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KB 1970-1-54 / Pradyumna Born to Krsna and Rukmini
54 / Pradyumna Born to Krsna and Rukmini
It is said that Cupid, who is directly part and parcel of Lord
Vasudeva and who was formerly burned to ashes by the anger of
Lord Siva, took birth in the womb of Rukmini begotten by
Krsna. This is Kamadeva, a demigod of the heavenly planets
especially capable of inducing lusty desires. The Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Krsna, has many grades of parts and
parcels, but the quadruple expansions of Krsna -- Vasudeva,
Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha -- are directly in the
Visnu category. Kama, or the Cupid demigod, who later on took
his birth in the womb of Rukmini, was also named Pradyumna,
but he cannot be the Pradyumna of the Visnu category. He
belongs to the category of jiva-tattva, but for
special power in the category of demigods, he was a part and
parcel of the super prowess of Pradyumna. That is the
verdict of the Gosvamis. Therefore, when Cupid was burned into
ashes by the anger of Lord Siva, he merged into the body of
Vasudeva, and in order to get his body again, he was begotten
by Lord Krsna Himself; he was directly released from his body
in the womb of Rukmini and was born
as the son of Krsna, celebrated by the name Pradyumna.
Because he was begotten by Lord Krsna directly, his qualities
were most similar to those of Krsna.
There was a demon of the name Sambara who was destined to be
killed by this Pradyumna. The Sambara demon knew of his destiny,
and as soon as he learned that Pradyumna was born, he
took the shape of a woman and kidnapped the baby from the
maternity home less than ten days after his birth. The demon
took him and threw him directly into the sea. But, as it is
said, "Whoever is protected by Krsna, no one can kill; and
whoever is destined to be killed by Krsna, no one can protect."
When Pradyumna was thrown into the sea, a big fish immediately
swallowed him. Later on this fish was caught by the net of a
fisherman, and the fish was later on sold to the Sambara demon.
In the kitchen of the demon there was a maidservant whose name
was Mayavati. This woman had formerly been the wife of Cupid,
and had been called Rati. When the fish was presented to the
demon Sambara, it was taken charge of by his cook, who was to
make it into a palatable fish preparation. Demons and the
raksasas are accustomed to eat meat, fish and similar
non-vegetarian foods. Similarly, other demons, like
Ravana, Kamsa and Hiranyakasipu, although born of brahmana and
ksatriya fathers, used to take meat and flesh without
discrimination. This practice is still prevalent in India, and
those who are meat and fish eaters are generally called demons
and raksasas.
When the cook was cutting the fish, he found a nice baby within
the belly of the fish, and he immediately presented him to
the charge of Mayavati, who was an assistant in the kitchen
affairs. This woman was surprised to see how such a nice baby
could remain within the belly of a fish, and the situation
perplexed her. The great sage Narada then appeared and
explained to her about the birth of Pradyumna, how the baby
had been taken away by Sambara and later on thrown into the sea,
and so on. In this way the whole story was disclosed to
Mayavati, who had formerly been Rati, the wife of Cupid.
Mayavati knew that she had previously been the wife of
Cupid; after her husband was burnt into ashes by the wrath of
Lord Siva, she was always expecting him to come back again in
the material form. This woman was engaged for cooking rice and
dahl in the kitchen, but when she got this nice baby and
understood that he was Cupid, her own husband, she naturally
took charge of him and with great affection began to bathe him
. Miraculously, the baby very swiftly grew up, and
within a very short period he became a very beautiful young man.
His eyes were just like the petals of lotus flowers, his
arms were very long, down to the knees, and any woman
who happened to see him became captivated by his bodily beauty.
Mayavati could understand that her former husband, Cupid, born
as Pradyumna, had grown into such a nice young man, and she
also gradually became captivated and lusty. She was smiling
before him with a feminine attractiveness, expressing
her desire for sexual unity. He therefore inquired from her, "
How is it possible that first of all you were affectionate like
a mother, and now you are expressing the symptoms of a lusty
woman? What is the reason for such a change?" On hearing this
statement from Pradyumna, the woman, Rati, replied, "My dear
sir, you are the son of Lord Krsna. Before you were ten days
old, you were stolen by the Sambara demon and later on thrown
into the water and swallowed up by a fish. In this way you have
come under my care, but actually, in your former life as Cupid,
I was your wife; therefore, my manifestation of conjugal
symptoms is not at all incompatible. Sambara wanted to kill you,
and he is endowed with various kinds of mystic powers.
