Srimad Bhagavatam – day 372
Maharishi Śuka continued, “Kamsa focused upon Krishna due to fear; Gopikas focused upon Him due to their desires. Gopikas wanted to embrace the Lord, they sought His company all the time, they wanted to be beside Him all the time. With this single desire they focused entirely upon Him”.
Swamiji explains: Gopikas did not even realize that Krishna was the Lord of the universe. They only knew that they should spend time with Him. Due to this desire, their mind was fixed upon Him. Kamsa was eternally afraid that Krishna would suddenly attack and kill him. Due to this fear, he eternally chanted “Krishna, Krishna”.
Even devotees do not chant the Lord’s name as endlessly as Kamsa had. Among devotees, hunger, thirst, need for sleep, anger, jealousy etc. will be rampant. At the stipulated time they wake up; at the stipulated time they worship God; at the stipulated time they will eat and go to bed. On the other hand, terrified of Krishna, Kamsa thought of the Lord at every second. Such was his fear!
He would try to imagine Krishna’s form, His height, bodily appearance, His complexion. When he would see any boy, he would think, “Does Krishna resemble this boy? How dark can he be? Will he be of medium height?” As he had never seen Krishna he tried to visualize his form. When others extolled Krishna’s greatness and when they described his appearance he would listen attentively.
Seeing his guards he would doubt whether Krishna was standing there in disguise to kill him. When food was served to him he would wonder whether Krishna had poisoned his food. He would wake up during midnights to check whether Krishna had stealthily entered his palace. “After all, they say he is a conjurer, what if he suddenly comes here to kill me?” Seeing the mosquito he would wonder if Krishna had come in that form to kill him.
Can we ever develop such devotion towards the Lord? We will say- “If Krishna wants let him come. My sleep should not be disturbed” and will continue to sleep. “Why should I sacrifice my sleep for such trivial reason?”
Night and day, Kamsa thought of Krishna. In every object he came across, he imagined Krishna was present. Every citizen appeared like Krishna to his eyes. When he sat on the throne he would think- ‘what if Krishna has transformed into this throne? What if he tries to kill me now?’ Even in lifeless objects he saw Krishna.
He was not worried about his death but was eternally scared that Krishna was pounce on him unannounced. What a fine devotee Kamsa was! What heights of devotion he must have scaled! We do not even have the eligibility to condemn the Lord. If at all you seek to abuse Him then do so with single pointed absolute concentration. There should be no other thought. If you seek that your abuses should reach Him then single pointed concentration is a must!
‘If I were to abuse Him with single pointed concentration, then what will I be addressed as? Since I have fixed my mind solely upon Him I will be addressed as his devotee. But I do not want to become His devotee as I dislike Him. So I will not concentrate upon Him when I abuse him”. Ok, do so. But remember that abuses hurled with wavering mind are not reaching Him.
He has decided that the only route to reach Him is single pointed concentration. You have to abide by that rule. From this we can conclude that in reality God has no enemies in this world. Those demons who call themselves as enemies of the Lord are in reality his devotees only!
We routinely state that God is all-pervading. But due to fear, Kamsa actually visualized the Lord in every person and object. Is it then right to address him as a demon? For this reason, the Supreme Lord directly went and killed him.
“For this reason, Śiśupala and other similar kings, who had fixed their mind solely upon the Lord due to fear and hatred for Him, merged into Him.”
How can the Lord have enemies? As everything is His creation everyone is His child. There is no creation outside of Him.
Viṣhnave namah