The Birth

‘Ahh!’, she moaned. It was a different and yet a familiar feeling.

She remembered every one of her previous experiences. It hurt differently and yet there was a certain joy. No, joy wasn’t the right word. She saw death immediately. Something unbearable for her, as a mother. It numbed her every time she thought about it. It sent shivers down her spine.

But this time around, there was hope. Hope that the saviour would be saves. Hope that tyranny would end. Hope that goodness would be re-established. And yet she feared. Another death would kill her. She somehow managed to live with that pain till now, thinking that this child would live. But fear did eat her up. How would she protect this child? She was shackled, in prison. There were guards outside, not caring about privacy then, peeking in to make sure and report every single detail to her tyrant brother.  It was dark outside, but the sky clearly showed Rohini Nakshatra in her most beautiful form. It seemed like it would rain.

She yearned for one sign of positivity, some sign to show that her child would be safe. But she was absorbed into the pain of labour that even if it showed up, she knew she would not be able to recognize it. With great difficulty, she turned her head to her right, seeing her husband. Worried and careful. He gently coaxed her to bear the pain and caressed her head and wiped her sweat away. She winced in pain as the contractions hit her. She just knew this was not an easy labour. There were exactly six contractions that hit her that instant. And with every one of them, she remembered. Kirtiman, Sushena, Udayin, Bhadrasena, Rijudasa, and Bhadradeha. She seemed to want to release the pain, but it hit her like a spring with double force. She recalled. She remembered how her brother had ruthlessly crushed all these children onto a rock right in front of her own eyes. She saw the joy of a chef crushing ginger for a dish, in his eyes. Not once, not twice. But six times.

'Isn’t he tired? How would he be? The mere thought of death does not allow a man to rest. He would do anything to avoid it. And here was a demon. Who else but a demon would butcher his own nephews to death. But wait, did he not return her first born, Kirttiman back to her? What made him want to come back and kill him?’  That thought confused her.

All she knew then was that it was a great responsibility to bring this child safely to the world. He was deemed to be the saviour. It depended on him for the world to be safe. He needed to come safely to ensure the safety of this world. At any cost, his birth and his life needed to be protected.

As she struggled with the pain and the thought of her responsibility, she heard something weird. A yawn. And surprisingly it was quite loud. As she looked around to see. It must have come from her husband. The poor man, he worked more than she did whenever she was in labour. But one look at him and she knew he was full of energy, ready to pull out their child from her womb, whenever both were ready. He did not look like he was yawning. Instead, he looked surprised too. And both of them looked around. All the guards. Every single one of them outside the prison was yawning. And at the same time, all of them dropped to the floor, snoring hard. The two of them looked at each other, unable to comprehend what just happened with them.

Just then as an answer to their question, a larger beam of light seemed to be walking towards them right across all these guards through the prison gate. That beam of light had so much of positivity and hope. From a distance, she felt like she was looking at a young teenager walking up to her. But she couldn’t say for sure. As the light approached them, it seemed to blind them, but there was a sense of love and reassurance that came with it. The woman tried to slowly sit up through her labour with the help of her husband. The beam of light came very close to them. And now they were able to see it clearly. The light did not blind their eyes anymore. It soothed them. Eased their pain away. The beam of light seemed to stretch out a hand and it straight went to her pregnant belly. It gently caressed it. She looked at her husband who looked back at her equally surprised. And she looked back at the so called hand that was on her stomach. The two of them soon saw the hand.

Dark as pregnant rain clouds, powerful as a protector and yet gentle as a mother. The dark hand soon began to lead to a physical form that emerged out of that beam of light. Draped in a beautiful yellow silk cloth, covering his legs, the dark frame held jewels and a mark of royalty. His athletic frame stood with utmost balance. His broad chest shone with the Green Kaustubha on it. His shoulders held a conch like neck and the neck held the most handsome face in the universe with big lotus like eyes filled with compassion and love. His smile comforted many, his face, a symbol of quintessential peace. His curly black hair reminding one of the ocean tides. His head was covered in a turban of red silk cloth and to the left of his head stood eight beautiful peacock feathers arranged like a fan. That added to his charm.

As they looked at him, he just gently smiled at them and said,

‘Mata, Pitashree, as soon as I am born, take me across River Yamuna and leave me at your friend, Nanda's place. And make sure to bring back his daughter here. No harm will befall you. Have faith in me.’

How his honeyed voice already made them worry free!

‘Who are you? How do you know us?’ she asked.

‘I have known you for many births, Mata. You were Deva Mata Aditi when I came down to you as Vamana. Your husband here was Rishi Kashyapa. Then when I decided to come down as Ram, both of you came down as Dasharatha and Kausalya. And now when I see the need to come down to save this earth from cruelty, you have again been my choice to be my parents.’, he said.

Somehow, his strikingly calm face made them realise how restless they were. He showed them what internal calmness would be.

‘I am sorry, but I still don’t understand. Who are you?, she asked this time, her hands folded. Her husband followed suit.

The young man smiled and said,

‘Mata, do you not feel anything physically?’

She suddenly realized that her labour pain was gone. And her pregnant belly was slightly smaller. In horror she looked up at her husband. He was staring at something with tears in his eyes. Following the director of his vision, she saw what he was. There was her child. Born to her without causing any pain. But the child did not look like a normal one. It had an extraordinary lustre. Born with four arms, with the Shankha, Chakra, Gada and Padma, dressed in yellow. His chest shone with the Srivatsa Mark and the gleaming Kaustubha Mani. He too had curly hair and wore jewels. But he giggled like a baby in his yellow loincloth. The woman did not understand what to do. As much as she was mesmerized, she was confused too. Was this possible? And she looked up to the young man, only to find someone else in his place. A magnification of the child she had just given birth to. The more powerful form of the young man she had just seen. This time, with all his weapons. Sudarshan Chakra, Kaumodaki Gada, Panchajanya Shankha, Sharnga Dhanus, Padma, Nandaka Khadga and his Narayanastra.

He stood there, smiling at her assuring her that he was there to protect her.

And her husband cried out, his hands folded.

‘This is that very Narayana! Om Namo Narayanaya!! My Lord, what food fortune we have had to be your parents! What have we done!’

The woman could not contain herself and wept, falling at his feet.

Narayana Or Mahavishnu as he showed himself to them gently said,

‘Mata, no mother falls at the feet of her child. Accept me as your son. I have been born to you. Also, do not worry about your seventh child. He has been safely born to Mata Rohini back at Nanda's house. My older brother is waiting for me. Pitashree, please go forth and exchange me for Nanda’s daughter. He has already been informed and is awaiting your arrival. And no harm will befall you. That’s my word. And I will return to you when the time is right. The form that you saw of the young man, keep that in mind. I will come back to you in a form slightly younger than this. ’

The duo nodded, overwhelmed.

Before disappearing, Narayana playfully asked the woman,

‘Mata, are you not going to feed me before I leave you?’ and he disappeared.

‘The orders of Narayana cannot be revoked, Devaki. Feed him quickly so that I can take him to Nanda’s house.’ , said the man.

Devaki nodded at her husband Vasudeva and picked up the baby in front of her. As soon as she did, the miraculous baby with a powerful form transformed into a normal looking baby with hidden powers. Devaki held the child close to her, smothered it with kisses and placed the child on her breast to feed. As the child suckled, all her pain vanished. The loss of her six children was so to speak compensated for.

‘What would you name this child Devaki?’ asked Vasudeva.

She looked at her child feeding and looked up at her husband with a smile. And one word escaped her mouth.

Krishna!