Therefore, before he again attempts to kill you, please kill
him as soon as possible with your divine power. Since you were
stolen by Sambara, your mother, Rukmini-devi, has been in a
very grievous condition, like a cuckoo bird who has lost her
babies. She is very affectionate toward you, and since you have
been taken away from her, she has been living like a cow
aggrieved over the loss of its calf."
Mayavati had mystic knowledge of supernatural power.
Supernatural powers are generally known as maya, and to
supersede all such supernatural power there is another
supernatural power which is called mahamaya. Mayavati had
the knowledge of the mystic power of mahamaya, and she
delivered to Pradyumna this specific energetic power in order
to defeat the mystic powers of the Sambara demon. Thus being
empowered by his wife, Pradyumna immediately went before
Sambara and challenged him to fight. Pradyumna began to
address him in very strong language, so that his temper might
be agitated and he would be moved to fight. At Pradyumna's
words, the demon Sambara, being insulted, felt just like a
snake feels after being struck by one's leg. A serpent
cannot tolerate being kicked by another animal or by a man, and
he immediately bites the opponent.
Sambara felt the words of Pradyumna as if they were a kick. He
immediately took his club in his hand and appeared before
Pradyumna to fight. In great
anger, he began to beat Pradyumna with his club, just as
a thunderbolt beats a mountain. The demon was also groaning and
making a noise like a thundering cloud. Pradyumna protected
himself with his own club, and eventually he struck the demon
very severely. In this way, the fighting between Sambarasura
and Pradyumna began very seriously.
But Sambarasura knew the art of mystic powers and could raise
himself in the sky and fight from outer space. There is
another demon of the name Maya, and Sambarasura learned
many mystic powers from him. He thus raised himself high in
the sky and began to threw various types of nuclear weapons at
the body of Pradyumna. In order to combat the mystic powers of
Sambarasura, Pradyumna remembered another mystic power, known
as mahavidya, which was different from the black mystic power.
The mahavidya mystic power is based on the quality of goodness.
Understanding that his enemy was formidable,
Sambara took assistance from various kinds of demonic mystic
powers belonging to the Guhyakas, the Gandharvas, the Pisacas,
the snakes and the Raksasas. But although the demon exhibited
his mystic powers and took shelter of supernatural strength,
Pradyumna was able to counteract his strength and powers by the
superior power of mahavidya. When Sambarasura was defeated in
every respect, Pradyumna then took his sharpened sword and
immediately cut off the demon's head, which was decorated with
a helmet and with valuable jewels. When Pradyumna thus killed
the demon, all the demigods in the higher planetary systems
began to shower flowers on him.
Pradyumna's wife, Mayavati, could travel in outer space, and
therefore they directly reached his father's capital, Dvaraka,
by the airways. They passed above the palace of Lord Krsna and
began to come down as a cloud comes down with lightning. The
inner section of a palace is known as antahpura (
private apartments). Pradyumna and Mayavati could see that
there were many women there, and they sat down among them. When
the women saw Pradyumna, dressed in bluish garments, with
very long arms, curling hair, beautiful eyes, a smiling
reddish face, jewelry and ornaments, they first of all could
not recognize him as Pradyumna, a personality different from
Krsna. They all felt themselves to be very much blessed by
the sudden presence of Krsna, and they wanted to hide in a
different corner of the palace.
When the women saw, however, that all the characteristics
of Krsna were not present in the personality of Pradyumna,
out of curiosity they came back again to see him and his wife,
Mayavati. All of them were conjecturing as to who he was, for
he was so beautiful. Among the women was Rukminidevi, who
was equally beautiful, with her lotus-like eyes. Seeing
Pradyumna, she naturally remembered her own son, and milk began
to flow from her breast out of motherly affection. She then
began to wonder, "Who is this beautiful young boy? He appears
to be the most beautiful person. Who is the fortunate young
woman able to give birth to this nice boy in her womb and
become his mother? And who is that young woman who has
accompanied him? How have they met? Remembering my own son, who
was stolen even from the maternity home, I can only guess that
if he is living somewhere, he might have grown by this time to
be like this boy." Simply by intuition, Rukmini could
understand that Pradyumna was her own lost son. She could also
observe that Pradyumna resembled Lord Krsna in every respect.
