From the Bhagavata Purana, Book 10, Chapter 3
The third chapter of the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana tells the story of Krishna's birth in the prison of Mathura. Devaki and Vasudeva have been imprisoned by Kamsa, who fears a prophecy that their eighth son will destroy him. Six sons have already been killed. The seventh, Balarama, was transferred to the womb of Rohini by divine power. Now the eighth child comes — and he comes not as an infant but as the four-armed Lord, bearing conch and discus, dark as a rain cloud.
The chapter moves in three waves. First, the auspicious signs: rivers run clear, winds carry sacred fragrance, the heavens fill with music. Then the dialogue: Vasudeva recognizes the Supreme Person and prays; Devaki, filled with awe and terror, begs him to hide his divine form before Kamsa discovers them. Then Krishna speaks — and what he tells them is a story of past lives. They have been his parents before: as Prishni and Sutapa in a former age, as Aditi and Kashyapa when he was born as the dwarf Vamana. This is the third time. The wheel of devotion turns. Finally, having spoken, the Lord falls silent — and by his own power, before their eyes, becomes an ordinary infant.
This is a Good Works Translation from the Sanskrit text of the Bhagavata Purana as published by GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages). The narrative continues in chapter 4, where Vasudeva carries the newborn across the Yamuna in a storm to the village of Gokula, exchanges him for Yashoda's daughter, and returns to his chains.
Shuka spoke:
Then came the hour endowed with every auspicious sign, supremely beautiful — when the birth-star of the Unborn rose, and the planets and stars were at peace.
The quarters grew clear. The sky shone pure, its stars bright. The earth abounded with blessings — in cities, in villages, in pastures.
Rivers ran clear. Ponds bloomed with lotuses. The forests rang with the singing of birds and the humming of bees, their branches clustered in praise.
A wind blew, gentle to the touch, carrying sacred fragrance, pure. And the ritual fires of the twice-born, which had been still, blazed up of their own accord.
The minds of the righteous — enemies of the demons — became serene. As the Unborn One was being born, kettledrums sounded in unison.
The Kinnaras and Gandharvas sang. The Siddhas and Charanas offered praise. The Vidyadharis danced with the Apsarases, overflowing with joy.
The sages and gods, filled with gladness, showered flowers. The clouds rumbled softly, gently, in echo of the ocean.
In the deep of night, when darkness had risen and Janardana was being born, Vishnu — who dwells in the cave of every heart — appeared from Devaki, who shone with a godlike form, as the full moon rises in the eastern sky.
That wondrous infant — lotus-eyed, four-armed, bearing the conch, the mace, and other weapons — marked with the Shrivatsa on his chest, the Kaustubha jewel gleaming at his throat, robed in yellow silk, dark and lovely as a rain cloud —
— crowned in precious beryl, his earrings' radiance embracing his thousand locks of hair, blazing with belt, armlets, and bracelets — this, Vasudeva beheld.
His eyes went wide with wonder. Anakadundubhi, seeing Hari as his son, was overwhelmed by the joy of Krishna's descent. Overflowing with gladness, he mentally gifted ten thousand cows to the twice-born.
Then, understanding this to be the Supreme Person, he bowed his body, steadied his mind, and joined his palms — his fear gone, knowing the power before him — and praised the one whose own radiance lit up the birth-chamber.
Vasudeva spoke:
I know you. You are the Person beyond Nature — whose very form is pure experience and bliss, the witness of every mind.
By your own power you created this world of three qualities. And though you never entered it, you appear as though you dwell within.
As these unchanging elements, together with their transformations — each possessing different powers, remaining separate — give rise to the cosmic form,
converging and producing, they appear as though they followed one another. But since they existed before creation, their arising here is no true arising.
So too, though you can be inferred through qualities perceptible to the intellect, you yourself are not grasped by those qualities. Since you are never veiled, there is no outside or inside for you — you who are the Self of all, the essence of everything.
The fool who judges himself as existing through the visible qualities — defining himself by contrast — has not truly understood. For without the Self there is nothing to affirm, and what was rightly renounced, he takes up again.
From you, O Lord, they say come the birth, sustenance, and dissolution of this world — from you who are without effort, without quality, without change. In you, the sovereign Brahman, there is no contradiction: because all things rest in you, the qualities are attributed to you by convention.
