Vasudeva’s Wisdom - From Protecting Kṛṣṇa to Understanding Him

This article presents a thematic survey of Vasudeva's diplomatic wisdom, his philosophical understanding of the soul, and his prayers of surrender to Lord Kṛṣṇa. It organizes the profound verses found in the Vanisource category Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Verses Spoken by Vasudeva.

Vasudeva is the personification of śuddha-sattva (pure goodness). His life is a testament to the power of truthfulness and keeping one's vows. Even when faced with the horrific prospect of handing over his newborn sons to be killed by the demon Kaṁsa, he did not waiver from his promise. His speeches range from the practical politics of saving his wife to the esoteric realization that his own son is the source of all material elements.

Diplomacy with Kaṁsa (The Science of Death)

When Kaṁsa prepares to kill Devakī immediately after her wedding, Vasudeva intervenes. He attempts to pacify the demon first with flattery, then with philosophy regarding the inevitability of death and the laws of karma, and finally with a calculated political promise.

Flattery and Appeal to Reputation

Vasudeva appeals to Kaṁsa's ego as a great hero of the Bhoja dynasty, arguing that killing a woman—his own sister—on her marriage day would destroy his reputation.

  • "Vasudeva said: My dear brother-in-law Kaṁsa, you are the pride of your family, the Bhoja dynasty, and great heroes praise your qualities. How could such a qualified person as you kill a woman, your own sister, especially on the occasion of her marriage?"
  • "As your younger sister, this poor girl Devakī is like your own daughter and deserves to be affectionately maintained. You are merciful, and therefore you should not kill her. Indeed, she deserves your affection."

The Philosophy of Transmigration

Vasudeva explains that death is certain for everyone and that the soul is forced to accept a new body based on its mental state at the moment of death. He uses the analogies of a traveler walking and a worm moving from leaf to leaf.

  • "O great hero, one who takes birth is sure to die, for death is born with the body. One may die today or after hundreds of years, but death is sure for every living entity."
  • "When the present body turns to dust and is again reduced to five elements—earth, water, fire, air and ether—the proprietor of the body, the living being, automatically receives another body of material elements according to his fruitive activities. When the next body is obtained, he gives up the present body."
  • "Just as a person traveling on the road rests one foot on the ground and then lifts the other, or as a worm on a vegetable transfers itself to one leaf and then gives up the previous one, the conditioned soul takes shelter of another body and then gives up the one he had before."
  • "Having experienced a situation by seeing or hearing about it, one contemplates and speculates about that situation, and thus one surrenders to it, not considering his present body. Similarly, by mental adjustments one dreams at night of living under different circumstances, in different bodies, and forgets his actual position. Under this same process, one gives up his present body and accepts another (tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13))."
  • "At the time of death, according to the thinking, feeling and willing of the mind, which is involved in fruitive activities, one receives a particular body. In other words, the body develops according to the activities of the mind. Changes of body are due to the flickering of the mind, for otherwise the soul could remain in its original, spiritual body."

The Analogy of Reflection

Vasudeva explains how the soul identifies with the body due to the agitation of the modes of nature, just as a reflection in agitated water appears distorted.

  • "When the luminaries in the sky, such as the moon, the sun and the stars, are reflected in liquids like oil or water, they appear to be of different shapes—sometimes round, sometimes long, and so on—because of the movements of the wind. Similarly, when the living entity, the soul, is absorbed in materialistic thoughts, he accepts various manifestations as his own identity because of ignorance. In other words, one is bewildered by mental concoctions because of agitation from the material modes of nature."

Warning Against Envy

Vasudeva warns Kaṁsa that envious activities inevitably lead to suffering in the next life.

  • "Therefore, since envious, impious activities cause a body in which one suffers in the next life, why should one act impiously? Considering one's welfare, one should not envy anyone, for an envious person must always fear harm from his enemies, either in this life or in the next."

The Promise (Calculated Risk)

Realizing that Kaṁsa cannot be stopped by philosophy alone, Vasudeva makes a desperate promise to hand over his sons, hoping that time or destiny might intervene.

  • "Vasudeva considered: By delivering all my sons to Kaṁsa, who is death personified, I shall save the life of Devakī. Perhaps Kaṁsa will die before my sons take birth, or, since he is already destined to die at the hands of my son, one of my sons may kill him. For the time being, let me promise to hand over my sons so that Kaṁsa will give up this immediate threat, and if in due course of time Kaṁsa dies, I shall have nothing to fear."
  • "When a fire, for some unseen reason, leaps over one piece of wood and sets fire to the next, the reason is destiny. Similarly, when a living being accepts one kind of body and leaves aside another, there is no other reason than unseen destiny."
  • "Vasudeva said: O best of the sober, you have nothing to fear from your sister Devakī because of what you have heard from the unseen omen. The cause of death will be her sons. Therefore I promise that when she gives birth to the sons from whom your fear has arisen, I shall deliver them all unto your hands."

