Karhsa Begins His Persecutions 33
loka, Gandharvaloka, Apsaraloka, Kinnaraloka, and Uragaloka presented
her articles and began to offer their respective prayers. From above, the
goddess addressed Kamsa: “You rascal, how can you kill me? The child
who will kill you is already born before me somewhere within this world.
Don’t be so cruel to your poor sister.” After this appearance, the goddess
Durga became known by various names in various parts of the world.

After hearing these words, Kamsa became very much overwhelmed with
fear. Ou of pity, he immediately released Vasudeva and Devaki from the
bondage of their shackles and very politely began to address them. He said,
“My dear sister and brother-in-law, I have acted just like a demon in killing
my own nephews. | have given up all consideration of our intimate rela-
tionship. I do not know what will be the result of these acts of mine.
Probably I shall be sent to the hell where killers of the brahmanas go. I am
surprised, however, that the celestial prophecy has not come true. False
propaganda is not found only in the human society. Now it appears that
even the celestial denizens speak lies. Because I believed in the words of
the celestial denizens, | have committed so many sins by killing the chil-
dren of my sister. My dear Vasudeva and Devaki, you are both very great
souls. I have nothing to instruct you, but still I request that you not be
sorry for the death of your children. Every one of us is under the control
of superior power, and that superior power does not allow us to remain
together. We are bound to be separated from our friends and relatives in
due course of time. But we must know for certain that even after the
disappearance of the different material bodies, the soul remains intact
eternally. For example, there are many pots made of earthly clay, and they
are prepared and also broken. But in spite of this, the earth remains as it is
perpetually. Similarly, the bodies of the soul under different conditions
are made and destroyed, but the spirit soul remains eternally. So there is
nothing to lament over. Everyone should understand that this material
body is different from the spirit soul, and so long as one does not come to
that understanding, he is sure to accept the processes of transmigration
from one body to another. My dear sister Devaki, you are so gentle and
kind. Please excuse me—don’t be aggrieved by the death of your children,
which I have caused. Actually this was not done by me because all these
are predestined activities. One has to act according to the predestined
plan, even unwillingly. People misunderstand that with the end of the
body, the self dies, or they think that one can kill another living entity. All
these misconceptions oblige one to accept the conditions of material
existence. In other words, as long as one is not firmly convinced of the eter-
nality of the soul, one is subjected to the tribulation of being killer and
