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KB 1970-1-11 / Killing the Demons Vatsasura and Bakasura
11 / Killing the Demons Vatsasura and Bakasura
When the twin arjuna trees fell to the ground, making a sound
like the falling of thunderbolts, all the inhabitants of Gokula,
including Nanda Maharaja, immediately came to the spot. They
were very much astonished to see how the two great trees had
suddenly fallen. Because they could find no reason for their
falling down, they were puzzled. When they saw child Krsna
bound up to the wooden mortar by the ropes of Yasoda,
they began to think that it must have been caused by some
demon. Otherwise, how was it possible? At the same time, they
were very much perturbed because such uncommon incidences were
always happening to the child Krsna. While the elderly cowherd
men were thus contemplating, the small children who were
playing there informed the men that the trees fell due
to Krsna's pulling the wooden mortar with the ropes to
which He was bound. "Krsna came in between the two trees,"
they explained, "and the wooden mortar was topsy-turvied and
stuck in between the trees. Krsna began to pull the rope, and
the trees fell down. When the trees fell down, two very
dazzling men came out of the trees, and they began to
talk to Krsna."
Most of the cowherd men did not believe the statement of the
children. They could not believe that such things were at all
possible. Some of the them, however, believed them and told
Nanda Maharaja, "Your child is different from all other
children. He just might have done it." Nanda Maharaja began to
smile, hearing about the extraordinary abilities of his son. He
came forward and untied the knot just to free his wonderful
child. After being freed by Nanda Maharaja, Krsna was taken
onto the laps of the elderly gopis. They took Him away to the
courtyard of the house and began to clap, praising His
wonderful activities. Krsna began to clap along with them
, just like an ordinary child. The Supreme Lord Krsna,
being completely controlled by the gopis, began to sing and
dance, just like a puppet in their hands.
Sometimes mother Yasoda used to ask Krsna to bring her a wooden
plank for sitting. Although the wooden plank was too heavy to
be carried by a child, still somehow or other Krsna would bring
it to His mother. Sometimes while worshiping
Narayana, His father would ask Him to bring his wooden slippers,
and Krsna, with great difficulty, would put the slippers on
His head and bring them to His father. When He was asked to
lift some heavy article and was unable to lift it, He would
simply move His arms. In this way, daily, at every moment, He
was the reservoir of all pleasure to His parents. The Lord was
exhibiting such childish ativities before the inhabitants of
Vrndavana because He wanted to show the great philosophers and
sages searching after the Absolute Truth how the Supreme
Absolute Truth Personality of Godhead is controlled by and
subject to the desires of His pure devotees.
One day, a fruit vendor came before the house of Nanda Maharaja.
Upon hearing the vendor call, "If anyone wants fruits please
come and take them from me!" child Krsna immediately took some
grains in His palm and went to get fruits in exchange. In
those days exchange was by barter; therefore Krsna might have
seen His parents exchange fruits and other things by bartering
grains, and so He imitated. But His palms were very small, and
He was not very careful to hold them tight, so He was
dropping the grains. The vendor who came to sell fruits saw
this and was very much captivated by the beauty of the Lord, so
he immediately accepted whatever few grains were left in His
palm and filled His hands with fruits. In the meantime, the
vendor saw that his whole basket of fruit had become filled
with jewels. The Lord is the bestower of all benediction. If
someone gives something to the Lord, he is not the loser; he is
the gainer by a million times.
One day Lord Krsna, the liberator of the twin arjuna trees, was
playing with Balarama and the other children on the bank of the
Yamuna, and because it was already late in the morning, Rohini,
the mother of Balarama, went to call them back home. But
Balarama and Krsna were so engrossed in playing with Their
friends that They did not wish to come back; They just engaged
Themselves in playing more and more. When Rohini was unable to
take Them back home, she went home and sent mother Yasoda to
call Them again. Mother Yasoda was so affectionate toward her
son that as soon as she came out to call Him back home, her
breast filled up with milk. She loudly cried, "My dear child,
please come back home. Your time for lunch is already past."
