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The Birth of Krishna
deva who were admiring through the bars of the prison-doors the ecstasy of the Yamuna waves which were trying to reach the moon. The sentries were snoring. Exactly at midnight the Lord Vishnu revealed himself to Devaki and Vasudeva in his original form. Embodying the blue of the entire sky, and clad in red and yellow, with the Sun God himself serving as the halo around him, he appeared with four arms, each bearing his characteristic emblem. He spoke thus: "I am your eighth child. You will presently find me in Devaki's arms. Take me to the village of Gokul where Yasoda, the pious wife of a local chief, Nanda, has just given birth to a daughter. Replace her with me, and nothing shall bar my path. Be well with all !" He disappeared to emerge again as Devaki's eighth child, quietly asleep in her arms. As there was not a moment to lose, Vasudeva put the baby into a basket, and started on his journey to Gokul. The doors of the prison threw themselves open, the guards snored all the more and the Yamuna showed the way. It rained softly. But the Sesha serpent in his anxiety to serve bis infant Master raised his enormous hood with a view to protecting the child from the fury of the elements. He accompanied the father and son till they reached Gokul, and then vanished into the void.
Before entering Nanda's house, Vasudeva kissed the child who had neither cried nor opened his eyes so far, which puzzled Vasudeva. He found himself in Yasoda's apartment. She was fast asleep with her infant daughter by her side. He quietly removed Yasoda's baby, left his own in her place, and retraced his steps.
When he returned to his cell in the prison, he found Devaki anxiously waiting for him with her gaze fixed towards
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