Kamsa dispatches Akrura to bring Krishna Balram from Vrindavan.
----- By Veerendra Ekbote
As the title suggests there are 4 personalities involved in this story.
The first character involved in this story is the demon-king Kamsa who is illegally ruling the kingdom of Mathura after usurping the throne from his father Ugrasena. Since he is Devaki’s brother he is also the maternal uncle of Krishna and Balram. After the marriage of Devaki and Vasudev, while he was pulling their chariot on the way he hears an Akashwani from the sky about his death from the 8th child of Devaki. Thereafter he imprisons Devaki and Vasudeva and kills all their 6 babies one by one to expedite the appearance of Lord Balram and Krishna on the earthly planet
When mother Rohini gives birth to Lord Balram in Gokul and mother Devaki gives birth to Lord Krishna in the prison house at Mathura, Vasudev immediately transfers the new born baby Krishna to Gokul by the arrangement done by Lord Krishna’s Yogamaya energy. Kamsa realizing the fear of his death at the hands of the 8th child of Devaki which is already born in Gokul sends many demons to kill Krishna and Balram. However all the demons sent by Kamsa are killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Each demon sent by Kamsa to kill Krishna represents the various Anarthas which comes in the way of devotional service of a devotee and should be avoided. The principle villain or antagonist in this story is Kamsa who is the embodiment of all the 6 vices present within a living entity which keeps him away from the Supreme God and the path of Self-realization. The 6 vices are Kama, Krodha, Mada, Matsar, Lobha and Ahankar or Lust, Anger, inertia, envy, greed, false pride and illusion. Kamsa also represents the fear of death at the hands of the Supreme Lord for the living entities that are averse to the process of Krishna consciousness or God realization and does not want to surrender to the Supreme Lord in loving devotion. For the devotees of the Supreme Lord there is no fear of death because they know their final destination after death by the mercy of the Supreme Lord to be in the spiritual world. However, all the demons killed by the Supreme Lord attained salvation as they merged in the Supreme Lord’s Brahman effulgence.
When Lord Krishna attained the age of 16 Kamsa sends Akrura to bring Krishna and Balram from Vrindavan to Mathura. Kamsa being a demoniac personality cannot approach the Supreme Lord directly because of his bad qualities and is also destined to be killed by Lord Krishna. Therefore he chooses Akrura who possessed all good qualities of a devotee as like his name. Akrura being the devotee of the Supreme Lord represents the mood of a living entity of not having any bad qualities of false ego, pride, duplicity in him. Thus Akrura could approach the Supreme Lord Krishna and his immediate expansion Balram in the mood of a devotee and surrendered himself to the Supreme Lord by requesting them to end the tyrannical rule of Kamsa in Mathura.
Vrindavan and Gokuldham is the home of the childhood pastimes of the Supreme personality of Godhead where the Supreme Lord stayed along with his immediate expansion Balramji. When Akrura approached the residents of Gokul, Nand Maharaj and Yashoda who had all witnessed Lord Krishna’s childhood pastimes and requested for their permission to take Krishna and Balram alongwith him to Mathura on the insistence of Kamsa, after hearing this news all the residents of Vrindavan became very much aggrieved with sorrow at the loss of Krishna and Balram from their midst as they will now be unable to meet them henceforth in Vrindavan. The Vrajvasis experienced Vipralamba bhava or the mood of intense separation from their beloved Krishna when they hear the going of Krishna Balram from Vrindavan to Mathura. This is the mood of pure devotees when they are away from the Supreme Lord Krishna in the material world and wish to see the Supreme Lord through their pure devotional service in the spiritual world.
To conclude the Demon-king Kamsa who represented all the bad qualities and vices chose Akrura as a mediator. Akrura being a true devotee of the Supreme Lord could understand the mood of Vrajvasis in Gokul who intensely loved Krishna and Balram and were unbearable with lamentation when they heard Krishna and Balram leaving Vrindavan. When Nanda Maharaj and mother Yashoda gave permission to Akrura to take Krishna and Balram along with him to Mathura, Akrura the next morning took Krishna Balram along with him to Mathura along the Akruragaman Marg along the banks of the Yamuna river where at one place he stopped to bathe in the Yamuna river. The Supreme Lord Krishna and Balram knew very well the intentions of his faithful devotee Akrura in taking them to Mathura for ending the tyrannical rule of Kamsa for which the Supreme Lord had appeared with all his expansions to relieve the burden of Mother earth of its miscreants and to establish the real principles of Dharma. To remove all types of dilemma from the mind of his faithful devotee Akrura, Lord Krishna exhibited his Universal form before Akrura while he was bathing in the Yamuna and assured him that all this cosmic manisfestation is working under his direction and there is no need for him to fear from Kamsa.
Thus Kamsa represents demoniac mentality who dispatches Akrura to bring Krishna Balram to Mathura. Akrura represents the mood of a true devotee working under a demoniac personality like Kamsa and is fearful about the Supreme Lord’s well-being due to his love for the Supreme Lord for he expects that the Supreme Lord to vanquish the evil Kamsa and end his tyrannical rule. The Vrajvasis represents intense love for the Supreme Lord and intensely long for his love and lament in intense separation from him when he goes to Mathura never again to be with them in Gokul and Vrindavan. This mood of the Vajravasis in Vipralamba bhava increases their devotion for Lord Krishna manifold and they always remain immersed in thoughts of Krishna, especially the Gopikas of Vrindavan. Lord Krishna is the 4th personality involved in this story and is the chief protagonist because on the request of Akrura he leaves Vrindavan and goes to Mathura alongwith Balram as the demon king Kamsa summons him to Mathura. Here Lord Krishna sums up his Vrindavan pastimes and starts with his Mathura pastimes as he enters the city of Mathura. Thereafter he kills Kamsa and ends his tyrannical rule and once again reinstates Ugrasena on the throne of Mathura and frees his parents from the imprisonment done by Kamsa. So Akrura plays a major part in bringing Lord Krishna from Vrindavan to Mathura at the insistence of Kamsa and to begin Lord Krishna’s Mathura pastimes.
|| Hare Krishna ||
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