Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

<< Canto 10, The Summum Bonum >>
<< 3 - The Birth of Lord Kṛṣṇa >>

<< VERSE 51 >>

devakyāḥ śayane nyasya
vasudevo ’tha dārikām
pratimucya pador loham
āste pūrvavad āvṛtaḥ

WORD BY WORD



TRANSLATION

When Vasudeva reached the house of Nanda Mahārāja, he saw that all the cowherd men were fast asleep. Thus he placed his own son on the bed of Yaśodā, picked up her daughter, an expansion of Yoga-māyā, and then returned to his residence, the prison house of Kaṁsa.

PURPORT

Vasudeva knew very well that as soon as the daughter was in the prison house of Kaṁsa, Kaṁsa would immediately kill her; but to protect his own child, he had to kill the child of his friend. Nanda Mahārāja was his friend, but out of deep affection and attachment for his own son, he knowingly did this. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says that one cannot be blamed for protecting one’s own child at the sacrifice of another’s. Furthermore, Vasudeva cannot be accused of callousness, since his actions were impelled by the force of Yoga-māyā.

Donate to Bhaktivedanta Library