Text 63] The Advent of Lord Krsna: Introduction 93

nanda-ddyaéh—beginning from Nanda Maharaja; ye—all of which
persons; vraje—in Vrndavana; gopéh—the cowherd men; yah—which;
ca—and; amisém—of all those (inhabitants of Vrndavana); ca—as well
as; yositah—the women; vrsnayah—members of the Vrsni family;
vasudeva-ddyah—headed by Vasudeva; devaki-ddyah—headed by
Devaki; yadu-striyah—all the women of the Yadu dynasty; sarve—all of
them; vai—indeed; devatd-préyah—were inhabitants of heaven;
ubhayoh—of both Nanda Maharaja and Vasudeva; api—indeed;
bhérata—O Maharaja Pariksit; jidtayah—the relatives; bandhu—
friends; suwhrdah—well-wishers; ye—all of whom; ca—and; kamsam
anuvratah —even though apparently followers of Karnsa.

TRANSLATION

The inhabitants of Vrndavana, headed by Nanda Maharaja and
including his associate cowherd men and their wives, were none
but denizens of the heavenly planets, O Maharaja Pariksit, best of
the descendants of Bharata, and so too were the descendants of the
Vrsni dynasty, headed by Vasudeva, and Devaki and the other
women of the dynasty of Yadu. The friends, relatives and well-
wishers of both Nanda Maharaja and Vasudeva and even those who
externally appeared to be followers of Karnsa were all demigods.

PURPORT

As previously discussed, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu,
informed Lord Brahma that Lord Krsna would personally descend to
mitigate the suffering on the earth. The Lord ordered all the denizens of
the heavenly planets to take birth in different families of the Yadu and
Vrsni dynasties and in Vrndavana. Now this verse informs us that all the
family and friends of the Yadu dynasty, the Vrsni dynasty, Nanda
Maharaja and the gopas descended from the heavenly planets to see the
pastimes of the Lord. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (4.8), the Lord’s
pastimes consist of paritrandya sddhiindm vindsdya ca duskrtam—sav-
ing the devotees and killing the demons. To demonstrate these activities,
the Lord called for devotees from different parts of the universe.

There are many devotees who are elevated to the higher planetary
systems.
