Birth of Sri Krishna

For days Parikshith had listened, spellbound, as Shuka Maharishi unfolded the many descents of Sriman Nārāyaṇa. But there was one avatara his heart longed above all to hear of — the one in which the Supreme did not appear briefly for a single purpose, but chose to walk among men, to grow as a child, to play, to teach, and to restore the world to its divine rhythm. He asked the sage to narrate the story of Krishna, whose very name grants liberation, and Shuka, his own soul immersed in the glories of Govinda, closed his eyes in bliss and began.

The weight of adharma upon the earth had grown unbearable. Kings had forsaken righteousness, tyrants waged wars that shook the balance of the world, and Bhoomi Devī could no longer endure the burden pressing upon her. Taking the form of a sorrowful cow, she ascended to Brahmā and wept, telling him that she could bear mountains and oceans and storms, but not the wickedness that had spread across the land, of which Kaṃsa, the tyrant king of Mathurā, was the greatest.

Brahmā knew this was a matter for the Supreme alone, and he gathered the Devas and led them to Vaikuṇṭham, where Sriman Nārāyaṇa rested upon Ādishesha. There Bhoomi Devī fell at the Lord's feet and pleaded with Him to descend and restore balance before dharma was lost forever.

The Lord, ever merciful, assured her that He would descend and establish dharma once more. He drew forth two locks of His hair, one black and one white, signifying that this time He would descend not as one but as two — Krishna and Balarāma. He would be born, He declared, as the son of Devakī and Vasudeva, and His elder brother to Rohini, and together they would rid the world of its burdens.

Devakī was the daughter of Ugrasena, king of Mathurā. On the day of her marriage to Vasudeva, once the ceremonies were complete, it was customary for the couple to ride together through the city, and Devakī's brother Kaṃsa, in a show of affection, took it upon himself to drive their chariot. No sooner had the couple mounted than a voice sounded from the sky, foretelling that the eighth child born of Devakī and Vasudeva would be the cause of Kaṃsa's destruction.

His joy twisting into terror, Kaṃsa seized his sister by the hair and drew his sword to kill her on the spot. But Vasudeva stayed his hand, asking why he should fear one yet unborn, and vowing to deliver every child of theirs into his hands. Kaṃsa relented, but imprisoned the couple to ensure the promise was kept.

One by one the children were born, and one by one six of them perished at their uncle's hands. The seventh child was spared by divine intervention, transferred to the womb of Rohini in Gokula and declared to the world a miscarriage; that child was Balarāma. When Devakī carried her eighth child, every sign ran contrary to nature.

Where an expecting mother usually grows pale, Devakī grew dark and radiant; when she walked she felt as though she were gliding, for Garuḍa was said to attend her; when she slept the floor seemed to shift beneath her, for Ādishesha himself served as her bed. On the eighth night of the dark fortnight of Shraavan, amid roaring thunder and the swelling of the Yamunā, the Supreme chose to descend. A golden radiance filled the prison cell, and Sriman Nārāyaṇa appeared before Devakī and Vasudeva in His divine form.

At their trembling wonder He assured them their suffering was at an end, and, at Devakī's request, took on the form of an ordinary human infant, instructing that He be carried to Gokula. As He did so, the prison doors unlocked and the guards fell into deep slumber.