Yada Yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavathi Bharatha,
Abhyuthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srijamyaham.
Paritranaya sadhunam, vinasaya cha dushkritam,
Dharmasamsthpanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge.
Whenever virtue declines and unrighteousness prevails, I manifest
myself to protect the good, destroy evil, and to establish dharma.
For this I am born in every age!
This was the solemn promise made by the Lord, and for this he incarnated
himself in the city of Mathura, as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva.
Five thousand years ago, the city of Mathura was ruled by the tyrant king
Kamsa. He was the chief of the tribe of the Yadavas, who were made up of
many different clans such as the Bhojas, Vrishnis, Dasharhas, and
Andhakas. He was reputed to be the incarnation of the wicked demon
Kalanemi, and his actions proved the truth of it. None of the Yadava chiefs
dared to say a word against him, since Kamsa was known for his atrocities.
In other parts of Bharathavarsha, there also seemed to be an upsurge of
wicked rulers and a consequent upsurge of unrighteous behavior, for as the
king, so the subjects. Earth was groaning under their iniquities and unable
to bear the load of wickedness any longer, she is said to have taken on the
form of a cow and approached the Lord Vishnu, in his divine abode of
Vaikuntha. She reminded him of his promise that he would incarnate
himself whenever righteousness declined.
“So be it,” he said. “I shall incarnate myself in the city of Mathura, in the
clan of the Yadavas, as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva, to whom I made a
promise in another age that I would be born as their son.”