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2024-04-25, 1:45 PM |
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Chapter 12: The Killing of the Demon
Aghâsura
(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'One day the
Lord decided to have a picnic in the forest. Rising early He blew His horn nicely to wake up His comrades
and the calves. Then they
departed from Vraja driving their groups of calves in front of them. (2) It
offered a most
attractive sight to see them all
happy and beautifully together as they walked out in His
company with their prods, horns, flutes and the many calves each
of
them
had.
All
together
they
numbered
over
a
thousand. (3)
With
Krishna's personal
calves added to them they could not be counted anymore. Immersed in
their children's games, the boys
had a good time in different places [in the forest].
(4) Even though they were already adorned
with gems, shells, gold and
pearls, they also used fruits, green leaves,
bunches of beautiful flowers, peacock feathers and colored minerals to
decorate themselves. (5) They snatched
away each other's belongings and threw them at a distance when it was
discovered. Others threw them further away, but then again they were
returned with a laugh. (6) When Krishna walked away to admire the
beauty of the forest, they enjoyed it to say 'me first, me first' while
they touched Him. (7-11) Some
blew their flutes, some vibrated their horns, some hummed along with
the bumblebees and others imitated the cuckoos. Some ran after the
shadows of the birds, some walked elegantly with the swans or sat with
the ducks just as silent or danced with the peacocks. They searched for
young monkeys and hopped along with them between the trees as they were
skipping from tree to tree. They jumped together with the frogs,
getting
wet in the water, they laughed at their shadows and mocked their own
echoes.
This way they enjoyed the merit of their
previous lives in friendship
with Him who is
the
Supreme Divinity for
those
who
are
entangled
in
mâyâ, He who is the spiritual happiness for those transcendentalists
who accept it to be
of service [as a consequence thereof. See * and 1.1:
2, 1.7:
6 and 2.1:
6]. (12) Yogis skilled in self-control do not
even after many lives of doing penance achieve the dust of His lotus
feet. How fortunate then are the
inhabitants of Vraja for whom He became
the object of their vision by personally being present?
(13) And then the one named Agha ['the evil one'] appeared on the scene, a great
demon who could not tolerate the sight of their happy pastimes. His
life's end was awaited by all the immortal souls, in spite of the nectar
they drank. (14) When
Aghâsura, who was sent by Kamsa and who was
the younger brother of Bakî [Pûtanâ] and
Bakâsura, saw the boys who
were lead by Krishna, he thought: 'This must be the killer of the two
who together with
me took birth from the same mother. Let me therefore now for their
sake, kill Him and His boys! (15) When
these
boys have become the sesame and
water for the funeral rites of
my brother and sister, when the
strength of the life of the
inhabitants of Vraja [their children] has disappeared, when these living beings
whom they consider the very embodiment of their love and breath have
left them, they all will be as
good as dead.' (16) Thus having decided he assumed the wondrous form of
a very, very large python that extended for miles. Therewith he
occupied, as
high as a mountain and with a mouth spread wide open like a mountain
cave, that moment
most wickedly the road in order to swallow the picnickers. (17) Keeping his mouth wide open, his lower lip rested on the earth and his upper
lip touched the sky. His teeth were
like mountain peaks, the inside was pitch dark, his tongue resembled a
broad road, his breath
was like a warm wind and his fiery look was like a fire. (18) Seeing him in
that position they all considered it Vrindâvana at its best. It
was for them a known game [to act] as if they were
looking at the form of a python's mouth: (19)
'Look dear
friends! A dead python there before us, ready to swallow us all with
its
snake mouth spread open, is it not?
(20) It is obvious, really, that cloud up there is the
upper lip
and below, that big
sand bank with
that reddish glow, is his lower lip... (21) On
the left and
right, those caves, look just like the corners of the mouth and
those peaks there, are exactly like the animal's teeth. (22)
The length and breadth of the
broad path, is like the tongue and the darkness, in between the
mountains, looks like the inside of its mouth. (23)
Just
notice how that hot wind blowing from a forest fire is like its breath,
and the bad smell of the flesh of the burned corpses, stinks like the
flesh within its belly. (24) Would
this animal be here to devour all who
dare to enter? With that being so, he will, just like the heron,
be immediately vanquished by Krishna!' so they said, looking at the
gleaming face of Him, Baka's enemy, while they loudly laughing and
clapping their hands
entered its mouth.
