Shloka 31

अक्रूरस्य गोकुलगमनम्—दर्शन-लालसा, अंशावतार-बोधः, विष्णु-स्तुतिः

Devanagari script

अप्य् एष मां कंसपरिग्रहेण दोषास्पदीभूतम् अदोषदुष्टम् कर्तावमानोपहतं धिग् अस्तु तज् जन्मनः साधु बहिष्कृतो यः

Transliteration

apy eṣa māṃ kaṃsaparigraheṇa doṣāspadībhūtam adoṣaduṣṭam kartāvamānopahataṃ dhig astu taj janmanaḥ sādhu bahiṣkṛto yaḥ

Translation

Alas—under Kaṁsa’s domination, though blameless, I have become a vessel for reproach; struck by the contempt of my own kin, I am made to seem defiled. Fie upon that birth by which one is rightly cast out from the good.

Word by Word

• api: even/indeed
• api: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (particle), अर्थे—अपि/यद्यपि (even/indeed)

• eṣaḥ: this (person)
• eṣaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• mām: me
• mām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• kaṃsa-parigraheṇa: by (being under) Kaṃsa’s control/possession
• kaṃsa-parigraheṇa: Karana/Hetu (Instrument/Cause/करण-हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kaṃsa (प्रातिपदिक) + parigraha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (कंसस्य परिग्रहः)

• doṣa-āspadī-bhūtam: become a seat of fault
• doṣa-āspadī-bhūtam: Karma-samānādhikaraṇa (Object complement/कर्मसमाधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: doṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + āspada (प्रातिपदिक) + bhū (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (भूतकृदन्त/क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (दोषस्य आस्पदम्) + क्त-प्रत्यय (भूतम् = become)

• adoṣa-duṣṭam: tainted though faultless
• adoṣa-duṣṭam: Karma-samānādhikaraṇa (Object complement/कर्मसमाधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a-doṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + duṣṭa (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; नञ्-तत्पुरुष (अदोषः) + विशेषण (duṣṭa)

• karta-avāmāna-upahatam: struck down by the doer’s insult
• karta-avāmāna-upahatam: Karma-samānādhikaraṇa (Object complement/कर्मसमाधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kartar (प्रातिपदिक) + avamāna (प्रातिपदिक) + upahata (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (कर्तृ-अवमानेन उपहतम्)

• dhik: shame! fie!
• dhik: Sambandha (Exclamation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: dhik (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निन्दार्थक-निपात (interjection of censure)

• astu: let it be
• astu: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative/Optative sense), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• tat: that
• tat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; संकेतार्थ (that)

• janmanaḥ: of birth
• janmanaḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: janman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• sādhu: well/indeed
• sādhu: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sādhu (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रशंसार्थक-क्रियाविशेषण (adverb: well/indeed)

• bahiṣkṛtaḥ: expelled/banished
• bahiṣkṛtaḥ: Karta (Subject complement/कर्तृसमाधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bahis (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + kṛ (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; बहिष्कृत = expelled

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Relative subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक सर्वनाम

Speaker

Devakī (lamenting under Kaṁsa’s tyranny, within Parāśara’s narration to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Krishna’s movements and the events surrounding Kaṃsa and the Yādavas

Teaching: Historical

Quality: authoritative

Avatara Context

Avatara: Krishna

Purpose: He has descended to relieve the earth by curbing Kaṃsa’s tyranny and to protect the Yādavas and dharma.

Leela: Loka-rakshana

Dharma Restored: Protection of the righteous and restoration of social honor and kṣatriya-dharma

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Worldly status and birth can become a cause of suffering when hijacked by adharma; true worth is measured by alignment with the good.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Do not internalize unjust blame; seek the company of the virtuous and evaluate identity by conduct rather than social labeling.

Vishishtadvaita: Implicitly contrasts contingent social stigma with the soul’s inherent dependence on the Lord and the primacy of dharmic community (sādhus).

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Krishna

Characters & Entities

• Kaṁsa
• Devakī

FAQs

What is the significance of Devakī’s lament in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse frames the moral cost of Kaṁsa’s tyranny: an innocent person becomes a target of blame and social contempt, highlighting adharma that necessitates Vishnu’s restorative intervention through the Krishna avatāra narrative.

How does Parāśara’s narration use personal suffering to explain dharma?

By presenting Devakī as “faultless yet treated as tainted,” the text shows how adharma distorts social judgment; Parāśara’s broader discourse to Maitreya repeatedly contrasts such disorder with Vishnu’s role as the upholder of cosmic and ethical order.

What is the theological importance of Vishnu in this context?

Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the narrative logic is Vaishnava: the collapse of justice under Kaṁsa becomes the backdrop for the Lord’s avatāra, through which sovereignty, protection of the good, and re-establishment of dharma are fulfilled.