You, by your own power, bear the white form for the sustaining of the three worlds. The red form, charged with passion, for creation. And the dark form, clothed in darkness, for the dissolution of beings.
You, Lord of all, desiring to protect this world, have descended into my house. You will destroy the armies marshalled by the demon-lords who wear the guise of kings.
But this savage, hearing of your birth in our house, Lord of the gods, slaughtered your elder brothers. And now, learning that your descent has been foretold by his men, he comes in haste, weapon in hand.
Shuka spoke:
Then Devaki, seeing her son bearing the marks of the Supreme Person, rushed toward him — afraid of Kamsa, yet filled with wonder.
Devaki spoke:
That form which they call the Unmanifest, the First — Brahman, the Light, without quality, without change — pure being, undifferentiated, desireless — you are that, directly: Vishnu, the lamp of the inner Self.
When the world dissolves at the end of Brahma's double span, when the great elements return to the primal element, when the manifest is swept into the unmanifest by the force of Time — you alone remain, called the Remainder.
This Time — they call it your activity, O friend of the Unmanifest — by which the universe moves, from the blink of an eye to the span of a year and beyond — that sovereign, that abode of peace, I take refuge in you.
The mortal, terrified of the serpent of death, fleeing — found no fearless place in all the worlds. But reaching your lotus feet by fortune, he rests at ease. Death itself retreats from him.
Save us — we who are terrified — from the terrible son of Ugrasena, you who destroy the fear of your servants. But this divine form, the seat of meditation — do not make it visible to those who see only flesh.
O slayer of Madhu, let that sinful one not learn of your birth from me. I tremble for your sake before Kamsa — my mind is unsteady.
O Soul of the universe, withdraw this unworldly form — four-armed, adorned with conch, discus, mace, and lotus.
The entire universe that you, the Supreme Person, bear within your body at the end of night, as a mother holds a child — that very one has entered my womb. What a mockery of the mortal world!
The Lord spoke:
In a former creation, you were Prishni, in the age of Svayambhuva Manu. And this one here was Sutapa — a blameless lord of creatures.
When Brahma commanded you both to bring forth children, you restrained all your senses and performed the highest austerity.
Enduring the seasons — rain, wind, sun, cold, heat — purifying the impurities of the mind through the restraint of breath, eating only fallen leaves and air, with tranquil hearts, desiring your wishes from me, you devoted yourselves to my worship.
Thus, for twelve thousand divine years, you both — with your minds fixed on me — performed this fierce and most difficult austerity.
Then I, the supreme grantor of boons, pleased by your austerity, your faith, and your constant devotion — well-established in your hearts — appeared before you in this very form, O sinless one, desiring to grant your wish.
When I said "Choose your boon," you chose a son like me.
Though you were a childless couple, free from worldly pleasures, you did not ask me for liberation — beguiled by divine illusion.
When I departed, you both — having received the boon of a son like me, your heart's desire fulfilled — enjoyed the pleasures of the world.
Finding no one in all the world equal to me in virtue, nobility, and excellence, I myself became your son — known as Prishni-garbha, "born of Prishni."
Again, I was born to you both — as Aditi and Kashyapa — known as Upendra, and as Vamana because of my dwarf form.
In this, the third birth, I have been born to you again in this same form. My word is true, O faithful one.
I have shown you this divine form so that you may remember my previous births. For the knowledge that I am God does not arise through a mortal form.
You who contemplate me constantly — as your son and as Brahman — bound to me by love, you shall both attain my supreme abode.
Shuka spoke:
Having spoken, Hari fell silent. And by his own power, before his parents' eyes, he instantly became an ordinary infant.
Then Vasudeva, moved by the Lord, took up his son from the birth-chamber. And at that same hour, the unborn Yogamaya was born from Nanda's wife.
By her power, the awareness of every doorkeeper and citizen was stolen — they lay in deep sleep. And every gate was sealed, impossible to pass, barred with great doors of iron bolts and chains.
But when Vasudeva came bearing Krishna, the gates opened of themselves — as darkness parts before the sun. The rain-god poured with muffled thunder. And Shesha followed behind, shielding the rain with his hoods.
As Indra poured his rain again and again, the Yamuna — deep-watered, swift-currented, foaming with waves, churning with a hundred fearsome whirlpools — gave him passage, as the ocean once made way for the Lord of Shri.
