॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Sage Shuka introduces all the notable Vrishnis among whom was born Bhagavan Sri Krishna. In the long list of names, we can spot Shishupala, Dantavaktra (Hinranyakashipu and Hiranyakasha's reincarnations) as well as Kamsa. Sri Balarama, Kumari Subhadra and Sri Krishna's birth are also mentioned. For the sake of brevity,I reproduce the summary from Srila Prabhupada in toto with diacritical marks.
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Vidarbha had three sons, named Kuśa, Kratha and Romapāda. Of these three, Romapāda expanded his dynasty with sons and grandsons named Babhru, Kṛti, Uśika, Cedi and Caidya, all of whom later became kings. From the son of Vidarbha named Kratha came a son named Kunti, from whose dynasty came the descendants named Vṛṣṇi, Nirvṛti, Daśārha, Vyoma, Jīmūta, Vikṛti, Bhīmaratha, Navaratha, Daśaratha, Śakuni, Karambhi, Devarāta, Devakṣatra, Madhu, Kuruvaśa, Anu, Puruhotra, Ayu and Sātvata. Sātvata had seven sons. One of them was Devāvṛdha, whose son was Babhru. Another son of Sātvata was Mahābhoja, by whom the Bhoja dynasty was inaugurated.
Another was Vṛṣṇi, who had a son named Yudhājit. From Yudhājit came Anamitra and Śini, and from Anamitra came Nighna and another Śini. The descendants in succession from Śini were Satyaka, Yuyudhāna, Jaya, Kuṇi and Yugandhara. Another son of Anamitra was Vṛṣṇi. From Vṛṣṇi came Śvaphalka, by whom Akrūra and twelve other sons were generated. From Akrūra came two sons, named Devavān and Upadeva. The son of Andhaka named Kukura was the origin of the descendants known as Vahni, Vilomā, Kapotaromā, Anu, Andhaka, Dundubhi, Avidyota, Punarvasu and Āhuka. Āhuka had two sons, named Devaka and Ugrasena. The four sons of Devaka were known as Devavān, Upadeva, Sudeva and Devavardhana, and his seven daughters were Dhṛtadevā, Śāntidevā, Upadevā, Śrīdevā, Devarakṣitā, Sahadevā and Devakī. Vasudeva married all seven daughters of Devaka. Ugrasena had nine sons named Kaṁsa, Sunāmā, Nyagrodha, Kaṅka, Śaṅku, Suhū, Rāṣṭrapāla, Dhṛṣṭi and Tuṣṭimān, and he had five daughters named Kaṁsā, Kaṁsavatī, Kaṅkā, Śūrabhū and Rāṣṭrapālikā. The younger brothers of Vasudeva married all the daughters of Ugrasena.
Vidūratha, the son of Citraratha, had a son named Śūra, who had ten other sons, of whom Vasudeva was the chief. Śūra gave one of his five daughters, Pṛthā, to his friend Kunti, and therefore she was also named Kuntī. In her maiden state, Kuntī had an opportunity to serve Sage Durvasa who visited her palace. Immensely pleased by her diligence and devotion, Durvasa gave her as boons mantras to invoke five gods who would come and give her sons as per her prayer. Soon after, just to test the mantra, she uttered the mantra to invoke Lord Surya. Lo and behold, he appeared and an extremely scared Kuntī had to accept his child. She cried as she abandoned the baby in a basket in the river, and this child was later named Karṇa. Later Kuntī married Mahārāja Pāṇḍu, your great-grandfather, oh, Parikshit!
Vṛddhaśarmā married the daughter of Śūra named Śrutadevā, from whose womb Dantavaktra was born. Dhṛṣṭaketu married Śūra’s daughter named Śrutakīrti, who had five sons. Jayasena married Śūra’s daughter named Rājādhidevī. The king of Cedi-deśa, Damaghoṣa, married the daughter of Śūra named Śrutaśravā, from whom Śiśupāla was born.
Devabhāga, through the womb of Kaṁsā, begot Citraketu and Bṛhadbala; and Devaśravā, through the womb of Kaṁsavatī, begot Suvīra and Iṣumān. From Kaṅka, through the womb of Kaṅkā, came Baka, Satyajit and Purujit, and from Sṛñjaya, through the womb of Rāṣṭrapālikā, came Vṛṣa and Durmarṣaṇa. Śyāmaka, through the womb of Śūrabhūmi, begot Harikeśa and Hiraṇyākṣa. Vatsaka, through the womb of Miśrakeśī, begot Vṛka, who begot the sons named Takṣa, Puṣkara and Śāla. From Samīka came Sumitra and Arjunapāla, and from Ānaka came Ṛtadhāmā and Jaya.
Vasudeva had many wives, of whom Devakī and Rohiṇī were the most important. From the womb of Rohiṇī, Baladeva (= Balarama) was born, along with Gada, Sāraṇa, Durmada, Vipula, Dhruva, Kṛta and others. Subhadra was born as the daughter of Pauravi. Vasudeva had many other sons by his other wives, and the eighth son to appear from the womb of Devakī was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who delivered the entire world from the burden of demons. This chapter ends by glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead Vāsudeva.
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I give below some wonderful shlokas in which Sage Shuka introduces the borth of Bhagavan Sri Krishna.
