Devanagari
श्रीशुक उवाच
कामस्तु वासुदेवांशो दग्ध: प्राग् रुद्रमन्युना ।
देहोपपत्तये भूयस्तमेव प्रत्यपद्यत ॥ १ ॥
Verse text
śrī-śuka uvāca
kāmas tu vāsudevāṁśo
dagdhaḥ prāg rudra-manyunā
dehopapattaye bhūyas
tam eva pratyapadyata
Synonyms
śrī
—
śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
;
kāmaḥ
—
Cupid
;
tu
—
and
;
vāsudeva
—
of Lord Vāsudeva
;
aṁśaḥ
—
the expansion
;
dagdhaḥ
—
burned
;
prāk
—
previously
;
rudra
—
of Lord Śiva
;
manyunā
—
by the anger
;
deha
—
a body
;
upapattaye
—
in order to obtain
;
bhūyaḥ
—
again
;
tam
—
to Him, Lord Vāsudeva
;
eva
—
indeed
;
pratyapadyat
—
came back .
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Kāmadeva [Cupid], an expansion of Vāsudeva, had previously been burned to ashes by Rudra’s anger. Now, to obtain a new body, he merged back into the body of Lord Vāsudeva.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Kāmadeva [Cupid], an expansion of Vāsudeva, had previously been burned to ashes by Rudra's anger. Now, to obtain a new body, he merged back into the body of Lord Vāsudeva.
KB 10.55.1-2
It is said that Cupid, who is directly part and parcel of Lord Vāsudeva and who was formerly burned to ashes by the anger of Lord Śiva, took birth from the womb of Rukmiṇī, begotten by Kṛṣṇa. This is Kāmadeva, a demigod of the heavenly planets especially capable of inducing lusty desires. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, has many grades of parts and parcels, but the quadruple expansions of Kṛṣṇa—Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha—are directly in the Viṣṇu category. Kāma, or the Cupid demigod, who later took his birth from the womb of Rukmiṇī, was also named Pradyumna, but he cannot be the Pradyumna of the Viṣṇu category. He belongs to the category of jīva-tattva, but for exhibiting special power in the category of demigods he was a part and parcel of the superprowess of Pradyumna. That is the verdict of the Gosvāmīs. Therefore, when Cupid was burned to ashes by the anger of Lord Śiva, he merged into the body of Vāsudeva, and to get his body again he was begotten in the womb of Rukmiṇī by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. Thus he was born as the son of Kṛṣṇa and celebrated by the name Pradyumna. Because he was begotten by Lord Kṛṣṇa directly, his qualities were most similar to those of Kṛṣṇa.
Purport
In his
Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha
(
Anuccheda
87), Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī cites the following verse of the
Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad
(2.40) to prove that the Pradyumna who is the son of Kṛṣṇa and Rukmiṇī is the same Pradyumna who is a member of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s eternal fourfold plenary expansion, the
catur-vyūha:
yatrāsau saṁsthitaḥ kṛṣṇas
tribhiḥ śaktyā samāhitaḥ
rāmāniruddha-pradyumnai
rukmiṇyā sahito vibhuḥ
“There [in Dvārakā] the almighty Lord Kṛṣṇa, endowed with His full potency, resided in the company of His three plenary expansions — Balarāma, Aniruddha and Pradyumna.” The
Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha
goes on to explain, with reference to the present verse of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
that “the Cupid whom Rudra burned up with his anger is a demigod subordinate to Indra. This demigod Cupid is a partial manifestation of the prototype Cupid, Pradyumna, who is a plenary expansion of Vāsudeva. The demigod Cupid, being unable to attain a new body on his own, entered within the body of Pradyumna. Otherwise Cupid would have had to remain in a perpetual state of disembodiment, a result of Rudra’s having incinerated him with his anger.”
In his English rendering of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(1.14.30 purport), Śrīla Prabhupāda confirms the absolute status of Pradyumna, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s first son: “Pradyumna and Aniruddha are also expansions of the Personality of Godhead, and thus They are also
viṣṇu-tattva.
At Dvārakā Lord Vāsudeva is engaged in His transcendental pastimes along with His plenary expansions, namely Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, and therefore each and every one of Them can be addressed as the Personality of Godhead, …”
According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, Pradyumna took birth from the womb of Rukmiṇī before Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s marriage to Jāmbavatī and the Lord’s other marriages took place. Subsequently, Pradyumna returned from Śambara’s palace. But before Śukadeva Gosvāmī tells of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes with His other wives, he will narrate the entire story of Pradyumna for the sake of continuity.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī further notes that Kāmadeva, or Cupid, now appearing within Pradyumna, is a portion of Vāsudeva because he is manifest from the element
citta,
consciousness, which is presided over by Vāsudeva, and also because he (Cupid) is the cause of material generation. As the Lord states in the
Bhagavad-gītā
(10.28)
,
prajanaś cāsmi kandarpaḥ:
“Of progenitors I am Kandarpa [Cupid].”
