Devanagari
मुमुचुर्मुनयो देवा: सुमनांसि मुदान्विता: ।
मन्दं मन्दं जलधरा जगर्जुरनुसागरम् ॥ ७ ॥
निशीथे तमउद्भूते जायमाने जनार्दने ।
देवक्यां देवरूपिण्यां विष्णु: सर्वगुहाशय: ।
आविरासीद् यथा प्राच्यां दिशीन्दुरिव पुष्कल: ॥ ८ ॥
Verse text
mumucur munayo devāḥ
sumanāṁsi mudānvitāḥ
mandaṁ mandaṁ jaladharā
jagarjur anusāgaram
niśīthe tama-udbhūte
jāyamāne janārdane
devakyāṁ deva-rūpiṇyāṁ
viṣṇuḥ sarva-guhā-śayaḥ
āvirāsīd yathā prācyāṁ
diśīndur iva puṣkalaḥ
Synonyms
mumucuḥ
—
showered
;
munayaḥ
—
all the great sages and saintly persons
;
devāḥ
—
and the demigods
;
sumanāṁsi
—
very beautiful and fragrant flowers
;
mudā anvitāḥ
—
being joyous in their attitude
;
mandam mandam
—
very mildly
;
jala
—
dharāḥ — the clouds
;
jagarjuḥ
—
vibrated
;
anusāgaram
—
following the vibrations of the sea waves
;
niśīthe
—
late at night
;
tamaḥ
—
udbhūte — when it was densely dark
;
jāyamāne
—
on the appearance of
;
janārdane
—
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu
;
devakyām
—
in the womb of Devakī
;
deva
—
rūpiṇyām — who was in the same category as the Supreme Personality of Godhead ( ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ )
;
viṣṇuḥ
—
Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Lord
;
sarva
—
guhā — śayaḥ — who is situated in the core of everyone’s heart
;
āvirāsīt
—
appeared
;
yathā
—
as
;
prācyām diśi
—
in the east
;
induḥ iva
—
like the full moon
;
puṣkalaḥ
—
complete in every respect .
Translation
The demigods and great saintly persons showered flowers in a joyous mood, and clouds gathered in the sky and very mildly thundered, making sounds like those of the ocean’s waves. Then the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, who is situated in the core of everyone’s heart, appeared from the heart of Devakī in the dense darkness of night, like the full moon rising on the eastern horizon, because Devakī was of the same category as Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The demigods and great saintly persons showered flowers in a joyous mood, and clouds gathered in the sky and very mildly thundered, making sounds like those of the ocean's waves. Then the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, who is situated in the core of everyone's heart, appeared from the heart of Devakī in the dense darkness of night, like the full moon rising on the eastern horizon, because Devakī was of the same category as Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
KB 10.3.7-8
The great sages and the demigods, being pleased, began to shower flowers. At the seashore there was the sound of mild waves, and above the sea there were clouds in the sky which began to thunder very pleasingly.
When things were adjusted like this, Lord Viṣṇu, who is residing within the heart of every living entity, appeared in the darkness of night as the Supreme Personality of Godhead before Devakī, who appeared as one of the demigoddesses. The appearance of Lord Viṣṇu at that time could be compared to the rising of the full moon over the eastern horizon. The objection may be raised that since Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared on the eighth day of the waning moon, there could be no rising of the full moon. In answer to this it may be said that Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared in the dynasty which is in the hierarchy of the moon; therefore, although the moon was incomplete on that night, because of the Lord’s appearance in the dynasty wherein the moon is himself the original person, the moon was in an overjoyous condition, so by the grace of Kṛṣṇa he could appear just like a full moon.
In an astronomical treatise by the name Khamaṇikya, the constellations at the time of the appearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa are very nicely described. It is confirmed that the child born at that auspicious moment was the Supreme Brahman, or the Absolute Truth.
Purport
As stated in the
Brahma-saṁhitā
(5.37)
:
ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis
tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ
goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
This verse indicates that Kṛṣṇa and His entourage are of the same spiritual potency (
ānanda-cinmaya-rasa
). Kṛṣṇa’s father, His mother, His friends the cowherd boys, and the cows are all expansions of Kṛṣṇa, as will be explained in the
brahma-vimohana-līlā.
When Brahmā took away Kṛṣṇa’s associates to test the supremacy of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Lord expanded Himself again in the forms of the many cowherd boys and calves, all of whom, as Brahmā saw, were
viṣṇu-mūrtis.
Devakī is also an expansion of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore this verse says,
devakyāṁ deva-rūpiṇyāṁ viṣṇuḥ sarva-guhā-śayaḥ.
At the time for the Lord’s appearance, the great sages and the demigods, being pleased, began to shower flowers. At the seashore, there was the sound of mild waves, and above the sea there were clouds in the sky which began to thunder very pleasingly.
