Canto Ten / CHAPTER ONE

The Advent of Lord Krishna: Introduction

At the end of the Ninth Canto, Twenty-fourth Chapter, Śukadeva Gosvāmī summarized the activities of Krishna. He spoke of how Krishna had personally appeared to reduce the burden on the earth, how He had manifested His pastimes as a householder, and how, soon after His birth, He had transferred Himself to His Vrajabhūmi-līlā. Parīkshit Mahārāja, being naturally a devotee of Krishna, wanted to hear more about Lord Krishna. Therefore, to encourage Śukadeva Gosvāmī to continue speaking about Krishna and give further details, he thanked Śukadeva Gosvāmī for having described the activities of Krishna in brief. Śukadeva Gosvāmī had said:

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Krishna, known as līlā-purushottama, appeared as the son of Vasudeva but immediately left His father’s home and went to Vrindāvana to expand His loving relationships with His confidential devotees. In Vrindāvana the Lord killed many demons, and afterward He returned to Dvārakā, where according to Vedic principles He married many wives who were the best of women, begot through them hundreds of sons, and performed sacrifices for His own worship to establish the principles of householder life.” (Bhāg. 9.24.66)

The Yadu dynasty belonged to the family descending from Soma, the moon-god. Although the planetary systems are so arranged that the sun comes first, before the moon, Parīkshit Mahārāja gave more respect to the dynasty of the moon-god, the soma-vamśa, because in the Yādava dynasty, descending from the moon, Krishna had appeared. There are two different kshatriya families of the royal order, one descending from the king of the moon planet and the other descending from the king of the sun. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears, He generally appears in a kshatriya family because He comes to establish religious principles and the life of righteousness. According to the Vedic system, the kshatriya family is the protector of the human race. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as Lord Rāmacandra, He appeared in the sūrya-vamśa, the family descending from the sun-god, and when He appeared as Lord Krishna, He did so in the Yadu dynasty, or yadu-vamśa, whose descent was from the moon-god. In the Ninth Canto, Twenty-fourth Chapter, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there is a long list of the kings of the yadu-vamśa. All the kings in both the soma-vamśa and sūrya-vamśa were great and powerful, and Mahārāja Parīkshit praised them very highly (rājñām cobhaya-vamśyānām caritam paramādbhutam). Nonetheless, he wanted to hear more about the soma-vamśa because that was the dynasty in which Krishna had appeared.

The supreme abode of the Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is described in Brahma-samhitā as the abode of cintāmani: cintāmani-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vriksha-lakshāvriteshu surabhīr abhipālayantam. The Vrindāvana-dhāma on this earth is a replica of that same abode. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (8.20), in the spiritual sky there is another, eternal nature, transcendental to manifested and unmanifested matter. The manifested world can be seen in the form of many stars and planets such as the sun and moon, but beyond this is the unmanifested, which is imperceptible to those who are embodied. And beyond this unmanifested matter is the spiritual kingdom, which is described in Bhagavad-gītā as supreme and eternal. That kingdom is never annihilated. Although material nature is subject to repeated creation and annihilation, that spiritual nature remains as it is eternally. In the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that spiritual nature, the spiritual world, is described as Vrindāvana, Goloka Vrindāvana or Vraja-dhāma. The elaborate description of the above-mentioned śloka from the Ninth Canto — jāto gatah pitri-grihād (Bhāg. 9.24.66) — will be found here, in the Tenth Canto.

The Brahma-samhitā (5.1) explains that Krishna is the origin of the vishnu-tattva.

“Krishna, who is known as Govinda, is the supreme controller. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, for He is the prime cause of all causes.”

“The Brahmās, the heads of the innumerable universes, live only for the duration of one breath of Mahā-Vishnu. I worship Govinda, the original Lord, of whom Mahā-Vishnu is but a portion of a plenary portion.” (Brahma-samhitā 5.48)

Govinda, Krishna, is the original Personality of Godhead. Krishnas tu bhagavān svayam. Even Lord Mahā-Vishnu, who by His breathing creates many millions upon millions of universes, is Lord Krishna’s kalā-viśesha, or plenary portion of a plenary portion. Mahā-Vishnu is a plenary expansion of Sankarshana, who is a plenary expansion of Nārāyana. Nārāyana is a plenary expansion of the catur-vyūha, and the catur-vyūha are plenary expansions of Baladeva, the first manifestation of Krishna. Therefore when Krishna appeared with Baladeva, all the vishnu-tattvas appeared with Him.

Mahārāja Parīkshit requested Śukadeva Gosvāmī to describe Krishna and His glorious activities. Another meaning may be derived from this verse as follows, Although Śukadeva Gosvāmī was the greatest muni, he could describe Krishna only partially (amśena), for no one can describe Krishna fully. It is said that Anantadeva has thousands of heads, but although He tries to describe Krishna with thousands of tongues, His descriptions are still incomplete.

In this verse the words kritavān yāni indicate that all the different activities Krishna performed while present on earth are beneficial to human society. If religionists, philosophers and people in general simply hear the activities of Krishna, they will be liberated. We have described several times that there are two kinds of krishna-kathā, represented by Bhagavad-gītā, spoken personally by Krishna about Himself, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, spoken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī about the glories of Krishna. Anyone who becomes even slightly interested in krishna-kathā is liberated. Kīrtanād eva krishnasya mukta-sangah param vrajet (Bhāg. 12.3.51). Simply by chanting or repeating krishna-kathā, one is liberated from the contamination of Kali-yuga. Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore advised, yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘krishna’-upadeśa (Cc. Madhya 7.128). This is the mission of Krishna consciousness: to hear about Krishna and thus be liberated from material bondage.

In India it is the practice among the general populace to hear about Krishna, either from Bhagavad-gītā or from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in order to gain relief from the disease of repeated birth and death. Although India is now fallen, when there is a message that someone will speak about Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, thousands of people still gather to hear. This verse indicates, however, that such recitation of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam must be done by persons completely freed from material desires (nivritta-tarshaih). Everyone within this material world, beginning from Brahmā down to the insignificant ant, is full of material desires for sense enjoyment, and everyone is busy in sense gratification, but when thus engaged one cannot fully understand the value of krishna-kathā, either in the form of Bhagavad-gītā or in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

If we hear the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead from liberated persons, this hearing will certainly free us from the bondage of material activities, but hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam spoken by a professional reciter cannot actually help us achieve liberation. Krishna-kathā is very simple. In Bhagavad-gītā it is said that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As He Himself explains, mattah parataram nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: “O Arjuna, there is no truth superior to Me.” (Bg. 7.7) Simply by understanding this fact — that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead — one can become a liberated person. But, especially in this age, because people are interested in hearing Bhagavad-gītā from unscrupulous persons who depart from the simple presentation of Bhagavad-gītā and distort it for their personal satisfaction, they fail to derive the real benefit. There are big scholars, politicians, philosophers and scientists who speak on Bhagavad-gītā in their own polluted way, and people in general hear from them, being uninterested in hearing the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead from a devotee. A devotee is one who has no other motive for reciting Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam than to serve the Lord. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has therefore advised us to hear the glories of the Lord from a realized person (bhāgavata paro diya bhāgavata sthane). Unless one is personally a realized soul in the science of Krishna consciousness, a neophyte should not approach him to hear about the Lord, for this is strictly forbidden by Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, who quotes from the Padma Purāna:

One should avoid hearing from a person not situated in Vaishnava behavior. A Vaishnava is nivritta-trishna; that is, he has no material purpose, for his only purpose is to preach Krishna consciousness. So-called scholars, philosophers and politicians exploit the importance of Bhagavad-gītā by distorting its meaning for their own purposes. Therefore this verse warns that krishna-kathā should be recited by a person who is nivritta-trishna. Śukadeva Gosvāmī epitomizes the proper reciter for Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and Parīkshit Mahārāja, who purposefully left his kingdom and family prior to meeting death, epitomizes the person fit to hear it. A qualified reciter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives the right medicine (bhavaushadhi) for the conditioned souls. The Krishna consciousness movement is therefore trying to train qualified preachers to recite Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā throughout the entire world, so that people in general in all parts of the world may take advantage of this movement and thus be relieved of the threefold miseries of material existence.

The instructions of Bhagavad-gītā and the descriptions of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are so pleasing that almost anyone suffering from the threefold miseries of material existence will desire to hear the glories of the Lord from these books and thus benefit on the path of liberation. Two classes of men, however, will never be interested in hearing the message of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam — those who are determined to commit suicide and those determined to kill cows and other animals for the satisfaction of their own tongues. Although such persons may make a show of hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam at a Bhāgavata-saptāha, this is but another creation of the karmīs, who cannot derive any benefit from such a performance. The word paśu-ghnāt is important in this connection. Paśu-ghna means “butcher.” Persons fond of performing ritualistic ceremonies for elevation to the higher planetary systems must offer sacrifices (yajñas) by killing animals. Lord Buddhadeva therefore rejected the authority of the Vedas because his mission was to stop animal sacrifices, which are recommended in Vedic ritualistic ceremonies

(Gīta-govinda)

Even though animal sacrifices are sanctioned in Vedic ceremonies, men who kill animals for such ceremonies are considered butchers. Butchers cannot be interested in Krishna consciousness, for they are already materially allured. Their only interest lies in developing comforts for the temporary body.

“In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination of devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place.” (Bg. 2.44) Śrīla Narottama dāsa Thākura says:

Anyone who is not Krishna conscious and who therefore does not engage in the service of the Lord is also paśu-ghna, for he is willingly drinking poison. Such a person cannot be interested in krishna-kathā because he still has a desire for material sense gratification; he is not nivritta-trishna. As it is said, traivargikās te purushā vimukhā hari-medhasah. Those interested in trivarga — that is, in dharma, artha and kāma — are religious for the sake of achieving a material position with which to gain better facilities for sense gratification. Such persons are killing themselves by willingly keeping themselves in the cycle of birth and death. They cannot be interested in Krishna consciousness.

For krishna-kathā, topics about Krishna consciousness, there must be a speaker and a hearer, both of whom can be interested in Krishna consciousness if they are no longer interested in material topics. One can actually see how this attitude automatically develops in persons who are Krishna conscious. Although the devotees of the Krishna consciousness movement are quite young men, they no longer read materialistic newspapers, magazines and so on, for they are no longer interested in such topics (nivritta-tarshaih). They completely give up the bodily understanding of life. For topics concerning Uttamaśloka, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master speaks, and the disciple hears with attention. Unless both of them are free from material desires, they cannot be interested in topics of Krishna consciousness. The spiritual master and disciple do not need to understand anything more than Krishna because simply by understanding Krishna and talking about Krishna, one becomes a perfectly learned person (yasmin vijñāte sarvam evam vijñātam bhavati, Mundaka Upanishad 1.3). The Lord sits within everyone’s heart, and by the grace of the Lord the devotee receives instructions directly from the Lord Himself, who says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15):

“I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known; indeed, I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.” Krishna consciousness is so exalted that one who is perfectly situated in Krishna consciousness, under the direction of the spiritual master, is fully satisfied by reading krishna-kathā as found in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā and similar Vedic literatures. Since merely talking about Krishna is so pleasing, we can simply imagine how pleasing it is to render service to Krishna.

