Why Did God Allow Innocent Children to Die Before Krishna Was Born?

We all know that Krishna was born behind the bars. Krishna’s parents Devaki and Vasudev were locked by King Kamsa, who was frightened by the prediction of his death by Vasudev and Devaki’s eighth child. But there is something in this story that still makes people wonder about it. Before Krishna’s birth, six kids were killed by King Kamsa. The question that makes people wonder is why those innocent infants had to die? What did they do to die like this just after they were born? According to Hindu Scriptures, the reason behind these painful deaths is deeper.







This whole thing started on the day when Devaki got married to Vasudev. Kamsa was driving the chariot. Suddenly a heavy voice spoke and warned him that Devaki’s eighth child would kill him one day. This prediction made kamsa filled with fear. He took out his sword to kill Devaki at the spot but Vasudev pleased him and said every kid that will be born will be handed over to him. Kamsa accepted this promise but he was not going to trust them completely. He chained Vasudev and Devaki in the bars and waited for every child to be born.





The Bhagvata Purana says that Devaki’s first six children were born before and had lived. In their earlier birth, they were the kids of Sage Marichi. They laughed at Lord Bhrama, he cursed them to be born again and suffer until becoming free properly. Then they were born in a family of demons, Their father was Kalanemi in that life, later reborn as Kamsa.
According to the Hindu Scripture, while he was killing the Devaki’s six children he was unknowingly helping those cursed kids to be free. They become happy free souls. Sage Narada always recalled Kamsa about the prediction of his death, such that those souls can be killed by Kamsa in the fear of his own death.




The seventh kid was Balaram. Divine power moved Devaki’s baby to Rohini’s womb. Rohini, was the another wife of Vasudev. She was living in Gokul safely. People believed that Devaki's foetus died inside the womb, but Balaram was born in Gokul.



Krishna was the eighth Kid of Devaki and Vasudev. Magical things happened.
The prison got unlocked by themselves, Vasudev’s chains fell on the ground, the guards were no longer in their senses.
Vasudev kept the newborn child in a basket and placed it on his head, he crossed the flooded Yamuna river to reach Gokul. He left his newborn son to an old friend Nanda and returned to the prison again. This magical night saved Krishna. Years after his birth, he returned to Mathura and killed kamsa to fulfil the prediction.



This story doesn’t explain the suffering alone in simpler words but it teaches that life is connected to events beyond what we see. The Scriptures explained that those kids were completing their old karmas to set the souls free.Their deaths were painful but the journey they took is beyond this.



This article is based on spiritual beliefs and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, medical, or professional advice.



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Frequently Asked Questions[FAQs]

1. Why did Kamsa let Devaki and Vasudeva stay together in jail if he knew the eighth child would kill him?
   Kamsa could have kept them apart to prevent any child from being born at all. Popular explanations say it was partly political. Denying a married couple children would have made him look cruel and cowardly in front of his people, so he chose to let them have children and kill each one instead, believing this gave him control over his own fate.
2. Why did Vasudeva keep handing over his children if he knew Kamsa would kill them?
   Vasudeva had made a promise to Kamsa to save Devaki's life. Handing over each child was part of that deal. Many readers ask this because it seems strange that Vasudeva did not resist, but the story presents it as a promise he refused to break, along with faith that the eighth child was the one meant to survive.
3. Did Devaki ever get her six dead sons back?
   Yes, according to the Bhagavata Purana. Years later, Krishna and Balarama are said to have traveled to Sutala loka, the realm ruled by King Bali, and brought the six souls back briefly so Devaki could meet them and ease her grief, before they returned to their heavenly forms.
4. Why did Kamsa try to kill a baby girl instead of a boy?
   This refers to the eighth night, when Vasudeva secretly exchanged Krishna for a baby girl born to Yashoda in Gokul. Kamsa tried to kill that girl too, not knowing the swap had happened. The story says the child rose into the sky as a goddess and told Kamsa his real killer was safe elsewhere.