Part 2-The Continuing Stories OF The Advent Of Lord Krsna

At the auspicious time for the appearance of the Lord,the entire universe was surcharged with all the qualities of goodness,beauty,and peace.The constellation Rohini appeared,as did stars like Asvini.The sun,the moon,and the other stars and planets were very peaceful.All directions appeared extremely pleasing,and the beautiful stars twinkled in the cloudless sky.Decorated with towns,villages,mines,and pasturing grounds,the earth seemed all-auspicious.The rivers flowed with clear water,and the lakes and vast reservoirs,full of lotuses,were extraordinarily beautiful.In the trees and green plants,which were full of flowers and leaves,pleasing to the eyes birds like cuckoos and swarms of bees began chanting with sweet voices for the sake of the demigods.A pure breeze began to blow,pleasing the sense of the hearer's touch and bearing the aroma of flowers,when the brahmanas who were engaged in ritualistic ceremonies ignited their fires according to Vedic principles,the fires burned steadily,undisturbed by the breeze. Thus when the birthless Lord Visnu,the Supreme Personality of Godhead,was about to appear,the saints and brahmanas,who had always been disturbed by demons like Kamsa and his men,felt peace within the core of their hearts,and kettledrums simultaneously vibrated from the upper planetary system.The Kinnaras and Gandharvas,inhabitants of the heavenly planets,began to sing auspicious songs;the Siddhas and Caranas offered auspicious prayer;and the Vidyadharis,along with the Apsaras,began to dance in jubilation.The demigods and great saintly persons showered flowers in a joyous mood,and clouds gathered in the sky and very mildly thundered,making sounds like those of the ocean's waves. Then the Supreme Personality of Godhead,Visnu,who is situated in the core of everyone's heart,appeared from the heart of Devaki in the dense darkness of night,like the full moon rising on the eastern horizon,because Devaki was of the same category as Sri Krsna. As stated in the Brahma-samhita,This verse indicates that Krsna and His entourage are of the same spiritual potency(ananda-cinmaya-rasa).Krsna's father,His mother,His friends, the cowherd boys,and the cows are all expansions of Krsna,as will be explained in the brahma-vimohana-lila.When Brahma took away Krsna;s associates to test the supremacy of Lord Krsna,the Lord expanded Himself again in the forms of many cowherd boys and calves,all of whom,as Brahma saw,were (visnu-murtis)[forms of Krsna].Devaki is also an expansion of Krsna,and thus the Bhagavatam says,devakyam deva-rupinyam visnuh sarva-gutha-sayah.The objection may be raised that since Lord Krsna appeared on the Eighth day of the waning moon,there could be no rising of the full moon. In answer to this it may be said that Lord Krsna appeared in the dynasty which is in the heirarchy of the moon;therefore,although the moon was incomplete on that night,because of the Lords appearance in the dynasty wherein the moon is himself the original person,the moon was in an overjoyous condition,so by the grace of Krsna he could appear just as a full moon.To welcome the Supreme Personality of Godhead ,the waning moon became a fullmoon in jubilation.Those who are not in full knowledge that the appearance and disappearance of the Lord are transcendental (janma karma ca me divyam)are sometimes surprised that the Supreme Personality of Godhead can take birth like an ordinary child.Actually,however,the Lord's birth is never ordinary.the Supreme Personality of Godhead can take birth like an ordinary child.The Supreme Personality of Godhead is already situated within the core of everyone's heart as (antaryami),the Supersoul.Thus because He was present in full potency in Devaki's heart,He was also able to appear outside her body.In the Srimad-Bhagavatam(1.9.42),Bhisma,a great authority to be followed by devotees,says that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is situated in the core of everyone's heart,just as the sun may be on everyone's head.Yet although the sun may be on the heads of millions and millions of people,this does not mean that the sun is variously situated.Similarly,because the Supreme Personality of Godhead has inconceivable potencies,He can be within everyone's heart and yet not be variously situated.The lord is one,but He can appear in everyone's heart by His inconceivable potency.Thus although the Lord was within the heart of Devaki.He appeared as her child.According to the Visnu Purana,therefore,the Lord appeared like the sun.The Brahma-samhita(5.35)confirms that the Lord is situated even within the atom.He is situated in Mathura,in Vaikuntha,and in the core of the heart.Therefore one should clearly understand that He did not live like an ordinary child in the heart or the womb of Devaki.Nor did He appear like an ordinary human child,although He seemed to do so in order to bewilder asuras(demons)like Kamsa.The asuras wrongly think that Krsna took birth like an ordinary child and passed away from this world like an ordinary man.Such asuric conceptions are rejected by persons in knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.As stated in Bhagavad Gita,the Lord is aja,unborn,and He is the supreme controller of everything.Nonetheless,He appeared as the child of Devaki.This verse describes the inconceivable potency of the Lord,who appeared like the full moon.