She was struck with wonder as to how he acquired all the
symptoms of Krsna. She therefore began to think
more confidently that the boy must be her own grown-up son
because she felt much affection for him, and, as an
auspicious sign, her left arm was trembling.
At that very moment, Lord Krsna, along with His father and
mother, Devaki and Vasudeva, appeared on the scene. Krsna, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, could understand everything,
yet in that situation He remained silent. However, by the
desire of Lord Sri Krsna, the great sage Narada also appeared
on the scene, and he began to disclose all the incidents --
how Pradyumna had been stolen from the maternity home and how
he had grown up and had come there with his wife Mayavati, who
formerly had been Rati, the wife of Cupid. When
everyone was informed of the mysterious disappearance of
Pradyumna and how he had grown up, they all became struck with
wonder because they had gotten back their dead son after they
were almost hopeless of his return. When they understood that
it was Pradyumna who was present, they began to receive him
with great delight. One after another, all of the members of
the family -- Devaki, Vasudeva, Lord Sri Krsna, Lord Balarama,
and Rukmini and all the women of the family -- began to
embrace both Pradyumna and his wife Mayavati. When the news of
Pradyumna's return was spread all over the city of Dvaraka, all
the astonished citizens began to come with great anxiety to
see the lost Pradyumna. They began to say, "The dead son has
come back. What can be more pleasing than this?"
Srila Sukadeva Gosvami has explained that, in the beginning,
all the residents of the palace, who were all mothers and
stepmothers of Pradyumna, mistook him to be Krsna and were all
bashful, infected by the desire for conjugal love. The
explanation is that Pradyumna's personal appearance is exactly
like Krsna's, and he was factually Cupid himself. There was no
cause of astonishment, therefore, when the mothers of
Pradyumna and other women mistook him in that way. It is
clear from the statement that Pradyumna's bodily
characteristics were so similar to Krsna's that he was mistaken
to be Krsna even by his mother.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Fifty-fourth Chapter
of Krsna, "Pradyumna Born to Krsna and Rukmini."
Thus ends Volume One of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead.
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KB 55: Pradyumna Born to Krsna and Rukmini
CHAPTER FIFTY–FIVE
Pradyumna Born to Krsna and Rukmini
It is said that Cupid, who is directly part and parcel of Lord
Vasudeva and who was formerly burned to ashes by the anger of
Lord Siva, took birth from the womb of Rukmini, begotten by
Krsna. This is Kamadeva, a demigod of the heavenly planets
especially capable of inducing lusty desires. The Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Krsna, has many grades of parts and
parcels, but the quadruple expansions of Krsna -- Vasudeva,
Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha -- are directly in the
Visnu category. Kama, or the Cupid demigod, who later took
his birth from the womb of Rukmini, was also named Pradyumna,
but he cannot be the Pradyumna of the Visnu category. He
belongs to the category of jiva-tattva, but for exhibiting
special power in the category of demigods he was a part and
parcel of the superprowess of Pradyumna. That is the
verdict of the Gosvamis. Therefore, when Cupid was burned to
ashes by the anger of Lord Siva, he merged into the body of
Vasudeva, and to get his body again he was begotten
in the womb of Rukmini by Lord Krsna Himself. Thus he was born
as the son of Krsna and celebrated by the name Pradyumna.
Because he was begotten by Lord Krsna directly, his qualities
were most similar to those of Krsna.
There was a demon of the name Sambara who was destined to be
killed by Pradyumna. The Sambara demon knew of his destiny,
and as soon as he learned that Pradyumna had been born, he
took the shape of a woman and kidnapped the baby from the
maternity home less than ten days after his birth. The demon
took him and threw him directly into the sea. But, as it is
said, "Whoever is protected by Krsna, no one can kill, and
whoever is destined to be killed by Krsna, no one can protect."
When Pradyumna was thrown into the sea, a big fish immediately
swallowed him. Later this fish was caught in the net of a
fisherman, and the fish was later sold to the Sambara demon.