When discourses on krishna-kathā take place between a liberated spiritual master and his disciple, others also sometimes take advantage of hearing these topics and also benefit. These topics are the medicine to stop the repetition of birth and death. The cycle of repeated birth and death, by which one takes on different bodies again and again, is called bhava or bhava-roga. If anyone, willingly or unwillingly, hears krishna-kathā, his bhava-roga, the disease of birth and death, will certainly stop. Therefore krishna-kathā is called bhavaushadha, the remedy to stop the repetition of birth and death. Karmīs, or persons attached to material sense enjoyment, generally cannot give up their material desires, but krishna-kathā is such a potent medicine that if one is induced to hear krishna-kīrtana, he will certainly be freed from this disease. A practical example is Dhruva Mahārāja, who at the end of his tapasya was fully satisfied. When the Lord wanted to give Dhruva a benediction, Dhruva refused it. Svāmin kritārtho ’smi varam na yāce. “My dear Lord,” he said, “I am fully satisfied. I do not ask for any benediction for material sense gratification.” We actually see that even young boys and girls in the Krishna consciousness movement have given up their long practice of bad habits like illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling. Because Krishna consciousness is so potent that it gives them full satisfaction, they are no longer interested in material sense gratification.

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.58):

“For one who has accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Murāri, or the enemy of the Mura demon, the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf’s hoofprint. His goal is param padam, or Vaikuntha, the place where there are no material miseries, not the place where there is danger at every step.”

One who seeks shelter at the lotus feet of Lord Krishna is immediately protected by the Lord. As the Lord promises in Bhagavad-gītā (18.66), aham tvām sarva-pāpebhyo mokshayishyāmi mā śucah: “I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.” By taking shelter of Lord Krishna, one comes under the safest protection. Thus when the Pāndavas took shelter at the lotus feet of Krishna, all of them were on the safe side of the Battlefield of Kurukshetra. Parīkshit Mahārāja, therefore, felt obliged to think of Krishna in the last days of his life. This is the ideal result of Krishna consciousness: ante nārāyana-smritih. If at the time of death one can remember Krishna, one’s life is successful. Parīkshit Mahārāja, therefore, because of his many obligations to Krishna, intelligently decided to think of Krishna constantly during the last days of his life. Krishna had saved the Pāndavas, Mahārāja Parīkshit’s grandfathers, on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra, and Krishna had saved Mahārāja Parīkshit himself when he was attacked by the brahmāstra of Aśvatthāmā. Krishna acted as the friend and worshipable Deity of the Pāndava family. Moreover, apart from Lord Krishna’s personal contact with the Pāndavas, Krishna is the Supersoul of all living entities, and He gives everyone liberation, even if one is not a pure devotee. Kamsa, for example, was not at all a devotee, yet Krishna, after killing him, gave him salvation. Krishna consciousness is beneficial to everyone, whether one is a pure devotee or a nondevotee. This is the glory of Krishna consciousness. Considering this, who will not take shelter at the lotus feet of Krishna? Krishna is described in this verse as māyā-manushya because He descends exactly like a human being. He is not obliged to come here, like karmīs, or ordinary living beings; rather, He appears by His own internal energy (sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā) just to show favor to the fallen conditioned souls. Krishna is always situated in His original position as sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, and anyone who renders service to Him is also situated in his original, spiritual identity (svarūpena vyavasthitih). This is the highest perfection of human life.

Here is a question particularly directed at understanding Balarāma, who is Sankarshana Himself. Balarāma is well known as the son of Rohinī, yet it is also known that He was the son of Devakī. Parīkshit Mahārāja wanted to understand the mystery of Balarāma’s being the son of both Devakī and Rohinī.

These are inquiries about the itinerary of Krishna. Just after His birth in the house of Vasudeva in Mathurā, Krishna transferred Himself to Gokula, on the other side of the Yamunā, and after some days He moved with His father, mother and other relatives to Nanda-grāma, Vrindāvana. Mahārāja Parīkshit was very much eager to hear about Krishna’s activities in Vrindāvana. This entire canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is full of activities performed in Vrindāvana and Dvārakā. The first forty chapters describe Krishna’s Vrindāvana affairs, and the next fifty describe Krishna’s activities in Dvārakā. Mahārāja Parīkshit, to fulfill his desire to hear about Krishna, requested Śukadeva Gosvāmī to describe these activities in full detail.

One’s maternal uncle, the brother of one’s mother, is on the level of one’s father. When a maternal uncle has no son, his nephew legally inherits his property. Therefore, why did Krishna directly kill Kamsa, the brother of His mother? Mahārāja Parīkshit was very much inquisitive about the facts in this regard.

In many places the Supreme Personality of Godhead is described as sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, possessing a spiritual, blissful body. His bodily feature is narākriti, that is, exactly like that of a human being. Here the same idea is repeated in the words mānusham āśritya, which indicate that He accepts a body exactly like that of a man. Everywhere it is confirmed that Krishna is never nirākāra, or formless. He has His form, exactly like that of a human being. There is no doubt about this.

To prepare to meet death in seven days, Mahārāja Parīkshit gave up all food and drink. As a human being, he was certainly both hungry and thirsty, and therefore Śukadeva Gosvāmī might have wanted to stop narrating the transcendental topics of Krishna; but despite his fast, Mahārāja Parīkshit was not at all fatigued. “The hunger and thirst from my fast do not disturb me,” he said. “Once when I felt very thirsty, I went to the āśrama of Śamīka Muni to drink water, but the muni did not supply it. I therefore wrapped a dead snake over his shoulder, and that is why I was cursed by the brāhmana boy. Now, however, I am quite fit. I am not at all disturbed by my hunger and thirst.” This indicates that although on the material platform there are disturbances from hunger and thirst, on the spiritual platform there is no such thing as fatigue.

The entire world is suffering because of spiritual thirst. Every living being is Brahman, or spirit soul, and needs spiritual food to satisfy his hunger and thirst. Unfortunately, however, the world is completely unaware of the nectar of krishna-kathā. The Krishna consciousness movement is therefore a boon to philosophers, religionists and people in general. There is certainly a charming attraction in Krishna and krishna-kathā. Therefore the Absolute Truth is called Krishna, the most attractive.

The word amrita is also an important reference to the moon, and the word ambuja means “lotus.” The pleasing moonshine and pleasing fragrance of the lotus combined to bring pleasure to everyone hearing krishna-kathā from the mouth of Śukadeva Gosvāmī. As it is said:

“Because of their uncontrolled senses, persons too addicted to materialistic life make progress toward hellish conditions and repeatedly chew that which has already been chewed. Their inclinations toward Krishna are never aroused, either by the instructions of others, by their own efforts, or by a combination of both.” (Bhāg. 7.5.30) At the present moment, all of human society is engaged in the business of chewing the chewed (punah punaś carvita-carvanānām). People are prepared to undergo mrityu-samsāra-vartmani, taking birth in one form, dying, accepting another form and dying again. To stop this repetition of birth and death, krishna-kathā, or Krishna consciousness, is absolutely necessary. But unless one hears krishna-kathā from a realized soul like Śukadeva Gosvāmī, one cannot relish the nectar of krishna-kathā, which puts an end to all material fatigue, and enjoy the blissful life of transcendental existence. In relation to the Krishna consciousness movement, we actually see that those who have tasted the nectar of krishna-kathā lose all material desires, whereas those who cannot understand Krishna or krishna-kathā regard the Krishna conscious life as “brainwashing” and “mind control.” While the devotees enjoy spiritual bliss, the nondevotees are surprised that the devotees have forgotten material hankerings.

In this verse the words krishna-caritam kali-kalmasha-ghnam indicate that the activities of Lord Krishna are certainly the greatest panacea for all miseries, especially in this Age of Kali. It is said that in Kali-yuga people have only short lives, and they have no culture of spiritual consciousness. If anyone is at all interested in spiritual culture, he is misled by many bogus svāmīs and yogīs who do not refer to krishna-kathā. Therefore most people are unfortunate and disturbed by many calamities. Śrīla Vyāsadeva prepared Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam at the request of Nārada Muni in order to give relief to the suffering people of this age (kali-kalmasha-ghnam). The Krishna consciousness movement is seriously engaged in enlightening people through the pleasing topics of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. All over the world, the message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā is being accepted in all spheres of life, especially in advanced, educated circles.

Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī is described in this verse as bhāgavata-pradhānah, whereas Mahārāja Parīkshit is described as vishnu-rātam. Both words bear the same meaning; that is, Mahārāja Parīkshit was a great devotee of Krishna, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī was also a great saintly person and a great devotee of Krishna. Combined together to present krishna-kathā, they give great relief to suffering humanity.

“The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyāsadeva compiled this Vedic literature, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth.” (Bhāg. 1.7.6) People in general are unaware that the message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam can give all of human society relief from the pangs of Kali-yuga (kali-kalmasha-ghnam).

Krishna-kathā is compulsory for the rājarshi, or executive head of government. This is also mentioned in Bhagavad-gītā (imam rājarshayo viduh). Unfortunately, however, in this age the governmental power is gradually being captured by third-class and fourth-class men who have no spiritual understanding, and society is therefore very quickly becoming degraded. Krishna-kathā must be understood by the executive heads of government, for otherwise how will people be happy and gain relief from the pangs of materialistic life? One who has fixed his mind in Krishna consciousness should be understood to have very sharp intelligence in regard to the value of life. Mahārāja Parīkshit was rājarshi-sattama, the best of all saintly kings, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī was muni-sattama, the best of munis. Both of them were elevated because of their common interest in krishna-kathā. The exalted position of the speaker and the audience will be explained very nicely in the next verse. Krishna-kathā is so enlivening that Mahārāja Parīkshit forgot everything material, even his personal comfort in relation to food and drink. This is an example of how the Krishna consciousness movement should spread all over the world to bring both the speaker and the audience to the transcendental platform and back home, back to Godhead.

It is said, tasmād gurum prapadyeta jijñāsuh śreya uttamam (Bhāg. 11.3.21). Those interested in understanding transcendental subject matters as the goal of life must approach the bona fide spiritual master. Tasmād gurum prapadyeta. One must surrender to such a guru, who can give right information about Krishna. Herein, Mahārāja Parīkshit has surrendered to the right personality, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, for enlightenment in vāsudeva-kathā. Vāsudeva is the original Personality of Godhead, who has unlimited spiritual activities. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a record of such activities, and Bhagavad-gītā is the record of Vāsudeva speaking personally. Therefore, since the Krishna consciousness movement is full of vāsudeva-kathā, anyone who hears, anyone who joins the movement and anyone who preaches will be purified.

When the world is overburdened by unnecessary military arrangements and when various demoniac kings are the executive heads of state, this burden causes the appearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.7):

“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion — at that time I appear Myself.” When the residents of this earth become atheistic and godless, they descend to the status of animals like dogs and hogs, and thus their only business is to bark among themselves. This is dharmasya glāni, deviation from the goal of life. Human life is meant for attaining the highest perfection of Krishna consciousness, but when people are godless and the presidents or kings are unnecessarily puffed up with military power, their business is to fight and increase the military strength of their different states. Nowadays, therefore, it appears that every state is busy manufacturing atomic weapons to prepare for a third world war. Such preparations are certainly unnecessary; they reflect the false pride of the heads of state. The real business of a chief executive is to see to the happiness of the mass of people by training them in Krishna consciousness in different divisions of life. Cātur-varnyam mayā srishtam guna-karma-vibhāgaśah (Bg. 4.13). A leader should train the people as brāhmanas, kshatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras and engage them in various occupational duties, thus helping them progress toward Krishna consciousness. Instead, however, rogues and thieves in the guise of protectors arrange for a voting system, and in the name of democracy they come to power by hook or crook and exploit the citizens. Even long, long ago, asuras, persons devoid of God consciousness, became the heads of state, and now this is happening again. The various states of the world are preoccupied with arranging for military strength. Sometimes they spend sixty-five percent of the government’s revenue for this purpose. But why should people’s hard-earned money be spent in this way? Because of the present world situation, Krishna has descended in the form of the Krishna consciousness movement. This is quite natural, for without the Krishna consciousness movement the world cannot be peaceful and happy.

