CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
It is said that Cupid, who is directly part and parcel of Lord Vasudeva and who was formerly burned to ashes by the anger of Lord Siva, took birth from the womb of Rukmi?i, begotten by K???a. This is Kamadeva, a demigod of the heavenly planets especially capable of inducing lusty desires. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishnaa, has many grades of parts and parcels, but the quadruple expansions of Krishna,Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are directly in the Vishnu category. Kama, or the Cupid demigod, who later took his birth from the womb of Rukmi?i, was also named Pradyumna, but he cannot be the Pradyumna of the Vishnu category. He belongs to the category of jiva-tattva, but for exhibiting special power in the category of demigods he was a part and parcel of the superprowess of Pradyumna. That is the verdict of the Gosvamis. Therefore, when Cupid was burned to ashes by the anger of Lord Siva, he merged into the body of Vasudeva, and to get his body again he was begotten in the womb of Rukmini by Lord Krishna Himself. Thus he was born as the son of Krishna and celebrated by the name Pradyumna. Because he was begotten by Lord Krishna directly, his qualities were most similar to those of Krishna.
There was a demon of the name Sambara who was destined to be killed by Pradyumna. The Sambara demon knew of his destiny, and as soon as he learned that Pradyumna had been born, he took the shape of a woman and kidnapped the baby from the maternity home less than ten days after his birth. The demon took him and threw him directly into the sea. But, as it is said, "Whoever is protected by Krishna, no one can kill, and whoever is destined to be killed by Krishna, no one can protect." When Pradyumna was thrown into the sea, a big fish immediately swallowed him. Later this fish was caught in the net of a fisherman, and the fish was later sold to the Sambara demon. In the kitchen of the demon was a maidservant whose name was Mayavati. This woman had formerly been the wife of Cupid, called Rati. When the fish was presented to the demon Sambara, it was taken charge of by his cook, who was to make it into a palatable fish preparation. Demons and Rakshasas are accustomed to eat meat, fish and similar nonvegetarian foods. Demons like Ravana, Kansa and Hiranyakasipu, although born of brahma?a and kshatriya fathers, used to take meat and fish without discrimination. This practice is still prevalent in India, and those who eat meat and fish are generally called demons and Rak?asas.
When the cook was cutting the fish, he found within its stomach a nice baby, which he immediately presented to the charge of Mayavati, who was an assistant in the kitchen affairs. This woman was surprised to see how such a nice baby could remain within the belly of a fish, and the situation perplexed her. The great sage Narada then appeared and explained to her about the birth of Pradyumna and how the baby had been taken away by Sambara and later thrown into the sea. In this way the whole story was disclosed to Mayavati. Mayavati knew that she had previously been Rati, the wife of Kaamdev; after her husband was burned to ashes by the wrath of Lord Siva, she was always expecting him to come back in a material form. This woman was engaged for cooking rice and dal in the kitchen, but when she got this nice baby and understood that he was Cupid, her own husband, she naturally took charge of him and with great affection began to bathe him regularly. Miraculously, the baby swiftly grew up, and within a very short period he became a beautiful young man. His eyes were just like the petals of lotus flowers, and his arms were long, reaching down to his knees; any woman who happened to see him was captivated by his bodily beauty.
Mayavati could understand that her former husband, Cupid, born as Pradyumna, had grown into such a nice young man, and she also gradually became captivated and lusty. Smiling before him with a feminine attractiveness, she expressed her desire for sexual union. He therefore inquired from her, "How is it possible that first you were affectionate like a mother and now you are expressing the symptoms of a lusty woman? What is the reason for such a change?" On hearing this statement from Pradyumna, the woman, Rati, replied, "My dear sir, you are the son of Lord Krishna. Before you were ten days old, you were stolen by the Sambara demon and later thrown into the water and swallowed by a fish. In this way you have come under my care, but actually, in your former life as Cupid, I was your wife; therefore, my manifestation of conjugal symptoms is not at all incompatible. Sambara wanted to kill you, and he is endowed with various mystic powers. Therefore, before he again attempts to kill you, please kill him as soon as possible with your divine power. Since you were stolen by Sambara, your mother, Rukmini-devi, has been in a very grievous condition, like a kurari bird who has lost her babies. She is very affectionate toward you, and since you have been taken away from her, she has been living like a cow aggrieved over the loss of its calf."
Mayavati had mystic knowledge of supernatural powers. Supernatural powers are generally known as maya, and to surpass all such powers there is another supernatural power, called maha-maya. Mayavati had the knowledge of the mystic power of maha-maya, and she delivered to Pradyumna this specific energetic power in order to defeat the mystic powers of the Sambara demon. Thus being empowered by his wife, Pradyumna immediately went before Sambara and challenged him to fight. Pradyumna addressed him in very strong language, so that his temper would be agitated and he would be moved to fight. At Pradyumna's words, the demon Sambara, being insulted, felt just as a snake feels after being struck by someone's foot. A serpent cannot tolerate being kicked by another animal or by a man, and it immediately bites its opponent.
