“Kamsa was the son of Ugrasena, of the Bhoja dynasty. It is said that Kamsa was the most demonic of all the Bhoja dynasty kings. Immediately after hearing the prophecy from the sky, he caught hold of Devaki’s hair and was just about to kill her with his sword.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Volume 1, Chapter 1)

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“Not only does the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Shri Hari, announce His upcoming appearances within the manifest realm, which thus have accompanying pastimes known as prakata-lila, but He is also kind enough to orchestrate a sequence of events such that there is an alternate cause. Almost a kind of plausible deniability. I find the whole thing fascinating. Let me explain.

“Take the case of the appearance of Shri Krishna. We celebrate on the annual occasion of Janmashtami, which occurs some time in August or September, based on the lunar calendar for the particular year, but there is no prohibition against celebrating constantly. We should live life like it is one big party, nityotsava. Krishna emerges from the womb of Devaki at midnight, while the parents are locked in prison, but a notable event long prior set the stage for the eventual arrival.

“You see, there was this king named Kamsa. He was related to Devaki as a cousin. Close families often treat cousins like siblings. Kamsa was like the brother to Devaki. It made sense that he would accompany her on her wedding day. This was the vidai, the farewell departure. Devaki was going to live with a new family, with her new husband. Everything was going well until something insane happened. Along the journey, a voice from the sky decided to speak. It taunted Kamsa. It mocked him for not knowing that his own sister was going to lead to his demise. The eighth child of Devaki would kill Kamsa.

“Every good story needs a villain. Vishnu is the obvious good guy. He would appear as Krishna. Kamsa thus has the excuse to be the bad guy. He was trying to save himself. He wanted to kill Devaki right away, but her new husband managed to talk Kamsa out of it. Kamsa, who was the king of Mathura, decided to put the couple in prison, instead. He decided to kill every baby born to them, right away.

“The puzzling aspect to the behavior is the immediate shift in demeanor. Why was Kamsa so taken aback by the message from the voice in the sky? Hello? Everyone is going to die. The voice was not revealing any big secret. Sure, we don’t know the exact details. Kamsa should have been happy to at least get prior warning. Am I missing something? Is not everyone looking at death when they see the sky? We are finite. The universe is infinite. The universe will remain long after we are gone. What is the big deal if Devaki’s eighth child, Krishna, is going to cause harm?”

Spend enough time consuming Vedic literature and the teachings of people who follow the Vedas and you will get the idea that family life is the worst. Only a fool has attachment for their wife and children, you see. Only the less intelligent take personal comfort to be the topmost priority for each day. Only the ignorant think they will get to stay here forever.

At the same time, pious people carry out their work. They get married. Krishna appeared as the son to a married couple, after all. He lived with a family in the farm community of Gokula. Marriage is an institution meant to serve as a spiritual awakening of sorts. It is the grihastha-ashrama. If family is so bad, then why is there marriage to begin with?

The idea is that a person should carry forward in the life experience armed with knowledge. Everyone is indeed looking at death from the sky. This doesn’t mean that they should stop working. When there is knowledge, if there is an abrupt change in plans, nothing drastic will need to be done. If Kamsa were of the proper consciousness, the announcement would not have made a dent. He would not have considered a heinous act such as killing his sister. He would not have tried to thwart destiny by killing infants.

A human being will experience emotions. They will have attachment to their friends, to their family, to their significant other. They will want to help people who are helpless. They will feel compassion towards the suffering, the lowly, and the downtrodden. They will work towards alleviating that suffering, but knowledge of the bigger picture should remain. A person should always remember that they are leasing the body. They will one day have to leave the dwelling behind. One way or another, the attachments will break.

Better to have attachment to the highest being of all. That connection then accounts for everything. The proper consciousness. The proper perspective. A healthy level of detachment. Boundless compassion bridled by intelligence. Devaki and Vasudeva were able to tolerate untold difficulties. They did not take to the sinful path after experiencing the horrible behavior from Kamsa. The immediate reward for their pious nature was imprisonment. They were undeterred, and so they were fit to be parents to Krishna.

“My dear father and mother, you have therefore raised Me many times as your child, with great affection and love, and I am therefore very pleased and obliged to you. And I assure you that this time you shall go back to home, back to Godhead, on account of your perfection in your mission. I know you are very concerned about Me and afraid of Kamsa. Therefore I order you to take Me immediately to Gokula and replace Me with the daughter who has just been born to Yashoda.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Volume 1, Chapter 30)

In Closing:

Warning of end’s time,
Kamsa hearing the sign.

Of voice from the sky,
Thwart to then try.

By each infant to kill,
Full paranoia still.

Destiny steady to await,
Krishna always in his fate.

Categories: questions

Tags: dailyprompt, hare krishna, kamsa, krishna lila, poem, poems, poetry