Vasudeva reached Nanda's settlement and found the cowherds fast asleep. He laid his son on Yashoda's bed, took up her daughter, and returned home.
He placed the girl on Devaki's bed, fastened the iron shackles back on his feet, and sat as before — a prisoner.
And Yashoda, Nanda's wife, knew only that a child had been born. Exhausted, her memory dissolved in sleep, she did not know what kind of child it was.
Colophon
The Janma Adhyaya ("Birth Chapter") is the third chapter of the tenth book (Skandha) of the Bhagavata Purana, also known as the Shrimad Bhagavatam. The Bhagavata Purana was composed in Sanskrit, most likely between the 9th and 10th centuries CE, and is attributed to the sage Vyasa. The birth narrative is the fulcrum of the entire tenth book — the moment that sets in motion Krishna's earthly life, from the killing of Kamsa to the great war of the Mahabharata.
This is a Good Works Translation from the Sanskrit text as published by GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages), University of Göttingen. Translated by the New Tianmu Anglican Church (Atar, with Claude), 2026. The gospel register is used throughout. The English is independently derived from the Sanskrit source text in IAST transliteration. The Prabhupada/ISKCON translation was not used as a source; the translation is derived from the Sanskrit directly.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text
Janma Adhyaya — Bhagavata Purana 10.3
Sanskrit source text in IAST transliteration from the GRETIL digital edition of the Bhagavata Purana (Bhagavata-Purana 10), Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
śrī-śuka uvāca
atha sarva-guṇopetaḥ kālaḥ parama-śobhanaḥ
yarhy evājana-janmarkṣaṃ śāntarkṣa-graha-tārakam
diśaḥ prasedur gaganaṃ nirmaloḍu-gaṇodayam
mahī maṅgala-bhūyiṣṭha-pura-grāma-vrajākarā
nadyaḥ prasanna-salilā hradā jalaruha-śriyaḥ
dvijāli-kula-sannāda-stavakā vana-rājayaḥ
vavau vāyuḥ sukha-sparśaḥ puṇya-gandhavahaḥ śuciḥ
agnayaś ca dvijātīnāṃ śāntās tatra samindhata
manāṃsy āsan prasannāni sādhūnām asura-druhām
jāyamāne 'jane tasmin nedur dundubhayaḥ samam
jaguḥ kinnara-gandharvās tuṣṭuvuḥ siddha-cāraṇāḥ
vidyādharyaś ca nanṛtur apsarobhiḥ samaṃ mudā
mumucur munayo devāḥ sumanāṃsi mudānvitāḥ
mandaṃ mandaṃ jaladharā jagarjur anusāgaram
niśīthe tama-udbhūte jāyamāne janārdane
devakyāṃ deva-rūpiṇyāṃ viṣṇuḥ sarva-guhā-śayaḥ
āvirāsīd yathā prācyāṃ diśīndur iva puṣkalaḥ
tam adbhutaṃ bālakam ambujekṣaṇaṃ catur-bhujaṃ śaṅkha-gadādy-udāyudham
śrīvatsa-lakṣmaṃ gala-śobhi-kaustubhaṃ pītāmbaraṃ sāndra-payoda-saubhagam
mahārha-vaidūrya-kirīṭa-kuṇḍala-tviṣā pariṣvakta-sahasra-kuntalam
uddāma-kāñcy-aṅgada-kaṅkaṇādibhir virocamānaṃ vasudeva aikṣata
sa vismayotphulla-vilocano hariṃ sutaṃ vilokyānakadundubhis tadā