When things were adjusted like this, Lord Viṣṇu, who is residing within the heart of every living entity, appeared in the darkness of night as the Supreme Personality of Godhead before Devakī, who appeared as one of the demigoddesses. The appearance of Lord Viṣṇu at that time could be compared to the rising of the full moon in the sky on the eastern horizon. The objection may be raised that since Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared on the eighth day of the waning moon, there could be no rising of the full moon. In answer to this it may be said that Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared in the dynasty which is in the hierarchy of the moon; therefore, although the moon was incomplete on that night, because of the Lord’s appearance in the dynasty wherein the moon is himself the original person, the moon was in an overjoyous condition, so by the grace of Kṛṣṇa he could appear as a full moon. To welcome the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the waning moon became a full moon in jubilation.
Instead of
deva-rūpiṇyām,
some texts of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
clearly say
viṣṇu-rūpiṇyām.
In either case, the meaning is that Devakī has the same spiritual form as the Lord. The Lord is
sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha,
and Devakī is also
sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha.
Therefore no one can find any fault in the way the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha,
appeared from the womb of Devakī.
Those who are not in full knowledge that the appearance and disappearance of the Lord are transcendental (
janma karma ca me divyam
) are sometimes surprised that the Supreme Personality of Godhead can take birth like an ordinary child. Actually, however, the Lord’s birth is never ordinary. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is already situated within the core of everyone’s heart as
antaryāmī,
the Supersoul. Thus because He was present in full potency in Devakī’s heart, He was also able to appear outside her body.
One of the twelve great personalities is Bhīṣmadeva (
svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ prahlāda, janako bhīṣmaḥ
). In
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(1.9.42)
, Bhīṣma, a great authority to be followed by devotees, says that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is situated in the core of everyone’s heart, just as the sun may be on everyone’s head. Yet although the sun may be on the heads of millions and millions of people, this does not mean that the sun is variously situated. Similarly, because the Supreme Personality of Godhead has inconceivable potencies, He can be within everyone’s heart and yet not be situated variously.
Ekatvam anupaśyataḥ
(
Īśopaniṣad
7
). The Lord is one, but He can appear in everyone’s heart by His inconceivable potency. Thus although the Lord was within the heart of Devakī, He appeared as her child. According to the
Viṣṇu Purāṇa,
therefore, as quoted in the
Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī,
the Lord appeared like the sun (
anugrahāsaya
). The
Brahma-saṁhitā
(5.35)
confirms that the Lord is situated even within the atom (
aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham
). He is situated in Mathurā, in Vaikuṇṭha and in the core of the heart. Therefore one should clearly understand that He did not live like an ordinary child in the heart or the womb of Devakī. Nor did He appear like an ordinary human child, although He seemed to do so in order to bewilder
asuras
like Kaṁsa. The
asuras
wrongly think that Kṛṣṇa took birth like an ordinary child and passed away from this world like an ordinary man. Such asuric conceptions are rejected by persons in knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Ajo ’pi sann avyayātmā bhūtānām īśvaro ’pi san
(
Bg. 4.6
). As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā,
the Lord is
aja,
unborn, and He is the supreme controller of everything. Nonetheless, He appeared as the child of Devakī. This verse describes the inconceivable potency of the Lord, who appeared like the full moon. Understanding the special significance of the appearance of the Supreme Godhead, one should never regard Him as having taken birth like an ordinary child.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The clouds are described as anu sagaram (following the ocean). That means they imitated the roaring of the ocean. But previously it was stated that all directions were overjoyed, and the cloudless sky was filled with stars. So how could there be rumbling of clouds? Therefore it is described that deep in the night, everything become covered in darkness (tama udbhute). There was thunder at that time because thick clouds covered the sky after two praharas of night. The Lord is addressed as Janardana because he is being requested (ardana) by the devotees, munis and devatas (jana), "Oh Lord, now is the time for your birth.". When the time came for the Lord’s birth, from the womb of Devaki, whose eternal body was full of knowledge and bliss like the Lord’s ( deva rupinyam), appeared Visnu, who sleeps in the heart of all souls and in Mathura and Vaikuntha, invisible to the common man, like an inaccessible cave in mountain (sarva guhasayah). But he was not born with pain like a normal child. He appeared like the full moon rising in the eastern sky. The subject of the simile (moon) at that time began to act out the role. Though the moon was eight days waning at the time, the moon thought in bliss, "The Lord is ornamenting our dynasty of the moon with his birth in this world." Then it became round like the full moon. In this way also Visnu appeared in full form, along with all his amsas. According to the Hari Vamsa the birth took place in the eighth month of pregnancy, before the expected time, in order to bewilder Kamsa. In the Kha Manikya, an astrological work, the birth is described: The moon, mars, mercury and Saturn were exalted. The ascendent was Taurus. Jupiter was in pisces, sun in leo, venus in libra and rahu in scorpio. At midnight, on Wednesday with the moon in rohini naksatra, Lord Krsna appeared.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Verse seven is a continuation of the description at his birth. The word mudā is repeated in this verse from the previous verse. With joy the devatās and sages met together. The rumbling of clouds imitated the sounds of the ocean. Viṣṇu Purāṇa says sindhavo nija-śabdena vādyaṁ cakrur manoharam: the ocean produced attractive music with its roaring. When did all this take place? The last verse answers. It happened at midnight when it became completely dark. Tama-udbhūte means “becoming dark.” It was dark because it was the eighth day of the waning moon in Bhadrā month. The Lord’s effulgence comparable to the moon would defeat the darkness. This creates a literary ornament called adbhūta upameya. However since one does not seen the full moon rise at midnight the comparison is somewhat inapplicable. The cause of the drums sounding is given: the Lord was about to be born. Since Janārdana can mean “at the request of men,” he appeared because the devatās made their request. Kaṁsa and others were ignorant of all of this because of the influence of māyā who was simultaneously being born to Yaśodā in Gokula.
