After thus considering the matter as far as his knowledge would allow, Vasudeva submitted his proposal to the sinful Kaṁsa with great respect.

COMMENTARY

Seeing no change in Kaṁsa’s heart, Vasudeva tries logic to advise Kaṁsa.

 

“O king! Out of fear of death, you are about to commit murder. Now listen to me. Death is unavoidable.” With this intention Vasudeva speaks this verse.

janmavatām: one who has taken birth; Factually there is no birth or death for the soul. Only those who take birth by accepting a material body have death. saha: “Sa” means it is well known. “Ha” indicates that the fact is definite. When will death take place? vā: either, or; Two “vas’ are used to indicate the inability to predict the time of death. Death could come anytime between now and a hundred years.

mṛtyur vai prāṇināṁ dhruvaḥ: death is certain for all; Vasudeva presents proof by saying this, which resembles a verse in Gītā 2.27: jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyur, dhruvaṁ janma mṛtasya ca, “For one who has taken his birth, death is certain; and for one who is dead, birth is certain.”

 

“Therefore, O brave one, a courageous warrior like you should not be afraid of death.”

 

||10.1.39||

dehe pañcatvam āpanne dehī karmānugo ’vaśaḥ

dehāntaram anuprāpya prāktanaṁ tyajate vapuḥ

TRANSLATION

When the present body turns to dust and is again reduced to five elements—earth, water, fire, air and ether—the proprietor of the body, the living being, automatically receives another body of material elements according to his fruitive activities. When the next body is obtained, he gives up the present body.

COMMENTARY

Birth means accepting a body and death means giving up a body. Both are inevitable. With that intention Vasudeva speaks this verse. When the body is about to die, one receives another body, and then gives up the old body. But one should not lament for the loss of enjoyment along with loss of the body.

 

Therefore Vasudeva says karmanugaḥ... avaśaḥ the new body is decided by one’s actions in this life. “If you have karma to enjoy in the future, then certainly you will get that enjoyment. Therefore you should give up killing a woman, which will produce suffering in the next body.”

 

||10.1.40||

vrajaṁs tiṣṭhan padaikena yathaivaikena gacchati

yathā tṛṇa-jalaukaivaṁ dehī karma-gatiṁ gataḥ

TRANSLATION

Just as a person traveling on the road rests one foot on the ground and then lifts the other, or as a worm on a vegetable transfers itself to one leaf and then gives up the previous one, the conditioned soul takes shelter of another body and then gives up the one he had before.

COMMENTARY

In this verse, Vasudeva gives examples to show how one gives up the present body after attaining the new body (in a subtle form via karma). A man puts his foot forward on the ground firmly and then withdraws his back leg from the ground and puts it forward. He does not put both feet forward at the same time.

 

However, in this example the feet are fixing themselves and withdrawing themselves from the same ground. As this may be unsatisfying to the mind, Vasudeva cites the example of the caterpillar, who after taking support of one blade of grass in front of him, gives up the previous blade of grass.

 

||10.1.41||

svapne yathā paśyati deham īdṛśaṁ manorathenābhiniviṣṭa-cetanaḥ

dṛṣṭa-śrutābhyāṁ manasānucintayan prapadyate tat kim api hy apasmṛtiḥ

TRANSLATION

Having experienced a situation by seeing or hearing about it, one contemplates and speculates about that situation, and thus one surrenders to it, not considering his present body. Similarly, by mental adjustments one dreams at night of living under different circumstances, in different bodies, and forgets his actual position. Under this same process, one gives up his present body and accepts another [tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ [Bg. 2.13]].

COMMENTARY

Vasudeva now shows an example from everyday life. In a dream one sees a body similar to the one seen in the waking state (īdṛśam). Similarly, a person, whose consciousness is deeply absorbed in someone through seeing a king for example, or through hearing about Lord Indra for example, will see oneself as the king or Indra in his dream, and attempt to enjoy like the king or Indra as he forgets his original body.

||10.1.42||

yato yato dhāvati daiva-coditaṁ mano vikārātmakam āpa pañcasu

guṇeṣu māyā-raciteṣu dehy asau prapadyamānaḥ saha tena jāyate

TRANSLATION

At the time of death, according to the thinking, feeling and willing of the mind, which is involved in fruitive activities, one receives a particular body. In other words, the body develops according to the activities of the mind. Changes of body are due to the flickering of the mind, for otherwise the soul could remain in its original, spiritual body.