After Lord Brahmā understood the precarious condition of the earth, he first visited the demigods headed by Lord Indra, who are in charge of the various affairs of this universe, and Lord Śiva, who is responsible for annihilation. Both maintenance and annihilation go on perpetually, under the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (4.8), paritrānāya sādhūnām vināśāya ca dushkritām. Those who are obedient to the laws of God are protected by different servants and demigods, whereas those who are undesirable are vanquished by Lord Śiva. Lord Brahmā first met all the demigods, including Lord Śiva. Then, along with mother earth, they went to the shore of the Ocean of Milk, where Lord Vishnu lies on a white island, Śvetadvīpa.

The demigods, such as Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, King Indra, Candra and Sūrya, are all subordinate to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Aside from the demigods, even in human society there are many influential personalities supervising various businesses or establishments. Lord Vishnu, however, is the God of gods (parameśvara). He is parama-purusha, the Supreme Being, Paramātmā. As confirmed in the Brahma-samhitā (5.1), īśvarah paramah krishnah sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahah: “Krishna, known as Govinda, is the supreme controller. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body.” No one is equal to or greater than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore He is described here by many words: jagannātha, deva-deva, vrishākapi and purusha. The supremacy of Lord Vishnu is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (10.12) in this statement by Arjuna:

“You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty.” Krishna is ādi-purusha, the original Personality of Godhead (govindam ādi-purusham tam aham bhajāmi). Vishnu is a plenary expansion of Lord Krishna, and all the vishnu-tattvas are parameśvara, deva-deva.

It appears that the words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead can be heard in trance by competent persons. Modern science gives us telephones, by which one can hear sound vibrations from a distant place. Similarly, although other persons cannot hear the words of Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahmā is able to hear the Lord’s words within himself. This is confirmed in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.1): tene brahma hridā ya ādi-kavaye. Ādi-kavi is Lord Brahmā. In the beginning of the creation, Lord Brahmā received the instructions of Vedic knowledge from Lord Vishnu through the medium of the heart (hridā). The same principle is confirmed herewith. While Brahmā was in trance, he was able to hear the words of Kshīrodakaśāyī Vishnu, and he carried the Lord’s message to the demigods. Similarly, in the beginning, Brahmā first received the Vedic knowledge from the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the core of the heart. In both instances the same process was used in transmitting the message to Lord Brahmā. In other words, although Lord Vishnu was invisible even to Lord Brahmā, Lord Brahmā could hear Lord Vishnu’s words through the heart. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is invisible even to Lord Brahmā, yet He descends to this earth and becomes visible to people in general. This is certainly an act of His causeless mercy, but fools and nondevotees think that Krishna is an ordinary historical person. Because they think that the Lord is an ordinary person like them, they are described as mūdha (avajānanti mām mūdhāh). The causeless mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is neglected by such demoniac persons, who cannot understand the instructions of Bhagavad-gītā and who therefore misinterpret them.

As stated in the Brahma-samhitā (5.39):

“I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, who is always situated in various incarnations such as Rāma, Nrisimha and many sub-incarnations as well, but who is the original Personality of Godhead, known as Krishna, and who incarnates personally also.”

In this verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we find the words puraiva pumsāvadhrito dharā-jvarah. The word pumsā refers to Krishna, who was already aware of how the whole world was suffering because of the increase of demons. Without reference to the supreme power of the Personality of Godhead, demons assert themselves to be independent kings and presidents, and thus they create a disturbance by increasing their military power. When such disturbances are very prominent, Krishna appears. At present also, various demoniac states all over the world are increasing their military power in many ways, and the whole situation has become distressful. Therefore Krishna has appeared by His name, in the Hare Krishna movement, which will certainly diminish the burden of the world. Philosophers, religionists, and people in general must take to this movement very seriously, for man-made plans and devices will not help bring peace on earth. The transcendental sound Hare Krishna is not different from the person Krishna.

(Padma Purāna)

There is no difference between the sound Hare Krishna and Krishna the person.

In Bhagavad-gītā (4.9) the Lord says, tyaktvā deham punar janma naiti mām eti: after giving up the material body, the devotee of the Lord returns home, back to Godhead. This means that the devotee is first transferred to the particular universe where the Lord is at that time staying to exhibit His pastimes. There are innumerable universes, and the Lord is appearing in one of these universes at every moment. Therefore His pastimes are called nitya-līlā, eternal pastimes. The Lord’s appearance as a child in the house of Devakī takes place continuously in one universe after another. Therefore, the devotee is first transferred to that particular universe where the pastimes of the Lord are current. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, even if a devotee does not complete the course of devotional service, he enjoys the happiness of the heavenly planets, where the most pious people dwell, and then takes birth in the house of a śuci or śrīmān, a pious brāhmana or a wealthy vaiśya (śucīnām śrīmatām gehe yoga-bhrashto ’bhijāyate). Thus a pure devotee, even if unable to execute devotional service completely, is transferred to the upper planetary system, where pious people reside. From there, if his devotional service is complete, such a devotee is transferred to the place where the Lord’s pastimes are going on. Herein it is said, sambhavantu sura-striyah. Sura-strī, the women of the heavenly planets, were thus ordered to appear in the Yadu dynasty in Vrindāvana to enrich the pastimes of Lord Krishna. These sura-strī, when further trained to live with Krishna, would be transferred to the original Goloka Vrindāvana. During Lord Krishna’s pastimes within this world, the sura-strī were to appear in different ways in different families to give pleasure to the Lord, just so that they would be fully trained before going to the eternal Goloka Vrindāvana. With the association of Lord Krishna, either at Dvārakā-purī, Mathurā-purī or Vrindāvana, they would certainly return home, back to Godhead. Among the sura-strī, the women of the heavenly planets, there are many devotees, such as the mother of the Upendra incarnation of Krishna. It was such devoted women who were called for in this connection.

Śrī Baladeva is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. He is equal in supremacy to the Supreme Godhead, yet wherever Krishna appears, Śrī Baladeva appears as His brother, sometimes elder and sometimes younger. When Krishna appears, all His plenary expansions and other incarnations appear with Him. This is elaborately explained in Caitanya-caritāmrita. This time, Baladeva would appear before Krishna as Krishna’s elder brother.

Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Śvetāśvatara Upanishad 6.8). In the Vedas it is said that the potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are called by different names, such as yoga-māyā and mahā-māyā. Ultimately, however, the Lord’s potency is one, exactly as electric potency is one although it can act both to cool and to heat. The Lord’s potency acts in both the spiritual and material worlds. In the spiritual world the Lord’s potency works as yoga-māyā, and in the material world the same potency works as mahā-māyā, exactly as electricity works in both a heater and a cooler. In the material world, this potency, working as mahā-māyā, acts upon the conditioned souls to deprive them more and more of devotional service. It is said, yayā sammohito jīva ātmānam tri-gunātmakam. In the material world the conditioned soul thinks of himself as a product of tri-guna, the three modes of material nature. This is the bodily conception of life. Because of associating with the three gunas of the material potency, everyone identifies himself with his body. Someone is thinking he is a brāhmana, someone a kshatriya, and someone a vaiśya or śūdra. Actually, however, one is neither a brāhmana, a kshatriya, a vaiśya nor a śūdra; one is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord (mamaivāmśah), but because of being covered by the material energy, mahā-māyā, one identifies himself in these different ways. When the conditioned soul becomes liberated, however, he thinks himself an eternal servant of Krishna. Jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya-krishnera ‘nitya-dāsa.’ When he comes to that position, the same potency, acting as yoga-māyā, increasingly helps him become purified and devote his energy to the service of the Lord.

In either case, whether the soul is conditioned or liberated, the Lord is supreme. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (9.10), mayādhyakshena prakritih sūyate sa-carācaram: it is by the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that the material energy, mahā-māyā, works upon the conditioned soul.

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities which are in actuality carried out by nature.” (Bg. 3.27) Within conditioned life, no one has freedom, but because one is bewildered, being subject to the rule of mahā-māyā, one foolishly thinks himself independent (ahankāra-vimūdhātmā kartāham iti manyate). But when the conditioned soul becomes liberated by executing devotional service, he is given a greater and greater chance to relish a relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in different transcendental statuses, such as dāsya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, vātsalya-rasa and mādhurya-rasa.

Thus the Lord’s potency, vishnu-māyā, has two features: āvaranikā and unmukha. When the Lord appeared, His potency came with Him and acted in different ways. She acted as Yoga-māyā with Yaśodā, Devakī and other intimate relations of the Lord, and she acted in a different way with Kamsa, Śālva and other asuras. By the order of Lord Krishna, His potency Yoga-māyā came with Him and exhibited different activities according to the time and circumstances (kāryārthe sambhavishyati). Yoga-māyā acted differently to execute different purposes desired by the Lord. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (9.13), mahātmānas tu mām pārtha daivīm prakritim āśritāh. The mahātmās, who fully surrender to the lotus feet of the Lord, are directed by Yoga-māyā, whereas the durātmās, those who are devoid of devotional service, are directed by Mahā-māyā.

It is understood that Mathurā City is the transcendental abode of Lord Krishna; it is not an ordinary material city, for it is eternally connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vrindāvana is within the jurisdiction of Mathurā, and it still continues to exist. Because Mathurā and Vrindāvana are intimately connected with Krishna eternally, it is said that Lord Krishna never leaves Vrindāvana (vrindāvanam parityajya padam ekam na gacchati). At present, the place known as Vrindāvana, in the district of Mathurā, continues its position as a transcendental place, and certainly anyone who goes there becomes transcendentally purified. Navadvīpa-dhāma is also intimately connected with Vrajabhūmi. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Thākura therefore says:

“Vrajabhūmi” refers to Mathurā-Vrindāvana, and Gauda-mandala-bhūmi includes Navadvīpa. These two places are nondifferent. Therefore, anyone living in Navadvīpa-dhāma, knowing Krishna and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to be the same personality, lives in Vrajabhūmi, Mathurā-Vrindāvana. The Lord has made it convenient for the conditioned soul to live in Mathurā, Vrindāvana and Navadvīpa and thus be directly connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Simply by living in these places, one can immediately come in contact with the Lord. There are many devotees who vow never to leave Vrindāvana and Mathurā. This is undoubtedly a good vow, but if one leaves Vrindāvana, Mathurā or Navadvīpa-dhāma for the service of the Lord, he is not disconnected from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. At any rate, we must understand the transcendental importance of Mathurā-Vrindāvana and Navadvīpa-dhāma. Anyone who executes devotional service in these places certainly goes back home, back to Godhead, after giving up his body. Thus the words mathurā bhagavān yatra nityam sannihito harih are particularly important. A devotee should fully utilize this instruction to the best of his ability. Whenever the Supreme Lord personally appears, He appears in Mathurā because of His intimate connection with this place. Therefore although Mathurā and Vrindāvana are situated on this planet earth, they are transcendental abodes of the Lord.

The system of giving a dowry to one’s daughter has existed in Vedic civilization for a very long time. Even today, following the same system, a father who has money will give his daughter an opulent dowry. A daughter would never inherit the property of her father, and therefore an affectionate father, during the marriage of his daughter, would give her as much as possible. A dowry, therefore, is never illegal according to the Vedic system. Here, of course, the gift offered as a dowry by Devaka to Devakī was not ordinary. Because Devaka was a king, he gave a dowry quite suitable to his royal position. Even an ordinary man, especially a high-class brāhmana, kshatriya or vaiśya, is supposed to give his daughter a liberal dowry. Immediately after the marriage, the daughter goes to her husband’s house, and it is also a custom for the brother of the bride to accompany his sister and brother-in-law to exhibit affection for her. This system was followed by Kamsa. These are all old customs in the society of varnāśrama-dharma, which is now wrongly designated as Hindu. These long-standing customs are nicely described here.