There is another meaning of jāyamāne ’jane tasmin nedur dundubhayaḥ samam. When the moon entered the constellation of Rohiṇī, the constellation of Kṛṣṇa, who is not known (ajane) to be born at any other time, at the end of Dvāparā yuga, the drums sounded. Time became most auspicious, endowed with all good qualities of all the seasons. All this was accomplished by his śakti which can do the impossible when the Lord desires, or because it is his nature. Ajana-janmarkṣam (unknown birth constellation) also indicates the secret nature of his birth. This is for the purpose of showing the greatness of his birth (since a great person should not reveal his birth constellation.) The good qualities are then explained: the constellations were peaceful. Peaceful aspects are shown in the items down to the description of the minds of the devotees, excluding the description of the prosperity of the earth. Great auspiciousness is shown by the sounding of drums, the prosperity of the earth and the devatās showering flowers. The descriptions of the directions, rivers, forest and air also indicate auspiciousness. The qualities of spring and autumn seasons are depicted. Blossoming lotuses are features of the day, but on this occasion they bloomed at night. And sacrifices which are daytime activities are described as well. These qualities describe the situation in Satya-yuga. The clouds imitated the music of the ocean. This indicates that they were given consciousness by the Lord. The spring season spread in all directions. Since it was already stated in verse 2 that the sky was clear, there were no clouds. Viṣṇu Purāṇa says mandaṁ jagarjur jaladāḥ puṣpa-vṛṣṭi-muco dvijāḥ: the clouds rumbled softly and the sages released showers of flowers. Thus the clouds only appeared the moment that the moon entered Rohiṇī constellation. Devakī is described as having a form of sac-cid-ānanda like Bhagavān (deva-rūpiṇyām). Therefore there is not fault that the Lord appeared within her. Some versions have the words viṣṇu-rūpiṇyām instead. The Lord plays undisturbed (āśayaḥ) in his special places (guha) in all jīvas and in Vaikuṇṭha. These places are called guha (secret place or cave) because they are difficult to approach and difficult to understand. The Lord appeared complete with all his parts or expansions (puṣkalaḥ)-- with all his expansions such as those situated in the hearts of all beings as antaryāmī. The antaryāmīs appeared in the form of Kṛṣṇa in the hearts of great souls after Kṛṣṇa made his appearance.
tam imam aham ajaṁ śarīra-bhājāṁ
hṛdi hṛdi dhiṣṭhitam ātma-kalpitānām |
pratidṛśam iva naikadhārkam ekaṁ
samadhigato ’smi vidhūta-bheda-mohaḥ ||
Freed of the illusion of difference in the Lord’s various forms, I have attained the Lord who is one though appearing to be many like the sun seen by many people, who is the charioteer, but who is also in my heart, the unborn and is situated in the hearts of all the jīvas, who create their own bodies. SB 1.9.42
Even the rulers of Vaikuṇṭha appeared with Kṛṣṇa. This is described in Hari-vaṁśa in the story of Garuḍa after stealing the crown. There is also a description in the Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta. There is not fault in this. They all remain situated in Kṛṣṇa, hiding their respective powers which reveal their distinctive characters. Madhvācārya quotes Padma Purāṇa in this connection.
sa devo bahudā bhūtvā nirguṇaḥ puruṣottamaḥ
ekībhūya punaḥ śete nirdoṣo harir ādikṛt
The Supreme Lord with no material qualities becomes many. Becoming one again the faultless Lord, the original creator, remains.
Though the Lord appeared like the moon rising in the east, spreading light in all directions, it was explained that it was suitable that he appeared within Devakī since she was also sac-cid-ānanda. Viṣṇu Purāṇa says:
tato ‘khila-jagat-padma-bodhāyācyuta-bhānunā
devakī-pūrva-sandhyāyām āvirbhūtam mahātmanā
The great Lord, the invincible sun appeared in the eastern direction in the evening within Devakī to awaken the lotus of the universe.
To fool Kaṁsa, Kṛṣṇa appeared in the eight month of pregnancy. Hari-vaṁśa says:
garbha-kāle tv asampūrṇe aṣṭame māsi te striyau
devakī ca yaśodā ca suṣuvāte samaṁ tadā
Without the pregnancy period being completed, in the eight month Devakī and Yaśodā gave birth at the same time.