Why Krishna’s Birth Forced the Gods to Break Their Own Rules
Riya Kumari | Aug 15, 2025, 23:33 IST
( Image credit : Timeslife )
Highlight of the story: On most nights, the heavens keep their distance from the affairs of mortals. The stars shine, the rivers flow, the gods keep to their celestial duties, bound by the eternal order laid down since creation. But there was one night when the universe itself bent its own rules. Clouds that should have rained held back. A river that should have flowed stood still. Divine beings who never leave their stations descended quietly into the human realm.
In Sanatana Dharma, even the Devas, the celestial administrators of the universe, live under the law of Dharma. They are not free to act however they wish. The Vedas and Shastras describe that cosmic order is maintained only because even the highest beings obey the eternal principles laid down by the Supreme. Yet, on the night of Krishna’s birth, these very beings bent, and in some cases, broke the very rules they were sworn to uphold. Why?
The Weight of Adharma in Mathura
The Bhagavata Purana (10.1–10.3) paints the scene vividly: Mathura was under the iron grip of Kansa, a king whose cruelty had silenced dharma. Devaki, Krishna’s mother, had already lost six of her newborns to Kansa’s sword. The balance of the world was tilting towards darkness, and prayers from sages, saints, and even the gods themselves filled the ether.
Normally, the Devas cannot directly interfere in the affairs of mortals beyond their ordained duties. The Rigveda declares: “Rta is supreme; even the gods move within it.” (Rigveda 10.190) But when adharma swells beyond limits, the same Dharma demands an exception. This is why Vishnu, the Supreme Preserver, took the decision to descend, an avataran.
The Harivamsa Purana tells us that before Krishna’s descent, the Devas disguised themselves and took birth on earth as allies, relatives, and protectors of the divine child. Vasudeva and Devaki’s safety, the protection of the Yamuna crossing, and the guidance to Gokul, all these involved divine interference beyond normal bounds.
Indra, the king of the gods, who usually only sends rain as per cosmic order, was silent until Krishna was born and then the very clouds parted, and a protective darkness enveloped Vasudeva’s path. Ananta Shesha, the cosmic serpent, left His eternal station beneath the worlds to shield the infant with His hood, an act that defied His own bound duty of upholding the earth.
The Bhagavata Purana describes that when Vasudeva carried Krishna across the river Yamuna, the waters rose to touch His feet. Normally, rivers flow as per their course, not daring to halt or change, this is their svadharma. But Yamuna, a goddess in her own right, broke this law, stopping her own flow so she could wash away her lifetimes of collected sins by touching the feet of the Supreme.
This was not just devotion; it was recognition. For in Krishna’s form was the One who authored all laws, the lawmaker Himself.
The Mahabharata (Shanti Parva, 109.10) states: “When the very foundation of Dharma is shaken, what is called Dharma may take a different form.” For the gods, breaking their own boundaries was not disobedience, it was the highest obedience. They were not serving their own will; they were serving the will of the One who stands above all laws.
This is the paradox of Krishna’s birth: the arrival of the Absolute on earth demanded that even the custodians of cosmic law step beyond the law, because the purpose of law is not rigidity, it is the preservation of truth and balance.
Krishna’s birth is not just history or mythology; it is a mirror. It reminds us that rules, traditions, and systems exist for the service of truth, not the other way around. When life forces us into a corner where following the letter of the law would destroy its spirit, we must remember the courage of the Devas on that night. Sometimes, to serve the eternal, you must step beyond the temporary.
And perhaps that is why the Gita begins not with gentle philosophy, but with Krishna urging Arjuna to act, to do what is right, even if it breaks what is comfortable. Because the laws of man and even the laws of gods are written by Him, but the law of love for the Supreme stands above them all.
The Weight of Adharma in Mathura
Krishna
( Image credit : Pixabay )
The Bhagavata Purana (10.1–10.3) paints the scene vividly: Mathura was under the iron grip of Kansa, a king whose cruelty had silenced dharma. Devaki, Krishna’s mother, had already lost six of her newborns to Kansa’s sword. The balance of the world was tilting towards darkness, and prayers from sages, saints, and even the gods themselves filled the ether.
Normally, the Devas cannot directly interfere in the affairs of mortals beyond their ordained duties. The Rigveda declares: “Rta is supreme; even the gods move within it.” (Rigveda 10.190) But when adharma swells beyond limits, the same Dharma demands an exception. This is why Vishnu, the Supreme Preserver, took the decision to descend, an avataran.
The Devas’ Secret Intervention
Krishna ji
( Image credit : Pixabay )
The Harivamsa Purana tells us that before Krishna’s descent, the Devas disguised themselves and took birth on earth as allies, relatives, and protectors of the divine child. Vasudeva and Devaki’s safety, the protection of the Yamuna crossing, and the guidance to Gokul, all these involved divine interference beyond normal bounds.
Indra, the king of the gods, who usually only sends rain as per cosmic order, was silent until Krishna was born and then the very clouds parted, and a protective darkness enveloped Vasudeva’s path. Ananta Shesha, the cosmic serpent, left His eternal station beneath the worlds to shield the infant with His hood, an act that defied His own bound duty of upholding the earth.
The Yamuna’s Obedience and Rebellion
Krishna birth time
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau )
The Bhagavata Purana describes that when Vasudeva carried Krishna across the river Yamuna, the waters rose to touch His feet. Normally, rivers flow as per their course, not daring to halt or change, this is their svadharma. But Yamuna, a goddess in her own right, broke this law, stopping her own flow so she could wash away her lifetimes of collected sins by touching the feet of the Supreme.
This was not just devotion; it was recognition. For in Krishna’s form was the One who authored all laws, the lawmaker Himself.
Why Rules Were Broken
Janmashtmi
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau )
The Mahabharata (Shanti Parva, 109.10) states: “When the very foundation of Dharma is shaken, what is called Dharma may take a different form.” For the gods, breaking their own boundaries was not disobedience, it was the highest obedience. They were not serving their own will; they were serving the will of the One who stands above all laws.
This is the paradox of Krishna’s birth: the arrival of the Absolute on earth demanded that even the custodians of cosmic law step beyond the law, because the purpose of law is not rigidity, it is the preservation of truth and balance.
A Lesson for Us
And perhaps that is why the Gita begins not with gentle philosophy, but with Krishna urging Arjuna to act, to do what is right, even if it breaks what is comfortable. Because the laws of man and even the laws of gods are written by Him, but the law of love for the Supreme stands above them all.