Devī Orchestrates the Kṛshṇa Avatāra

The Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells the Kṛshṇa avatāra as the plan of Devī Parāśakti. The earth, Bhūdevī, could not bear the weight of wicked kings. She went to Indra, then to Brahmā, then to Bhagavān Vishṇu. Bhagavān Vishṇu said that he himself was not independent, and that he and all the devas were under the control of the Yogamāyā of Devī Parāśakti. The devas then praised her, and she appeared as Tripura Sundarī and told them her plan. She would be born as Yogamāyā in the womb of Yaśodā. Bhagavān Vishṇu, because of the śāpa (a curse) of Bhṛgu, would be born as the eighth child of Devakī. A whole generation of devas and asuras would be born on earth to cleanse it.

Bhūdevī’s complaint

The earth was weighed down by wicked kings who had given up dharma. Among them were Jarāsandha of Magadha, Śiśupāla, the king of Kāśī, Naraka, Rukmī, Kaṃsa, Śālva, Keśī, Dhenuka, Vatsaka and many others. Bhūdevī, the earth devī, was tormented past bearing. She took the form of a cow and went to svarga in distress.

Bhūdevī went to Indra and told him her anguish. She was being crushed by the weight of these rulers full of pāpa (sin) and their huge armies. She could not bear the load and needed help from above. Indra knew the answer was beyond him and took her to Brahmā.

Brahmā listened with compassion. He told Bhūdevī and Indra that this matter too was beyond his power. He said that only Bhagavān Janārdana, who is Bhagavān Vishṇu, could take away this burden. Brahmā led the whole assembly of devas, with Bhūdevī and Indra, to Vaikuṇṭha.

This is from the Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 4, Chapter 18.

Bhagavān Vishṇu’s words on dependence

Bhagavān Vishṇu came, riding on Garuḍa. He welcomed the devas and heard their plea. Then he said something that is a central teaching of the Devī Bhāgavata:

“In this matter, neither I, nor Brahmā, nor Śiva, nor Indra, nor Agni, nor Yama, nor Varuṇa, nor Viśvakarmā, none of us is truly independent. This whole world of moving and unmoving beings is under the control of the Yogamāyāśakti of Devī Parāśakti. We are all her kīlubommas (puppets). The Parāśakti, that eternal Cidrūpiṇī, rules everything through her māyā.”

To show his own dependence, Bhagavān Vishṇu spoke of his time in the Rāma avatāra. He wandered weeping in the forest, not knowing where Sītā was. He was bound by the Nāgapāśa in battle. He, the lord of all, wept like an ordinary man when he was parted from Sītā. He also recalled how even Brahmā had been taken by kāma (desire) for his own daughter, and how Śiva had been overcome by grief at the death of Satī. These were not failures. They showed that all three lords, in their forms bound by the guṇas, were under the Yogamāyā of Devī Parāśakti.

“So,” said Bhagavān Vishṇu, “let us all remember and praise that supreme Jagadambikā, the Śivarūpā Ādiśakti, who alone is truly free (svarāṭ).”

This is from the Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 4, Chapter 18.

The devas praise the Parādevī

As Bhagavān Vishṇu directed, Brahmā, Bhagavān Vishṇu, Indra and all the devas meditated on the Parāśakti with one-pointed devotion. They praised her with this high stotra:

“From whom the whole cosmos is born and held, as threads come from a spider and sparks from fire, to that Viśvamātā we offer our namaskāras. By whose Mahāmāyāśakti this whole moving and unmoving world is made, to that unthinkable Citkāraṇā-svarūpiṇī we offer our remembrance. That varenya (most worthy) Caitanya-jyoti, may it light up our buddhi!”

Indra added: “Without your caitanya-śakti, Brahmā cannot create, Vishṇu cannot keep, and Śiva cannot dissolve. Without the support of Ananta, the earth cannot be held. Without Sarasvatī, Brahmā cannot speak. Without Lakshmī, Vishṇu cannot act. Without Girijā, Śiva cannot work. Only when the three Śaktis are joined with the Trimūrtis can they do their cosmic work.”

As they praised her with full hearts, Śrī Tripura Sundarī Devī appeared before them. She shone like red hibiscus flowers. She held the Pāśa and the Aṅkuśa and showed the Varada and Abhaya mudrās. She spoke to the assembled devas with compassion.

This is from the Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 4, Chapter 19.

Her plan for the Kṛshṇa avatāra

Devī Parāśakti told the devas her plan for the world:

“I have already thought about the incarnation of the devas. The time has come to remove the burden of adharma from the earth. The asura kings who are tormenting Bhūdevī will all die at my hands.”

