nandÄdyÄ ye vraje gopÄ
yÄÅ› cÄmÄ«á¹£Äá¹ ca yoá¹£itaḥ
vṛṣṇayo vasudevÄdyÄ
devaky-ÄdyÄ yadu-striyaḥ
sarve vai devatÄ-prÄyÄ
ubhayor api bhÄrata
jñÄtayo bandhu-suhá¹›do
ye ca kaá¹sam anuvratÄḥ
nanda-ÄdyÄḥ - beginning from Nanda MahÄrÄja; ye - all of which persons; vraje - in Vá¹›ndÄvana; gopÄḥ - the cowherd men; yÄḥ - which; ca - and; amÄ«á¹£Äm - of all those (inhabitants of Vá¹›ndÄvana); ca - as well as; yoá¹£itaḥ - the women; vṛṣṇayaḥ - members of the Vṛṣṇi family; vasudeva-ÄdyÄḥ - headed by Vasudeva; devakÄ«-ÄdyÄḥ - headed by DevakÄ«; yadu-striyaḥ - all the women of the Yadu dynasty; sarve - all of them; vai - indeed; devatÄ-prÄyÄḥ - were inhabitants of heaven; ubhayoḥ - of both Nanda MahÄrÄja and Vasudeva; api - indeed; bhÄrata - O MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it; jñÄtayaḥ - the relatives; bandhu - friends; suhá¹›daḥ - well-wishers; ye - all of whom; ca - and; kaá¹sam anuvratÄḥ - even though apparently followers of Kaá¹sa.
The inhabitants of Vá¹›ndÄvana, headed by Nanda MahÄrÄja and including his associate cowherd men and their wives, were none but denizens of the heavenly planets, O MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it, best of the descendants of Bharata, and so too were the descendants of the Vṛṣṇi dynasty, headed by Vasudeva and DevakÄ« and the other women of the dynasty of Yadu. The friends, relatives and well-wishers of both Nanda MahÄrÄja and Vasudeva and even those who externally appeared to be followers of Kaá¹sa were all demigods.
As previously discussed, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, informed Lord BrahmÄ that Lord Kṛṣṇa 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 Vṛṣṇi dynasties and in Vá¹›ndÄvana. Now this verse informs us that all the family and friends of the Yadu dynasty, the Vṛṣṇi dynasty, Nanda MahÄrÄja and the gopas descended from the heavenly planets to see the pastimes of the Lord. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (4.8), the Lord’s pastimes consist of paritrÄṇÄya sÄdhÅ«nÄá¹ vinÄÅ›Äya ca duá¹£ká¹›tÄm — saving 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.
prÄpya puṇya-ká¹›tÄá¹ lokÄn
uá¹£itvÄ Å›ÄÅ›vatīḥ samÄḥ
Å›ucÄ«nÄá¹ Å›rÄ«matÄá¹ gehe
yoga-bhraá¹£á¹o ’bhijÄyate
“The unsuccessful yogÄ«, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy.†(Bg. 6.41) Some devotees, having failed to complete the process of devotional service, are promoted to the heavenly planets, to which the pious are elevated, and after enjoying there they may be directly promoted to the place where the Lord’s pastimes are going on. When Lord Kṛṣṇa was to appear, the denizens of the heavenly planets were invited to see the pastimes of the Lord, and thus it is stated here that the members of the Yadu and Vṛṣṇi dynasties and the inhabitants of Vá¹›ndÄvana were demigods or almost as good as demigods. Even those who externally helped the activities of Kaá¹sa belonged to the higher planetary systems. The imprisonment and release of Vasudeva and the killing of various demons were all manifestations of the pastimes of the Lord, and because the devotees would be pleased to see these activities personally, they were all invited to take birth as friends and relatives of these families. As confirmed in the prayers of KuntÄ« (BhÄg. 1.8.19), nato nÄá¹ya-dharo yathÄ. The Lord was to play the part of a demon-killer, and a friend, son and brother to His devotees, and thus these devotees were all summoned.
