Study a Verse

• Here we see that Devakī first focused Kaṁsa’s attention on his atrocious activities, his killing of her many sons.
• Then she appealed to him to give her the daughter as a gift.
• Devakī knew very well that because the killing of her many children had been ordained by destiny, Kaṁsa was not to be blamed.

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

Each link is a verse the purport itself quotes, or a purport elsewhere that quotes this verse, shown with the purport's own words.

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:

After Vasudeva bound himself with iron shackles as before, all the doors of the prison house closed by the influence of Yoga-māyā, who then began crying as a newborn child. This crying awakened the doorkeepers, who immediately informed Kaṁsa that a child had been born to Devakī.