She then set out the plan:

Her own incarnation. “I myself will be born as Yogamāyā in the womb of Yaśodā in Gokula.”

The incarnation of Bhagavān Vishṇu. “Because of the śāpa of Bhṛgu, Vishṇu will be born in the Yadu-vaṃśa as the son of Vasudeva, from the womb of Devakī, as her eighth child.”

Balarāma. “I will move Śesha from the womb of Devakī to the womb of Rohiṇī. He will be born as Balarāma.”

The exchange. “Vasudeva will carry the newborn Kṛshṇa to Gokula. I will be carried from Yaśodā back to the prison. When Kaṃsa tries to kill me, he will fail. I will fly into the sky and speak to him, and tell him that his destroyer has already been born.”

The wider task. “The asura kings and asuras, Kaṃsa, Jarāsandha, Śiśupāla, Narakāsura, Keśī, Pūtanā and others, will all be destroyed by the grace of Kṛshṇa and by my power. The great war of Kurukshetra will cleanse the earth of its burden of kshatriyas who follow adharma.”

The part of the devas. “All of you should take birth on earth in fitting forms to help. I will be your support all through.”

This is from the Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 4, Chapter 19.

The full list of aṃśa births

The Devī Bhāgavata gives a full account of which devas, ṛshis and asuras were born as the main persons of the age of the Mahābhārata (Skanda 4, Chapter 22).

Devas and ṛshis as heroes

Balarāma: an aṃśa of Śesha.
Kṛshṇa: an aṃśa of Nārāyaṇa, specifically the Nara-Nārāyaṇa of the Cākshusha Manvantara.
Arjuna: an aṃśa of Nara, of the pair Nara-Nārāyaṇa.
Yudhishṭhira: an aṃśa of Dharma.
Bhīma: an aṃśa of Vāyu.
Nakula and Sahadeva: aṃśas of the Aśvinī Kumāras.
Vidura: an aṃśa of Vāyu, from a different strand.
Bhīshma: an aṃśa of a Vasu, the eighth Vasu, Dyau.
Droṇa: an aṃśa of the line of the guru (the line of Bṛhaspati).
Aśvatthāma: an aṃśa of Śiva joined with the aṃśas of Kāma, Krodha and Yama.
Śantanu: an aṃśa of Samudra.
Gaṅgā: appeared in female form as the wife of Śantanu.
Virāṭa: an aṃśa of the Marut-gaṇa.
Dhṛtarāshṭra: an aṃśa of Haṃśu (Haṃsa).
Kṛpa and Kṛtavarma: aṃśas of the Marut-gaṇa.
Devaka-rāja: an aṃśa of a Gandharva’s wife.
Pradyumna: an aṃśa of Sanatkumāra.
Dhṛshṭadyumna: an aṃśa of Pāvaka (fire).
Śikhaṇḍī: an aṃśa of a rākshasa, born with the marks of both sexes.

Devīs as heroines

Draupadī: an aṃśa of Lakshmī, born from the yajñavedi (the altar of the fire yajña).
Kuntī: Siddhi-rūpa, divine power in person.
Mādrī: Dhṛti-rūpa, fortitude in person.
Gāndhārī: Mati-rūpa, intelligence in person.
All the wives of Kṛshṇa: various aṃśas of celestial apsarās.

Asuras as opponents

Kaṃsa: an aṃśa of Kālanemi, the asura whom Bhagavān Vishṇu had slain earlier.
Śiśupāla: an aṃśa of Hiraṇyakaśipu.
Jarāsandha: an aṃśa of Vipracitti.
Śalya: an aṃśa of Prahlāda.
Duryodhana: Kali (the spirit of the Kali age) together with an aṃśa of Ghora.
Śakuni: an aṃśa of Dvāpara (the spirit of the Dvāpara age).
Keśī: an aṃśa of Hayaśiras.
Arishṭa (the bull-asura of Gokula): an aṃśa of Arishṭanemi, a son of Bali.
Dhṛshṭaketu: an aṃśa of Anuhrada, a dānava.
Bhagadatta: an aṃśa of Bāshkala.
Pralamba: an aṃśa of Lamba.
Dhenuka: an aṃśa of Khara.
Cāṇūra and Mushṭika (the wrestlers): aṃśas of various fierce rākshasas.

Special cases

The two forms of Kṛshṇa: The Devī Bhāgavata adds that Bhagavān Vishṇu offered the devas two of his hairs, one dark (śyāmala) and one white. They became Kṛshṇa and Balarāma.
Karṇa: He is listed as an aṃśa of Sūrya, the son of Bhagavān Sūrya.

This is from the Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 4, Chapter 22.

Sources

Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 4, Chapters 18 to 22