अष्टमस्तु तयोरासीत्स्वयमेव हरिः किल । सुभद्रा च महाभागा तव राजन् पितामही ॥
यदा यदेह धर्मस्य क्षयो वृद्धिश्च पाप्मनः । तदा तु भगवानीश आत्मानं सृजते हरिः ॥
न ह्यस्य जन्मनो हेतुः कर्मणो वा महीपते । आत्ममायां विनेशस्य परस्य द्रष्टुरात्मनः ॥
यन्मायाचेष्टितं पुंसः स्थित्युत्पत्त्यप्ययाय हि । अनुग्रहस्तन्निवृत्तेरात्मलाभाय चेष्यते ॥
अक्षौहिणीनां पतिभिरसुरैर्नृपलाञ्छनैः । भुव आक्रम्यमाणाया अभाराय कृतोद्यमः ॥
कर्माण्यपरिमेयाणि मनसापि सुरेश्वरैः । सहसङ्कर्षणश्चक्रे भगवान् मधुसूदनः ॥
कलौ जनिष्यमाणानां दुःखशोकतमोनुदम् । अनुग्रहाय भक्तानां सुपुण्यं व्यतनोद्यशः ॥
यस्मिन् सत्कर्णपीयुषे यशस्तीर्थवरे सकृत् । श्रोत्राञ्जलिरुपस्पृश्य धुनुते कर्मवासनाम् ॥
भोजवृष्ण्यन्धकमधुशूरसेनदशार्हकैः । श्लाघनीयेहितः शश्वत्कुरुसृञ्जयपाण्डुभिः ॥
स्निग्धस्मितेक्षितोदारैर्वाक्यैर्विक्रमलीलया । नृलोकं रमयामास मूर्त्या सर्वाङ्गरम्यया ॥
यस्याननं मकरकुण्डलचारुकर्णभ्राजत्कपोलसुभगं सविलासहासम् ।
नित्योत्सवं न ततृपुर्दृशिभिः पिबन्त्यो नार्यो नराश्च मुदिताः कुपिता निमेश्च ॥
जातो गतः पितृगृहाद्व्रजमेधितार्थो हत्वा रिपून् सुतशतानि कृतोरुदारः ।
उत्पाद्य तेषु पुरुषः क्रतुभिः समीजे आत्मानमात्मनिगमं प्रथयन् जनेषु ॥
पृथ्व्याः स वै गुरुभरं क्षपयन् कुरूणामन्तःसमुत्थकलिना युधि भूपचम्वः ।
दृष्ट्या विधूय विजये जयमुद्विघोष्यप्रोच्योद्धवाय च परं समगात्स्वधाम ॥
Translation:
Sage Shuka narrates:
The eighth son was the Supreme Bhagavan Himself — Krishna. The highly fortunate Subhadra, the one daughter, was your grandmother.
Whenever the principles of religion deteriorate and the principles of irreligion increase, the supreme controller, Bhagavan Sri Hari, appears by His own will.
Oh King Parikshit, but for the Lord’s personal desire, there is no cause for His appearance, disappearance or activities. As the Paramatma, He knows everything. Consequently, there is no cause that affects Him, not even the results of fruitive activities.
Bhagavan acts through His Maya Shakti in the creation, maintenance and annihilation of this cosmic manifestation just to deliver the living entity by His compassion and stop the living entity’s birth, death and duration of materialistic life. Thus, He enables the living being to return home, back to Godhead.
Although the demons who grab lordship and positions of rulers, and are dressed like kkings, they do not know the duty of the rulers. Consequently, by the arrangement of God, such demons, who possess great military strength, fight with one another, and thus the great burden of demons on the surface of the earth is reduced. The demons increase their military power by the will of the Supreme, so that their numbers will be diminished and the devotees will have a chance to advance in devotion to Bhagavan.
The Supreme Bhagavan, Sri Krishna, with the cooperation of Sankarshana Balarama, performed activities beyond the mental comprehension of even such personalities as Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva.
To show causeless mercy to the devotees who would take birth in the future in this Age of Kali, Bhagavan Sri Krishna acted in such a way that simply by remembering Him one will be freed from all the lamentation and unhappiness of material existence.
Simply by receiving the glories of the Lord through purified transcendental ears, the devotees of the Lord are immediately freed from strong material desires and engagement in fruitive activities.
Assisted by the descendants of other kings, Lord Sri Krishna performed various activities. By His pleasing smiles, His affectionate behaviour, His instructions and His uncommon pastimes like llifting the Govardhana Hill, the Lord, appearing in His transcendental body, pleased all of human society.
Sri Krishna’s face is decorated with ornaments, such as ear-rings resembling sharks (makaras). His ears are beautiful, His cheeks brilliant, and His smile attractive to everyone. Whoever sees Lord Sri Krishna sees a festival. His face and body are fully satisfying for everyone to see, but the devotees are angry at the creator for causing them the disturbance of being forced to momentarily blink and thus lose sight of Him!
Bhagavan Sri Krishna, known as Leela Purushottama, appeared as the son of Vasudeva but immediately left His father’s home and went to Brindavan to expand His loving relationship with His confidential devotees. In His childhood, Lord killed many demons, and afterwards, He returned to Dwaraka, where according to Vedic principles He married many wives who were the best of women, begot through them hundreds of sons, and performed Yajnas for His own worship to establish the principles of householder life.
Thereafter, Lord Sri Krishna created an internecine misunderstanding between rival kings just to diminish the burden of the world, as these kings had developed demoniacal tendencies to exploit all life. Simply by His glance, He annihilated all the demoniac kings on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra and declared victory for Arjuna. Finally, He instructed Uddhava about transcendental life and devotion and then returned to His abode in His original form.
