Krishna's Janam

The wedding had just ended. Devaki, Kamsa's sister, was sitting beside him in the chariot with her newlywed husband Vasudev, on their way to his village. As they rode, Kamsa felt the wind pick up and the clouds darken. A voice from above began to speak: "Oh Kamsa, why are you so happy? Your very sister will give birth to a son that will be the cause of your death and destroy you and your ego. The eighth son of Devaki will kill you." This was the Akashvani, the divine voice of the skies. Kamsa felt rage flicker in his mind, and he instantly looked at Devaki. The skies and wind reflected his nature, and he fell to the rage with only one thought: he had to kill his own sister to save his pride.

Vasudev begged Kamsa for forgiveness, but Kamsa would not listen. Vasudev tried to talk to Kamsa about how much paap (sin) he would accumulate if he killed his own innocent sister, especially on her wedding day, but Kamsa did not care. Then Vasudev made a desperate offer: if Kamsa would spare Devaki's life, Vasudev would hand over every child that Devaki gave birth to. To this condition, Kamsa agreed.

But the situation did not get better. Kamsa took the chariot back to Mathura, the city he ruled, and threw Vasudev and Devaki into a prison dungeon inside his palace. Whenever he received news that Devaki had given birth, he would come down to the dungeon and kill the child himself. Devaki was utterly distraught. She had not realized until now how cold-hearted and ruthless her own brother truly was. Over the span of a few years, Kamsa killed her first six babies.

The seventh child was miraculously transferred from Devaki's womb to Rohini, Vasudev's first wife. This seventh child was Balarama, the divine brother of Lord Krishna.

A terrible storm erupted over Mathura the day Devaki carried her eighth child. Rain thundered down. The skies were dark. Suddenly, Lord Vishnu appeared before Vasudev and Devaki, and told them that their prayers had been fulfilled. He would take birth as their eighth child, but this birth would not be like the others. Lord Vishnu separated a part of his Paramatma and manifested himself within Devaki as Lord Krishna.

At midnight, the eighth child, whom we all know as Lord Krishna, was born to Devaki. The chains on both of them disintegrated. Vasudev told Devaki that he had to take the child to his friend Nanda in Gokul. As Vasudev turned, the doors of the prison opened, and he saw that all of the soldiers had fallen into a deep sleep. This was Lord Krishna's Maya (divine illusion). Lord Krishna made it so that Vasudev's path to Gokul would be without obstacles. Vasuki, the great serpent who serves Lord Vishnu, followed Vasudev for protection. And when Vasudev reached the banks of the Yamuna, Lord Krishna's divine Maya parted the river so that his biological father could walk across without any hurdles.

At last, Vasudev reached the home of his friend Nanda. Nanda's wife Yashoda had just given birth to a daughter that same night, but she was so exhausted from the birth that she did not realize when Vasudev exchanged the babies, leaving Krishna with her and taking the baby girl back with him. That daughter was no ordinary baby. She was Yogamaya, the divine feminine energy of Lord Vishnu himself.

Vasudev returned to the prison with Yogamaya. When Kamsa heard that the eighth child had been born, he stormed into the dungeon and attempted to kill the baby by smashing her against a stone wall. But instead of dying, she rose into the air, revealing herself as Goddess Durga. She announced to Kamsa that his destroyer had already been born elsewhere, and that he would return to kill him.