Lord Kṛṣṇa Instructs Vasudeva and Retrieves Devakī’s Sons

As taught in the Sāṅkhya doctrine of Lord Kapiladeva, pradhāna is the creative energy of the puruṣa, the Supreme Person. Thus, of these two principles, the pradhāna is the predominated energy, female, incapable of independent action, while the puruṣa is the absolutely independent, primeval creator and enjoyer. Neither Kṛṣṇa nor His brother Balarāma belong to the category of subordinate energy; rather, both of Them together are the original puruṣa, who is always joined by His manifold potencies of pleasure, knowledge and creative emanation.

To casual observers the known world appears to be produced by many different agents. A good indication of this conception is language itself, which traditional Sanskrit grammarians explain as reflecting the visible diversity of nature. In the standard Sanskrit grammar taught by the sage Pāṇini, the verb, expressing action, is taken to be the essential core of a sentence, and all the other words function in relation to it. Nouns, for example, are put into any of several cases to show their particular relationship to the verb in a sentence. These relationships of noun to verb are called kārakas, namely the relations of subject (kartā, “who does”), object (karma, “what is done”), instrument (karaṇa, “by which”), recipient (sampradāna, “for or toward which”), source (apadāna, “from or because of which”) and location (adhikaraṇa, “in which”). Apart from these kārakas, nouns may also sometimes point to other nouns in a possessive sense, and there are also various kinds of adverbs of time, place and manner. But although language thus seems to indicate the activity of many separate agents in the manifest creation, the deeper truth is that all grammatical forms refer first of all to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this verse Vasudeva makes this point by glorifying his two exalted sons in terms of the different grammatical forms.

When creating the material universe, the Lord expands Himself as the Paramātmā, or Supersoul, and accepts the creation as His universal body. No material body has any reason for existing without some jīva soul desiring it for his enjoyment, and no jīva can independently maintain a body without the Paramātmā accompanying him there for guidance. The Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, in their commentaries on the Second Canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, explain that even before Brahmā is born from the lotus navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, he first accepts the whole material energy, the mahat-tattva, as his body. Thus Brahmā is the jīva embodied by the universe, and Viṣṇu is the Paramātmā who joins him. Brahmā must organize the specific manifestations of creation, but he cannot begin to do so until Lord Viṣṇu expands Himself again into the subtle energy of action — which is the sūtra-tattva, or original vital air — and also into the creative energy of consciousness, buddhi-tattva.

Prāṇa is the vital air of life, a more subtle element than the ordinary air we can touch. And because prāṇa is so subtle — finer than the tangible manifestations of creation — it is sometimes considered the ultimate source of everything. But even subtle energies such as prāṇa depend for their functional capacity on the supremely subtle Paramātmā. That is the idea Vasudeva expresses here by the word pāratantryāt, “because of dependence.” Just as the velocity of an arrow is derived from the strength of the bowman who shoots it, so all subordinate energies depend on the power of the Supreme Lord.

Furthermore, even when various subtle causes have been empowered with their capacity to act, they cannot act in concert without the Supersoul’s coordinating direction. As Lord Brahmā states in his description of creation in the Second Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

“O Nārada, best of the transcendentalists, the forms of the body cannot manifest as long as these created parts, namely the elements, senses, mind and modes of nature, are not assembled. Thus when all these became assembled by the force of the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this universe certainly came into being by accepting both the primary and secondary causes of creation.” (Bhāg. 2.5.32-33)

Śrī Vasudeva, in telling Kṛṣṇa that He is the essence of the sun, moon, stars, lightning and fire, is only reiterating the opinion of scripture, both śruti and smṛti. The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.14), for example, states:

“There [in the spiritual sky] the sun does not shine, nor does the moon, the stars or lightning as we know them, what to speak of ordinary fire. It is by the reflection of the spiritual sky’s effulgence that everything else gives light, and thus through its radiance this entire universe becomes luminous.” And in Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā (15.12), the Supreme Lord says:

“The splendor of the sun, which dissipates the darkness of this whole world, comes from Me. And the splendor of the moon and the splendor of fire also come from Me.”

