Å›rÄ«-Å›uka uvÄca
pralamba-baka-cÄṇūra-
tṛṇÄvarta-mahÄÅ›anaiḥ
muá¹£á¹ikÄriá¹£á¹a-dvivida-
pÅ«tanÄ-keśī-dhenukaiḥ
anyaiÅ› cÄsura-bhÅ«pÄlair
bÄṇa-bhaumÄdibhir yutaḥ
yadÅ«nÄá¹ kadanaá¹ cakre
balÄ« mÄgadha-samÅ›rayaḥ
Å›rÄ«-Å›ukaḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ« Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said; pralamba - by the asura named Pralamba; baka - by the asura named Baka; cÄṇūra - by the asura named CÄṇūra; tṛṇÄvarta - by the asura named TṛṇÄvarta; mahÄÅ›anaiḥ - by AghÄsura; muá¹£á¹ika - by the asura named Muá¹£á¹ika; ariá¹£á¹a - by the asura Ariá¹£á¹a; dvivida - by the asura named Dvivida; pÅ«tanÄ - by PÅ«tanÄ; keśī - by Keśī; dhenukaiḥ - by Dhenuka; anyaiḥ ca - and by many others; asura-bhÅ«pÄlaiḥ - by demoniac kings on the surface of the globe; bÄṇa - by King BÄṇa; bhauma - by BhaumÄsura; Ädibhiḥ - and by others as well; yutaḥ - being assisted; yadÅ«nÄm - of the kings of the Yadu dynasty; kadanam - persecution; cakre - regularly performed; balÄ« - very powerful; mÄgadha-samÅ›rayaḥ - under the protection of JarÄsandha, the King of Magadha.
Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said: Under the protection of MagadharÄja, JarÄsandha, the powerful Kaá¹sa began persecuting the kings of the Yadu dynasty. In this he had the cooperation of demons like Pralamba, Baka, CÄṇūra, TṛṇÄvarta, AghÄsura, Muá¹£á¹ika, Ariá¹£á¹a, Dvivida, PÅ«tanÄ, Keśī, Dhenuka, BÄṇÄsura, NarakÄsura and many other demoniac kings on the surface of the earth.
This verse supports the following statement given by the Lord in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (4.7-8):
yadÄ yadÄ hi dharmasya
glÄnir bhavati bhÄrata
abhyutthÄnam adharmasya
tadÄtmÄnaá¹ sá¹›jÄmy aham
paritrÄṇÄya sÄdhÅ«nÄá¹
vinÄÅ›Äya ca duá¹£ká¹›tÄm
dharma-saá¹sthÄpanÄrthÄya
sambhavÄmi yuge yuge
“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion — at that time I descend Myself. To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear millennium after millennium.â€
The Lord’s purpose in maintaining this material world is to give everyone a chance to go back home, back to Godhead, but kings and political leaders unfortunately try to hinder the purpose of the Lord, and therefore the Lord appears, either personally or with His plenary portions, to set things right. It is therefore said:
garbhaá¹ sañcÄrya rohiṇyÄá¹
devakyÄ yogamÄyayÄ
tasyÄḥ kuká¹£iá¹ gataḥ kṛṣṇo
dvitīyo vibudhaiḥ stutaḥ
“Kṛṣṇa appeared in the womb of DevakÄ« after transferring Baladeva to the womb of Rohiṇī by the power of Yoga-mÄyÄ.†Yadubhiḥ sa vyarudhyata. The kings of the Yadu dynasty were all devotees, but there were many powerful demons, such as ÅšÄlva, who began to persecute them. At that time, JarÄsandha, who was Kaá¹sa’s father-in-law, was extremely powerful, and therefore Kaá¹sa took advantage of his protection and the help of the demons in persecuting the kings of the Yadu dynasty. The demons naturally appeared more powerful than the demigods, but ultimately, because of help received from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the demons were defeated and the demigods triumphant.