The omen spoke of ashtamo garbhah, referring to the eighth pregnancy, but did not clearly say whether the child was to be a son or a daughter. Even if Kamsa were to see that the eighth child of Devakī was a daughter, he should have no doubt that the eighth child was to kill him. According to the Viśva-kośa dictionary, the word garbha means “embryo” and also arbhaka, or “child.” Kamsa was affectionate toward his sister, and therefore he had become the chariot driver to carry her and his brother-in-law to their home. The demigods, however, did not want Kamsa to be affectionate toward Devakī, and therefore, from an unseen position, they encouraged Kamsa to offend her. Moreover, the six sons of Marīci had been cursed to take birth from the womb of Devakī, and upon being killed by Kamsa they would be delivered. When Devakī understood that Kamsa would be killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who would appear from her womb, she felt great joy. The word vahase is also significant because it indicates that the ominous vibration condemned Kamsa for acting just like a beast of burden by carrying his enemy’s mother.

Kamsa was driving the chariot and controlling the reins with his left hand, but as soon as he heard the omen that his sister’s eighth child would kill him, he gave up the reins, caught hold of his sister’s hair, and with his right hand took up a sword to kill her. Before, he had been so affectionate that he was acting as his sister’s chariot driver, but as soon as he heard that his self-interest or his life was at risk, he forgot all affection for her and immediately became a great enemy. This is the nature of demons. No one should trust a demon, despite any amount of affection. Aside from this, a king, a politician or a woman cannot be trusted, since they can do anything abominable for their personal interest. Cānakya Pandita therefore says, viśvāso naiva kartavyah strīshu rāja-kuleshu ca.

Vasudeva, who was to be the father of Krishna, is described here as mahā-bhāga, a very upright and sober personality, because although Kamsa was ready to kill Vasudeva’s wife, Vasudeva remained sober and unagitated. In a peaceful attitude, Vasudeva began to address Kamsa by putting forward reasonable arguments. Vasudeva was a great personality because he knew how to pacify a cruel person and how to forgive even the bitterest enemy. One who is fortunate is never caught, even by tigers or snakes.

According to Vedic principles, a brāhmana, an old man, a woman, a child or a cow cannot be killed under any circumstances. Vasudeva stressed that Devakī was not only a woman but a member of Kamsa’s family. Because she was now married to Vasudeva, she was para-strī, another man’s wife, and if such a woman were killed, not only would Kamsa be implicated in sinful activities, but his reputation as king of the Bhoja dynasty would be damaged. Thus Vasudeva tried in many ways to convince Kamsa in order to stop him from killing Devakī.

Vasudeva wanted to impress upon Kamsa that although Kamsa feared dying and therefore wanted to kill even a woman, he could not avoid death. Death is sure. Why then should Kamsa do something that would be detrimental to his reputation and that of his family? As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (2.27):

“For one who has taken his birth, death is certain; and for one who is dead, birth is certain. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament.” One should not fear death. Rather, one should prepare oneself for the next birth. One should utilize one’s time in this human form to end the process of birth and death. It is not that to save oneself from death one should entangle oneself in sinful activities. This is not good.

This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā, which presents the beginning of spiritual understanding.

“As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” (Bg. 2.13) A person or an animal is not the material body; rather, the material body is the covering of the living being. Bhagavad-gītā compares the body to a dress and elaborately explains how one changes dresses one after another. The same Vedic knowledge is confirmed here. The living being, the soul, is constantly changing bodies one after another. Even in the present life, the body changes from childhood to boyhood, from boyhood to youth, and from youth to old age; similarly, when the body is too old to continue, the living being gives up this body and, by the laws of nature, automatically gets another body according to his fruitive activities, desires and ambitions. The laws of nature control this sequence, and therefore as long as the living entity is under the control of the external, material energy, the process of bodily change takes place automatically, according to one’s fruitive activities. Vasudeva therefore wanted to impress upon Kamsa that if he committed this sinful act of killing a woman, in his next life he would certainly get a material body still more conditioned to the sufferings of material existence. Thus Vasudeva advised Kamsa not to commit sinful activities.

One who commits sinful activities because of ignorance, tamo-guna, obtains a lower body. Kāranam guna-sango ’sya sad-asad-yoni janmasu (Bg. 13.22). There are hundreds and thousands of different species of life. Why are there higher and lower bodies? One receives these bodies according to the contaminations of material nature. If in this life one is contaminated by the mode of ignorance and sinful activities (dushkritī), in the next life, by the laws of nature, one will certainly get a body full of suffering. The laws of nature are not subservient to the whimsical desires of the conditioned soul. Our endeavor, therefore, should be to associate always with sattva-guna and not indulge in rajo-guna or tamo-guna (rajas-tamo-bhāvāh). Lusty desires and greed keep the living entity perpetually in ignorance and prevent him from being elevated to the platform of sattva-guna or śuddha-sattva-guna. One is advised to be situated in śuddha-sattva-guna, devotional service, for thus one is immune to the reactions of the three modes of material nature.

This is the process of the soul’s transmigration from one body to another. At the time of death, according to his mental condition, the living being is carried by the subtle body, consisting of mind, intelligence and ego, to another gross body. When higher authorities have decided what kind of gross body the living entity will have, he is forced to enter such a body, and thus he automatically gives up his previous body. Dull-minded persons who do not have the intelligence to understand this process of transmigration take for granted that when the gross body is finished, one’s life is finished forever. Such persons have no brains with which to understand the process of transmigration. At the present moment there is great opposition to the Hare Krishna movement, which is being called a “brainwashing” movement. But actually the so-called scientists, philosophers and other leaders in the Western countries have no brains at all. The Hare Krishna movement is trying to elevate such foolish persons by enlightening their intelligence so that they will take advantage of the human body. Unfortunately, because of gross ignorance, they regard the Hare Krishna movement as a brainwashing movement. They do not know that without God consciousness one is forced to continue transmigrating from one body to another. Because of their devilish brains, they will next be forced to accept an abominable life and practically never be able to liberate themselves from the conditional life of material existence. How this transmigration of the soul takes place is very clearly explained in this verse.

Transmigration of the soul is very clearly explained in this verse. One sometimes forgets his present body and thinks of his childhood body, a body of the past, and of how one was playing, jumping, talking and so on. When the material body is no longer workable, it becomes dust: “For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” But when the body again mixes with the five material elements — earth, water, fire, air and ether — the mind continues to work. The mind is the subtle substance in which the body is created, as we actually experience in our dreams and also when we are awake in contemplation. One must understand that the process of mental speculation develops a new type of body that does not actually exist. If one can understand the nature of the mind (manorathena) and its thinking, feeling and willing, one can very easily understand how from the mind different types of bodies develop.

The Krishna consciousness movement, therefore, offers a process of transcendental activities wherein the mind is fully absorbed in affairs pertaining to Krishna. The presence of the soul is perceived by consciousness, and one must purify his consciousness from material to spiritual, or, in other words, to Krishna consciousness. That which is spiritual is eternal, and that which is material is temporary. Without Krishna consciousness, one’s consciousness is always absorbed in temporary things. For everyone, therefore, Krishna recommends in Bhagavad-gītā (9.34), man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī mām namaskuru. One should always be absorbed in thought of Krishna, one should become His devotee, one should always engage in His service and worship Him as the supreme great, and one should always offer Him obeisances. In the material world one is always a servant of a greater person, and in the spiritual world our constitutional position is to serve the Supreme, the greatest, param brahma. This is the instruction of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya-krishnera ‘nitya-dāsa’ (Cc. Madhya 20.108).

To act in Krishna consciousness is the perfection of life and the highest perfection of yoga. As Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad-gītā (6.47):

“Of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.”

The condition of the mind, which flickers between sankalpa and vikalpa, accepting something and rejecting it, is very important in transferring the soul to another material body at the time of death.

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” (Bg. 8.6) Therefore one must train the mind in the system of bhakti-yoga, as did Mahārāja Ambarīsha, who kept himself always in Krishna consciousness. Sa vai manah krishna-padāravindayoh. One must fix the mind at the lotus feet of Krishna twenty-four hours a day. If the mind is fixed upon Krishna’s lotus feet, the activities of the other senses will be engaged in Krishna’s service. Hrishīkena hrishīkeśa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate: to serve Hrishīkeśa, the master of the senses, with purified senses is called bhakti. Those who constantly engage in devotional service are situated in a transcendental state, above the material modes of nature. As Krishna says in Bhagavad-gītā (14.26):

“One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.” One must learn the secret of success from the Vedic literatures, especially when the cream of Vedic knowledge is presented by Bhagavad-gītā as it is.

Because the mind is ultimately controlled by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, the word apasmritih is significant. Forgetfulness of one’s own identity is called apasmritih. This apasmritih can be controlled by the Supreme Lord, for the Lord says, mattah smritir jñānam apohanam ca: “From Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.” Instead of allowing one to forget one’s real position, Krishna can revive one’s original identity at the time of one’s death, even though the mind may be flickering. Although the mind may work imperfectly at the time of death, Krishna gives a devotee shelter at His lotus feet. Therefore when a devotee gives up his body, the mind does not take him to another material body (tyaktvā deham punar janma naiti mām eti); rather, Krishna takes the devotee to that place where He is engaged in His pastimes (mām eti), as we have already discussed in previous verses. One’s consciousness, therefore, must always be absorbed in Krishna, and then one’s life will be successful. Otherwise the mind will carry the soul to another material body. The soul will be placed in the semen of a father and discharged into the womb of a mother. The semen and ovum create a particular type of body according to the form of the father and mother, and when the body is mature, the soul emerges in that body and begins a new life. This is the process of transmigration of the soul from one body to another (tathā dehāntara-prāptih). Unfortunately, those who are less intelligent think that when the body disappears, everything is finished. The entire world is being misled by such fools and rascals. But as stated in Bhagavad-gītā (2.20), na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre. The soul does not die when the body is destroyed. Rather, the soul takes on another body.

One can very easily understand that the mind is constantly flickering, changing in the quality of its thinking, feeling and willing. This is explained by Arjuna in Bhagavad-gītā (6.34):

The mind is cañcala, flickering, and it changes very strongly. Therefore Arjuna admitted that controlling the mind is not at all possible; this would be as difficult as controlling the wind. For example, if one were in a boat moving according to the wind on a river or the sea, and the wind were uncontrollable, the tilting boat would be very much disturbed and extremely difficult to control. It might even capsize. Therefore, in the bhava-samudra, the ocean of mental speculation and transmigration to different types of bodies, one must first control the mind.

By regulative practice one can control the mind, and this is the purpose of the yoga system (abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena). But there is a chance of failure with the yoga system, especially in this Age of Kali, because the yoga system uses artificial means. If the mind is engaged in bhakti-yoga, however, by the grace of Krishna one can very easily control it. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has recommended, harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam. One should chant the holy name of the Lord constantly, for the holy name of the Lord is nondifferent from Hari, the Supreme Person.