kṛṣṇāvatārotsava-sambhramo 'spṛśan mudā dvijebhyo 'yutam āpluto gavām
athainam astaud avadhārya pūruṣaṃ paraṃ natāṅgaḥ kṛta-dhīḥ kṛtāñjaliḥ
sva-rociṣā bhārata sūtikā-gṛhaṃ virocayantaṃ gata-bhīḥ prabhāva-vit
śrī-vasudeva uvāca
vidito 'si bhavān sākṣāt puruṣaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ
kevalānubhavānanda-svarūpaḥ sarva-buddhi-dṛk
sa eva svaprakṛtyedaṃ sṛṣṭvāgre tri-guṇātmakam
tad anu tvaṃ hy apraviṣṭaḥ praviṣṭa iva bhāvyase
yatheme 'vikṛtā bhāvās tathā te vikṛtaiḥ saha
nānā-vīryāḥ pṛthag-bhūtā virājaṃ janayanti hi
sannipatya samutpādya dṛśyante 'nugatā iva
prāg eva vidyamānatvān na teṣām iha sambhavaḥ
evaṃ bhavān buddhy-anumeya-lakṣaṇair grāhyair guṇaiḥ sann api tad-guṇāgrahaḥ
anāvṛtatvād bahir antaraṃ na te sarvasya sarvātmana ātma-vastunaḥ
ya ātmano dṛśya-guṇeṣu sann iti vyavasyate sva-vyatirekato 'budhaḥ
vinānuvādaṃ na ca tan manīṣitaṃ samyag yatas tyaktam upādadat pumān
tvatto 'sya janma-sthiti-saṃyamān vibho vadanty anīhād aguṇād avikriyāt
tvayīśvare brahmaṇi no virudhyate tvad-āśrayatvād upacaryate guṇaiḥ
sa tvaṃ tri-loka-sthitaye sva-māyayā bibharṣi śuklaṃ khalu varṇam ātmanaḥ
sargāya raktaṃ rajasopabṛṃhitaṃ kṛṣṇaṃ ca varṇaṃ tamasā janātyaye
tvam asya lokasya vibho rirakṣiṣur gṛhe 'vatīrṇo 'si mamākhileśvara
rājanya-saṃjñāsura-koṭi-yūthapair nirvyūhyamānā nihaniṣyase camūḥ
ayaṃ tv asabhyas tava janma nau gṛhe śrutvāgrajāṃs te nyavadhīt sureśvara
sa te 'vatāraṃ puruṣaiḥ samarpitaṃ śrutvādhunaivābhisaraty udāyudhaḥ
śrī-śuka uvāca
athainam ātmajaṃ vīkṣya mahā-puruṣa-lakṣaṇam
devakī tam upādhāvat kaṃsād bhītā suvismitā
śrī-devaky uvāca
rūpaṃ yat tat prāhur avyaktam ādyaṃ brahma jyotir nirguṇaṃ nirvikāram
sattā-mātraṃ nirviśeṣaṃ nirīhaṃ sa tvaṃ sākṣād viṣṇur adhyātma-dīpaḥ
naṣṭe loke dvi-parārdhāvasāne mahā-bhūteṣv ādi-bhūtaṃ gateṣu
vyakte 'vyaktaṃ kāla-vegena yāte bhavān ekaḥ śiṣyate 'śeṣa-saṃjñaḥ
yo 'yaṃ kālas tasya te 'vyakta-bandho ceṣṭām āhuś ceṣṭate yena viśvam
nimeṣādir vatsarānto mahīyāṃs taṃ tveśānaṃ kṣema-dhāma prapadye
martyo mṛtyu-vyāla-bhītaḥ palāyan lokān sarvān nirbhayaṃ nādhyagacchat
tvat pādābjaṃ prāpya yadṛcchayādya susthaḥ śete mṛtyur asmād apaiti
sa tvaṃ ghorād ugrasenātmajān nas trāhi trastān bhṛtya-vitrāsa-hāsi
rūpaṃ cedaṃ pauruṣaṃ dhyāna-dhiṣṇyaṃ mā pratyakṣaṃ māṃsa-dṛśāṃ kṛṣīṣṭhāḥ
janma te mayy asau pāpo mā vidyān madhusūdana
samudvije bhavad-dhetoḥ kaṃsād aham adhīra-dhīḥ
upasaṃhara viśvātmann ado rūpam alaukikam
śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-padma-śriyā juṣṭaṃ catur-bhujam
viśvaṃ yad etat sva-tanau niśānte yathāvakāśaṃ puruṣaḥ paro bhavān
bibharti so 'yaṃ mama garbhago 'bhūd aho nṛ-lokasya viḍambanaṃ hi tat
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
