Birth of Lord Krsna 25
became overpowered by the occasion. Vasudeva very humbly wondered
that although he was an ordinary living entity conditioned by material
nature and was externally imprisoned by Kamsa, the all-pervading Per-
sonality of Godhead, Visnu or Krsna, was appearing as a child in his home,
exactly in His original position. No earthly child is born with four hands
decorated with ornaments and nice clothing, fully equipped with all the
signs of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Over and over again,
Vasudeva glanced at his child, and he considered how to celebrate this
auspicious moment: “Generally, when a male child is born,” he thought,
“people observe the occasion with jubilant celebrations, and in my home,
although I am imprisoned, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has taken
birth. How many millions of millions of times should I be prepared to
observe this auspicious ceremony!”

When Vasudeva, who is also called Anakadundubhi, was looking at his
newborn baby, he was so happy that he wanted to give many thousands of
cows in charity to the brahmanas. According to the Vedic system, when-
ever there is an auspicious ceremony in the kgatriya king’s palace, the
king gives.many things in charity. Cows decorated with golden ornaments
are delivered to the brahmanas and sages. Vasudeva wanted to perform a
charitable ceremony to celebrate Krsna’s appearance, but because he was
shackled within the walls of Kamsa’s prison, this was not possible. Instead,
within his mind he gave thousands of cows to the brahmanas.

When Vasudeva was convinced that the newborn child was the Supreme
Personality of Godhead Himself, he bowed down with folded hands and
began to offer Him prayers. At that time Vasudeva was in the transcen-
dental position, and he became completely free from all fear of Kamsa.
The newborn baby was also flashing His effulgence within the room in
which He appeared.

Vasudeva then began to offer his prayers. ‘“‘My dear Lord, I can under-
stand who You are. You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the
Supersoul of all living entities and the Absolute Truth. You have appeared
in Your own eternal form which is directly perceived by us. I understand
that because I am afraid of Kamsa, You have appeared just to deliver me
from that fear. You do not belong to this material world; You are the
same person who brings about the cosmic manifestation simply by glancing
over material nature.”

One may argue that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who creates
the whole cosmic manifestation simply by His glance, cannot come within
the womb of Devaki, the wife of Vasudeva. To eradicate this argument,
Vasudeva said, ‘“‘My dear Lord, it is not a very wonderful thing that You
