SB 10.2.15 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

गर्भे प्रणीते देवक्या रोहिणीं योगनिद्रया अहो विस्रंसितो गर्भ इति पौरा विचुक्रुशु: ॥ १५ ॥

Verse text

garbhe praṇīte devakyā rohiṇīṁ yoga-nidrayā aho visraṁsito garbha iti paurā vicukruśuḥ

Synonyms

garbhe — when the embryo ; praṇīte — was carried from the womb ; devakyāḥ — of Devakī ; rohiṇīm — to the womb of Rohiṇī ; yoga — nidrayā — by the spiritual energy called Yoga-māyā ; aho — alas ; visraṁsitaḥ — is lost ; garbhaḥ — the embryo ; iti — thus ; paurāḥ — all the inhabitants of the house ; vicukruśuḥ — lamented .

Translation

When the child of Devakī was attracted and transferred into the womb of Rohiṇī by Yoga-māyā, Devakī seemed to have a miscarriage. Thus all the inhabitants of the palace loudly lamented, “Alas, Devakī has lost her child!”

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

When the child of Devakī was attracted and transferred into the womb of Rohiṇī by Yogamāyā, Devakī seemed to have a miscarriage. Thus all the inhabitants of the palace loudly lamented, "Alas, Devakī has lost her child!" KB 10.2.15 When Yogamāyā, the supreme power of the supremely powerful Personality of Godhead, transferred Lord Śeṣa from the womb of Devakī to the womb of Rohiṇī, both Devakī and Rohiṇī were under Yogamāyā’s spell, which is called yoga-nidrā. When this was done, people thought that Devakī’s seventh pregnancy had been a miscarriage. Thus although Balarāma appeared as the son of Devakī, He was transferred to the womb of Rohiṇī to appear as her son.

Purport

“All the inhabitants of the palace” includes Kaṁsa. When everyone lamented, Kaṁsa joined in compassion, thinking that perhaps because of drugs or some other external means, Devakī had undergone this abortion. The real story of what happened after Yoga-māyā attracted the child of Devakī into the womb of Rohiṇī in the seventh month of Rohiṇī’s pregnancy is described as follows in the Hari-vaṁśa. At midnight, while Rohiṇī was deeply sleeping, she experienced, as if in a dream, that she had undergone a miscarriage. After some time, when she awoke, she saw that this had indeed happened, and she was in great anxiety. But Yoga-māyā then informed her, “O auspicious lady, your child is now being replaced. I am attracting a child from the womb of Devakī, and therefore your child will be known as Saṅkarṣaṇa.” The word yoga-nidrā is significant. When one is spiritually reconnected through self-realization, one regards his material life as having been like a dream. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (2.69) : yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī yasyāṁ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā paśyato muneḥ “What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage.” The stage of self-realization is called yoga-nidrā. All material activities appear to be a dream when one is spiritually awakened. Thus yoga-nidrā may be explained to be Yoga-māyā.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Concerning the apparent miscarriage, the citizens suspected that Kamsa must have done so black magic to cause the miscarriage. The citizens of Mathura began to lament out of affection for Devaki.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Yoganidrā means Yogamāyā since sleep takes away the intelligence of all people. Yogamāyā did this with great skill (praṇīte) so that Devakī would not suffer, Rohiṇī would not be astonished, and the people could not see it happen. One should understand the sequence of events according to Hari-vaṁśa. Vasudeva first placed the child in Devakī’s womb and Rohiṇī then went Gokula. In the seventh month of pregnancy the embryo was transferred from Devakī to Rohiṇī. The Lord speaks to Yogamāyā in Hari-vaṁśa: saptamo devakī-garho yo ‘ṁśaḥ saumyo mamāgrajaḥ sa saṁktrāmiyitavyas te saptame māsi rohinīm The seventh child of Devakī who is expansion and my elder brother was transferred to the womb of Rohiṇī in the seventh month of pregnancy. Then method of transfer is described in detail: sārdharātre sthitaṁ garbham pātayantī rajasvalā nidrayā sahasāvisṭā papāta dharaṇī-tale sā svapnam iva taṁ dṛsṭvā svagarbhe garbham āhitaṁ apaśyantī ca taṁ garbhaṁ muhūrtam vyatitā ‘bhavat tām āha nidrā-saṁvignāṁ naiśe tamasi rohiṇīm kaṛṣaṇenāsya garbhasya svagarbhe cāhitasya vai saṇkarṣaṇo nāma śubhe tave putro bhaviṣyati In the middle of the night Devakī aborted her child and fell on the ground unconscious. As if in a dream she saw the child come out of her womb and felt pain for some moments on seeing her child. Yogamāyā spoke to Rohiṇī in the darkness of night, as she slept. “The child taken from another womb and placed in your womb will be your son named Saṅkarṣaṇa.” Aho indicates amazement or lamentation. They understood that the child had been aborted out of fear of Kaṁsa. Viṣṇu Purāṇa says: saptamo bhoja-rājasya bhayād rodhoparodhataḥ devakhyāḥ patito garbh iti loko vadisyati The people said that the seventh child of Devakī had been aborted out of fear of Kaṁsa, which had caused great damage. Or, Kaṁsa somehow caused the child to be aborted. They did not speak this directly, out of fear of Kaṁsa, but gossiped among themselves in loud voices.