Understanding the special significance of the appearance of the Supreme Godhead,one should never regard Him as having taken birth like an ordinary child.Vasudeva then saw the newborn child,who had very wonderful lotuslike eyes and who bore in His four hands the four weapons sankha,cakra,gada and padma(conchshell,disc,club and lotus).On his chest was the mark of Srivatsa and on His neck the brilliant Kaustubha gem.Dressed in yellow,His body blackish like a dense cloud,His scattered hair fully grown,and His helmet and earrings sparkling uncommonly with the valuable gem Vaidurya,the child,decorated with a brilliant belt,armlets,bangles,and other ornaments,appeared very wonderful.When Vasudeva saw his extraordinary son,his eyes were struck with wonder.In transcendental jubilation,he mentally collected ten thousand cows and distributed them among the brahmanas as a transcendental festival.Vasudeva could understand that this child was the Supreme Personality of Godhead,Narayana.Having concluded this without a doubt,he became fearless.Bowing down with folded hands and concentrated attention,he began to offer prayers to the child,who was illuminating His birthplace by His natural influence.Vasudeva prayed,"O my Lord,proprietor of all creation,You have now appeared in my house,desiring to give protection to this world.I am sure that You will kill all the armies that are moving all over the world under the leadership of politicians who are dressed as Ksatriya rulers but who are factually all demons.They must be killed by You for the protection of the innocent public."[Krsna appears in this world for two purposes,:to protect the innocent,religious devotees of the Lord and to annihilate all the uneducated,uncultured asuras who unnecessarily bark like dogs and fight among themselves for political power.It is said,kali-kale nama-rupe krsna avatara.The hare Krsna movement is also an incarnation of Krsna in the form of the holy name(nama-rupe).Every one of us who is actually afraid of the asuric rulers and politicians must welcome this incarnation of Krsna:Hare Krsna ,Hare Krsna,Krsna Krsna,Hare Hare,Hare Rama,Hare Rama,Rama Rama ,Hare Hare.Then we will surely be protected from the harassment of asuric rulers.At the present moment these rulers are so powerful that by hook or by crook they capture the highest posts in government and harrass countless numbers of people on the plea of national security or some emergency.Then again,one asura defeats another asura,but the public continues to suffer.Therefore the entire world is in a precarious condition,and the only hope is this Hare Krsna movement.Lord Nrsimhadeva appeared when Prahlada was excessuvely harassed by his asuric father.Because of such asuric fathers-that is,the ruling politicians-it is very difficult to press foward the Hare Krsna movement,but because Krsna has now appeared in His holy name through this movement,we can hope that these asuric fathers will be annihilated and the kingdom of God will be established all over the world.The entire world is now full of many asuras in the guise of politicians,gurus,sadus,yogis,and incarnations,who are misleading the general public away from Krsna Conssciousness,which can offer true benefit to human society.Vasudeva continued,"O my Lord,Lord of the demigods,after hearing the Prophecy that You would take birth in our home and kill him,this uncivilized Kamsa killed so many of your elder brothers.As soon as he hears from his lieutenants that You have appeared,he will immediately come with weapons to kill You."[Kamsa has here been described as asabhya,meaning "uncivilized"or"most heinous"'because he killed the many children of his sister.When he heard the prophecy that he would be killed by her eighth son,this uncivilized man,Kamsa,was immediately ready to kill his innocent sister on the occasion of her marriage.An uncivilized man can do anything for the for the satisfaction of his senses.He can kill children,he can kill cows,he can kill brahmanas,he can kill old men:he has no mercy for anyone.According to the Vedic civilization,cows,woman,children,old men,and brahmanas should be excused even if they are at fault.
But asuras,uncivilized men do not care about that.At the present moment,the killing of cows and the killing of children are going on unrestrictedly ,and therefore this civilization is not at all human,and those who are conducting this condemed civilization are uncivilized asuras.Such uncivilized men are not in favor of the Krsna Consciousness movement.As public officers,they declare without hesitation that the chanting of the Hare Krsna movement is a nuisance,although the Bhagavad-gita cleariy says,(satatam kirtayanto mam yantantas ca drdha-vratah.)According to this verse,it is the duty of the mahatmas to chant the Hare Krsna mantra and try to spread it all over the world to the best of their ability.Unfortunately,society is in such an uncivilized state that there are so-called mahatmas who are prepared to kill cows and children and stop the Hare Krsna movement.Such uncivilized activities,like those of history,were actually demonstrated in connection with the Hare Krsna movement'sBombay center,Hare Krsna Land.As Kamsa was not expected to kill the beautiful child of Devaki and Vasudeva,the uncivilized society,although unhappy about the advancement of Krsna Conciousness movement,cannot be expected to stop it.Yet we must face many difficulties in many different ways.Although Krsna cannot be killed,Vasudeva,as the father of Krsna,was trembling because in affection he thought that Kamsa would immediately come and kill his son. Similarly,although the Krsna Consciousness movement and Krsna are not different and no asuras can check it, we are afraid that at any moment, the asuras can stop it in any part of the world.]Thereafter,exactly when Vasudeva,being inspired by the Supreme Personality of Godhead,was about to take the newborn child from the delivery room,Yogamaya,the lords Spiritual energy,took birth as the daughter of Yasoda,the wife of Maharaja Nanda.By the influence of Yogamaya,all the doorkeepers fell asleep,their senses unable to work,and the other inhabitants of the house also fell deeply asleep.When the son rises,the darkness automatically disappears;similarly,when Vasudeva approached the closed doors,which were strongly pinned with iron and locked with iron chains,they opened automatically.Since the clouds in the sky were mildly thundering and showering,Ananta-naga,an expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead followed Vasudeva,beginning from the door,with hoods expanded to protect Vasudeva and the Transcendental Child.
Because of constant rain sent by the demigod Indra,the River Yamuna was filled with deep water,foaming about with fiercely whirling waves.But as the great Indian Ocean had formerly given way to Lord Ramacandra by allowing Him to construct a bridge,so the River Yamuna gave way to Vasudeva and allowed him to cross.When Vasudeva reached the house of Nanda Maharaja,he saw that all the cowherd men were fast asleep.Thus he placed his son on Yasoda's bed,picked up her daughter (an expansion of Yogamaya)and then returned to the prisonhouse of Kamsa,Vasudeva then placed the female child on the bed of Devaki,bound his legs with the iron shackles,and thus remained there as before.Exhausted by the labor of childbirth,Yasoda was overwhelmed with sleep and unable to understand what kind of child had been born. Thus ends Part 2 of the Advent of Lord Krsna. An excerpt BY Srila Prabhupada

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