“Sri Sukadeva Goswami said, Thereafter a very auspicious time arrived, producing the most excellent atmosphere with all good qualities. This auspicious time arrived together with peaceful astrological planets, and a very tranquil constellation in the heavens. This all manifested for the Lord’s appearance.”

sri suka uvaca athasarva -gunopetah
kalah parama-sobhanah
yarhy evajana-janmarksam
santarksa-graha-tarakam

PURPORT BY SRI KRSNA BALARAM SWAMIJI

In this third chapter of the Srimad Bhagavatam Lord Hari Himself has taken His glorious birth. And, after being prayed to by his acting parents, the Lord was taken to Gokul by His father so that He might be kept safe from Kamsa’s wrath. This verse tells us that the atmosphere was charged with all good qualities, creating a favorable setting for upcoming events. Even though Krsna took birth in the middle of the rainy season still all inauspicious symptoms of the rainy season were driven away by His birth. Out of all the seasons of the year, the months of the rainy season are said to be the most inauspicious. But upon this particular occasion they became super-charged with all good qualities and, thus, actually became better than the other seasons. All the positive attributes which usually belong to the other, more temperate times of year manifested during this rainy period. As the Visnu Purana says:

visnor amse bhuvam
yate rtavas ca
abhavan subhah
(Visnu Purana, 5.2.4)

“When the source of Visnu and His plenary portions appeared upon the earth, all the auspicious attributes of all the seasons arrived along with Him.”

As witnessed by the above quotation, Lord Krsna is not an incarnation of Visnu —rather, He is the source of all incarnations, including Lord Visnu. As Srila Jiva Goswami says; amsyante vibhajyante kala asmad iti amsah paripurna bhagah. “That personality from whom all the incarnations and plenary portions emanate is called all-complete, or the source of all the incarnations.” At this moment, all six seasons became free from fault, because Lord Ananta had already appeared causing every moment, every environmental detail to become auspicious. Despite the fact that all the exact names of the planets and constellations are not clearly mentioned in this text, still it confirms that an auspicious time had arrived on the Lord’s appearance day, and that all the cruel planetary influences were erazed. As it is stated in the Khamanikya literature of astrology:

uccastha sai bhauma candra sanayo lagnam vrso labhago
jivah simha-tuladisu krama-vasat puso-sano-rahavah
naisithah samayo ‘stami budha dinam brahmarksyam atra ksane
sri krsnabhidham ambujeksanam abhud avih parama brahma tat

“In the horoscope of the Lord, the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, and Rahu are highly situated. His birth Jagna, or the first zodiac sign of birth, is Taurus. That is why the child will be of a very superior quality. The houses of Leo, Virgo, and Libra are very auspicious. Al the lime of the Lord’s birth, it was midnight on the eighth day of a dark fortnight, Scriptures also tell us His birth fell on a Wednesday. The child will be beautifully blackish and will be called the Lotus-eyed Supreme Lord Sri Krsna, the source of everything.”

Furthermore, it is stated in the Bhrgu Samhita:

vrsa-kanya-tula-mina-rajasu sphutam
uccagah soma-samya-sani-ksonisutas taj
janmani sthitah yasmad-visvavasau
varse janma sri nanda janmanah

“The planets in the houses of Taurus, Virgo, Libra, and Pisces are very highly situated. The moon and Rahu in the lagna house are very pleasing, also. Because the child of Nanda Maharaja is born in the year named Visvavasu, He will make the whole world happy with His presence.”

In essence, according to the Parasara-hora, the horoscope of Lord Krsna is read as follows: He was born of Nanda Maharaja at midnight on Wednesday, the eighth day of the dark fortnight during the Bhadrapada month (August-September). The astrological name of this year was Visvavasu, which means, “Pleasing year which signifies that the child will please everyone.” The Rohini constellation, together with Wednesday and the birth house, Taurus, are very auspicious signs, and of a superior quality. He will always be happy because the moon is situated in His birth house. The sun is situated in the house of Leo, or, in the fourth house from the birth house, which means that He will win over everyone on earth. The planet, Mercury, is in fifth house, the house of Virgo, which means that He will have many sons and grandsons. The fact that Venus and Saturn are situated in the sixth house, the house of Libra, indicates that He will seek out and kill all His enemies. There will remain no enemy of His on this earth. In the seventh house, the house of Scorpio, Ketu is situated which means He will have many, many wives. Mars is situated in the tenth house, the house of Capricorn, which is also the house of one’s fortune. This signifies that His wealth will be forever increasing. The beneficent planet, Jupiter, is situated in the house of gain, the house of Pisces, which means that He will be the possessor of all perfections. Due to Saturn’s position, it can be ascertained that this child will be blackish in complexion.

The Lord appeared in the zodiacal sign of Taurus and in the Rohini constellation. This constellation, Rohini, is the very favorite consort of the moon and is also one of the daughters of the great progenitor, Daksa. One may wonder why the name, Rohini, is not specifically mentioned in this verse. The answer is that according to Vedic civilization, the constellation of one’s birth should not be disclosed to others. As it is stated in the Jyotisa Sastra, janmarksa na prakasayet, “One’s birth constellation is not to be disclosed.” Therefore, the name of the constellation is given in a very subtle manner here.

It is because the Lord, who is unborn, appears that all the auspicious moments have conjoined in harmony. Therefore, the word atha is ordinarily used in reference to the symptoms of the auspicious moment itself. Seeing how marvelous and spiritual all things had become, how then can wicked and inauspicious people like Kamsa be present to wreak havoc, at all. This verse makes it clear that, despite Kamsa’s presence upon the earth, the moment itself was completely auspicious. But then there seem to be other contradictions concerning the overall situation—the sun was traveling across the southern horizon and not across the northern. It was also not the bright fortnight. The appearance occurred during the dark fortnight period and at midnight. How, then, can the atmosphere surrounding the Lord’s appearance be called auspicious? In the Gita Lord Krsna says, kalo’smr. “Time I am.” This means that time serves Krsna. And the auspiciousness everyone receives in this life is rewarded by the Lord, therefore, everything auspicious and inauspicious becomes auspicious for the Lord. Furthermore, when He appears He brings all-auspiciousness with Him. And besides that, the Lord actually enjoys killing demons, so Kamsa’s presence does not reduce the auspiciousness of the moment. According to the logic of Gautama; adhikam tatranu pravistam na tu tad hanih: “A more auspicious moment would have been better, but what was there did not diminish the moment.” This indicates that if the Lord would have appeared in the light fortnight, it would have theoretically been preferable. Also, if the auspicious time would have manifested at the moment when the sun travels in the northern horizon, then it could have perhaps increased the moment’s auspiciousness. These musings are hardly consequential, however, because the Lord’s appearance itself means only the best success, happiness, playfulness and auspiciousness for Him and His devotees.

[Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 3, Verse 1, KBS0048]