Text 54
śrī-vasudeva uvāca
na hy asyās te bhayaṁ saumya
yad vai sāhāśarīra-vāk
putrān samarpayiṣye ’syā
yatas te bhayam utthitam
śrī-vasudevaḥ uvāca — Śrī Vasudeva said; na — not; hi — indeed; asyāḥ — from Devakī; te — of you; bhayam — fear; saumya — O most sober; yat — which; vai — indeed; sā — that omen; āha — dictated; a-śarīra-vāk — a vibration without a body; putrān — all my sons; samarpayiṣye — I shall deliver to you; asyāḥ — of her (Devakī); yataḥ — from whom; te — your; bhayam — fear; utthitam — has arisen.
Vasudeva said: O best of the sober, you have nothing to fear from your sister Devakī because of what you have heard from the unseen omen. The cause of death will be her sons. Therefore I promise that when she gives birth to the sons from whom your fear has arisen, I shall deliver them all unto your hands.
Kaṁsa feared Devakī’s existence because after her eighth pregnancy she would give birth to a son who would kill him. Vasudeva, therefore, to assure his brother-in-law the utmost safety, promised to bring him all the sons. He would not wait for the eighth son, but from the very beginning would deliver to the hands of Kaṁsa all the sons to which Devakī would give birth. This was the most liberal proposition offered by Vasudeva to Kaṁsa.