In accordance with the general process of creation, speech always becomes audible in stages, which proceed from subtle inner impulse to outward expression. These stages are mentioned in the mantras of the Ṛg Veda (1.164.45):

“Discriminating brāhmaṇas know of four progressive stages of language. Three of these remain hidden within the heart as imperceptible vibrations, while the fourth stage is what people ordinarily understand as speech.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that whenever one of the material senses is involved with its object, the presiding demigod of that particular sense organ must give his sanction. Ācārya Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains the word anusmṛti in this verse in its higher sense, as one’s recognition of himself as an eternal spirit soul.

Vasudeva’s description of how the Supreme Lord expands Himself into the products of the three material modes may possibly be misunderstood to imply that He is touched by the modes, or even that He is subject to destruction. To negate these misunderstandings, Vasudeva states here that the three modes and their products function by the arrangement of the Lord’s creative energy, Yoga-māyā, who is always completely under His control. Thus the Lord is never tainted in the least by any material contact.

When the universe is wound up at the time of its periodic annihilation, all the inert objects and bodies of living beings that hitherto were manifested by the Lord’s Māyā become disconnected from His sight. Then, since He maintains no association with them during the period of universal dissolution, they in fact no longer exist. In other words, material manifestations have real, functioning existence only when the Lord turns His attention to the creation and maintenance of the material cosmos. The Lord is never “within” these objects in any material sense, but He does mercifully pervade them all as the impersonal Brahman, and as the Paramātmā He enters within every atom and also accompanies the jīva souls in their individual embodiments. As the Lord describes in His own words in the verses of Bhagavad-gītā (9.4-5):

“By Me, in My unmanifest form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them. And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My mystic opulence! Although I am the maintainer of all living entities and although I am everywhere, I am not part of this cosmic manifestation, for My Self is the very source of creation.”

A soul who forgets his true identity as a servant of God is sent to this world to be imprisoned in a succession of material bodies. Wrongly identifying himself with these bodies, such a conditioned soul suffers the consequent distress of karmic action and reaction. Vasudeva, as a compassionate Vaiṣṇava, laments for the suffering conditioned souls, whose unhappiness, the result of ignorance, can be remedied by knowledge of the principles of devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, in this verse Vasudeva offers himself and his wife as excellent examples of those who are materially deluded. Although at the time of His birth in Kaṁsa’s prison Lord Kṛṣṇa told Vasudeva and Devakī that His mission was to rid the earth of unwanted kṣatriyas, still His two parents could not avoid thinking of Him as their helpless son who needed protection from King Kaṁsa. In reality, of course, both Vasudeva and Devakī were participating in the divine pastime of the Lord’s birth under the perfect direction of His internal energy; only out of transcendental humility does Vasudeva criticize himself in this way.

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī suggests that Vasudeva condemns himself here for thinking of trying to gain special opulences because he is the father of the Supreme Lord. Thus Vasudeva contrasts himself with Nanda, the King of Vraja, who was satisfied with pure love of God and nothing else.

Lord Kṛṣṇa was first born to Vasudeva and Devakī in their previous lives as Sutapā and Pṛśni. Later they again became His parents as Kaśyapa and Aditi. This, then, was the third time He had appeared as their son.

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī describes what Lord Kṛṣṇa thought after hearing His father glorify Him: “Vasudeva has been honored with the eternal role of My father, something even demigods like Brahma cannot aspire for. Therefore he shouldn’t be absorbed in thinking of My godly aspects. Moreover, his reverence greatly embarrasses Me. It was to avoid this very situation that, after killing Kaṁsa, I made a special effort to reinforce their pure parental love for Me and Balarāma. But now, unfortunately, the statements of these sages threaten to revive some of Vasudeva’s and Devakī’s previous awareness of My majesty.”

Posing as Vasudeva’s dependent son, Lord Kṛṣṇa expresses gratitude for His father’s edifying instructions.

To protect His parents’ intimate relationship with Him, Lord Kṛṣṇa stresses the oneness of all existence in this statement to His father, Vasudeva. Vasudeva had been reminded of his sons’ greatness by hearing the sages gathered at Kurukṣetra. But his sense of awe was ruining his intimate parental relationship with Kṛṣṇa, and therefore Kṛṣṇa wanted to dispel it.

