Shloka 16
Kaṃsa’s Council of Asuras and the Strategy Against the ‘Powerful Child’
तद् अलं परितापेन नूनं तद् भाविनो हि ते अर्भका युवयोः को वा नायुषो ऽन्ते विहन्यते
tad alaṃ paritāpena nūnaṃ tad bhāvino hi te arbhakā yuvayoḥ ko vā nāyuṣo 'nte vihanyate
Enough of this grief. Your children were indeed destined thus; for who, at the end of one’s allotted span, is not struck down?
A consoling elder/authority figure within the narrative (royal-genealogical context in Ansha 4; exact speaker not specified by the provided excerpt)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Krishna’s manifestation and the events surrounding Kaṃsa’s actions in Mathurā
Teaching: Historical
Quality: authoritative
Avatara: Krishna
Purpose: To remove Kaṃsa and allied adharma-bearers and re-establish dharma by manifesting in Vraja and Mathurā.
Leela: Loka-rakshana
Dharma Restored: Protection of the innocent and restoration of righteous kingship
Concept: Grief should be restrained because death at the end of one’s allotted lifespan is inevitable and governed by destiny.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: When facing loss, cultivate steadiness by remembering impermanence and acting with compassion rather than despair.
Vishishtadvaita: Implicitly affirms an ordered moral cosmos under the Lord’s governance, where embodied lives follow allotted measures within His sovereignty.
Vishnu Form: Krishna
FAQs
The verse frames death as inevitable at the completion of one’s allotted lifespan, urging the listener to see personal loss within the larger order of destiny (daiva).
It often pauses genealogical storytelling to deliver dharmic counsel—here, grief is tempered by reminding that events unfold according to destined outcomes and mortal limits.
Even when Vishnu is not named, the Purana’s worldview assumes a cosmos governed by dharma and karmic law under Vishnu’s supreme sovereignty, making death part of an ordered reality rather than chaos.