Prayers at Kṛṣṇa's Appearance

When the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears in the prison house of Kaṁsa, He first exhibits His four-armed Nārāyaṇa form. Vasudeva, struck with wonder, offers prayers that reveal his clear understanding of the Lord's transcendental position beyond the material modes.

The Supreme Creator

Vasudeva recognizes the infant as the Supreme Person who creates the material world and enters it, yet remains aloof.

  • "Vasudeva said: My Lord, You are the Supreme Person, beyond material existence, and You are the Supersoul. Your form can be perceived by transcendental knowledge, by which You can be understood as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I now understand Your position perfectly."
  • "My Lord, You are the same person who in the beginning created this material world by His personal external energy. After the creation of this world of three guṇas (sattva, rajas and tamas), You appear to have entered it, although in fact You have not."
  • "The mahat-tattva, the total material energy, is undivided, but because of the material modes of nature, it appears to separate into earth, water, fire, air and ether. Because of the living energy (jīva-bhūta), these separated energies combine to make the cosmic manifestation visible, but in fact, before the creation of the cosmos, the total energy is already present. Therefore, the total material energy never actually enters the creation. Similarly, although You are perceived by our senses because of Your presence, You cannot be perceived by the senses, nor experienced by the mind or words (avāṅ-mānasa-gocara). With our senses we can perceive some things, but not everything; for example, we can use our eyes to see, but not to taste. Consequently, You are beyond perception by the senses. Although in touch with the modes of material nature, You are unaffected by them. You are the prime factor in everything, the all-pervading, undivided Supersoul. For You, therefore, there is no external or internal. You never entered the womb of Devakī; rather, You existed there already."

Independence from Matter

Vasudeva refutes the atheistic idea that the body exists independently of the soul.

  • "One who considers his visible body, which is a product of the three modes of nature, to be independent of the soul is unaware of the basis of existence, and therefore he is a rascal. Those who are learned have rejected his conclusion because one can understand through full discussion that with no basis in soul, the visible body and senses would be insubstantial. Nonetheless, although his conclusion has been rejected, a foolish person considers it a reality."
  • "O my Lord, learned Vedic scholars conclude that the creation, maintenance and annihilation of the entire cosmic manifestation are performed by You, who are free from endeavor, unaffected by the modes of material nature, and changeless in Your spiritual situation. There are no contradictions in You, who are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Parabrahman. Because the three modes of material nature—sattva, rajas and tamas—are under Your control, everything takes place automatically."

The Forms of the Lord

Vasudeva identifies the colors associated with the guṇa-avatāras.

  • "My Lord, Your form is transcendental to the three material modes, yet for the maintenance of the three worlds, You assume the white color of Viṣṇu in goodness; for creation, which is surrounded by the quality of passion, You appear reddish; and at the end, when there is a need for annihilation, which is surrounded by ignorance, You appear blackish."

Fear of Kaṁsa

Despite his high philosophy, Vasudeva plays the role of a concerned father, asking the Lord to hide His divine form to protect Him from Kaṁsa.

  • "O my Lord, proprietor of all creation, You have now appeared in my house, desiring to protect this world. I am sure that You will kill all the armies that are moving all over the world under the leadership of politicians who are dressed as kṣatriya rulers but who are factually demons. They must be killed by You for the protection of the innocent public."
  • "O my Lord, Lord of the demigods, after hearing the prophecy that You would take birth in our home and kill him, this uncivilized Kaṁsa killed so many of Your elder brothers. As soon as he hears from his lieutenants that You have appeared, he will immediately come with weapons to kill You."

Friendship with Nanda Mahārāja

After exchanging Kṛṣṇa for Yoga-māyā, Vasudeva meets his friend Nanda Mahārāja in Mathurā. His words are filled with affection but also caution, as he knows the danger lurking in Vraja.

The Philosophy of "Mine" and "Yours"

Vasudeva comments on the nature of bodily identification, seemingly praising Kaṁsa's philosophy to hide the truth about the baby exchange.

  • "O great personality Kaṁsa, only by the influence of ignorance does one accept the material body and bodily ego. What you have said about this philosophy is correct. Persons in the bodily concept of life, lacking self-realization, differentiate in terms of 'This is mine' and 'This belongs to another.'"
  • "Persons with the vision of differentiation are imbued with the material qualities lamentation, jubilation, fear, envy, greed, illusion and madness. They are influenced by the immediate cause, which they are busy counteracting, because they have no knowledge of the remote, supreme cause, the Personality of Godhead."