We should not misunderstand the “oneness” Lord Kṛṣṇa speaks of here. The subtle words of the Upaniṣads often mislead impersonalists into believing that all existence is ineffably one, without any variety in the ultimate issue. Some Upaniṣadic mantras emphasize the sameness of God and His creation, while others speak about their difference. Tat tvam asi śvetaketo (“You are that, O Śvetaketu”), for example, is an abheda-vākya, a mantra affirming that all things are one with God, being His dependent expansions. But the Upaniṣads also contain many bheda-vākyas, statements that affirm the unique, distinguishing qualities of the Supreme, such as this statement: ka evānyāt kaḥ prāṇyād yady eṣa ākāśa ānando na syāt, eṣa evānandayati. “Who would there be to activate the creation and give life to all beings if this infinite Supreme were not the original enjoyer? Indeed, He alone is the source of all pleasure.” (Taittirīya Upaniṣad. 2.7.1) By the influence of the Supreme Lord’s bewildering Māyā, envious impersonalists read the abheda-vākyas literally and accept the bheda-vākyas only in a figurative way. Authoritative Vaiṣṇava commentators, on the other hand, carefully reconcile the apparent contradictions in accordance with the interpretive principles of Vedic Mīmāṁsā and the logically established conclusions of Vedānta.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains this and the previous verse as follows: The one Paramātmā appears to be many by the influence of the modes of nature that He Himself creates. How is that? Because although in truth the Paramātmā is self-illuminating, eternal, aloof from everything, and free of the modes of nature, when He appears as His manifestations He seems to be just the opposite — a multiplicity of temporary objects saturated with the modes of nature. Just as the elements of ether and so on, when manifesting in pots and other things, seem to appear and disappear, so the Paramātmā seems to appear and disappear in His various manifestations.

Vasudeva’s love for Kṛṣṇa had been disturbed because his awareness of Kṛṣṇa’s opulences conflicted with seeing Him as his son. In a different way, Devakī’s love was somewhat distracted by her lamentation for her dead sons. So Kṛṣṇa arranged to relieve her of the mistaken idea that anyone else but Him was actually her son. Since Devakī is known to be worshiped by all great souls, her show of maternal affection must actually have been an effect of the Lord’s Yoga-māyā, who increases the pleasure of His pastimes. Thus in text 54 Devakī will be described as mohitā māyayā viṣṇoḥ, “bewildered by the internal energy of Lord Viṣṇu.”

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains this verse as follows: The Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, Nārāyaṇa, is but one expansion of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Mahā-Viṣṇu, the first creator, is Lord Nārāyaṇa’s expansion. The total material energy emanates from Mahā-Viṣṇu’s glance, and of that total material energy the three modes of nature are divided portions. Thus it is Śrī Kṛṣṇa, acting through His expansions, who generates, sustains and dissolves the universe.

Bali Mahārāja’s devotional attitude is renowned as the perfect example of complete self-surrender. When Lord Viṣṇu in the guise of a young brāhmaṇa student approached him for charity, Bali offered all he possessed, and when he had nothing more to offer, he surrendered himself as the Supreme Lord’s eternal servant.

There are nine standard processes of devotional service, and the last, ātma-samarpaṇam, as taught by Bali Daityarāja, is the culmination toward which every endeavor should aim. If one tries to impress the Lord with wealth, power, intelligence and so on but fails to humbly understand oneself to be His servant, one’s so-called devotion is only a presumptuous show.

Śrīla Prabhupāda describes this scene as follows in Kṛṣṇa: “King Bali was feeling such transcendental pleasure that he repeatedly grasped the Lord’s lotus feet and kept them on his chest; and sometimes he put them on the top of his head, and in this way he was feeling transcendental bliss. Tears of love and affection began to flow down from his eyes, and all his bodily hairs stood on end.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī identifies the supreme Ananta named here as Lord Balarāma, from whom expands the divine serpent Ananta Śeṣa. Impersonal Brahman is the source of the texts belonging to the sāṅkhya philosophers, while the personal representation of the Lord known as Paramātmā disseminates the textbooks of yoga.

By ascribing to himself the degraded status of a demoniac birth, Bali Mahārāja denied any spiritual qualification for being visited by Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. What to speak of demons like himself, Bali thought, even advanced renunciants on the paths of jñāna and yoga fail to please the Lord when they do not give up their pride and envy.

