Birth of Sree Krishna
‘The Appearance of Sree Krishna,’ the third chapter of the Tenth Skandha in the Sree Bhagabat, describes the divine birth of the Lord.
Thereupon appeared, imbued with all good qualities, the most beauteous time
Of the birth-star of the Birth-less, with serene planets, stars and meteors.
The quarters rejoiced, the clear sky became star-lit;
On the Earth, towns, villages, pastures and mines overflowed with every blessing.
The streams flowed with a pellucid current, the lakes were decked with beautiful lotuses,
The rows of flowery woods resounded with the melodious notes of birds and hum of bees.
The winds blew, pleasant to touch, laden with holy incense and pure;
The sacrificial fires of the twice-born burnt tranquilly with a full and steady flame.
The minds of the pious, ere-long oppressed by the foes of gods, were gladdened;
At the birth of the Un-born celestial drums beat harmonious music,
Celestial singers (kinnaras and gandharbas) joined in song, the choir of perfect beings
sent up hymns of praise,
And toward the ocean slowly the heavy-laden clouds muttered thunder
At the birth of Janardana in the gathering gloom of dark night.
The In-dweller, Vishnu, appeared in the pure, unalloyed heart of Devaki,
Likest the full moon rising in the quarters of the East.
And Vasudeva saw that marvellous Boy, with the lotus eyes, four-armed, holding the conch,
club and other weapons,
Marked with the sign of Sribatsa, the gem koustuva adorning the neck, in yellow robe,
beauteous with the hue of the dense cloud,
The great profusion of curls lit up with the glory of the effulgence of the most precious jewels
that studded the crest and pendant,
And adorned with the most exquisite belt, armlets and brace-lets.
Whereupon Anakadundhubi surveying Hari, his son, with eyes expanded wide with wonder,
Rendered oblivious of everything by joy at the happy event of the Appearance of Krishna,
(mentally) bathed and gave away as present ten thousand kine to the twice-born.
Then, assured that He was, indeed, the Supreme Being Himself, bending low with palms
joined he of pure understanding,
Freed from fear, aware of God’s omnipotence, thus, O Bharata, addressed in prayer
the Lord Whose effulgence irradiated the lying-in chamber.
Vasudeva said -
“ Lord, Thyself hast appeared, - the Being Himself Who is beyond Nature,
Embodiment of unalloyed bliss, Seer of the inmost minds of all;
Who having first created by His own power this world made up of the three qualities,
Without being within, yet is conceived as pervading it;-
As the unchangeable primordial principles, in association with chamgeable qualities,
being different and of various potentiality, produce the world,-
And thus combining and producing appear as auxiliary, though unchanged and unchangeable
existing before the birth of the world:
So Thou, conceived by the pure intelligence as possessed of transcendental qualities, art free
from all mundane qualities;
And being perfectly uncovered, there is neither exterior nor interior of all that are of Thee, or of Thyself, the Soul of everything.
He who affirms as true the objects of his own selfish enjoyments, does so through foolishness
and ignorance of his real self;
Such speculation is nothing but empty words - accepting as true that which is utterly
rejected by the Scriptures.
From Thee, O Lord - Who transcends all effort, change and quality - the birth, maintenance
and destruction of this world are said to proceed:
In Thee, the Supreme Lord, there is no contradiction, all qualities serving Thee as Their source.
Such art Thou Who, for the maintenance of the threefold world by thy Own power,
wear’st the white colour of Thine,
The red permeated by rajas for the purpose of creation and the black hue of tamas
for the destruction of the world.
Thou, the Infinitude, the Supreme Lord of the Universe, in order to protect this earth
hast appeared in my house;
Thou wilt destroy the armies led by the wearers of the insignia of Kings served by crores
of Asuras.
Lord of the gods, this churl, forewarned of Thy birth in my house, killed our children that
were born before Thee.
And is even now approaching with brandished weapons, hearing of Thy advent from the
lips of messengers.”
Sri Suka said -
Then finding the signs of the great being in that Child born from herself Devaki, transported with wonder, afraid of Kamsa, addressed Him with this hymn of praise:
Sri Devaki said -
Thou - Whose form has been spoken of as the Inexpressible, Primeval, Radiance that is the Brahman, transcending all quality - all change, The pure Essence, Immaterial, Free from effort - art even Vishnu Himself, the Light of the soul.
At the end of the period of two parardhas, all the worlds being destroyed, as the different elements are re-absorbed into the one primary element. And the manifest re-enters the non-manifest by the power of time, Thou alone exist, whence Thou art called Ananta, the Endless.