Congratulations and Separation

Vasudeva congratulates Nanda on having a son in his old age and reflects on how destiny separates friends like planks in a river.

  • "My dear brother Nanda Mahārāja, at an advanced age you had no son at all and were hopeless of having one. Therefore, that you now have a son is a sign of great fortune."
  • "It is also by good fortune that I am seeing you. Having obtained this opportunity, I feel as if I have taken birth again. Even though one is present in this world, to meet with intimate friends and dear relatives in this material world is extremely difficult."
  • "Many planks and sticks, unable to stay together, are carried away by the force of a river's waves. Similarly, although we are intimately related with friends and family members, we are unable to stay together because of our varied past deeds and the waves of time."

Welfare and Warning

Vasudeva inquires about the welfare of the cows and subtly warns Nanda to return home quickly, knowing that Kaṁsa has sent demons to Gokula.

  • "My dear friend Nanda Mahārāja, in the place where you are living with your friends, is the forest favorable for the animals, the cows? I hope there is no disease or inconvenience. The place must be full of water, grass and other plants."
  • "My son Baladeva, being raised by you and your wife, Yaśodādevī, considers you His father and mother. Is He living very peacefully in your home with His real mother, Rohiṇī?"
  • "When one's friends and relatives are properly situated, one's religion, economic development and sense gratification, as described in the Vedic literatures, are beneficial. Otherwise, if one's friends and relatives are in distress, these three cannot offer any happiness."
  • "Vasudeva said to Nanda Mahārāja: Now, my dear brother, since you have paid the annual taxes to Kaṁsa and have also seen me, do not stay in this place for many days. It is better to return to Gokula, since I know that there may be some disturbances there."

Reunion at Kurukṣetra

Years later, during a solar eclipse, the Yadus and the residents of Vraja meet at Kurukṣetra. Vasudeva expresses his deep regret for not being able to reciprocate the love of Nanda and Yaśodā due to his imprisonment.

The Power of Fate and Affection

Vasudeva attributes their separation to the will of the Lord and acknowledges the binding power of affection.

  • "Śrī Vasudeva said: Dear sister, please do not be angry with us. We are only ordinary men, playthings of fate. Indeed, whether a person acts on his own or is forced by others, he is always under the Supreme Lord's control."
  • "Harassed by Kaṁsa, we all fled in various directions, but by the grace of Providence we have now finally been able to return to our homes, my dear sister."
  • "Śrī Vasudeva said: My dear brother, God Himself has tied the knot called affection, which tightly binds human beings together. It seems to me that even great heroes and mystics find it very difficult to free themselves from it."
  • "Indeed, the Supreme Lord must have created the bonds of affection, for such exalted saints as you have never stopped showing matchless friendship toward us ingrates, although it has never been properly reciprocated."

Regret and Opulence

Vasudeva laments that his royal position blinded him to his friends' needs, stating that poverty is better if it keeps one close to family.

  • "Previously, dear brother, we did nothing to benefit you because we were unable to, yet even now that you are present before us, our eyes are so blinded by the intoxication of material good fortune that we continue to ignore you."
  • "O most respectful one, may a person who wants the highest benefit in life never gain kingly opulence, for it leaves him blind to the needs of his own family and friends."

The Ultimate Realization (Canto 10, Chapter 85)

In a private moment, Vasudeva approaches Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Casting aside the role of a father, he offers profound prayers acknowledging Them as the Supreme Lords of the universe.

The Lord as the Material Ingredients

Vasudeva identifies Kṛṣṇa as the substance of the universe—the earth, water, fire, air, ether, senses, and mind.

  • "(Vasudeva said:) O Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, best of yogīs, O eternal Saṅkarṣaṇa! I know that You two are personally the source of universal creation and the ingredients of creation as well."
  • "You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who manifest as the Lord of both nature and the creator of nature (Mahā-Viṣṇu). Everything that comes into existence, however and whenever it does so, is created within You, by You, from You, for You and in relation to You."
  • "O transcendental Lord, from Yourself You created this entire variegated universe, and then You entered within it in Your personal form as the Supersoul. In this way, O unborn Supreme Soul, as the life force and consciousness of everyone, You maintain the creation."
  • "Whatever potencies the life air and other elements of universal creation exhibit are actually all personal energies of the Supreme Lord, for both life and matter are subordinate to Him and dependent on Him, and also different from one another. Thus everything active in the material world is set into motion by the Supreme Lord."
  • "The glow of the moon, the brilliance of fire, the radiance of the sun, the twinkling of the stars, the flash of lightning, the permanence of mountains and the aroma and sustaining power of the earth—all these are actually You."
  • "My Lord, You are water, and also its taste and and its capacities to quench thirst and sustain life. You exhibit Your potencies through the manifestations of the air as bodily warmth, vitality, mental power, physical strength, endeavor and movement."
  • "You are the directions and their accommodating capacity, the all-pervading ether and the elemental sound residing within it. You are the primeval, unmanifested form of sound; the first syllable, oṁ; and audible speech, by which sound, as words, acquires particular references."
  • "You are the power of the senses to reveal their objects, the senses' presiding demigods, and the sanction these demigods give for sensory activity. You are the capacity of the intelligence for decision-making, and the living being's ability to remember things accurately."
  • "You are false ego in the mode of ignorance, which is the source of the physical elements; false ego in the mode of passion, which is the source of the bodily senses; false ego in the mode of goodness, which is the source of the demigods; and the unmanifest, total material energy, which underlies everything."

