"They shall also know Me as Child, Son, Warrior, King, and Priest, and in their midst I shall walk even with those who with Me shall be born again, and seeing Me and knowing Me, I shall draw all unto Me, and close with Me they shall again taste the sweetness of my love.
"With Me shall come those who have ever known Me through many incarnations, those who cover themselves with the qualities most like unto Me and whom my Earth-children have learned to look upon as gods, praying to them because of these attributes which they themselves wished to be blessed withal.
"Tell those who know the fulness of my Bliss, those who have bathed in the nectar of those who have dwelt in the ecstasy of my loveliness, and those who in their devotion have known nothing outside of Me, those who have ever seen Me in all things, and have feasted their minds only upon My Beauty—tell them that I with them shall be born of woman and shall dwell for the span of man's life among men."
And when the Gods, those whom He had designated, heard the Will of Him, great was the rejoicing in that Abode, for no Will knew they, save the Sweet Will of the Most Lovely One, whose Lotus Feet they worshipped in ecstasy.
CHAPTER II.
In the seat of Hari, the sacred city of Mathura on the Jumnā, Vāsudeva in love and humbleness took unto himself Devaki as bride, who by all was known as the most holy and virtuous maiden of that land.
Pear unto the heart of her brother, the Prince of Mathura, she was, and beloved among his people and among all women because of the purity of her heart and the sweetness of her face. To show to all the world his love for her, the prince himself, in proud fondness, drove the marriage-car of his little sister princess and the new brother-in-law, who, by right of great wisdom, a Pundit of high standing among the learned was.
Gentle was the new bridegroom, even as he was wise. Fond glances of love he cast upon the radiant face of the young princess, and from all sides the blessings fell from the lips of the populace on the sweet bride, the learned bridegroom, and the gallant prince who held the reins because of his love for them both.
But lo! in the span of a moment all was changed, for a voice there was which seemed to come out of space: "O thou fool! Why, even he for whom in pride and love thou dost hold the reins to her marriage-car, even she shall bear the child in her womb who shall sweep thy life from off the earth. Her son, the eighth, shall be the cause of thy death."
The reins dropped from the hands of the prince, and, springing to his feet, he caught the young bride by the hair as if to slay her, but was arrested by Vāsudeva, who cried, "O prince! Noble wast thou ever, and ill would it be for thee to slay thy sister on the eve of her marriage. It is not for thee to take life, O King, thou who canst not give it. Death must come, but let it not be by thy hand, O prince, nor yet before her time. Take not the life of her who is thy sister and thereby stain the heritage of virtue such as has been ascribed unto thee.