tvam eva pūrva-sarge 'bhūḥ pṛśniḥ svāyambhuve sati
tadāyaṃ sutapā nāma prajāpatir akalmaṣaḥ
yuvāṃ vai brahmaṇādiṣṭau prajā-sarge yadā tataḥ
sanniyamyendriya-grāmaṃ tepāthe paramaṃ tapaḥ
varṣa-vātātapa-hima-gharma-kāla-guṇān anu
sahamānau śvāsa-rodha-vinirdhūta-mano-malau
śīrṇa-parṇānilāhārāv upaśāntena cetasā
mattaḥ kāmān abhīpsantau mad-ārādhanam īhatuḥ
evaṃ vāṃ tapyatos tīvraṃ tapaḥ parama-duṣkaram
divya-varṣa-sahasrāṇi dvādaśeyur mad-ātmanoḥ
tadā vāṃ parituṣṭo 'ham amunā vapuṣānaghe
tapasā śraddhayā nityaṃ bhaktyā ca hṛdi bhāvitaḥ
prādurāsaṃ varada-rāḍ yuvayoḥ kāma-ditsayā
vriyatāṃ vara ity ukte mādṛśo vāṃ vṛtaḥ sutaḥ
ajuṣṭa-grāmya-viṣayāv anapatyau ca dam-patī
na vavrāthe 'pavargaṃ me mohitau deva-māyayā
gate mayi yuvāṃ labdhvā varaṃ mat-sadṛśaṃ sutam
grāmyān bhogān abhuñjāthāṃ yuvāṃ prāpta-manorathau
adṛṣṭvānyatamaṃ loke śīlaudārya-guṇaiḥ samam
ahaṃ suto vām abhavaṃ pṛśnigarbha iti śrutaḥ
tayor vāṃ punar evāham adityām āsa kaśyapāt
upendra iti vikhyāto vāmanatvāc ca vāmanaḥ
tṛtīye 'smin bhave 'haṃ vai tenaiva vapuṣātha vām
jāto bhūyas tayor eva satyaṃ me vyāhṛtaṃ sati
etad vāṃ darśitaṃ rūpaṃ prāg-janma-smaraṇāya me
nānyathā mad-bhavaṃ jñānaṃ martya-liṅgena jāyate
yuvāṃ māṃ putra-bhāvena brahma-bhāvena cāsakṛt
cintayantau kṛta-snehau yāsyethe mad-gatiṃ parām
śrī-śuka uvāca
ity uktvāsīd dharis tūṣṇīṃ bhagavān ātma-māyayā
pitroḥ sampaśyatoḥ sadyo babhūva prākṛtaḥ śiśuḥ
tataś ca śaurir bhagavat-pracoditaḥ sutaṃ samādāya sa sūtikā-gṛhāt
yadā bahir gantum iyeṣa tarhy ajā yā yogamāyājani nanda-jāyayā
tayā hṛta-pratyaya-sarva-vṛttiṣu dvāḥ-stheṣu paureṣv api śāyiteṣv atha
dvāraś ca sarvāḥ pihitā duratyayā bṛhat-kapāṭāyasa-kīla-śṛṅkhalaiḥ
tāḥ kṛṣṇa-vāhe vasudeva āgate svayaṃ vyavaryanta yathā tamo raveḥ
vavarṣa parjanya upāṃśu-garjitaḥ śeṣo 'nvagād vāri nivārayan phaṇaiḥ
maghoni varṣaty asakṛd yamānujā gambhīra-toyaugha-javormi-phenilā
bhayānakāvarta-śatākulā nadī mārgaṃ dadau sindhur iva śriyaḥ pateḥ
nanda-vrajaṃ śaurir upetya tatra tān gopān prasuptān upalabhya nidrayā
sutaṃ yaśodā-śayane nidhāya tat-sutām upādāya punar gṛhān agāt
devakyāḥ śayane nyasya vasudevo 'tha dārikām
pratimucya pador loham āste pūrvavad āvṛtaḥ
yaśodā nanda-patnī ca jātaṃ param abudhyata
na tal-liṅgaṃ pariśrāntā nidrayāpagata-smṛtiḥ
Source Colophon
Sanskrit text of the Bhagavata Purana, Skandha 10, Chapter 3 (Janma Adhyaya), in IAST transliteration. Published by GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages), University of Göttingen. The digital text is based on the critical edition of the Bhagavata Purana. Converted to Unicode (UTF-8). GRETIL texts are provided for reference purposes under the terms of use established by the GRETIL project.
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