SB 10.2.5 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

एके तमनुरुन्धाना ज्ञातय: पर्युपासते हतेषु षट्‌सु बालेषु देवक्या औग्रसेनिना ॥ ४ ॥ सप्तमो वैष्णवं धाम यमनन्तं प्रचक्षते गर्भो बभूव देवक्या हर्षशोकविवर्धन: ॥ ५ ॥

Verse text

eke tam anurundhānā jṣātayaḥ paryupāsate hateṣu ṣaṭsu bāleṣu devakyā augraseninā saptamo vaiṣṇavaṁ dhāma yam anantaṁ pracakṣate garbho babhūva devakyā harṣa-śoka-vivardhanaḥ

Synonyms

eke — some of them ; tam — unto Kaṁsa ; anurundhānāḥ — exactly following his policy ; jṣātayaḥ — relatives ; paryupāsate — began to agree with him ; hateṣu — having been killed ; ṣaṭsu — six ; bāleṣu — children ; devakyāḥ — born of Devakī ; augraseninā — by the son of Ugrasena (Kaṁsa) ; saptamaḥ — the seventh ; vaiṣṇavam — of Lord Viṣṇu ; dhāma — a plenary expansion ; yam — unto whom ; anantam — by the name Ananta ; pracakṣate — is celebrated ; garbhaḥ — embryo ; babhūva — there was ; devakyāḥ — of Devakī ; harṣa — śoka — vivardhanaḥ — simultaneously arousing pleasure and lamentation .

Translation

Some of their relatives, however, began to follow Kaṁsa’s principles and act in his service. After Kaṁsa, the son of Ugrasena, killed the six sons of Devakī, a plenary portion of Kṛṣṇa entered her womb as her seventh child, arousing her pleasure and her lamentation. That plenary portion is celebrated by great sages as Ananta, who belongs to Kṛṣṇa’s second quadruple expansion.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Some of their relatives, however, began to follow Kaṁsa's principles and act in his service. After Kaṁsa, the son of Ugrasena, killed the six sons of Devakī, a plenary portion of Kṛṣṇa entered her womb as her seventh child, arousing her pleasure and her lamentation. That plenary portion is celebrated by great sages as Ananta, who belongs to Kṛṣṇa's second quadruple expansion. KB 10.2.4-5 When Kaṁsa was killing the six babies of Devakī and Vasudeva one after another, many friends and relatives of Kaṁsa approached him and requested him to discontinue these heinous activities. But all of them became worshipers of Kaṁsa. When Devakī became pregnant for the seventh time, a plenary expansion of Kṛṣṇa known as Ananta appeared within her womb. Devakī was overwhelmed with both jubilation and lamentation. She was joyful, for she could understand that Lord Viṣṇu had taken shelter within her womb, but at the same time she was sorry that as soon as her child would come out, Kaṁsa would kill Him.

Purport

Some of the chief devotees, such as Akrūra, stayed with Kaṁsa to satisfy him. This they did for various purposes. They all expected the Supreme Personality of Godhead to appear as the eighth child as soon as Devakī’s other children were killed by Kaṁsa, and they were eagerly awaiting His appearance. By remaining in Kaṁsa’s association, they would be able to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead take birth and display His childhood pastimes, and Akrūra would later go to Vṛndāvana to bring Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma to Mathurā. The word paryupāsate is significant because it indicates that some devotees wanted to stay near Kaṁsa in order to see all these pastimes of the Lord. The six children killed by Kaṁsa had formerly been sons of Marīci, but because of having been cursed by a brāhmaṇa, they were obliged to take birth as grandsons of Hiraṇyakaśipu. Kaṁsa had taken birth as Kālanemi, and now he was obliged to kill his own sons. This was a mystery. As soon as the sons of Devakī were killed, they would return to their original place. The devotees wanted to see this also. Generally speaking, no one kills his own nephews, but Kaṁsa was so cruel that he did so without hesitation. Ananta, Saṅkarṣaṇa, belongs to the second catur-vyūha, or quadruple expansion. This is the opinion of experienced commentators.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Being eager to see the Lord, some of the Yadus such as Akrura became cooperative with Kamsa and lived with him in Mathura. After Kamsa killed the first six children, the seventh appeared in Devaki’s womb. He is famous as Ananta. What is his description? He is described as vaisnava dhama, That means an amsa of Krsna. That he appeared in the womb was a cause of jubilation, but that he would be killed by Kamsa was a cause of lamentation.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Some of the Yadus’ relatives followed Kaṁsa. This means that they skillfully were able to control him. Or, some devotees did this because they were waiting to see Kṛṣṇa. This will later be revealed by Akrūra when he goes to Vraja. Paryupāsate should be paryupāsata. The six children who were killed were previously devatā sons of Marīci but by offending Brahmā they became demons. They were born to Kālanemi, son of Hiraṇyakaśipu, as his six sons known as the ṣaḍ-garbha. Rejecting Hiraṇyakaśipu they began worshipping Brahmā. Angry at that, Hiraṇyakaśipu cursed them to be killed by their father. Remembering this incident, the Lord had Yogamāyā put them in the womb of Devakī, to be killed by Kaṁsa, who was previously their father Kālameni. This is explained in Hari-vamśa. Later it will be said that they appeared from Hiraṇyakaśipu (hiraṇyakaśipor jātā nītās te yoga-māyayā ( SB 10.85.48). To harmonize the two statements, the meaning should be that they were born as Kālameni’s sons, in Hiraṇyakaśipu’s lineage. Thus in the later verse it is simply stated they appeared (jātāḥ) from Hiraṇyakaśipu, and that does not mention they were his sons. This is also stated in Mahābhārata. Or, there can be different versions in different kalpas. Though they were killed, it is explained in Chapter Eighty-five that they attained liberation from hellish condition. Thus no one can accuse the Lord of being indifferent to their killing. Because of his anger Śukadeva does not mention Kaṁsa’s name but instead calls him “son of Ugrasena.” The wise call the seventh child Saṅkarṣaṇa (anantam), the second member of the caturvyūha, whose body was filled with Kṛṣṇa (vaiṣṇavam).