Thou art the Lord of Nature; yea even Time which moulds the world, in all its divisions from the minute to the complete year, Is called Thy agent; Supreme Lord, with Thee, the Abode of safety from all fear, I seek refuge.
Mortals fleeing for fear of the serpent Death through all the worlds find no place of safety, But if by chance they attain Thy lotus feet that scare away death they repose in perfect security.
Destroyer of the fears of Thy servants, save us, living in great fear, from the terrible son of Ugrasena. Oh, let not fleshy eyes look upon this Divine form seen only in meditation!
May that great scoundrel never know of Thy birth from me, Slayer of the demon Madhu! Distracted by anxieties on Thy account, I am, indeed greatly afraid of Kamsa! Soul of the Universe, with-hold this transcendental Form - four armed and adorned with the beautiful conch, disc, club and lotus.
The Supreme Being, after the great Cataclysm easily accommodates this world in His own body, Has been born from my womb: this, alas, must also be a matter of ridicule to mortal men!
The Lord Said -
In your former birth, during the regime of Sayambhuba manu, thou wert called Prisni, good lady, And this sinless Vasudeva was then the prajapati, Sutapa.
Commanded by Brahma to procreate offspring both of you restraining all your senses, practised the highest ascetism, and enduring patiently the inclemencies of the seasons, rain, storm, scorching rays of the sun, cold, summer, heat, - Being fully cleansed of all impurities of the mind by controlling the breath, feeding on withered leaves of trees and the air, - with a mind becalmed ye engaged in worshipping Me with the object of obtaining from Me the fulfillment of your desires.
Lady, in this manner, both of you practised the severest tapas, Thinking only on Me, for the space of twelve thousand years of heavenly measure.
Thereupon having been thus meditated upon with self restraint, reverence and constant devotion of heart, being pleased with both of you, in this very Form, sinless one, I, Who am truly royal in bestowing boons, appeared before you, wishing to grant the desire of both and said, ‘Ask from Me whatever boon you desire’: when both of you asked for the boon of having a son like Myself.
Although you had eschewed all vulgar pleasures - but, as husband and wife, being childless You did not ask from Me the boon of emancipation overpowered by My illusory power.
After I was gone, thus obtaining the boon of a son like Myself, having gained what you longed for, you betook yourselves to youthful enjoyments. Finding no other persons in all the world equal to you in virtue and nobility of character, I chose to be born as your son known as Prisni-garbha (i.e born in the womb of Prisni).
It was also from you, as Aditi and Kasyapa, that I was born again, when I became known as Upendra and also as Bamana being of dwarfish stature; Then in this third birth also I am thus born of you again and in the same Form; My words, virtuous lady, are true.
I have shown you this Form in order to remind you to My first appearance at birth, As I can never be recognised by My human likeness.
Thinking of Me as the Brahman or loving Me as your son, only for once, both will attain the supreme goal which is Myself.
Sri Suka said -
Having spoken thus Hari became silent, and the Supreme Lord in the view of the parents forthwith became a human child.
Thereupon as Shauri by command of God taking up his Son prepared to go out of the lying in chamber, That very moment yoga-maya who has no birth was born of the wife of Nanda;
And the guards at the gates and the citizens being asleep, robbed by her of all powers of understanding. All the impassable gates whose massive folds were strongly secured by bolts and chains of iron.
Opened wide of themselves, as darkness before the sun, on the approach of Vasudeva carrying Krishna; Rained the slow-muttering clouds, Shesha followed with his hoods sheltering Him from the rainwater.
The god of rain sending down incessant showers, the river, younger sister of Yama, - frothy with the violence of the waves of her deep waters, Agitated by hundreds of fearful whirlpools, - made way, as did the ocean for the Lord of Sree.
Reaching the cowherd settlement of Nanda, aware that the cowherds of the place were all sleep, He placed the Boy in the bed of Yasoda and taking away her daughter returned to his room.
Then Vasudeva laying down the girl in the bed of Devaki, Having bound his own feet with iron chains, remained fettered as before.
Yasoda the wife of Nanda was aware only of the birth of her Child. But not its sex, rendered oblivious of everything by sleep due to exhaustion, that came upon her immediately after delivery.
Here ends the third chapter, entitled ‘The Appearance of Sree Krishna’, in the tenth skandha of the Mahapuranam paramahansya samhita Sree Bhagabat by Baiasiki.