By chanting the Hare Krishna mantra constantly, one can fix the mind on the lotus feet of Krishna (sa vai manah krishna-padāravindayoh) and in this way achieve the perfection of yoga. Otherwise, the flickering mind will hover on the platform of mental speculation for sense enjoyment, and one will have to transmigrate from one type of body to another because the mind is trained only in relation to the material elements, or, in other words, to sense gratification, which is false. Māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūdhān (Bhāg. 7.9.43). Rascals (vimūdhān), being controlled by mental speculation, make huge arrangements by which to enjoy life temporarily, but they must give up the body at the time of death, when everything is taken away by Krishna’s external energy (mrityuh sarva-haraś cāham). At that time, whatever one has created in this life is lost, and one must automatically accept a new body by the force of material nature. In this life one may have constructed a very tall skyscraper, but in the next life, because of one’s mentality, one may have to accept a body like that of a cat, a dog, a tree or perhaps a demigod. Thus the body is offered by the laws of material nature. Kāranam guna-sango ’sya sad-asad-yoni janmasu (Bg. 13.22). The spirit soul takes birth in higher and lower species of life only because of his association with the three qualities of material nature.

“Those situated in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the higher planets; those in the mode of passion live on the earthly planets; and those in the mode of ignorance go down to the hellish worlds.” (Bg. 14.18)

In conclusion, the Krishna consciousness movement offers the topmost welfare activity for human society. The saner section of human society must therefore take this movement very seriously for the benefit of all humanity. To save oneself from the repetition of birth and death, one must purify his consciousness. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam. One must be freed from all designations — “I am American,” “I am Indian,” “I am this,” “I am that” — and come to the platform of understanding that Krishna is the original master and we are His eternal servants. When the senses are purified and engaged in Krishna’s service, one achieves the highest perfection. Hrishīkena hrishīkeśa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate. The Krishna consciousness movement is a movement of bhakti-yoga. Vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yoga. By following the principles of this movement, one becomes disassociated from material mental concoctions and is established on the original platform of the eternal relationship between the living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead as servant and master. This, in summary, is the purpose of the Krishna consciousness movement.

This verse gives a very good example by which to understand the different positions of the eternal spiritual soul in the material world and how the soul takes on different bodies (dehāntara-prāptih). The moon is stationary and is one, but when it is reflected in water or oil, it appears to take different shapes because of the movements of the wind. Similarly, the soul is the eternal servant of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but when put into the material modes of nature, it takes different bodies, sometimes as a demigod, sometimes a man, a dog, a tree and so on. By the influence of māyā, the illusory potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the living entity thinks that he is this person, that person, American, Indian, cat, dog, tree or whatever. This is called māyā. When one is freed from this bewilderment and understands that the soul does not belong to any shape of this material world, one is situated on the spiritual platform (brahma-bhūta).

This realization is sometimes explained as nirākāra, or formlessness. This formlessness, however, does not mean that the soul has no form. The soul has form, but the external, agitating form he has acquired because of material contamination is false. Similarly, God is also described as nirākāra, which means that God has no material form but is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. The living entity is part and parcel of the supreme sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, but his material forms are temporary, or illusory. Both the living entity and the Supreme Lord have original, spiritual forms (sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha), but the Lord, the Supreme, does not change His form. The Lord appears as He is, whereas the living entity appears because material nature forces him to accept different forms. When the living entity receives these different forms, he identifies with them, and not with his original, spiritual form. As soon as the living entity returns to his original, spiritual form and understanding, he immediately surrenders to the supreme form, the Personality of Godhead. This is explained in Bhagavad-gītā (7.19). Bahūnām janmanām ante jñānavān mām prapadyate. When the living entity, after many, many births in different forms, returns to his original form of Krishna consciousness, he immediately surrenders unto the lotus feet of the supreme form, Krishna. This is liberation. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (18.54):

“One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.” Surrender unto the supreme form is the result of bhakti. This bhakti, or understanding of one’s own position, is the complete liberation. As long as one is under an impersonal understanding of the Absolute Truth, he is not in pure knowledge, but must still struggle for pure knowledge. Kleśo ’dhikataras teshām avyaktāsakta-cetasām (Bg. 12.5). Although one may be spiritually advanced, if one is attached to the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth one must still work very hard, as indicated by the words kleśo ’dhikatarah, which mean “greater suffering.” A devotee, however, easily attains his original position as a spiritual form and understands the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His original form.

Krishna Himself explains the forms of the living entities in the Second Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, where He clearly says to Arjuna that He, Arjuna and all other living entities, who were previously in their original forms, are separate individual identities. They were individuals in the past, they are now situated in individuality, and in the future they will all continue to maintain their individual forms. The only difference is that the conditioned living entity appears in various material forms, whereas Krishna appears in His original, spiritual form. Unfortunately, those who are not advanced in spiritual knowledge think that Krishna is like one of them and that His form is like their material forms. Avajānanti mām mūdhā mānushīm tanum āśritam (Bg. 9.11). Krishna is never puffed up by material knowledge and is therefore called acyuta, whereas the living entities fall down and are agitated by material nature. This is the difference between the Supreme Lord and the living entities.

In this connection it is to be noted that Vasudeva, who was situated in a transcendental position, advised Kamsa not to commit further sinful activities. Kamsa, a representative of the demons, was always ready to kill Krishna, or God, whereas Vasudeva represents a transcendentally situated person to whom Krishna is born (Vāsudeva is the son of Vasudeva). Vasudeva wanted his brother-in-law Kamsa to refrain from the sinful act of killing his sister, since the result of being agitated by material nature would be that Kamsa would have to accept a body in which to suffer again and again. Elsewhere in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.5.4), Rishabhadeva also says:

As long as the living entity is entangled in the fruitive activities of so-called happiness and distress, he will receive a particular type of body in which to endure the three kinds of suffering due to material nature (tri-tāpa-yantranā). An intelligent person, therefore, must free himself from the influence of the three modes of material nature and revive his original, spiritual body by engaging in the service of the Supreme Person, Krishna. As long as one is materially attached, one must accept the process of birth, death, old age and disease. One is therefore advised that an intelligent person, instead of being entangled in so-called good and bad fruitive activities, should engage his life in advancing in Krishna consciousness so that instead of accepting another material body (tyaktvā deham punar janma naiti), he will return home, back to Godhead.

Instead of being inimical toward other living entities, one should act piously by engaging in the service of the Supreme Lord, thus avoiding a fearful situation both in this life and in the next. In this regard, the following moral instruction by the great politician Cānakya Pandita is very meaningful:

One should give up the company of devils, demons and nondevotees and should always associate with devotees and saintly persons. One should always act piously, thinking that this life is temporary, and not be attached to temporary happiness and distress. The Krishna consciousness movement is teaching all of human society this principle of becoming Krishna conscious and thus solving the problems of life forever (tyaktvā deham punar janma naiti mām eti so ’rjuna).

Although Vasudeva saw the imminent danger that his wife Devakī would be killed, he was convinced of his welfare because at his birth the demigods had played drums and kettledrums. He therefore attempted another way to save Devakī.

It is natural for a person facing untimely death to try his best to save himself. This is one’s duty. Although death is sure, everyone should try to avoid it and not meet death without opposition because every living soul is by nature eternal. Because death is a punishment imposed in the condemned life of material existence, the Vedic culture is based on avoiding death (tyaktvā deham punar janma naiti). Everyone should try to avoid death and rebirth by cultivating spiritual life and should not submit to death without struggling to survive. One who is not trying to stop death is not an intelligent human being. Because Devakī was face to face with imminent death, it was Vasudeva’s duty to save her, as he was trying his best to do. He therefore considered another way to approach Kamsa so that Devakī would be saved.

Vasudeva wanted to save the life of Devakī by promising to deliver his sons to Kamsa. “In the future,” he thought, “Kamsa may die, or I may not beget any sons. Even if a son is born and I deliver him to Kamsa, Kamsa may die at his hands, for by providence anything could happen. It is very difficult to understand how things are managed by providence.” Thus Vasudeva decided that he would promise to deliver his sons to the hands of Kamsa in order to save Devakī from the imminent danger of death.

When there is a fire in a village, the fire sometimes jumps over one house and burns another. Similarly, when there is a forest fire, the fire sometimes jumps over one tree and catches another. Why this happens, no one can say. One may set forth some imaginary reason why the nearest tree or house did not catch fire whereas a tree or house in a distant place did, but actually the reason is destiny. This reason also applies to the transmigration of the soul, by which a prime minister in one life may become a dog in the next. The work of unseen destiny cannot be ascertained by practical experimental knowledge, and therefore one must be satisfied by reasoning that everything is done by supreme providence.

Sometimes one must act duplicitously in a dangerous position, as Vasudeva did to save his wife. The material world is complicated, and to execute one’s duties, one cannot avoid adopting such diplomacy. Vasudeva did everything possible to save his wife for the sake of begetting Krishna. This indicates that one may act duplicitously for the purpose of saving Krishna and His interests. According to the arrangement already foretold, Krishna was to appear through Vasudeva and Devakī to kill Kamsa. Vasudeva, therefore, had to do everything to save the situation. Although all the events were prearranged by Krishna, a devotee must try his best to serve the purpose of Krishna. Krishna Himself is all-powerful, but it is not that a devotee should therefore sit idly and leave everything to Him. This instruction is also found in Bhagavad-gītā. Although Krishna was doing everything for Arjuna, Arjuna never sat down idly as a nonviolent gentleman. Rather, he tried his best to fight the battle and be victorious.

Kamsa feared Devakī’s existence because after her eighth pregnancy she would give birth to a son who would kill him. Vasudeva, therefore, to assure his brother-in-law the utmost safety, promised to bring him all the sons. He would not wait for the eighth son, but from the very beginning would deliver to the hands of Kamsa all the sons to which Devakī would give birth. This was the most liberal proposition offered by Vasudeva to Kamsa.

Although Kamsa was a sinful demon, he believed that Vasudeva would never deviate from his word. The character of a pure devotee like Vasudeva is such that even so great a demon as Kamsa firmly believed in his words and was satisfied. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair gunais tatra samāsate surāh (Bhāg. 5.18.12). All good attributes are present in a devotee, so much so that even Kamsa believed in Vasudeva’s words without a doubt.

The spiritual master is sometimes glorified as sarva-devamayo guruh (Bhāg. 11.17.27). By the grace of the guru, the spiritual master, one can understand the different kinds of devas. The word deva refers to God, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the original source of all the demigods, who are also called devas. In Bhagavad-gītā (10.2) the Lord says, aham ādir hi devānām: “I am the source of all the devas.” The Supreme Lord, Vishnu, the Original Person, expands in different forms. Tad aikshata bahu syām (Chāndogya Upanishad 6.2.3). He alone has expanded into many. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam (Brahma-samhitā 5.33). There are different grades of forms, known as svāmśa and vibhinnāmśa. The svāmśa expansions, or vishnu-tattva, are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas the vibhinnāmśa are jīva-tattva, who are part and parcel of the Lord (mamaivāmśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtah sanātanah). If we accept Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and worship Him, all the parts and expansions of the Lord are automatically worshiped. Sarvārhanam acyutejyā (Bhāg. 4.31.14). Krishna is known as Acyuta (senayor ubhayor madhye ratham sthāpaya me ’cyuta). By worshiping Acyuta, Krishna, one automatically worships all the demigods. There is no need of separately worshiping either the vishnu-tattva or jīva-tattva. If one concentrates upon Krishna, one worships everyone. Therefore, because mother Devakī gave birth to Krishna, she is described here as sarva-devatā.

In the Vedic system, as soon as a child is born, especially a male child, the father calls for learned brāhmanas, and according to the description of the child’s horoscope the child is immediately given a name. This ceremony is called nāma-karana. There are ten different samskāras, or reformatory methods, adopted in the system of varnāśrama-dharma, and the name-giving ceremony is one of them. Although Vasudeva’s first son was to be delivered into the hands of Kamsa, the nāma-karana ceremony was performed, and thus the child was named Kīrtimān. Such names are given immediately after birth.

