Thoughts on Devaki and her fierce Tapashcharya to be mother of shri vishNu

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रूपं यत् तत् प्राहुरव्यक्तं आद्यम्

ब्रह्मज्योति र्निर्गुणं निर्विकारम् ।

सत्तामात्रं निर्विशेषं निरीहं 

स त्वं साक्षात् विष्णु: अध्यात्मदीपः ॥ १॥

नष्टे लोके द्विपरार्धावसाने 

महाभूतेष्वादिभूतं गतेषु ।

व्यक्तेऽव्यक्तं कालवेगेन याते 

भवानेकः शिष्यते शेषसंज्ञः ॥ २॥

योऽयं काल: तस्य तेऽव्यक्तबन्धो:

चेष्टामाहुश्चेष्टते येन विश्वम् ।

निमेषादिर्वत्सरान्तो महीयां

तं त्वीशानं क्षेमधाम प्रपद्ये ॥ ३॥

मर्त्यो मृत्युव्यालभीतः पलायन्

सर्वान् लोकान् निर्वृतिं नाध्यगच्छत् ।

त्वत् पादाब्जं पाप्य यदृच्छयाद्य 

स्वस्थः शेते मृत्युरस्मादपैति ॥ ४॥

This is the Stuti of nārāyaNa by dévakī when kRshNa avatāra happened today all those years ago. It is found in 10th skandha and 3rd adhyāya of shrimad Bhāgavatam.

The price she had to pay to be the mother of shri vishNu’s avatāra is scary. Watching six new born kids murdered in front of your eyes. Yet retaining the sheer will power to stay invested in samsāra so that the 8th one is born is superhuman. That is what separates great people from us commoners. They are willing to pay price for what it takes to achieve greatness. 

But dévakī was not great. She did not aspire greatness (of wealth, name, fame, intellect etc). She did it just for that dream. Birthing The 8th One. There is no modern parameter to measure dévakī. All those parameters of greatness go unused when measuring dévakī. We can’t even call perseverance of dévakī as svānta sukhāya (for one’s own pleasure/sukha). Whatever was happening to her was not sukha. It was diametric opposite. 

Every janmāShTamī I invariably think of dévakī. It is not just the day of krishNa janma today. That is given and we all worship Shri hari on this day (and every other day) anyways. Today is also the day when dévaki’s tapas fructified. Today is day of her deliverance. The relief this woman must have felt when this happened in front of her eyes and kātyāyanī Herself reassuring her, vasudéva (and also Kansa) that “The 8th One” is safe is the final āhuti  of dévakī’s tapas. 

She was at peace since this moment.

श्रीकृष्ण गोविन्द हरे मुरारे

हे नाथ नारायण वासुदेव… 

जय श्रीकृष्ण…..