Kṛshṇa’s Birth in the Harivaṃśa

The Vishṇu Parva of the Harivaṃśa tells what was arranged before Kṛshṇa’s birth and how he was born. Nārada visits Kaṃsa. Bhagavān Vishṇu gives Yoganidrā the task of moving the six embryos of Devakī. Kṛshṇa is born in an auspicious hour. Vasudeva crosses the Yamunā and exchanges Kṛshṇa with Yaśodā’s daughter. Kaṃsa tries to kill the baby girl, and Devī rises into the sky and speaks against Kaṃsa.

The talk between Kaṃsa and Nārada (Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 1)

Nārada heard that the aṃśas (portions) of the devas had begun to take birth on Bhūloka. He came down quickly from Svargaloka to Mathurā with one aim: to hurry Kaṃsa toward his own end. Kaṃsa received him with honour and seated him on a seat the colour of fire. Nārada then spoke with a look of concern. He told Kaṃsa what he had seen in the assembly of the devas held by Brahmā on Mount Sumeru. The devas had met to plan Kaṃsa’s death. The eighth child born to Devakī in Mathurā would bring about his death. This was the same being who had killed Kaṃsa in a past birth. Nārada urged Kaṃsa to find a way to destroy Devakī’s womb. Then he wished him well and left.

Kaṃsa laughed aloud. He said he would shake the whole earth with the strength of his arm. He ordered his allies, Hayagrīva, Keśi, Pralamba, Dhenuka and others, to travel the world in disguise and kill anyone who opposed him. He told them to watch even children. His heart burned with worry as he went back to his palace. (Harivaṃśa, Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 1)

Bhagavān Vishṇu’s task for Yoganidrā (Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 2)

Kaṃsa ordered his ministers to watch Devakī’s pregnancies closely, to kill every child from the first, and to place trusted guards around Vasudeva day and night. Bhagavān Vishṇu saw all this through dhyānayoga (meditation). He knew that Kaṃsa would kill seven of Devakī’s children and that he himself would be born as the eighth.

He then called to mind six beings who lay asleep in Pātāla. They were the Shaḍgarbhas, sons of Kālanemi, who had drunk amṛta (the drink of life) and gained long life. In a past birth they had displeased their grandfather Hiraṇyakaśipu by worshipping Brahmā. Brahmā had given them the vara (boon) that no being could kill them. Hiraṇyakaśipu was angry and cursed them: “Your own father will kill you.” Bhagavān Vishṇu went down to Pātāla. By the power of māyā he entered the bodies of the sleeping Shaḍgarbhas and gave their life-forces to Nidrādevī. He told her:

“Go to Devakī’s womb and place these lives within her, one by one. Kaṃsa will kill them in turn, and his effort will be made useless. Then take a portion of the Moon’s aṃśa as Devakī’s seventh child. Take that child from Devakī’s womb and place it in Rohiṇī’s womb. He will be known as Saṃkarshaṇa. Devakī will believe her seventh child was lost before birth. I will be the eighth. After that you yourself will be born as the ninth child to Yaśodā, wife of Nandagopa, in our family line. I will be born at midnight under the Abhijit nakshatra. Then we will be exchanged. I will go to Yaśodā and you will go to Devakī. Kaṃsa will seize you and dash you against a stone. But you will rise into the sky, take your true form, and go to your eternal abode. There Indra will anoint you and receive you as his sister. You will be known as Kauśikī, the daughter of Kuśika’s line, and Indra will set up your eternal seat on the Vindhya mountain. Worshipped on the Navamī day, you will grant all wishes to your devotees.” (Harivaṃśa, Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 2)

The birth of Kṛshṇa (Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 4)

As Bhagavān Vishṇu had ordered, Yogamāyā moved the seventh embryo, the Moon’s aṃśa, from Devakī’s womb to Rohiṇī’s. Devakī woke in the night and believed her seventh child was lost. In time she carried the eighth, and the ministers guarded this pregnancy with the greatest care. Bhagavān Vishṇu entered Devakī’s womb, and at the same time Yoganidrā entered Yaśodā’s womb. As the months passed, both women gave birth. Devakī had a son and Yaśodā had a daughter.

