Study a Verse

• Rākṣasas are understood to be accustomed to eating their own sons, as snakes and many other animals sometimes do.
• At the present moment in Kali-yuga, Rākṣasa fathers and mothers are killing their own children in the womb, and some are even eating the fetus with great relish.
• Thus the so-called civilization is gradually advancing by producing Rākṣasas.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Terror → Wonder and relief. The threat of destruction yields to divine appearance.

Chapters 1–4 of Canto 10: Threat from Kaṁsa and Kṛṣṇa's birth. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 4: The Atrocities of King Kaṁsa

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Devakī and Vasudeva, being naturally very pious, immediately excused Kaṁsa for his atrocities, and Kaṁsa, after seeing that his sister and brother-in-law were happy, returned to his home. After the night passed, however, Kaṁsa called for his ministers and informed them of all that had happened.