Part 7: Birth of Kṛṣṇa

Then Devakī, after her purificatory bath, saw a dream at dawn—a lion, sun, fire, elephant, banner, aerial car, and a lotus-pool. Gaṅgadatta’s jīva fell from Śukra and descended into her womb; and she carried the embryo like the ground of a mine a jewel. On the night of the eighth day of the white half of Nabhas (Śrāvaṇa), Devakī bore a son, black, on whom gods attended, destroying enemies by his glances. His partisans, the gods, put to sleep Kaṃsa’s agents, watchmen, by their power, as if they had eaten poison.

Devakī summoned her husband and said: “You have been chained by a promise by scoundrelly Kaṃsa, who is not a friend though pretending to be a friend. He kills each son of mine as soon as born. Save this child even by deceit. There is no deceit toward a criminal in protecting a child. Take this baby of mine to Nanda’s cattle-station and leave him. He will grow up there like his maternal grandfather’s house.”

Saying, “Very well! Very well!” the chief of the Yadus, tender from affection, took the child and left the house whose guards were asleep. The gods held an umbrella over him, made a rain of flowers and a light on the road by eight torches held erect. The gods assumed the form of white bulls, going in front of him, and opened the city-gates without being seen by others. Śauri arrived at the main gate and, questioned from astonishment by King Ugrasena who was in a cage,^[1] “What’s this?” Śauri replied joyfully to Ugrasena, showing him the child: “He is an enemy of Kaṃsa. The destruction of your enemy will take place from him and your rise to power from him. But, O king, you must not tell this to any one.” He said, “Very well” and Śauri went to Nanda’s house.

Just then Nanda’s wife, Yaśodā, bore a daughter. Śauri gave Yaśodā the son, took the girl, and immediately put her in the boy’s place at Devakī’s side. Śauri left and Kaṃsa’s guards awake, saying, “What has happened, “saw the daughter there. They delivered her to Kaṃsa and Kaṃsa thought: “The seventh child who was to be the death of me is a mere girl. I think the muni’s speech was false. What need to kill her?” After cutting off one nostril, he returned her to Devakī.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

See above, p. 44.