Sambara felt the words of Pradyumna as if they were a kick. He immediately took his club in his hand and appeared before Pradyumna to fight. Roaring like a thundering cloud, in great anger the demon began to beat Pradyumna with his club, just as a thunderbolt beats a mountain. Pradyumna protected himself with his own club and eventually struck the demon very severely. In this way, the fighting between Sambarasura and Pradyumna began in earnest.
But Sambarasura knew the art of mystic powers and could raise himself into the sky and fight from outer space. There is a demon of the name Maya, and Sambarasura had learned many mystic powers from him. He thus raised himself high into the sky and threw various types of nuclear weapons at the body of Pradyumna. To combat the mystic powers of Sambarasura, Pradyumna invoked another mystic power, known as mahavidya, which was different from the black mystic power. The mahavidya mystic power is based on the quality of goodness. Sambara, understanding that his enemy was formidable, took assistance from various kinds of demoniac mystic powers belonging to the Guhyakas, the Gandharvas, the Pisacas, the snakes and the Rak?asas. But although the demon exhibited his mystic powers and took shelter of supernatural strength, Pradyumna was able to counteract his strength and powers by the superior power of mahavidya. When Sambarasura was defeated in every respect, Pradyumna took his sharp sword and immediately cut off the demon's head, which was decorated with a helmet and valuable jewels. When Pradyumna thus killed the demon, all the demigods in the higher planetary systems showered flowers on him.
Pradyumna's wife, Mayavati, could travel in outer space, and therefore they directly reached his father's capital, Dvaraka, by the airways. They passed above the palace of Lord Krishna and came down as a cloud comes down with lightning. The inner section of a palace is known as the anta?-pura (private apartments). Pradyumna and Mayavati could see many women there, and they set down among them. When the women saw Pradyumna, dressed in yellowish garments, with very long arms, curling hair, beautiful reddish eyes, a smiling face, jewelry and ornaments, they at first could not recognize him as a personality different from Krishna. They all felt very bashful at the sudden presence of Krishna and wanted to hide in a different corner of the palace.
When the women saw, however, that not all the characteristics of Lord Krishna were present in the personality of Pradyumna, out of curiosity they came back to see him and his wife, Mayavati. All of them were conjecturing as to who he was, for he was so beautiful. Among the women was Rukmi?i-devi, who was equally beautiful, with her lotuslike eyes. Seeing Pradyumna, she naturally remembered her own son, and milk began to flow from her breasts out of motherly affection. She then began to wonder, "Who is this beautiful young boy? He appears to be the most beautiful person. Who is the fortunate young woman able to conceive this nice boy in her womb and become his mother? And who is that young woman who has accompanied him? How have they met? Remembering my own son, who was stolen from the maternity home, I can only guess that if he is living somewhere, he might have grown by this time to be like this boy." Simply by intuition, Rukmi?i could understand that Pradyumna was her own lost son. She could also observe that Pradyumna resembled Lord Krishna in every respect. She was struck with wonder as to how he had acquired all the characteristics of Lord Krishna. She therefore began to think more confidently that the boy must be her own grown-up son because she felt so much affection for him, and, as an auspicious sign, her left arm was trembling.
At that very moment, Lord Krishna, along with His father and mother, Devaki and Vasudeva, appeared on the scene. Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, could understand everything, yet in that situation He remained silent. However, by the desire of Lord Sri Krishna, the great sage Narada also appeared, and he disclosed all the incidents'how Pradyumna had been stolen from the maternity home and how he had grown up and had come there with his wife, Mayavati, who had formerly been Rati, the wife of Cupid. When everyone was informed of the mysterious disappearance of Pradyumna and how he had grown up, they were all struck with wonder because they had gotten back their dead son after they were almost hopeless of his return. When they understood that it was Pradyumna who was present, they received him with great delight. One after another, all the members of the family'Devaki, Vasudeva, Lord Sri Krishna, Lord Balarama, Rukmi?i and all the women of the family'embraced Pradyumna and his wife, Mayavati. When the news of Pradyumna's return spread all over the city of Dvaraka, all the astonished citizens came with great eagerness to see the lost Pradyumna. "The dead son has come back," they said. "What can be more pleasing than this?"
Srila Sukadeva Gosvami has explained that in the beginning all the ladies of the palace, who were all mothers and stepmothers of Pradyumna, mistook him to be Krishna and were all bashful, infected by the desire for conjugal love. The explanation is that Pradyumna's personal appearance was exactly like Krishna's, and he was factually Cupid himself. There was no cause for astonishment, therefore, when the mothers of Pradyumna and the other women mistook him in that way. It is clear from this statement that Pradyumna's bodily characteristics were so similar to Krishna's that he was mistaken for Krishna even by his mother.
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