COMMENTARY

A question now arises. The mind can only enjoy because of the influence of the demigods over the mind. The demigods enable one to become absorbed in the image of a king or Indra. How is it possible for the mind to get enjoyment meant for someone else? This verse answers the question.

vikārātmakam: changing mentality; Whatever objects produced from the five elements (earth, water, air etc.) that the impressiona-ble mind becomes attracted to, those objects it attains. dehy asau: Because of its close association with the mind, the soul also enjoys those objects (prapadyamānḥ jāyate) along with the absorbed mind.

 

||10.1.43||

jyotir yathaivodaka-pārthiveṣv adaḥ samīra-vegānugataṁ vibhāvyate

evaṁ sva-māyā-raciteṣv asau pumān guṇeṣu rāgānugato vimuhyati

TRANSLATION

When the luminaries in the sky, such as the moon, the sun and the stars, are reflected in liquids like oil or water, they appear to be of different shapes—sometimes round, sometimes long, and so on—because of the movements of the wind. Similarly, when the living entity, the soul, is absorbed in materialistic thoughts, he accepts various manifestations as his own identity because of ignorance. In other words, one is bewildered by mental concoctions because of agitation from the material modes of nature.

COMMENTARY

Now Vasudeva gives an example to show how the soul, due to association with the mind, attains the same destination.

jyotir: sunlight or moonlight; vodaka: (udaka) refers to water, oil or ghee. The image of the sun is reflected on the surface of water, but it changes shape as the wind blows the surface and produces ripples. guṇeṣu: “In the bodies (guṇeṣu) created by the Lord’s māyā (svamāyā raciteṣu), or by one’s own ignorance, the living entity (pumān), following the mind which is filled with desires for enjoyment (rāgānugata), becomes bewildered and takes up the same desire for enjoyment.

 

Vasudeva said, “By killing Devakī you will obstruct the soul’s desire to enjoy. Even if you die, you will enjoy in the next body, because you will attain an auspicious body since your good deeds must bear result. But killing Devakī will bring you suffering in the future. Your death by the future son of Devakī, which was announced in the sky, is unavoidable as it is under the laws of karma. Therefore Kaṁsa, you should accept that death. All you can do is have Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi perform some ceremonies as preventative measures.”

 

||10.1.44||

tasmān na kasyacid droham ācaret sa tathā-vidhaḥ

ātmanaḥ kṣemam anvicchan drogdhur vai parato bhayam

TRANSLATION

Therefore, since envious, impious activities cause a body in which one suffers in the next life, why should one act impiously? Considering one’s welfare, one should not envy anyone, for an envious person must always fear harm from his enemies, either in this life or in the next.

COMMENTARY

sa tathā-vidhaḥ: A person covered by ignorance should not commit violence. drogdhur: envious; For one who commits violence to others, there is fear of harm from Yamarāja and others (parataḥ). In this verse Vasudeva uses the diplomatic principle of bheda to instill fear in Kaṁsa.

 

||10.1.45||

eṣā tavānujā bālā kṛpaṇā putrikopamā

hantuṁ nārhasi kalyāṇīm imāṁ tvaṁ dīna-vatsalaḥ

TRANSLATION

As your younger sister, this poor girl Devakī is like your own daughter and deserves to be affectionately maintained. You are merciful, and therefore you should not kill her. Indeed, she deserves your affection.

COMMENTARY

Following the saying, “By praise the ferocious becomes tamed,” Vasudeva again began praising Kaṁsa.

putrikā upamā: daughter; “Devakī deserves your mercy because she is just like your daughter.” The sentence can also mean “Devakī is petrified like a doll out of fear.” dīna vatsalaḥ: “You should not kill her because you are compassionate to the suffering.” The real meaning of dīna vatsalaḥ however is “one who accepts even a calf from a most poor person as a tax.”

 

||10.1.46||

śrī-śuka uvāca

evaṁ sa sāmabhir bhedair bodhyamāno ’pi dāruṇaḥ

na nyavartata kauravya puruṣādān anuvrataḥ

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: O best of the Kuru dynasty, Kaṁsa was fiercely cruel and was actually a follower of the Rākṣasas. Therefore he could be neither pacified nor terrified by the good instructions given by Vasudeva. He did not care about the results of sinful activities, either in this life or in the next.

