pathi pragrahiṇaá¹ kaá¹sam
ÄbhÄá¹£yÄhÄÅ›arÄ«ra-vÄk
asyÄs tvÄm aṣṭamo garbho
hantÄ yÄá¹ vahase 'budha

 pathi - on the way; pragrahiṇam - who was managing the reins of the horses; kaá¹sam - unto Kaá¹sa; ÄbhÄá¹£ya - addressing; Äha - said; a-Å›arÄ«ra-vÄk - a voice coming from someone whose body was invisible; asyÄḥ - of this girl (DevakÄ«); tvÄm - you; aṣṭamaḥ - the eighth; garbhaḥ - pregnancy; hantÄ - killer; yÄm - her whom; vahase - you are carrying; abudha - you foolish rascal.


Text

While Kaá¹sa, controlling the reins of the horses, was driving the chariot along the way, an unembodied voice addressed him, “You foolish rascal, the eighth child of the woman you are carrying will kill you!â€

Purport

The omen spoke of aṣṭamo garbhaḥ, referring to the eighth pregnancy, but did not clearly say whether the child was to be a son or a daughter. Even if Kaá¹sa were to see that the eighth child of DevakÄ« was a daughter, he should have no doubt that the eighth child was to kill him. According to the ViÅ›va-koÅ›a dictionary, the word garbha means “embryo†and also arbhaka, or “child.†Kaá¹sa was affectionate toward his sister, and therefore he had become the chariot driver to carry her and his brother-in-law to their home. The demigods, however, did not want Kaá¹sa to be affectionate toward DevakÄ«, and therefore, from an unseen position, they encouraged Kaá¹sa to offend her. Moreover, the six sons of MarÄ«ci had been cursed to take birth from the womb of DevakÄ«, and upon being killed by Kaá¹sa they would be delivered. When DevakÄ« understood that Kaá¹sa would be killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who would appear from her womb, she felt great joy. The word vahase is also significant because it indicates that the ominous vibration condemned Kaá¹sa for acting just like a beast of burden by carrying his enemy’s mother.