By doing so, they brought death very near.

An offense against a great soul destroys a person's lifespan, prosperity, fame, dharma, higher destinations, blessings, and every other good.