At the moment of Śrī Kṛshṇa’s birth, the fires burned calmly, the winds blew gently, the dust settled and the stars shone brightly. He was born in the auspicious Vijaya muhūrta of the night called Jayastī, under the Abhijit nakshatra. He was eternal, subtle and beyond knowing. He was Nārāyaṇa, whose very glance enchants all beings. Divine drums (dundubhi) sounded and flowers rained down. Great ṛshis, gandharvas and apsarās sang his praises with auspicious words.

Vasudeva looked at the infant. He had the Śrīvatsa mark on his chest and shone with divine signs. Vasudeva was overwhelmed. Afraid of Kaṃsa, he pleaded: “O Prabhu Kṛshṇa, do not let this form be seen!” He quickly took up the newborn and walked in the night toward Yaśodā’s house. There, without Yaśodā knowing, he laid the baby boy beside her and brought her baby daughter back to lay beside Devakī. He then told Kaṃsa that a girl had been born. (Harivaṃśa, Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 4)

Kaṃsa’s attack and Devī’s words (Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 4)

When he heard the news, Kaṃsa hurried to Vasudeva’s prison with his guards. The women inside wailed. Devakī said, weeping: “You have already killed seven children. This is a girl. Look.” Kaṃsa saw the infant and, seeming relieved, seized her. He dashed her against a stone. But the child, struck on the stone, flew up into the sky. She left her infant body and appeared shining in her true form. She had four arms and a face like the moon. She wore divine garlands, her hair hung loose, and her body was fragrant with divine perfumes. Hosts of devas sang her praises around her. She laughed aloud, turned her gaze on Kaṃsa in anger, and said:

“O Kaṃsa! You struck me against the stone only to bring about your own ruin. At the moment of your death, when your enemy pulls you, I will drink your warm blood as I tear open your chest.”

Then she moved through the sky with her attendants. Vasudeva’s assembly later worshipped her as the daughter of Vasudeva himself, born from the aṃśa of Prajāpati. She grew up under the protection of the Yādavas and was honoured as the guardian of Kṛshṇa. (Harivaṃśa, Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 4)

Kaṃsa, ashamed, went alone to Devakī and said: “Sister, I killed your sons to protect myself. Now I learn that danger comes from another source. I am only the instrument. Kāla (time) is the real cause. Forgive me.” Devakī, full of tears, spoke to him as a mother speaks to a son and told him to rise. She accepted his regret. She said that death may come at any stage of life and that divine will rules all. Kaṃsa’s heart was still smouldering. He went back to his palace in defeat. (Harivaṃśa, Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 4)

Kṛshṇa’s journey to Vṛndāvana (Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 5)

Even before Devakī gave birth, Vasudeva had sent his wife Rohiṇī to Nandagopa’s house for safety. Nanda had come to Mathurā to pay his yearly tax. Vasudeva urged him: “Take Yaśodā and go at once to Gokula. Raise both children, Yaśodā’s son and Rohiṇī’s son, with equal love and care. Perform their birth rites and guard them well, for many dangers are near. Do not make your home in Vṛndāvana itself, because the evil Keśi, many serpents and dangerous creatures live there. Guard them in the cowsheds.”

Nanda received the divine infant Kṛshṇa from Rohiṇī’s arms. The child blazed like the newly risen sun. Nanda left with Yaśodā and the child along the bank of the Yamunā, by a path with no crowds, in the cool morning breeze. He reached Gokula. It lay beautifully near the Govardhana hill on the bank of the Yamunā. It was a place of gentle winds, many groves, herds of cattle, ponds, and the sweet sounds of gopīs and calves. There Nanda gave the shining child to Rohiṇī. (Harivaṃśa, Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 5)

Sources

• Harivaṃśa (Hari Vāṃśa Purāṇa), Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 1 (Kaṃsa and Nārada)
• Harivaṃśa (Hari Vāṃśa Purāṇa), Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 2 (Bhagavān Vishṇu’s task for Yoganidrā)
• Harivaṃśa (Hari Vāṃśa Purāṇa), Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 4 (the birth, the exchange and Kaṃsa’s attack)
• Harivaṃśa (Hari Vāṃśa Purāṇa), Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 5 (the journey to Gokula)