In the kitchen of the demon was a maidservant whose name
was Mayavati. This woman had formerly been the wife of Cupid,
called Rati. When the fish was presented to the
demon Sambara, it was taken charge of by his cook, who was to
make it into a palatable fish preparation. Demons and Raksasas
are accustomed to eat meat, fish and similar
nonvegetarian foods. Demons like
Ravana, Kamsa and Hiranyakasipu, although born of brahmana and
ksatriya fathers, used to take meat and fish without
discrimination. This practice is still prevalent in India, and
those who eat meat and fish are generally called demons
and Raksasas.
When the cook was cutting the fish, he found within
its stomach a nice baby, which he immediately presented to
the charge of Mayavati, who was an assistant in the kitchen
affairs. This woman was surprised to see how such a nice baby
could remain within the belly of a fish, and the situation
perplexed her. The great sage Narada then appeared and
explained to her about the birth of Pradyumna and how the baby
had been taken away by Sambara and later thrown into the
sea. In this way the whole story was disclosed to
Mayavati.
Mayavati knew that she had previously been Rati, the wife of
Cupid; after her husband was burned to ashes by the wrath of
Lord Siva, she was always expecting him to come back in
a material form. This woman was engaged for cooking rice and
dal in the kitchen, but when she got this nice baby and
understood that he was Cupid, her own husband, she naturally
took charge of him and with great affection began to bathe him
regularly. Miraculously, the baby swiftly grew up, and
within a very short period he became a beautiful young man.
His eyes were just like the petals of lotus flowers, and his
arms were long, reaching down to his knees; any woman
who happened to see him was captivated by his bodily beauty.
Mayavati could understand that her former husband, Cupid, born
as Pradyumna, had grown into such a nice young man, and she
also gradually became captivated and lusty. Smiling
before him with a feminine attractiveness, she expressed
her desire for sexual union. He therefore inquired from her, "
How is it possible that first you were affectionate like
a mother and now you are expressing the symptoms of a lusty
woman? What is the reason for such a change?" On hearing this
statement from Pradyumna, the woman, Rati, replied, "My dear
sir, you are the son of Lord Krsna. Before you were ten days
old, you were stolen by the Sambara demon and later thrown
into the water and swallowed by a fish. In this way you have
come under my care, but actually, in your former life as Cupid,
I was your wife; therefore, my manifestation of conjugal
symptoms is not at all incompatible. Sambara wanted to kill you,
and he is endowed with various mystic powers.
Therefore, before he again attempts to kill you, please kill
him as soon as possible with your divine power. Since you were
stolen by Sambara, your mother, Rukmini-devi, has been in a
very grievous condition, like a kurari bird who has lost her
babies. She is very affectionate toward you, and since you have
been taken away from her, she has been living like a cow
aggrieved over the loss of its calf."
Mayavati had mystic knowledge of supernatural powers.
Supernatural powers are generally known as maya, and to
surpass all such powers there is another
supernatural power, called maha-maya. Mayavati had
the knowledge of the mystic power of maha-maya, and she
delivered to Pradyumna this specific energetic power in order
to defeat the mystic powers of the Sambara demon. Thus being
empowered by his wife, Pradyumna immediately went before
Sambara and challenged him to fight. Pradyumna addressed
him in very strong language, so that his temper would
be agitated and he would be moved to fight. At Pradyumna's
words, the demon Sambara, being insulted, felt just as a
snake feels after being struck by someone's foot. A serpent
cannot tolerate being kicked by another animal or by a man, and
it immediately bites its opponent.
Sambara felt the words of Pradyumna as if they were a kick. He
immediately took his club in his hand and appeared before
Pradyumna to fight. Roaring like a thundering cloud, in great
anger the demon began to beat Pradyumna with his club, just as
a thunderbolt beats a mountain.
Pradyumna protected
himself with his own club and eventually struck the demon
very severely. In this way, the fighting between Sambarasura
and Pradyumna began in earnest.
But Sambarasura knew the art of mystic powers and could raise
himself into the sky and fight from outer space. There is
a demon of the name Maya, and Sambarasura had learned
many mystic powers from him. He thus raised himself high into
the sky and threw various types of nuclear weapons at
the body of Pradyumna. To combat the mystic powers of
Sambarasura, Pradyumna invoked another mystic power, known
as mahavidya, which was different from the black mystic power.
