Devanagari
यशोदा नन्दपत्नी च जातं परमबुध्यत ।
न तल्लिङ्गं परिश्रान्ता निद्रयापगतस्मृति: ॥ ५३ ॥
Verse text
yaśodā nanda-patnī ca
jātaṁ param abudhyata
na tal-liṅgaṁ pariśrāntā
nidrayāpagata-smṛtiḥ
Synonyms
yaśodā
—
Yaśodā, Kṛṣṇa’s mother in Gokula
;
nanda
—
patnī — the wife of Nanda Mahārāja
;
ca
—
also
;
jātam
—
a child was born
;
param
—
the Supreme Person
;
abudhyata
—
could understand
;
na
—
not
;
tat
—
liṅgam — whether the child was male or female
;
pariśrāntā
—
because of too much labor
;
nidrayā
—
when overwhelmed with sleep
;
apagata
—
smṛtiḥ — having lost consciousness .
Translation
Exhausted by the labor of childbirth, Yaśodā was overwhelmed with sleep and unable to understand what kind of child had been born to her.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Exhausted by the labor of childbirth, Yaśodā was overwhelmed with sleep and unable to understand what kind of child had been born to her.
KB 10.3.53
Mother Yaśodā understood that a child had been born to her, but because she was very tired from the labor of childbirth, she fell fast asleep. When she awoke, she could not remember whether she had given birth to a male or a female child.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Third Chapter of Kṛṣṇa, “The Birth of Lord Kṛṣṇa.”
Purport
Nanda Mahārāja and Vasudeva were intimate friends, and so were their wives, Yaśodā and Devakī. Although their names were different, they were practically nondifferent personalities. The only difference is that Devakī was able to understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead had been born to her and had now changed into Kṛṣṇa, whereas Yaśodā was not able to understand what kind of child had been born to her. Yaśodā was such an advanced devotee that she never regarded Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but simply loved Him as her own child. Devakī, however, knew from the very beginning that although Kṛṣṇa was her son, He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Vṛndāvana, no one regarded Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When something very wonderful happened because of Kṛṣṇa’s activities, the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana — the cowherd men, the cowherd boys, Nanda Mahārāja, Yaśodā and the others — were surprised, but they never considered their son Kṛṣṇa the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sometimes they suggested that some great demigod had appeared there as Kṛṣṇa. In such an exalted status of devotional service, a devotee forgets the position of Kṛṣṇa and intensely loves the Supreme Personality of Godhead without understanding His position. This is called
kevala-bhakti
and is distinct from the stages of
jṣāna
and
jṣānamayī bhakti.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Tenth Canto, Third Chapter, of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
entitled “The Birth of Lord Kṛṣṇa.”
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Yasoda just (param) knew that she had given birth Whether her offspring was a boy or girl she did not know. That was because of the labor of childbirth. After the birth, with relief from the labor pains, she slept, and lost consciousness.
Ca can also mean everything. So Yasoda, like Devaki, understood that her offspring was param, all attractive. She could understand he was supreme by tasting his sweetness. She was able to realize his true nature through the sakti bestowed by the Lord. But unlike Devaki, she did not know that he was the Supreme Lord because of his specific insignia (four arms etc.)
The fact that Krsna was also born to Yasoda is not very well known. But because of friendship, Yasoda gave her fame to Devaki (and let Devaki become famous as the mother of Krsna). In the puranas it is said
dve namni nanda bharyaya yasoda devakiti ca
atah sakhyam abhut tasya devakya sauri jayaya
Nanda’s wife had two names, Yasoda and Devaki. Therefore she had great friendship with Devaki, the wife of Vasudeva (sauri).
This is also in accordance with Vaisnava Tosani, Ananda Vrndavana and Bhagavatmrta.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The word yaśodā (giver of fame) here indicates that the appearance of the son she would spread the fame of Nanda and Vraja. The word nanda (joy) indicates that since Nanda would give joy to the whole world by the appearance of the son he would be considered bliss incarnate. She was his wife (nanda-patnī). Thus she is also the cause of bliss for the universe. And Nanda as her husband also spread fame. She was extremely exhausted, the natural effect of childbirth. By the influence of yoga-nidrā she lost her memory. Her assistants as well were under this influence. Viṣṇu Purāṇa says:
tasmin kale yaśodā ‘’pi mohitā yoga-nidrayā
tām eva kanyāṁ maitreya prasūtā mohite jane
At that time Yaśodā was bewildered by yoga-nidrā. She gave birth to the daughter when all others were also bewildered.
It also says:
daḍrśe ca prabuddhā sā yaśodā jātam ātmajam
nīlotpala-dala-śyāmaṁ tato ‘tyarthaṁ mudaṁ yayau
When Yaśodā woke up she saw the child with the complexion of a blue lotus and became filled with bliss.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Tenth Canto, Third Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "The Birth of Lord Kṛṣṇa."
10.4: The Atrocities of King Kaṁsa
verses: Summary, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10-11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46
Chapter Summary
This chapter describes how Kaṁsa, following the advice of his demoniac friends, considered the persecution of small children to be very diplomatic.
After Vasudeva bound himself with iron shackles as before, all the doors of the prison house closed by the influence of Yogamāyā, who then began crying as a newborn child, This crying awakened the doorkeepers, who immediately informed Kaṁsa that a child had been born to Devakī. Upon hearing this news, Kaṁsa appeared with great force in the maternity room, and in spite of Devakī's pleas that the child be saved, the demon forcibly snatched the child from Devakī's hands and dashed the child against a rock. Unfortunately for Kaṁsa, however, the newborn child slipped away from his hands, rose above his head and appeared as the eight-armed form of Durgā. Durgā then told Kaṁsa, "The enemy you contemplate has taken birth somewhere else. Therefore your plan to persecute all the children will prove futile."
According to the prophecy, the eighth child of Devakī would kill Kaṁsa, and therefore when Kaṁsa saw that the eighth child was a female and heard that his so-called enemy had taken birth elsewhere, he was struck with wonder. He decided to release Devakī and Vasudeva, and he admitted before them the wrongness of his atrocities. Falling at the feet of Devakī and Vasudeva, he begged their pardon and tried to convince them that because the events that had taken place were destined to happen, they should not be unhappy for his having killed so many of their children. Devakī and Vasudeva, being naturally very pious, immediately excused Kaṁsa for his atrocities, and Kaṁsa, after seeing that his sister and brother-in-law were happy, returned to his home.
After the night passed, however, Kaṁsa called for his ministers and informed them of all that had happened. The ministers, who were all demons, advised Kaṁsa that because his enemy had already taken birth somewhere else, all the children born within the past ten days in the villages within Kaṁsa's kingdom should be killed. Although the demigods always feared Kaṁsa, they should not be treated leniently; since they were enemies, Kaṁsa should try his best to uproot their existence. The demoniac ministers further advised that Kaṁsa and the demons continue their enmity toward Viṣṇu because Viṣṇu is the original person among all the demigods. The brāhmaṇas, the cows, the Vedas, austerity, truthfulness, control of the senses and mind, faithfulness and mercy are among the different parts of the body of Viṣṇu, who is the origin of all the demigods, including Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva. Therefore, the ministers advised, the demigods, the saintly persons, the cows and the brāhmaṇas should be systematically persecuted. Strongly advised in this way by his friends, the demoniac ministers, Kaṁsa approved of their instructions and considered it beneficial to be envious of the brāhmaṇas. Following Kaṁsa's orders, therefore, the demons began committing their atrocities all over Vrajabhūmi.