Srimad Bhagavatam — Navama Skandha, Shloka 54
The Yadu–Vṛṣṇi–Andhaka Genealogies and the Purpose of Kṛṣṇa’s Advent
प्रवरश्रुतमुख्यांश्च साक्षाद् धर्मो वसूनिव । वसुदेवस्तु देवक्यामष्ट पुत्रानजीजनत् ॥ ५३ ॥ कीर्तिमन्तं सुषेणं च भद्रसेनमुदारधी: । ऋजुं सम्मर्दनं भद्रं सङ्कर्षणमहीश्वरम् ॥ ५४ ॥ अष्टमस्तु तयोरासीत् स्वयमेव हरि: किल । सुभद्रा च महाभागा तव राजन् पितामही ॥ ५५ ॥
pravara-śruta-mukhyāṁś ca sākṣād dharmo vasūn iva vasudevas tu devakyām aṣṭa putrān ajījanat
Lapan putera Sahadevā seperti Pravara dan Śruta adalah penjelmaan langsung lapan Vasu di alam syurga. Melalui Devakī pula, Vasudeva memperanakkan lapan putera yang mulia: Kīrtimān, Suṣeṇa, Bhadrasena, Ṛju, Sammardana, Bhadra dan Saṅkarṣaṇa, Penguasa yang berwujud avatāra ular. Putera kelapan ialah Hari sendiri—Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Dan satu-satunya puteri, Subhadrā, wahai raja, ialah nenekmu.
The fifty-fifth verse says, svayam eva hariḥ kila, indicating that Kṛṣṇa, the eighth son of Devakī, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇa is not an incarnation. Although there is no difference between the Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari and His incarnation, Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Person, the complete Godhead. Incarnations exhibit only a certain percentage of the potencies of Godhead; the complete Godhead is Kṛṣṇa Himself, who appeared as the eighth son of Devakī.
FAQs
This verse describes Vasudeva as “sākṣād dharmaḥ”—as if Dharma personified—indicating his righteousness and saintly stature.
Shukadeva highlights Vasudeva’s purity and eminence by comparing him to Dharma itself and to the illustrious Vasus among the devas.
Cultivate integrity and responsibility in family and society, seeing righteous conduct (dharma) as the foundation for divine grace.