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In the fifty fifth chapter, Pradyumna, Rukmini's son, is stolen by Sambara. Pradyumna kills him and returns with his bride to his fathers house.
Pradyumna was born before Krsna's marriages to Jambavati and other queens. Then the marriages took place, and after that Pradumnya returned home. However, here, along with describing the birth of Pradyumna, his whole story is related for continuity.
It is seen that when the eternal associates of svayam bhagavan appear in this world, they take shelter of the fame of their respective expansions (vibhuti) who actually merge into the original associates at the time of appearance, rather than appear directly, in order that the materialistic men do not raise speculation and in order to protect the confidential nature of bhakti. In the eleventh canto the lord says: the vedas tend to speak indirectly. I am fond of this. 11.21.35
In this way Drona (his vibhuti) was (merged into) Nanda and Dhara was Yasoda, Vasudeva was Uddhava, Indra was Arjuna, Yamaraja was Vidura, and kartikeya was Samba. Even the Lord himself appears through the celebrity of his amsas which actually merge within him when he appears. Vaikunthanatha came and appeared in Vasudeva's house, and similarly appeared as Vamana and Narayan rsi, and even as Ksirodakasayi Visnu. In this way Pradyumna, who is the third member of the caturvyuha, appeared using the fame of his own expansion called Kamadeva, who merged into him on his appearance. The gita explains that kamadeva is the vibhuti or expansion of Krsna (vasudevamsa). Kamadeva attained another body by entering into the body of Pradyumna. This he attained, not by his own powers, but by the will of the Lord, the ocean of variegated pastimes.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
This verse should be considered. In śruti and Pañcarātra, Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are famous. They are īśvara and eternal. The material Kāma-deva is famous among the eleven servants of Indra. Vāsudeva and others however are of two types: those for devatā pastimes and those for human pastimes. Those in the devatā pastimes are Nārāyaṇa forms and are numerous. Those in the human pastimes are Kṛṣṇa and his associates, and are described in the Purāṇas with differences among them according to the worship. They are also eternal. Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad describes them:
yatrāsau saṁsthitaḥ kṛṣṇas tribhiḥ śaktyā samāhitaḥ
rāmāniruddha-pradyumnai rukmiṇyā sahito vibhuḥ
In Dvārakā the almighty Kṛṣṇa, endowed with his full potency, resided in the company of his three plenary expansions—Balarāma, Aniruddha and Pradyumna along with Rukmiṇī.
Therefore the material Kāmadeva cannot be one of the Lord’s expansions or vyūha.
The word tu indicates a different subject. This Kāmadeva was an aṁśa of Kṛṣṇa (vāsudevāṁśaḥ) and took the form of Pradyumna, son of Rukmiṇī. The material Kāmadeva entered into Pradyumna as his portion. He is a vibhūti of Pradyumna. He was previously burned up by Rudra’s anger. In order to get a body, he entered into Pradyumna, the aṁśa of Vāsudeva since he was unable to obtain a body on his own again, having become bodiless by the arrangement of Rudra.
He chose Pradyumna because there was no appropriate person near him. To attain him he worshipped him, and then merged into Pradyumna’s body. The word bhūyaḥ (again) indicates that because of Pradyumna the material Kāmadeva, a jīva, could appear. Any other meaning is unsuitable, since an aṁśa of Vāsudeva cannot be burned up. This is a contradiction to the Bhāgavatam. The power of kāma arises from the mind which possesses decision and hesitation (saṁkalpa vikalpa) and not from citta which possesses power of concentration (dhārana). Thus kāma is a transformation of mind. Kāmadeva is similar. To think that the material Kāmadeva is part of the catur-vyūha is mistaken and a cause of confusion.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
The word tu indicates a different topic. The rasa of sons is different from Kṛṣṇa’s rasa with Rukmiṇī. Or this chapter describes the special power of the Lord in producing the form of Cupid. This Cupid is an aṁśa of Vāsudeva, since he is an empowered portion arising from the caturvyūha. Sometimes Cupid is called an aṁśa of Pradyumna or an aṁśa of Vāsudeva, since the Pradyumna and Vāsudeva are non-different. Cupid was previously burned up by the anger of Śiva. To gain a body, he again merged into Pradyumna (tam), the third member of the catur-vyūha, his aṁśī or source. Pradyumna was the place of merging of Cupid. He was born from Rukimiṇī.
Or Cupid was able to bewilder the whole world by absorbing a particle of the great ocean of śakti of aṁśa of Vasudeva’s son, who is most bewildering by his form and qualities. Actually bhagavān is most attractive and bewildering, the great Cupid. Trailokya-sammohana-tantra says dhyayen madana-gopalam: one should mediate on Kṛṣṇa, the cowherd Cupid.