COMMENTARY

bodhyamāno api: pacified; Though Kaṁsa was instructed by Vasudeva with pacifying and fear instilling words, because he kept company with rākṣasas (puruṣa-adān, man-eaters) he did not give up his intent to kill her.

 

||10.1.47||

nirbandhaṁ tasya taṁ jñātvā vicintyānakadundubhiḥ

prāptaṁ kālaṁ prativyoḍhum  idaṁ tatrānvapadyata

TRANSLATION

When Vasudeva saw that Kaṁsa was determined to kill his sister Devakī, he thought to himself very deeply. Considering the imminent danger of death, he thought of another plan to stop Kaṁsa.

COMMENTARY

dundubhiḥ: “At my birth the demigods sounded drums (dundubhi). Therefore nothing unfortunate can happen to me.” With this certainty Vasudeva, whose second name is ānakadundubhi, thought of a way to avoid the imminent danger to Devakī.

 

||10.1.48||

mṛtyur buddhimatāpohyo yāvad buddhi-balodayam

yady asau na nivarteta nāparādho ’sti dehinaḥ

TRANSLATION

As long as he has intelligence and bodily strength, an intelligent person must try to avoid death. This is the duty of every embodied person. But if death cannot be avoided in spite of one’s endeavors, a person facing death commits no offense.

COMMENTARY

yāvad buddhi: “As long as a person has power and intelligence, he will try to avoid death. I cannot use strength to avoid Devakī’s death at Kaṁsa’s hands, but I can use my intelligence.” asau: death.

 

||10.1.49-50||

pradāya mṛtyave putrān mocaye kṛpaṇām imām

sutā me yadi jāyeran mṛtyur vā na mriyeta cet

viparyayo vā kiṁ na syād gatir dhātur duratyayā

upasthito nivarteta nivṛttaḥ punar āpatet

TRANSLATION

Vasudeva considered: By delivering all my sons to Kaṁsa, who is death personified, I shall save the life of Devakī. Perhaps Kaṁsa will die before my sons take birth, or, since he is already destined to die at the hands of my son, one of my sons may kill him. For the time being, let me promise to hand over my sons so that Kaṁsa will give up this immediate threat, and if in due course of time Kaṁsa dies, I shall have nothing to fear.

COMMENTARY

Vasudeva silently speaks this verse: “This is what I will do. I will give my sons to this personification of death (pradāya mṛtyave), Kaṁsa.”

 

But then Vasudeva thinks, “That is not proper.” With this anxiety he continues to think. “If I don’t have any sons there is no need to worry. If I have sons and Kaṁsa has not died by then, it is certainly improper. But I must save Devakī now. If Kaṁsa dies before that time, then there is no need to worry. Or the opposite may happen. If I give my sons to Kaṁsa, they may become strong and kill Kaṁsa. But how can infant sons kill strong Kaṁsa?

 

“The ways of the Lord are hard to understand but Providence (dhātuḥ) has proclaimed, ‘The eighth child will kill Kaṁsa.’ Therefore it is better to save Devakī from Kaṁsa’s hands by promising to give the children to him, for Kaṁsa will also die.”

 

||10.1.51||

agner yathā dāru-viyoga-yogayor adṛṣṭato ’nyan na nimittam asti

evaṁ hi jantor api durvibhāvyaḥ śarīra-saṁyoga-viyoga-hetuḥ

TRANSLATION

When a fire, for some unseen reason, leaps over one piece of wood and sets fire to the next, the reason is destiny. Similarly, when a living being accepts one kind of body and leaves aside another, there is no other reason than unseen destiny.

COMMENTARY

Vasudeva deliberates further: “What I have decided to do is not improbable, for no living entity can escape its fate (even Kaṁsa).” To illustrate this Vasudeva gives an example: “When there is a forest fire what causes the fire to burn one tree and not another? There is no other cause than fate. Just as the cause of the trees’ suffering is fate, so the cause of person accepting and losing his body is fate alone. We cannot determine it with our intelligence.”

 

||10.1.52||

evaṁ vimṛśya taṁ pāpaṁ yāvad-ātmani-darśanam

pūjayām āsa vai śaurir bahu-māna-puraḥsaram

TRANSLATION