"Lord Krsna appeared 5,000 years ago in Vrndavana to fulfill the desire of His devotees to gain His association. In Bhagavad-gita, Krsna describes that there are three divisions of His purpose for appearing. Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge. Giving protection to His devotees (paritranaya sadhunam) is one of the features of the Personality of Godhead. For those who are surrendered to Him, who are depending upon Him, Krsna always gives His protection. At the time that Krsna appeared there was an over abundance, an over burdening weight, of demoniac elements on the planet.

When Devaki gave birth to her first child, she became very fearful of Kamsa. According to our acarya's writings, Kamsa represents material association. Because Devaki's brother, Kamsa, was a wicked personality, she feared Kamsa not only as a person but as a principle of material association. This fear of Kamsa served to purify her. Thus her six sons of material entanglement were withdrawn by this fear. These six sons who were killed one after another by Kamsa represent lust, anger, pride, greed, madness and illusion. Because our heart has to become pure before Krsna will appear within it, and because Kamsa represents material existence personified, Devaki's fear of Kamsa relieved her from these six enemies. ..

The following Instruction for the Week is adapted from a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam given by Srila Romapada Swami in Los Angeles. After discussing the principles upon which material energy works -- from the process of reproduction to the creation of the material world -- Srila Romapada Swami succinctly emphasized the purpose of all such analysis found within the scriptures, whether presented in simplicity or expanded into complex detail:

There's no question of Krsna entering into the womb of Devaki, or of Krsna being born. Krsna is all-pervading throughout time… As the soul is never created nor destroyed, Krsna is never created nor destroyed. His abode is never created nor destroyed. His pastimes are never created nor destroyed. There is some period of time when His pastimes are manifest, and then again not manifest. .