Shloka 17
Kaṃsa’s Council of Asuras and the Strategy Against the ‘Powerful Child’
इत्य् आश्वास्य विमुक्त्वा च कंसस् तौ परिशङ्कितः अन्तर्गृहं द्विजश्रेष्ठ प्रविवेश पुनः स्वकम्
ity āśvāsya vimuktvā ca kaṃsas tau pariśaṅkitaḥ antargṛhaṃ dvijaśreṣṭha praviveśa punaḥ svakam
Thus having reassured them and then released them, Kaṃsa—still inwardly troubled by suspicion—entered once more his own inner apartments, O best of the twice-born.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Sequence of events after Kaṃsa releases Vasudeva and Devakī
Teaching: Historical
Quality: narrative
Avatara: Krishna
Purpose: To eliminate Kaṃsa whose tyranny threatens dharma and to protect the Yādavas and the world.
Leela: Loka-rakshana
Dharma Restored: Safeguarding the divine birth and the future restoration of righteous order
Vishnu Form: Krishna
FAQs
This verse shows that even after outwardly reassuring and freeing them, Kaṃsa remains haunted by fear—highlighting how adharma cannot attain true security when the divine plan (Vishnu’s descent) is already in motion.
Parāśara emphasizes Kaṃsa’s inner suspicion (pariśaṅkitaḥ), contrasting external political control with internal instability—an ethical cue that tyranny is self-undermining under cosmic order.
Though Vishnu is not named in the verse, the narrative presumes Vishnu’s sovereign protection: Kaṃsa’s fear signals the unstoppable unfolding of divine purpose culminating in Krishna’s triumph over adharma.