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains this passage as follows: The Gandharvas, Siddhas, Vidyādharas and Cāraṇas are adversaries of the Supreme Lord when they follow the lead of the Daitya and Dānava demons. The Yakṣas, Rākṣasas, Piśācas and so on tend to be inimical because they are generally covered by ignorance. There are some rascals in the pure mode of ignorance, like Śiśupāla and Pauṇḍraka, who are totally absorbed in meditation on the Lord as their enemy, and this fixed consciousness earns them liberation. Others, in a mixed condition of passion and ignorance, associate with the Lord with a desire for position and prestige; Mahārāja Bali sees himself as belonging to this category. Yet Lord Viṣṇu favored Bali by becoming his doorkeeper in the subterranean region of Sutala, just as He favored the demons by killing and liberating them, and the Gandharvas by engaging them in singing His glories. On the other hand, the Lord awards sense gratification to those demigods who are proud of their being situated in the mode of goodness; thus they become deluded and forget Him.

Systematic understanding of something should include knowledge of both its svarūpa, or essential identity, and also its viśeṣas, the attributes that make it different from other things. Māyā, the energy underlying all material existence, is more subtle than ordinary phenomena. Only God and His liberated devotees, therefore, can know its svarūpa and viśeṣa.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī states that in response to Bali’s prayers, Śrī Kṛṣṇa invited him to choose some benediction, and in this verse Bali submits his request. Bali begs to be relieved of the entanglement of material life so he will be free to leave home and wander in the wilderness, with only the Lord’s lotus feet as his shelter. For his subsistence, Bali proposes, he will take help from the forest trees, at whose feet are fruits to eat and leaves to sleep on, for all to use as needed. And if the Lord is especially merciful to him, Bali hopes, he will not have to wander alone but will be allowed to travel in the company of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s devotees.

The ācāryas explain Bali’s thoughts as follows. Reflecting on the possibility that his request for immediate deliverance may have been too bold, Bali Mahārāja considers that first he will need to become sufficiently purified. In any case, he thinks, Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma must have come to him for some specific purpose; if he can receive the Lords’ order and carry it out, that will be his best opportunity for purification. Indeed, as Bali states, a devotee acting under the Personality of Godhead’s instruction need no longer follow the sacrificial injunctions and prohibitions of the Vedas.

Ācāryas Śrīdhara Svāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī explain that after taking Marīci’s six sons from Hiraṇyakaśipu, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s Yoga-māyā first made them pass through one more life as children of another great demon, Kālanemi, and then she finally transferred them to the womb of Devakī.

As pointed out by Śrīla Prabhupāda in his purports to Chapter Two, texts 5 and 8, of this canto, Marīci’s sons were condemned for their offense against Lord Brahmā, and in addition Hiraṇyakaśipu once cursed them to be killed by their own father in a future life. This curse was fulfilled by Vasudeva’s letting Kaṁsa murder them one by one.

These are the names the six children first had when they were sons of Marīci. The oldest, Smara, was called Kīrtimān when born again to Vasudeva, as recorded in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.1.57):

“Vasudeva was very much disturbed by the fear of becoming a liar by breaking his promise. Thus with great pain he delivered his firstborn son, named Kīrtimān, into the hands of Kaṁsa.”

In the opinion of Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, the word sṛṣṭi can here also refer to the creative process by which Lord Viṣṇu’s Yoga-māyā arranges the settings and situations of His pastimes. There is indeed no question of Mother Devakī being affected by the material aspect of Māyā.

Lord Kṛṣṇa remained as an infant with Devakī and Vasudeva for only a very short time. First the Lord appeared before them in His four-armed Viṣṇu form, and after hearing their prayers He changed Himself into an apparently ordinary infant for their pleasure. But to save Kṛṣṇa from suffering His brothers’ fate, Vasudeva at once removed Him from Kaṁsa’s prison. Just before Vasudeva took Him away, Mother Devakī suckled Kṛṣṇa once so that He would not feel thirsty during the long trip to Nanda-vraja. This we learn from the commentary of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura.

According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, hearing the wonderful events of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s life destroys sins in a manner that is perfect (alam) because it is easy. Anyone can easily participate in this hearing, and those who become devoted to Kṛṣṇa always enjoy wearing on their ears the ornaments of topics concerning Him. Not only those who were present at the time of their occurrence, but also Śukadeva Gosvāmī, Sūta Gosvāmī, all who have heard since and everyone in the universe who will hear in the future — all are blessed by the continuous recital of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental glories.