(25) Krishna heard them talking this
and that way besides the truth. They did not realize what they were
dealing with. He knew that the Rakshasa was very real
and was deceiving them and so He arrived at the conclusion that He, the
Supreme Lord, the Complete Whole of All Living Beings who is situated
in the
heart, should stop His
comrades. (26) Meanwhile,
all
the
boys and their calves had entered the belly of the demon, but they were
not
devoured. The Rakshasa who was thinking of his dead relatives,
waited for Baka's enemy to enter.
(27) Krishna,
who
for
each and everyone is the source of fearlessness, was amazed to
witness that and compassionately felt sorry about this twist of fate.
They who had no one but Him now helplessly had moved away from His control to burn as straws
in the fire of
the belly of Aghâsura, death personified. (28)
What to do
now? This rogue should not exist, nor should the innocent and faithful
ones
find their end. How could He achieve both ends at the same time?
Gathering His
thoughts the Lord, the Unlimited Seer, knew what
to do and
entered the mouth. (29) That very
moment all the gods exclaimed from behind the clouds in fear
'Alas, alas!' and Kamsa and the other bloodthirsty friends of
Aghâsura rejoiced. (30)
When He heard
that, Krishna, the Supreme Lord who is never vanquished,
immediately expanded Himself [see siddhi] within the throat of the demon who tried to crush the
boys and the calves in his belly. (31)
With that action the airways were blocked and the eyes of the
squirming and
wrestling giant popped out. The life air was arrested within the
internally completely obstructed
body and then broke out through the top of the skull. (32)
After all life air
had left the body and
Krishna saw that the boys and calves lay dead, He,
Mukunda, the Supreme Lord, brought them back to life whereupon He reappeared from the mouth in their company. (33) From
the
body a most
wonderful bright light issued that
all
by
itself
illumined
the
ten
directions. It remained in the sky waiting until the Supreme Personality
appeared and then, before the eyes of the
demigods, it
entered His body
[sâyujya-mukti]. (34)
Everyone most pleased thereupon performed his specific service of
worship [see also 1.2:
13]: flowers were showered,
the singers of heaven sang, the heavenly girls danced, the demigods
played their specific instruments and the brahmins offered prayers. (35) The
Unborn One
[Lord Brahmâ] who nearby in his abode heard the wondrous sounds
of
those
for everyone so very auspicious prayers, sweet sounds, songs and
different celebrations, came immediately and stood amazed to see the
glory of the Supreme Master.
(36) Oh King, after the skin of the python had
dried, it became a place of interest for the inhabitants of
Vrindâvana that for a
long, long time
afterwards was used as a cave. (37) This
incident - of
the snake's death and deliverance
and the liberation of Him
and His
associates - that took place when the Lord was five years old [kaumâra],
was
by the boys in Vraja disclosed
one
year later [pauganda] as if it had happened that very day. (38)
However
unthinkable
it might be for an impure soul, it is not that astonishing that even
Aghâsura was liberated from all contamination and [with the light
of his soul] could merge with the Supersoul. All he had to do was to
associate but for a moment
with the Supreme Creator of a higher and lower existence, when He
assumed the form of a human child. (39) This destination He even grants those who [like
Aghâsura] but once got innerly connected to His form because of a certain state of mind in
relation to His
divinity [thus even being connected in hatred]. What then would that
mean for those in whom He is
ever present as the remover of illusion, as the One who always grants
each and
every soul the realization of transcendental happiness?' "
(40) S'rî
Sûta [see 1: 12-15] said: "He [Parîkchit] who was protected by the God of
the Yadus [Yâdavadeva or Krishna] and who this way oh twice-born
one, heard
about the so very wonderful activities of his savior [see 1.8], thus being fixed in his
consciousness asked the son of Vyâsa for more about these
meritorious deeds. (41) The honorable king said: 'Oh brahmin
how could what
happened in the past, be described as having happened in the present?
How can that be possible? How could what the Lord did at the age of
five years by the boys be described as having occurred at His sixth? (42) Oh great yogi, I am
burning
with
curiosity. Please, explain this incident to me oh
guru, I am certain that it was caused by nothing but the deluding
potency of the Lord [yoga-mâyâ]. (43) In
this
world
oh
teacher, we as a
mundane ruler are most
blessed with the opportunity to always drink
from the nectar of your sacred talks about Krishna.' "
(44) S'rî Sûta said: "When the man
of penance this way was questioned by him, he had completely lost
contact with his
senses the very moment that he
was reminded of the Infinite One.
After with difficulty slowly having regained his external vision, he
answered the Lord's most outstanding, finest adherent."
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