CHAPTER3
At the time of the birth of Krishna the whole world seemed to
be happy. The directions looked bright devoid of darkness as though
the day is born. This implies that the manifestation of the Lord
dispelled the darkness in the mind caused by ragadvesha and the
hearts of the good became filled with the joy arising out of the
understanding of the truth about the manifestation. Among the usual
paraphernalia that is described in the puranas and ithihasas when
some divine or extraordinary event happens, such as the apsars
dancing the trumpets sounding the kinnaras singing in the
devaloka,there was cool breeze blowing from the quarters and the
clouds thundered which was like the jayagosha by the devas.
Here we see the poetic skill of Desika who says that all the
anxieties in the minds of all the people joined together like rivers
and fell into the mind of Kamsa, who was the only one agitated to the
utmost. Andal addresses the Lord as 'kamsan vayittril neruppenne
ninra nedumaalE', the one who stood like fire in the stomach of Kamsa.
Vasudeva became free from his shackles.'Rnaadhiva
devakipathih amuchyatha srnkalathah' saysa Desika, comparingthe
release from srnkala to that from debt. In fact the word 'rna' could
mean debt as well as prarabdhakarma as the saying
goes 'rnaanubandhasaarena pasupatni suthaalayaa,' ones acquisition of
wealth ,son and property is according to prarabdhakarma. Desika
asks, 'what is so wonderful about this in front of one who removes
the shackles of all bondage?'
Devaki was having Krishna on her lap and shone like a golden
mountain which had a peak of indraneelamani,sapphire.Vasudeva saw
Him, who had the colour of the sea, carrying sanka, conch, chakra the
disc, gada,the mace and ambuja, a lotus. Vasudeva prayed to Him to
hide His divine form lest Kamsa will come to know His true identity.
He praised the Lord as the embodiment of the veda, who had come to
be born as his son due to his prayers in the previous birth. At the
same time he was worried about His safety and begs Him to diguise
Himself. That is the maya of the Lord!
Then the Lord instructed Vasudeva to take Him to Gokula and
leave Him there and bring the female child born to Yasodha to
Mathura. Vasudeva took the infant , which the Lord changed Himself
into, as requested and the prison gate opened and the guards were
fast asleep. When he approached the street the quarters became
lighter due to the luster of the body of Krishna. Garuda circled
around to ward off the evil forces and Adisesha followed spreading
his hoods as an umbrella to protect from the rain.'sruthimayo vihagah
parithah prabhum vyacharadhaasu vidhoothanisaacharah; anujagaama cha
bhoodharapannagahsphuta phanamanidheepaganodvahah.' Garuda is
sruthimaya , the personification of vedas, as Yamunacharya calls
him 'vedhaathmaa vihagesvarah,' and the Sesha is referred to as
Bhoodharapannaga, who followed giving light by the gems on his
thousand hoods as though thinking that the Lord needed some light as
He had contracted His own tejas.The significance of the word
Bhoodharapannaga by Desika is that the Krishnavathara was for the
purpose of lightening the burden of the earth which will also lighten
the burden on the head os Sesha who is bhoodhara, bearer of the earth.
Vasudeva carried Krishna as though on the gurudavahana and
reached river Yamnna, directed by the moonlight. The land near Yamuna
seemed to welcome Vasudeva by its cool breeze to remove the fatigue
and the buzzing of the bees, serving as the welcome song.
The description of Yamauna when Vasudeva approached the
river with Krishna brings the poetic fervour of Desika. He says that
it looked as though the river is bemoaning the plight of the Lord
which made Him take the guise of a mortal, feigning
weakness, 'kuhakadhainyam.' The lilies, 'asithaneeraja' were closing
its eyes, petals, as the morning was approaching and the lotuses had
not yet started to bloom and the chakravaka couple, a kind of birds
which become blind in the nigh,t were wailing , not being able to see
one another. All this seemrd to indicate the mental anguish of
Yamuna, savithuh sutha, the daughter of the Sun.'
Nimishithaasithaneerajalochanaa mukulithaabjamukhee
savithussuthaa;lulithadheenarathaangayugasvanaa kuhakadhainyam
asochatheeva prabhoh.'
The river throwing its waves here and there looked as
though, Yamuna , without knowing that all is the leela of the Lord,
was throwing up her arms in distress, fearing Kamsa. Yamuna gave way
to Vasudeva, looking high in the east and almost dry in the west. It
makes the kavi wonder whether she wanted to ascend the vishnupada or
was going to the Kalinda mountain, her father's abode. Thus vasudva
crossed the river as if it was jananasindhu, sea of birth, which he
would cross obtaing the Lord as his offspring.
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