The Immutable Reality

Vasudeva explains that while material objects change, the Lord remains the constant substrate.

  • "You are the one indestructible entity among all the destructible things of this world, like the underlying substance that is seen to remain unchanged while the things made from it undergo transformations."
  • "The modes of material nature—namely goodness, passion and ignorance—together with all their functions, become directly manifest within You, the Supreme Absolute Truth, by the arrangement of Your Yogamāyā."
  • "Thus these created entities, transformations of material nature, do not exist except when material nature manifests them within You, at which time You also manifest within them. But aside from such periods of creation, You stand alone as the transcendental reality."

Surrender and Freedom from Illusion

Vasudeva prays to be released from the illusion that Kṛṣṇa is his son.

  • "They are truly ignorant who, while imprisoned within the ceaseless flow of this world's material qualities, fail to know You, the Supreme Soul of all that be, as their ultimate, sublime destination. Because of their ignorance, the entanglement of material work forces such souls to wander in the cycle of birth and death."
  • "By good fortune a soul may obtain a healthy human life—an opportunity rarely achieved. But if he is nonetheless deluded about what is best for him, O Lord, Your illusory Māyā will cause him to waste his entire life."
  • "You keep this whole world bound up by the ropes of affection, and thus when people consider their material bodies, they think, 'This is me,' and when they consider their progeny and other relations, they think, 'These are mine.'"
  • "You are not our sons but the very Lords of both material nature and its creator (Mahā-Viṣṇu). As You Yourself have told us, You have descended to rid the earth of the rulers who are a heavy burden upon her."
  • "Therefore, O friend of the distressed, I now approach Your lotus feet for shelter—the same lotus feet that dispel all fear of worldly existence for those who have surrendered to them. Enough! Enough with hankering for sense enjoyment, which makes me identify with this mortal body and think of You, the Supreme, as my child."
  • "Indeed, while still in the maternity room You told us that You, the unborn Lord, had already been born several times as our son in previous ages. After manifesting each of these transcendental bodies to protect Your own principles of religion, You then made them unmanifest, thus appearing and disappearing like a cloud. O supremely glorified, all-pervading Lord, who can understand the mystic, deluding potency of Your opulent expansions?"

Inquiry for Liberation (Canto 11)

In the Eleventh Canto, Vasudeva approaches Nārada Muni. He confesses that in his previous life, he worshipped the Lord for the sake of having a son, not for liberation. Now, he seeks the true path of bhāgavata-dharma.

  • "Śrī Vasudeva said: Obeisances to you, the residence of all the demigods. Please hear me, O sages. Kindly tell us how the reactions of one's work can be counteracted by further work."
  • "Śrī Vasudeva said: My lord, your visit, like that of a father to his children, is for the benefit of all living beings. You especially help the most wretched among them, as well as those who are advanced on the path toward the Supreme Lord, Uttamaśloka."
  • "The activities of demigods lead to both misery and happiness for living beings, but the activities of great saints like you, who have accepted the infallible Lord as their very soul, result only in the happiness of all beings."
  • "Those who worship the demigods receive reciprocation from the demigods in a way just corresponding to the offering. The demigods are attendants of karma, like a person's shadow, but sādhus are actually merciful to the fallen."
  • "O brāhmaṇa, although I am satisfied simply by seeing you, I still wish to inquire about those duties which give pleasure to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Any mortal who faithfully hears about them is freed from all kinds of fear."
  • "In a previous birth on this earth, I worshiped the Supreme Lord, Ananta, who alone can award liberation, but because I desired to have a child, I did not worship Him for liberation. Thus I was bewildered by the Lord's illusory energy."
  • "My dear lord, you are always true to your vow. Please instruct me clearly, so that by your mercy I may easily free myself from material existence, which is full of many dangers and keeps us constantly bound in fear."

Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani

This article is a thematic compilation of the teachings presented in the Vaniquotes category Bhagavatam Verses Spoken by Vasudeva. We invite you to visit the link to read the complete collection of verses presented in alphabetical order.

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