Since the eighth son of Devakī was to kill Kamsa, one might ask what the need was for Vasudeva to deliver the first-born child. The answer is that Vasudeva had promised Kamsa that he would deliver all the children born of Devakī. Kamsa, being an asura, did not believe that the eighth child would kill him; he took it for granted that he might be killed by any of the children of Devakī. Vasudeva, therefore, to save Devakī, promised to give Kamsa every child, whether male or female. From another point of view, Vasudeva and Devakī were very pleased when they understood that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, would come as their eighth son. Vasudeva, a pure devotee of the Lord, was eager to see Krishna appear as his child from the eighth pregnancy of Devakī. Therefore he wanted to deliver all the children quickly so that the eighth turn would come and Krishna would appear. He begot one child every year so that Krishna’s turn to appear would come as soon as possible.

The word samatvam is very significant in this verse. Samatvam refers to one who is always equipoised, unaffected by either happiness or distress. Vasudeva was so steadily equipoised that he did not seem in the least agitated when delivering his first-born child into the hands of Kamsa to be killed. In Bhagavad-gītā (2.56) it is said, duhkheshv anudvigna-manāh sukheshu vigata-sprihah. In the material world, one should not be very eager to be happy, nor should one be very much disturbed by material distress. Lord Krishna advised Arjuna:

“O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” (Bg. 2.14) The self-realized soul is never disturbed by so-called distress or happiness, and this is especially true of an exalted devotee like Vasudeva, who showed this by his practical example. Vasudeva was not at all disturbed when delivering his first child to Kamsa to be killed.

As previously discussed, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu, informed Lord Brahmā that Lord Krishna would personally descend to mitigate the suffering on the earth. The Lord ordered all the denizens of the heavenly planets to take birth in different families of the Yadu and Vrishni dynasties and in Vrindāvana. Now this verse informs us that all the family and friends of the Yadu dynasty, the Vrishni dynasty, Nanda Mahārāja and the gopas descended from the heavenly planets to see the pastimes of the Lord. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (4.8), the Lord’s pastimes consist of paritrānāya sādhūnām vināśāya ca dushkritām — saving the devotees and killing the demons. To demonstrate these activities, the Lord called for devotees from different parts of the universe.

There are many devotees who are elevated to the higher planetary systems.

“The unsuccessful yogī, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy.” (Bg. 6.41) Some devotees, having failed to complete the process of devotional service, are promoted to the heavenly planets, to which the pious are elevated, and after enjoying there they may be directly promoted to the place where the Lord’s pastimes are going on. When Lord Krishna was to appear, the denizens of the heavenly planets were invited to see the pastimes of the Lord, and thus it is stated here that the members of the Yadu and Vrishni dynasties and the inhabitants of Vrindāvana were demigods or almost as good as demigods. Even those who externally helped the activities of Kamsa belonged to the higher planetary systems. The imprisonment and release of Vasudeva and the killing of various demons were all manifestations of the pastimes of the Lord, and because the devotees would be pleased to see these activities personally, they were all invited to take birth as friends and relatives of these families. As confirmed in the prayers of Kuntī (Bhāg. 1.8.19), nato nātya-dharo yathā. The Lord was to play the part of a demon-killer, and a friend, son and brother to His devotees, and thus these devotees were all summoned.

It has already been discussed that mother earth implored Lord Brahmā to give her relief from the distress created by the burdensome demons and that Lord Brahmā informed her that Lord Krishna Himself was going to appear. Krishna says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.8):

Whenever there is a burden created by the demons and whenever the innocent devotees are distressed by demoniac rulers, the Lord appears in due course of time to kill the demons with the assistance of His real representatives, who are technically called demigods. In the Upanishads it is stated that the demigods are different parts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As it is the duty of the parts of the body to serve the whole, it is the duty of Krishna’s devotees to serve Krishna as He wants. Krishna’s business is to kill the demons, and therefore this should be a devotee’s business also. Because the people of Kali-yuga are fallen, however, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, out of kindness for them, did not bring any weapon to kill them. Rather, by spreading Krishna consciousness, love of Krishna, He wanted to kill their nefarious, demoniac activities. This is the purpose of the Krishna consciousness movement. Unless the demoniac activities on the surface of the world are diminished or vanquished, no one can be happy. The program for the conditioned soul is fully described in Bhagavad-gītā, and one simply has to follow these instructions to become happy. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has therefore prescribed:

Let people chant the Hare Krishna mantra constantly. Then their demoniac tendencies will be killed, and they will become first-class devotees, happy in this life and in the next.

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, in his notes on this verse, has mentioned how Nārada Muni gave Kamsa this information. This incident is described in the Hari-vamśa. Nārada Muni went to see Kamsa by providence, and Kamsa received him very well. Nārada, therefore, informed him that any one of the sons of Devakī might be Vishnu. Because Vishnu was to kill him, Kamsa should not spare any of Devakī’s children, Nārada Muni advised. Nārada’s intention was that Kamsa, by killing the children, would increase his sinful activities so that Krishna would soon appear to kill him. Upon receiving the instructions of Nārada Muni, Kamsa killed all the children of Devakī one after another.

The word ajana-śankayā indicates that Lord Vishnu never takes birth (ajana) and that He therefore appeared as Krishna, taking birth just like a human being (mānushīm tanum āśritam). Kamsa attempted to kill all the babies born of Devakī and Vasudeva, although he knew that if Vishnu were born, He would not be killed. Actually it came to pass that when Vishnu appeared as Krishna, Kamsa could not kill Him; rather, as foretold, it was He who killed Kamsa. One should know in truth how Krishna, who takes His birth transcendentally, acts to kill the demons but is never killed. When one perfectly understands Krishna in this way, through the medium of śāstra, one becomes immortal. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9):

“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.”

We have seen in the history of India that Aurangzeb killed his brother and nephews and imprisoned his father to fulfill political ambitions. There have been many similar instances, and Kamsa was the same type of king. Kamsa did not hesitate to kill his nephews and imprison his sister and his father. For demons to do such things is not astonishing. Nonetheless, although Kamsa was a demon, he was aware that Lord Vishnu cannot be killed, and thus he attained salvation. Even partial understanding of the activities of Lord Vishnu makes one eligible for salvation. Kamsa knew a little about Krishna — that He could not be killed — and therefore he attained salvation although he thought of Vishnu, Krishna, as an enemy. What then is to be said of one who knows Krishna perfectly from the descriptions of śāstras like Bhagavad-gītā? It is therefore the duty of everyone to read Bhagavad-gītā and understand Krishna perfectly. This will make one’s life successful.

Persons who are demons, enemies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are called asuras. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, the asuras, because of their enmity toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead, take birth after birth in asura families and therefore glide down to the darkest hellish regions.

The state known as Mathurā was also included within the states known as Śūrasena.

Regarding transmigration of the soul, Śrīla Madhvācārya gives the following notes. When one is awake, whatever one sees or hears is impressed upon the mind, which later works in dreams to show one different experiences, although in dreams one appears to accept a different body. For example, when one is awake one does business and talks with customers, and similarly in dreams one meets various customers, talks about business and gives quotations. Madhvācārya says, therefore, that dreams take place according to what one sees, hears and remembers. When one reawakens, of course, one forgets the body of the dream. This forgetfulness is called apasmriti. Thus we are changing bodies because we are sometimes dreaming, sometimes awake and sometimes forgetful. Forgetfulness of our previously created body is called death, and our work in the present body is called life. After death, one cannot remember the activities of one’s previous body, whether imaginary or factual.

The agitated mind is compared to agitated water reflecting the sun and the moon. Actually the sun and moon reflected on the water do not exist there; nonetheless, they are reflected according to the movements of the water. Similarly, when our minds are agitated, we wander in different material atmospheres and receive different types of bodies. This is described in Bhagavad-gītā as guna-sanga. Kāranam guna-sango ’sya. Madhvācārya says, guna-nubaddhah san. And Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, brahmānda bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva (Cc. Madhya 19.151). The living entity rotates up and down throughout the universe, sometimes in the upper planetary system, sometimes in the middle and lower planetary systems, sometimes as a man, sometimes a god, a dog, a tree and so on. This is all due to the agitation of the mind. The mind must therefore be steadily fixed. As it is said, sa vai manah krishna-padāravindayoh. One should fix one’s mind at the lotus feet of Krishna, and then one will become free from agitation. This is the instruction of the Garuda Purāna, and in the Nāradīya Purāna the same process is described. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, yānti deva-vratā devān. The agitated mind goes to different planetary systems because it is attached to different kinds of demigods, but one does not go to the abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by worshiping the demigods, for this is not supported by any Vedic literature. Man is the architect of his own fortune. In this human life one has the facility with which to understand one’s real situation, and one can decide whether to wander around the universe forever or return home, back to Godhead. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (aprāpya mām nivartante mrityu-samsāra-vartmani).

There is no such thing as chance. When a tree is burning in a forest fire and although the nearest tree is spared a distant tree catches fire, this may appear to be chance. Similarly, one may seem to get different types of bodies by chance, but actually one receives these bodies because of the mind. The mind flickers between accepting and rejecting, and according to the acceptance and rejection of the mind, we receive different types of bodies, although we superficially seem to obtain these bodies by chance. Even if we accept the theory of chance, the immediate cause for the change of body is the agitation of the mind.

Notes on amśa. This chapter describes that Krishna appeared amśena, with His parts and parcels or His partial manifestation. In this connection, Śrīdhara Svāmī says that Krishna is one hundred percent Bhagavān (krishnas tu bhagavān svayam). Because of our imperfections, however, we cannot appreciate Krishna in fullness, and therefore whatever Krishna exhibited when present on earth was but a partial manifestation of His opulence. Again, Krishna appeared with His plenary expansion Baladeva. Krishna, however, is full; there is no question of His appearing partially. In the Vaishnava-toshanī, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī says that to accept that Krishna was partially manifested would contradict the statement krishnas tu bhagavān svayam. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that the word amśena means that Krishna appeared with all His plenary expansions. The words amśena vishnoh do not mean that Krishna is a partial representative of Vishnu. Rather, Krishna appeared in fullness, and He manifests Himself partially in the Vaikunthalokas. In other words, Lord Vishnu is a partial representation of Krishna; Krishna is not a partial representation of Vishnu. In the Caitanya-caritāmrita, Ādi-līlā, Chapter Four, this subject matter is explained very clearly. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura also notes that no one can describe Krishna in fullness. Whatever descriptions we find in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are partial explanations of Krishna. In conclusion, therefore, the word amśena indicates that Lord Vishnu is a partial representation of Krishna, not that Krishna is a partial representation of Vishnu.

Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī’s Vaishnava-toshanī has explained the word dharma-śīlasya. The exact meaning of dharma-śīla is “an unadulterated devotee.” Real dharma consists of full surrender to Krishna (sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam śaranam vraja). One who has fully surrendered to Krishna is actually religious. One such religious person was Mahārāja Parīkshit. Anyone who accepts the principle of surrender to the lotus feet of the Lord, giving up all other systems of religion, is actually dharma-śīla, perfectly religious.