The mahavidya mystic power is based on the quality of goodness.
Sambara, understanding that his enemy was formidable,
took assistance from various kinds of demoniac mystic
powers belonging to the Guhyakas, the Gandharvas, the Pisacas,
the snakes and the Raksasas. But although the demon exhibited
his mystic powers and took shelter of supernatural strength,
Pradyumna was able to counteract his strength and powers by the
superior power of mahavidya. When Sambarasura was defeated in
every respect, Pradyumna took his sharp sword and
immediately cut off the demon's head, which was decorated with
a helmet and valuable jewels. When Pradyumna thus killed
the demon, all the demigods in the higher planetary systems
showered flowers on him.
Pradyumna's wife, Mayavati, could travel in outer space, and
therefore they directly reached his father's capital, Dvaraka,
by the airways. They passed above the palace of Lord Krsna and
came down as a cloud comes down with lightning. The
inner section of a palace is known as the antah-pura (
private apartments). Pradyumna and Mayavati could see
many women there, and they set down among them. When
the women saw Pradyumna, dressed in yellowish garments, with
very long arms, curling hair, beautiful reddish eyes, a smiling
face, jewelry and ornaments, they at first could
not recognize him as a personality different from
Krsna. They all felt very bashful at
the sudden presence of Krsna and wanted to hide in a
different corner of the palace.
When the women saw, however, that not all the characteristics
of Lord Krsna were present in the personality of Pradyumna,
out of curiosity they came back to see him and his wife,
Mayavati. All of them were conjecturing as to who he was, for
he was so beautiful. Among the women was Rukmini-devi, who
was equally beautiful, with her lotuslike eyes. Seeing
Pradyumna, she naturally remembered her own son, and milk began
to flow from her breasts out of motherly affection. She then
began to wonder, "Who is this beautiful young boy? He appears
to be the most beautiful person. Who is the fortunate young
woman able to conceive this nice boy in her womb and
become his mother? And who is that young woman who has
accompanied him? How have they met? Remembering my own son, who
was stolen from the maternity home, I can only guess that
if he is living somewhere, he might have grown by this time to
be like this boy." Simply by intuition, Rukmini could
understand that Pradyumna was her own lost son. She could also
observe that Pradyumna resembled Lord Krsna in every respect.
She was struck with wonder as to how he had acquired all the
characteristics of Lord Krsna. She therefore began to think
more confidently that the boy must be her own grown-up son
because she felt so much affection for him, and, as an
auspicious sign, her left arm was trembling.
At that very moment, Lord Krsna, along with His father and
mother, Devaki and Vasudeva, appeared on the scene. Krsna, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, could understand everything,
yet in that situation He remained silent. However, by the
desire of Lord Sri Krsna, the great sage Narada also appeared
, and he disclosed all the incidents --
how Pradyumna had been stolen from the maternity home and how
he had grown up and had come there with his wife, Mayavati, who
had formerly been Rati, the wife of Cupid. When
everyone was informed of the mysterious disappearance of
Pradyumna and how he had grown up, they were all struck with
wonder because they had gotten back their dead son after they
were almost hopeless of his return. When they understood that
it was Pradyumna who was present, they received him
with great delight. One after another, all the members of
the family -- Devaki, Vasudeva, Lord Sri Krsna, Lord Balarama,
Rukmini and all the women of the family -- embraced
Pradyumna and his wife, Mayavati. When the news of
Pradyumna's return spread all over the city of Dvaraka, all
the astonished citizens came with great eagerness to
see the lost Pradyumna. "The dead son has
come back," they said. "What can be more pleasing than this?"
Srila Sukadeva Gosvami has explained that in the beginning
all the ladies of the palace, who were all mothers and
stepmothers of Pradyumna, mistook him to be Krsna and were all
bashful, infected by the desire for conjugal love. The
explanation is that Pradyumna's personal appearance was exactly
like Krsna's, and he was factually Cupid himself. There was no
cause for astonishment, therefore, when the mothers of
Pradyumna and the other women mistook him in that way. It is
clear from this statement that Pradyumna's bodily
characteristics were so similar to Krsna's that he was mistaken
for Krsna even by his mother.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Fifty-fifth Chapter
of Krsna, "Pradyumna Born to Krsna and Rukmini."
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