Krishna's Birth In Prison

      "In Devaki's seventh pregnancy, the Lord had the fetus transferred to Rohini's womb and Kansa was informed that Devaki had an abortion. Krishna made His advent in her eighth pregnancy. Apprehending danger from Kansa, Vasudeva arranged to send Rohini to Nanda's home. Rohini was a sister of Yashoda.

Expecting mortal danger to himself from the eighth child ofDevaki, Kansa kept Vasudeva and Devaki in a heavily guarded prison. He kept the key of the prison lock with himself.

Devaki gave birth to a son on Ashtami (eighth day after the New Moon) in the asterism Rohini. The child that was born was the Lord Himself with all His effulgence and all insignia of Vishnu. On the child's chest was the Srivasta mole. The Kaustubha ornament shone brilliantly. Devaki and Vasudeva folded their hands in adoration, blinded by the effulgence of the Divine child. They felt that their lives had been redeemed by the birth of the Lord, whom they saw with their own eyes. Approaching the baby and caressing his palms and feet, they prayed to the Lord: "Thanks to our good fortune, you have taken birth as our son. But we are not in a position to protect you. You must use your divine potency to get away from this prison by any means. Vasudeva sat beside the child and started praying. Immediately a basket appeared before him. Placing the Divine child in the basket he looked at the prison door. He saw that it was open. The ways of the Divine are marvelous and mysterious, felt Vasudeva. He stepped out of the prison. He found all the guards in sound asleep. As he came out, there was a heavy downpour. The Yamuna was in spate. He prayed to Narayana to see that there was no impediment in the way of his mission to protect the Divine child. The Yamuna gave him the passage. He reached Nanda' s house. The same day Yashoda had given birth to a child. Yashoda was unconscious. The child was none other than Maayaa-devi. When she was born, both Nanda and Yashoda were in a state of trance. Leaving the infant Krishna by the side of Yashoda, Vasudeva returned to Mathura with other child. When Vasudeva left Nanada's house, the child left beside Yashoda uttered a cry. Yashoda and Nanda did not know whether the newborn was a boy or girl. On hearing the child's cry, Yashoda looked at it and found it was a boy." Sai Baba, SS, 10/94, p. 255