The word nivritta-tarshaih refers to one who no longer has any material desires (sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam). One may have many material desires because of contamination in this material world, but when one is completely free from all material desires, he is called nivritta-trishna, which indicates that he no longer has any thirst for material enjoyment. Svāmin kritārtho ’smi varam na yāce (Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya). Materialistic persons want some material profit from executing devotional service, but this is not the purpose of service. The perfection of devotional service lies in complete surrender unto the lotus feet of Krishna, with no material desires. One who surrenders in this way is already liberated. Jīvan-muktah sa ucyate. One who is always busy serving Krishna, in whatever condition he may live, is understood to be liberated even in this life. Such a person, who is a pure devotee, does not need to change his body; indeed, he does not possess a material body, for his body has already been spiritualized. An iron rod kept constantly within a fire will ultimately become fire, and whatever it touches will burn. Similarly, the pure devotee is in the fire of spiritual existence, and therefore his body is cin-maya; that is, it is spiritual, not material, because the pure devotee has no desire but the transcendental desire to serve the Lord. In text four the word upagīyamānāt is used: nivritta-tarshair upagīyamānāt. Who will chant the glories of the Lord unless he is a devotee? Therefore the word nivritta-tarshaih indicates the devotee, and no one else. These are the remarks of ācāryas like Vīrarāghava Ācārya and Vijayadhvaja. To desire anything other than devotional service will diminish one’s freedom from material desires, but when one is free from all such desires one is called nivritta-tarshaih.

Vinā paśu-ghnāt. The word paśu means “animal.” An animal killer, paśu-ghna, cannot enter into Krishna consciousness. In our Krishna consciousness movement, therefore, animal killing is completely prohibited.

Uttamaśloka-gunānuvādāt. The word uttamaśloka means “one who is famous as the best of those who are good.” The Lord is good in all circumstances. That is His natural reputation. His goodness is unlimited, and He uses it unlimitedly. A devotee is also sometimes described as uttamaśloka, meaning that he is eager to glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead or the Lord’s devotees. Glorifying the Lord and glorifying the Lord’s devotees are the same. Or, rather, glorifying the devotee is more important than glorifying the Lord directly. Narottama dāsa Thākura explains this fact: chādiyā vaishnava-sevā, nistāra pāyeche kebā. One cannot be liberated from material contamination without sincerely serving a devotee of Krishna.

Bhavaushadhāt means “from the universal remedy.” Chanting the holy name and glorifying the Supreme Lord are the universal remedy for all the miseries of materialistic life. Persons who desire to be freed from this material world are called mumukshu. Such persons can understand the miseries of materialistic life, and by glorifying the activities of the Lord they can be released from all these miseries. The transcendental sound vibrations concerning the Lord’s name, fame, form, qualities and paraphernalia are all nondifferent from the Lord. Therefore the very sound vibration of the Lord’s glorification and name are pleasing to the ears, and by understanding the absolute nature of the Lord’s name, form and qualities the devotee becomes joyful. Even those who are not devotees, however, enjoy the pleasing narrations of the Lord’s transcendental activities. Even ordinary persons not very much advanced in Krishna consciousness take pleasure in describing the narrations depicted in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. When a materialistic person is purified in this way, he engages in hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. Because glorification of the Lord’s pastimes is very pleasing to the ear and heart of the devotee, it is simultaneously his subject and object.

In this world there are three kinds of men: those who are liberated, those trying to be liberated, and those entangled in sense enjoyment. Of these three, those who are already liberated chant and hear the holy name of the Lord, knowing perfectly that to glorify the Lord is the only way to keep oneself in a transcendental position. Those who are trying to be liberated, the second class, may regard the chanting and hearing of the Lord’s holy name as a process of liberation, and they too will feel the transcendental pleasure of this chanting. As for karmīs and persons engaged in sense gratification, they also may take pleasure in hearing the pastimes of the Lord, like His fighting on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra and His dancing in Vrindāvana with the gopīs.

The word uttamaśloka-gunānuvāda refers to the transcendental qualities of the Supreme Lord, such as His affection for mother Yaśodā and His friends the cowherd boys and His loving attitude toward the gopīs. The Lord’s devotees like Mahārāja Yudhishthira are also described by the qualification uttamaśloka-gunānuvāda. The word anuvāda refers to describing the qualities of the Supreme Lord or His devotees. When these qualities are described, other devotees are interested in hearing them. The more one is interested in hearing about these transcendental qualities, the more one transcendentally enjoys. Everyone, therefore, including the mumukshus, the vimuktas and the karmīs, should chant and hear the glories of the Lord, and in this way everyone will benefit.

Although the sound vibration of the transcendental qualities of the Lord is equally beneficial to all, for those who are muktas, liberated, it is especially pleasing. As described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Eighth Canto, Third Chapter, verse 20, because pure devotees, who no longer have any material desires, surrender fully to the lotus feet of the Lord, they always merge in the ocean of bliss by chanting and hearing the Lord’s holy name. According to this verse, devotees like Nārada and other residents of Śvetadvīpa are seen always engaged in chanting the holy name of the Lord because by such chanting they are always externally and internally blissful. The mumukshus, persons desiring to be liberated, do not depend on the pleasures of the senses; instead, they concentrate fully on becoming liberated by chanting the holy name of the Lord. Karmīs like to create something pleasing to their ears and hearts, and although they sometimes like to chant or hear the glories of the Lord, they do not do it openly. Devotees, however, always spontaneously hear, chant about and remember the activities of the Lord, and by this process they are fully satisfied, even though these may seem like topics of sense gratification. Simply by hearing the transcendental narrations of the Lord’s activities, Parīkshit Mahārāja was liberated. He was therefore śrotramano-’bhirāma; that is, he glorified the process of hearing. This process should be accepted by all living entities.

To distinguish persons who are bereft of these transcendental pleasures, Parīkshit Mahārāja has used the words virajyeta pumān. The word pumān refers to any person, whether man, woman or in-between. Because of the bodily conception of life, we are subject to lamentation, but one who has no such bodily conceptions can take pleasure in transcendental hearing and chanting. Therefore a person fully absorbed in the bodily concept of life is surely killing himself by not making spiritual progress. Such a person is called paśu-ghna. Especially excluded from spiritual life are the animal hunters, who are not interested in hearing and chanting the holy name of the Lord. Such hunters are always unhappy, both in this life and in the next. It is therefore said that a hunter should neither die nor live because for such persons both living and dying are troublesome. Animal hunters are completely different from ordinary karmīs, and thus they have been excluded from the process of hearing and chanting. Vinā paśu-ghnāt. They cannot enter into the transcendental pleasure of chanting and hearing the holy name of the Lord.

The word mahā-ratha refers to a great hero who can fight alone against eleven thousand other heroes, and the word atiratha, as found in text five, refers to one who can fight against an unlimited number. This is mentioned in the Mahābhārata as follows:

This is the description given in the Brihad-vaishnava-toshanī by Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī.

Māyā-manushyasya (10.1.17). Because of being covered by yoga-māyā (nāham prakāśah sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvritah), Krishna is sometimes called māyā-manushya, indicating that although He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He appears like an ordinary person. A misunderstanding arises because yoga-māyā covers the vision of the general public. The Lord’s position is actually different from that of an ordinary person, for although He appears to act like an ordinary man, He is always transcendental. The word māyā also indicates “mercy,” and sometimes it also means “knowledge.” The Lord is always full of all transcendental knowledge, and therefore although He acts like a human being, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, full of knowledge. In His original identity, the Lord is the controller of māyā (mayādhyakshena prakritih sūyate sa-carācaram). Therefore the Lord may be called māyā-manushya, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead playing like an ordinary human being, although He is the controller of both the material and spiritual energies. The Lord is the Supreme Person, Purushottama, but because we are deluded by yoga-māyā, He appears to be an ordinary person. Ultimately, however, yoga-māyā induces even a nondevotee to understand the Lord as the Supreme Person, Purushottama. In Bhagavad-gītā we find two statements given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For the devotees, the Lord says:

“To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” (Bg. 10.10) Thus for the willing devotee the Lord gives intelligence by which to understand Him and return home, back to Godhead. For others, for nondevotees, the Lord says, mrityuh sarva-haraś cāham: “I am all-plundering, inevitable death.” A devotee like Prahlāda enjoys the activities of Lord Nrisimhadeva, whereas nondevotees like Prahlāda’s father, Hiranyakaśipu, meet death before Lord Nrisimhadeva. The Lord therefore acts in two ways, by sending some onto the path of repeated birth and death and sending others back home, back to Godhead.

The word kāla, meaning “black,” indicates the color of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. Lord Krishna and Lord Rāmacandra, who both look blackish, give liberation and transcendental bliss to Their devotees. Among persons possessing material bodies, sometimes someone is able to subject death to his own will. For such a person, death is almost impossible because no one wants to die. But although Bhīshmadeva possessed this power, Bhīshma, by the supreme will of the Lord, died very easily in the Lord’s presence. There have also been many demons who had no hope of salvation, yet Kamsa attained salvation by the supreme will of the Lord. Not to speak of Kamsa, even Pūtanā attained salvation and reached the level of the Lord’s mother. Parīkshit Mahārāja, therefore, was very eager to hear about the Lord, who has inconceivable qualities by which to give liberation to anyone. Parīkshit Mahārāja, at the point of his death, was certainly interested in his liberation. When such a great and exalted personality as the Lord behaves like an ordinary human being although possessing inconceivable qualities, His behavior is called māyā. Therefore the Lord is described as māyā-manushya. This is the opinion of Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. Mu refers to mukti, or salvation, and ku refers to that which is bad or very obnoxious. Thus muku refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who saves one from the bad condition of material existence. The Lord is called mukunda because He not only saves the devotee from material existence but offers him transcendental bliss in love and service.

As for Keśava, ka means Brahmā, and īśa means Lord Śiva. The Personality of Godhead captivates both Lord Brahmā and Lord Mahādeva, or Śiva, by His transcendental qualities. Therefore He is called Keśava. This opinion is given by Sanātana Gosvāmī in his Vaishnava-toshanī commentary.

It is said that all the demigods, accompanied by Tri-nayana, Lord Śiva, went to the shore of the Ocean of Milk and offered their prayers through the mantra known as Purusha-sūkta. From this statement it is understood that the demigods cannot directly approach Lord Vishnu, who lies on the Ocean of Milk, or enter His abode. This is also clearly stated in the Mahābhārata, Moksha-dharma, and the next chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has His abode in Goloka (goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya). From Lord Krishna come the catur-vyūha, the quadruple expansions Sankarshana, Aniruddha, Pradyumna and Vāsudeva. There are innumerable brahmāndas, all of which emanate from the pores of Kāranodakaśāyī Vishnu, and in every brahmānda there is a Garbhodakaśāyī Vishnu, who is a partial expansion of Aniruddha. This Aniruddha is a partial expansion of Pradyumna, who is partially represented as Kshīrodakaśāyī Vishnu, the Supersoul of all living entities. These Vishnu expansions are different from Krishna, who resides in Goloka Vrindāvana. When it is said that the demigods offered prayers to the Lord by chanting the Purusha-sūkta, this indicates that they pleased the Lord by enunciating prayers of bhakti.

The word vrishākapi refers to one who satisfies His devotee in every way and frees His devotee from all material anxieties. Vrisha refers to religious performances like sacrifices. Even without the execution of sacrifices, the Lord can still enjoy the supermost comforts of the heavenly planets. The statement that Purushottama, Jagannātha, would appear in the house of Vasudeva distinguishes the Supreme Personality of Godhead from ordinary persons. The statement that He personally appeared indicates that He did not send His plenary expansion. The word priyārtham indicates that the Lord appeared to please Rukminī and Rādhārānī. Priyā means “the most beloved.”

In the commentary of Śrī Vīrarāghava Ācārya, the following extra verse is accepted after text twenty-three:

“O demigods, even great sages, following the order of Vishnu, appeared in the forms of cows and calves to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead by delivering milk.”

