yathÄ hṛṣīkeÅ›a khalena devakÄ«
kaá¹sena ruddhÄticiraá¹ Å›ucÄrpitÄ
vimocitÄhaá¹ ca sahÄtmajÄ vibho
tvayaiva nÄthena muhur vipad-gaṇÄt
yathÄ - as it were; hṛṣīkeÅ›a - the master of the senses; khalena - by the envious; devakÄ« - DevakÄ« (the mother of ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa); kaá¹sena - by King Kaá¹sa; ruddhÄ - imprisoned; ati-ciram - for a long time; Å›uca-arpitÄ - distressed; vimocitÄ - released; aham ca - also myself; saha-Ätma-jÄ - along with my children; vibho - O great one; tvayÄ eva - by Your Lordship; nÄthena - as the protector; muhuḥ - constantly; vipat-gaṇÄt - from a series of dangers.
DevakÄ«, the mother of Kṛṣṇa and sister of King Kaá¹sa, was put into prison along with her husband, Vasudeva, because the envious King was afraid of being killed by Devakī’s eighth son (Kṛṣṇa). He killed all the sons of DevakÄ« who were born before Kṛṣṇa, but Kṛṣṇa escaped the danger of child-slaughter because He was transferred to the house of Nanda MahÄrÄja, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s foster father. KuntÄ«devÄ«, along with her children, was also saved from a series of dangers. But KuntÄ«devÄ« was shown far more favor because Lord Kṛṣṇa did not save the other children of DevakÄ«, whereas He saved the children of KuntÄ«devÄ«. This was done because Devakī’s husband, Vasudeva, was living, whereas KuntÄ«devÄ« was a widow, and there was none to help her except Kṛṣṇa. The conclusion is that Kṛṣṇa endows more favor to a devotee who is in greater dangers. Sometimes He puts His pure devotees in such dangers because in that condition of helplessness the devotee becomes more attached to the Lord. The more the attachment is there for the Lord, the more success is there for the devotee.