Canto 10: The Summum BonumChapter 1: The Advent of Lord Kṛṣṇa: Introduction

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.1.56

atha kāla upāvṛtte

devakī sarva-devatā

putrān prasuṣuve cāṣṭau

kanyāḿ caivānuvatsaram

SYNONYMS

atha — thereafter; kālein due course of time; upāvṛtte — when it was ripe; devakīDevakī, the wife of Vasudeva, Kṛṣṇa's father; sarva-devatāDevakī, to whom all the demigods and God Himself appeared; putrān — sons; prasuṣuve — gave birth to; ca — and; aṣṭau — eight; kanyāḿ ca — and one daughter named Subhadrā; eva — indeed; anuvatsaram — year after year.

TRANSLATION

Each year thereafter, in due course of time, Devakī, the mother of God and all the demigods, gave birth to a child. Thus she bore eight sons, one after another, and a daughter named Subhadrā.

PURPORT

The spiritual master is sometimes glorified as sarva-devamayo guruḥ (Bhāg. 11.7.27). By the grace of the guru, the spiritual master, one can understand the different kinds of devas. The word deva refers to God, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the original source of all the demigods, who are also called devas. In Bhagavad-gītā (10.2) the Lord says, aham ādir hi devānām: "I am the source of all the devas." The Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, the Original person, expands in different forms. Tad aikṣata bahu syām (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.2.3). He alone has expanded into many. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam (Brahma-saḿhitā 5.33). There are different grades of forms, known as svāḿśa and vibhinnāḿśa. The svāḿśa expansions, or viṣṇu-tattva, are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas the vibhinnāḿśa are jīva-tattva, who are part and parcel of the Lord (mamaivāḿśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ [Bg. 15.7]). If we accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and worship Him, all the parts and expansions of the Lord are automatically worshiped. Sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā (Bhāg. 4.31.14). Kṛṣṇa is known as Acyuta (senayor ubhayor madhye rathaḿ sthāpaya me 'cyuta). By worshiping Acyuta, Kṛṣṇa, one automatically worships all the demigods. There is no need of separately worshiping either the viṣṇu-tattva or jīva-tattva. If one concentrates upon Kṛṣṇa, one worships everyone. Therefore, because mother Devakī gave birth to Kṛṣṇa, she is described here as sarva-devatā.

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