Rāmānujācārya sometimes accepts Baladeva as a śaktyāveśa-avatāra, but Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has explained that Baladeva is an expansion of Krishna and that a part of Baladeva is Sankarshana. Although Baladeva is identical with Sankarshana, He is the origin of Sankarshana. Therefore the word svarāt has been used to indicate that Baladeva always exists in His own independence. The word svarāt also indicates that Baladeva is beyond the material conception of existence. Māyā cannot attract Him, but because He is fully independent, He can appear by His spiritual potency wherever He likes. Māyā is fully under the control of Vishnu. Because the material potency and Yoga-māyā mingle in the Lord’s appearance, they are described as ekānamśā. Sometimes ekānamśā is interpreted to mean “without differentiation.” Sankarshana and Śesha-nāga are identical. As stated by Yamunādevī, “O Rāma, O great-armed master of the world, who have extended Yourself throughout the entire universe by one plenary expansion, it is not possible to understand You fully.” Therefore ekāmśā refers to Śesha-nāga. In other words, Baladeva, merely by His partial expansion, sustains the entire universe.

The word kāryārthe refers to one who attracted the pregnancy of Devakī and bewildered mother Yaśodā. These pastimes are very confidential. The Supreme Personality of Godhead ordered Yoga-māyā to bewilder His associates in His pastimes and bewilder demons like Kamsa. As stated previously, yoga-māyām samādiśat. To give service to the Lord, Yoga-māyā appeared along with Mahā-māyā. Mahā-māyā refers to yayā sammohitam jagat, “one who bewilders the entire material world.” From this statement it is to be understood that Yoga-māyā, in her partial expansion, becomes Mahā-māyā and bewilders the conditioned souls. In other words, the entire creation has two divisions — transcendental, or spiritual, and material. Yoga-māyā manages the spiritual world, and by her partial expansion as Mahā-māyā she manages the material world. As stated in the Nārada-pañcarātra, Mahā-māyā is a partial expansion of Yoga-māyā. The Nārada-pañcarātra clearly states that the Supreme Personality has one potency, which is sometimes described as Durgā. The Brahma-samhitā says, chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā. Durgā is not different from Yoga-māyā. When one understands Durgā properly, he is immediately liberated, for Durgā is originally the spiritual potency, hlādinī-śakti, by whose mercy one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead very easily. Rādhā krishna-pranaya-vikritir hlādinī-śaktir asmād. The mahā-māyā-śakti, however, is a covering of Yoga-māyā, and she is therefore called the covering potency. By this covering potency, the entire material world is bewildered (yayā sammohitam jagat). In conclusion, bewildering the conditioned souls and liberating the devotees are both functions belonging to Yoga-māyā. Transferring the pregnancy of Devakī and keeping mother Yaśodā in deep sleep were both done by Yoga-māyā. Mahā-māyā cannot act upon such devotees, for they are always liberated. But although it is not possible for Mahā-māyā to control liberated souls or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, she did bewilder Kamsa. The action of Yoga-māyā in presenting herself before Kamsa was the action of Mahā-māyā, not Yoga-māyā. Yoga-māyā cannot even see or touch such polluted persons as Kamsa. In Candī, in the Mārkandeya Purāna, Eleventh Chapter, Mahā-māyā says, “During the twenty-eighth yuga in the period of Vaivasvata Manu, I shall take birth as the daughter of Yaśodā and be known as Vindhyācala-vāsinī.”

The distinction between the two māyās — Yoga-māyā and Mahā-māyā — is described as follows. Krishna’s rāsa-līlā with the gopīs and the gopīs’ bewilderment in respect to their husbands, fathers-in-law and other such relatives were arrangements of Yoga-māyā in which Mahā-māyā had no influence. The Bhāgavatam gives sufficient evidence of this when it clearly says, yoga-māyām upāśritah. On the other hand, there were asuras headed by Śālva and kshatriyas like Duryodhana who were bereft of devotional service in spite of seeing Krishna’s carrier Garuda and the universal form, and who could not understand Krishna to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This was also bewilderment, but this bewilderment was due to mahā-māyā. Therefore it is to be concluded that the māyā which drags a person from the Supreme Personality of Godhead is called jada-māyā, and the māyā which acts on the transcendental platform is called yoga-māyā. When Nanda Mahārāja was taken away by Varuna, he saw Krishna’s opulence, but nonetheless he thought of Krishna as his son. Such feelings of parental love in the spiritual world are acts of yoga-māyā, not of jada-māyā, or mahā-māyā. This is the opinion of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura.

Śūrasenāmś ca. The son of Kārtavīryārjuna was Śūrasena, and the countries he ruled were also called Śūrasena. This is noted by Sanātana Gosvāmī in his Vaishnava-toshanī commentary.

In regard to Mathurā, we find this quotation:

When a self-realized soul acts in his transcendental position, his situation is called Mathurā. In other words, when one acts in the process of bhakti-yoga, he may live anywhere, but actually he lives in Mathurā, Vrindāvana. Devotion to Krishna, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, is the essence of all knowledge, and wherever such knowledge is manifested is called Mathurā. Also, when one establishes bhakti-yoga, excluding all other methods, one’s situation is called Mathurā. Yatra nityam sannihito harih: the place where Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, lives eternally is called Mathurā. The word nitya indicates eternality. The Supreme Lord is eternal, and His abode is also eternal. Goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtah. Although the Lord is always stationed in His abode, Goloka Vrindāvana, He is present everywhere in fullness. This means that when the Supreme Lord descends to the surface of the world, His original abode is not vacant, for He can remain in His original abode and simultaneously descend upon Mathurā, Vrindāvana, Ayodhyā and other places. He does not need to descend, since He is already present there; He simply manifests Himself.

Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī has addressed Mahārāja Parīkshit as tāta, or “beloved son.” This is due to parental love in the heart of Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Because Krishna was soon coming as the son of Vasudeva and Devakī, out of parental affection Śukadeva Gosvāmī addressed Mahārāja Parīkshit as tāta, “my dear son.”

In the Viśva-kośa dictionary, the word garbha is explained: garbho bhrūne arbhake kukshāv ity ādi. When Kamsa was about to kill Devakī, Vasudeva wanted to dissuade him by the diplomacy of sāma and bheda. Sāma means “pacifying.” Vasudeva wanted to pacify Kamsa by indicating relations, gain, welfare, identity and glorification. Reference to these five concerns constitutes sāma, and Vasudeva’s presentation of fear in two situations — in this life and the next — is called bheda. Thus Vasudeva used both sāma and bheda to pacify Kamsa. Praising Kamsa’s qualifications was glorification, and praising him as a descendant of the bhoja-vamśa appealed to sambandha, relationship. Speaking of “your sister” was an appeal to identity. Speaking about killing a woman raises questions about fame and welfare, and arousing fear of the sinful act of killing one’s sister during her marriage ceremony is an aspect of bheda. The Bhoja dynasty refers to those who were simply interested in sense gratification and were therefore not very aristocratic. Another meaning of bhoja is “fighting.” These were indications of defamation for Kamsa. When Vasudeva addressed Kamsa as dīna-vatsala, this was excessive praise. Kamsa would accept calves as a form of revenue from his poor constituents, and therefore he was called dīna-vatsala. Vasudeva knew very well that he could not by force rescue Devakī from the imminent danger. Devakī was actually the daughter of Kamsa’s uncle, and therefore she is described as suhrit, meaning “relative.” It is stated that Kamsa refrained from killing his close relation Devakī because if he had killed her, a great fight would have ensued among the other members of the family. Kamsa refrained from provoking this great danger of a family fight, for it would have caused many persons to lose their lives.

Formerly an asura named Kālanemi had six sons, named Hamsa, Suvikrama, Krātha, Damana, Ripurmardana and Krodhahantā. They were known as the shad-garbhas, or six garbhas, and they were all equally powerful and expert in military affairs. These shad-garbhas gave up the association of Hiranyakaśipu, their grandfather, and underwent great austerities to satisfy Lord Brahmā, who, upon being satisfied, agreed to give them whatever benediction they might desire. When asked by Lord Brahmā to state what they wanted, the shād-garbhas replied, “Dear Lord Brahmā, if you want to give us a benediction, give us the blessing that we will not be killed by any demigod, mahoraga, Yaksha, Gandharva-pati, Siddha, Cārana or human being, nor by great sages who are perfect in their penances and austerities.” Brahmā understood their purpose and fulfilled their desire. But when Hiranyakaśipu came to know of these events, he was very angry at his grandsons. “You have given up my association and have gone to worship Lord Brahmā,” he said, “and therefore I no longer have any affection for you. You have tried to save yourselves from the hands of the demigods, but I curse you in this way: Your father will take birth as Kamsa and kill all of you because you will take birth as sons of Devakī.” Because of this curse, the grandsons of Hiranyakaśipu had to take birth from the womb of Devakī and be killed by Kamsa, although he was previously their father. This description is mentioned in the Hari-vamśa, Vishnu-parva, Second Chapter. According to the comments of the Vaishnava-toshanī, the son of Devakī known as Kīrtimān was the third incarnation. In his first incarnation he was known as Smara and was the son of Marīci, and later he became the son of Kālanemi. This is mentioned in the histories.

An additional verse in this chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is accepted by the Madhvācārya sampradāya, represented by Vijayadhvaja Tīrtha. The verse is as follows:

atha — in this way; kamsam — unto Kamsa; upāgamya — after going; nāradah — the great sage Nārada; brahma-nandanah — who is the son of Brahmā; ekāntam upasangamya — after going to a very solitary place; vākyam — the following instruction; etat — this; uvāca — said; ha — in the past.

Translation: “Thereafter, Nārada, the mental son of Lord Brahmā, approached Kamsa and, in a very solitary place, informed him of the following news.”

The great saint Nārada descended from the heavenly planets to the forest of Mathurā and sent his messenger to Kamsa. When the messenger approached Kamsa and informed him of Nārada’s arrival, Kamsa, the leader of the asuras, was very happy and immediately came out of his palace to receive Nārada, who was as bright as the sun, as powerful as fire, and free from all tinges of sinful activities. Kamsa accepted Nārada as his guest, offered him respectful obeisances and gave him a golden seat, brilliant like the sun. Nārada was a friend of the King of heaven, and thus he told Kamsa, the son of Ugrasena, “My dear hero, you have satisfied me with a proper reception, and therefore I shall tell you something secret and confidential. While I was coming here from Nandakānana through the Caitraratha forest, I saw a great meeting of the demigods, who followed me to Sumeru Parvata. We traveled through many holy places, and finally we saw the holy Ganges. While Lord Brahmā was consulting the other demigods at the top of Sumeru Hill, I was also present with my stringed instrument, the vīnā. I shall tell you confidentially that the meeting was held just to plan to kill the asuras, headed by you. You have a younger sister named Devakī, and it is a fact that her eighth son will kill you.” (Hari-vamśa, Vishnu-parva 1.2-16)

No one can blame Nāradajī for encouraging Kamsa to kill the sons of Devakī. The saint Nārada is always a well-wisher for human society, and he wanted the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, to descend to this world as soon as possible so that the society of demigods would be pleased and would see Kamsa and his friends killed by Krishna. Kamsa would also attain salvation from his nefarious activities, and this too would very much please the demigods and their followers. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura remarks in this connection that Nārada Muni sometimes did things that were beneficial to the demigods and the demons simultaneously. Śrī Vīrarāghava Ācārya, in his commentary, has included the following half-verse in this regard: asurāh sarva evaita lokopadrava-kārinah. Asuras are always disturbing elements for human society.