Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 1 - Verse 43


Sanskrit:

श्रीशुक उवाचएवं दुर्मन्त्रिभि: कंस: सह सम्मन्‍त्र्य दुर्मति: ।ब्रह्महिंसां हितं मेने कालपाशावृतोऽसुर: ॥ ४३ ॥

ITRANS:

śrī-śuka uvācaevaṁ durmantribhiḥ kaṁsaḥsaha sammantrya durmatiḥbrahma-hiṁsāṁ hitaṁ menekāla-pāśāvṛto ’suraḥ

Translation:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: Thus, having considered the instructions of his bad ministers, Kaṁsa, who was bound by the laws of Yamarāja and devoid of good intelligence because he was a demon, decided to persecute the saintly persons, the brāhmaṇas, as the only way to achieve his own good fortune.

Purport:

Śrīla Locana dāsa Ṭhākura has sung, āpana karama, bhuñjāye śamana, kahaye locana dāsa. Instead of taking good instructions from the sages and the śāstras, godless nondevotees act whimsically, according to their own plans. Actually, however, no one has his own plans because everyone is bound by the laws of nature and must act according to his tendency in material, conditional life. Therefore one must change one’s own decision and follow the decision of Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa’s devotees. Then one is rescued from punishment by Yamarāja. Kaṁsa was not uneducated. It appears from his talks with Vasudeva and Devakī that he knew all about the laws of nature. But because of his association with bad ministers, he could not make a clear decision about his welfare. Therefore the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.54) says: If one desires his real welfare, he must associate with devotees and saintly persons and in this way rectify the material condition of his life.