10
Krṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
men, including even Akrūra and Kṛtavarmā, who were devotees of Lord Krṣṇa, to take the jewel from Satrājit. Akrūra and Kṛtavarmā joined the conspiracy because they wanted the jewel for Krṣṇa. They knew that Krṣṇa wanted the jewel and that Satrājit had not delivered it properly. Others joined the conspiracy because they were disappointed in not having the hand of Satyabhāmā. Some of them incited Śatadhanvā to kill Satrājit and take away the jewel.
The question is generally raised, Why did a great devotee like Akrūra join this conspiracy? And why did Kṛtavarmā, although a devotee of the Lord, join the conspiracy also? The answer is given by great authorities like Jīva Gosvāmī and others that although Akrūra was a great devotee, he was cursed by the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana because of his taking Krṣṇa away from their midst. Because of his wounding their feelings, Akrūra was forced to join the conspiracy declared by sinful men. Similarly, Kṛtavarmā was a devotee, but because of his intimate association with Kamsa, he was also contaminated by sinful reaction, and he also joined the conspiracy.
Being inspired by all the members of the conspiracy, Śatadhanvā one night entered the house of Satrājit and killed him while he was sleeping. Śatadhanvā was a sinful man of abominable character, and although due to his sinful activities he was not to live for many days, he decided to kill Satrājit while Satrājit was sleeping at home. When he entered the house to kill Satrājit, all the women there began to cry very loudly, but in spite of their great protests, Śatadhanvā mercilessly butchered Satrājit without hesitation, exactly as a butcher kills an animal in the slaughterhouse. Since Krṣṇa was absent from home, His wife Satyabhāmā was also present on the night Satrājit was murdered, and she began to cry, “My dear father! My dear father! How mercilessly you have been killed!” The dead body of Satrājit was not immediately removed for cremation because Satyabhāmā wanted to go to Krṣṇa in Hastināpura. Therefore the body was preserved in a tank of oil so that Krṣṇa could come back and see the dead body of Satrājit and take real action against Śatadhanvā. Satyabhāmā immediately started for Hastināpura to inform Krṣṇa about the ghastly death of her father.
When Krṣṇa was informed by Satyabhāmā of the murder of His father-in-law, He began to lament like an ordinary man. His great sorrow is, again, a strange thing. Lord Krṣṇa has nothing to do with action and reaction, but because he was playing the part of a human being He expressed His full sympathy for the bereavement of Satyabhāmā, and His eyes filled with tears upon hearing about the death of His father-in-law. He thus began to lament, “Oh, what unhappy incidents have taken place!” In this way