She then said, "My dear Krsna, O my dear lotus-eyed child,
please come and suck my breast. You have played enough. You
must be very hungry, my dear little child. You must be tired
from playing for so long." She also addressed Balarama thus: "
My dear, the glory of Your family, please
come back with Your younger brother Krsna immediately. You have
been engaged in playing since morning, and You must be
very tired. Please come back and take Your lunch at home. Your
father Nandaraja is waiting for You. He has to eat, so You must
come back so that he can eat."
As soon as Krsna and Balarama heard that Nanda Maharaja was
waiting for Them and could not take his food in Their absence,
They started to return. Their other playmates complained, "
Krsna is leaving us just at the point when our playing is at
the summit. Next time we shall not allow Him to leave."
His playmates then threatened not to allow Him to play with
them again. Krsna became afraid, and instead of going back home,
He went back again to play with the boys. At that time, mother
Yasoda scolded the children and told Krsna, "My dear Krsna, do
You think that You are a street boy? You have no home? Please
come back to Your home! I see that Your body has become very
dirty from playing since early morning. Now come home and take
Your bath. Besides, today is Your birthday ceremony; therefore
You should come back home and give cows in charity to the
brahmanas. Don't You see how Your playmates are decorated with
ornaments by their mothers? You should also be cleansed and
decorated with nice dress and ornaments. Please, therefore,
come back, take Your bath, dress Yourself nicely, and then
again You may go on playing."
In this way mother Yasoda called back Lord Krsna and Balarama
who are worshipable by great demigods like Lord Brahma and Lord
Siva. She was thinking of Them as her children.
When mother Yasoda's children, Krsna and Balarama, came home,
she bathed Them very nicely and dressed Them with ornaments.
She then called for the brahmanas, and through her children she
gave many cows in charity for the occasion of Krsna's birthday.
In this way she performed the birthday ceremony of Krsna at
home.
After this incident, all the elderly members of the cowherd men
assembled together, and Nanda Maharaja presided. They began to
consult amongst themselves how to stop great disturbances
in the Mahavana on account of the demons. In this meeting,
Upananda, brother of Nanda Maharaja, was present. He was
considered to be learned and experienced, and he was a well-
wisher of Krsna and Balarama. He was a leader, and he began
to address the meeting as follows: "My dear friends! Now we
should leave here for another place because we are continually
finding that great demons are coming here to disturb the
peaceful situation, and they are especially attempting to kill
the small children. Just consider Putana and Krsna. It was
simply by the grace of Lord Hari that Krsna was saved from the
hands of such a great demon. Next the whirlwind demon took
Krsna away in the sky, but by the grace of Lord Hari He was
saved, and the demon fell down on a stone slab and died. Very
recently, this child was playing between two trees, and the
trees fell down violently, and yet there was no injury to the
child. So Lord Hari saved Him again. Just imagine the calamity
if this child or any other child playing with Him were crushed
by the falling trees! Considering all these incidences, we must
conclude that this place is no longer safe. Let us leave. We
have all been saved from different calamities by the grace of
Lord Hari. Now we should be cautious and leave this place and
reside somewhere where we can live peacefully. I think that we
should all go to the forest known as Vrndavana, where just now
there are newly grown plants and herbs. It is very suitable for
pasturing ground for our cows, and we and our families, the
gopis with their children, can very peacefully live there. Near
Vrndavana there is Govardhana Hill, which is very beautiful,
and there is newly grown grass and fodder for the animals, so
there will be no difficulty in living there. I therefore
suggest that we start immediately for that beautiful place, as
there is no need to waste any more time. Let us prepare all our
carts immediately, and, if you like, let us go, keeping all the
cows in front."
On hearing the statement of Upananda, all the cowherd men
immediately agreed. "Let us immediately go there." Everyone
then loaded all their household furniture and utensils on the
carts and prepared to go to Vrndavana. All the
old men of the village, the children and women were
arranged on seats, and the cowherd men equipped themselves with
bows and arrows to follow the carts. All the cows and bulls
along with their calves were placed in the front, and the
men surrounded the flocks with their bows and arrows
and began to blow on their horns
and bugles. In this way, with tumultuous sound, they started
for Vrndavana.
And who can describe the damsels of Vraja? They were all seated
on the carts and were very beautifully dressed with ornaments
and costly saris. They began to chant the pastimes of child
Krsna as usual. Mother Yasoda and mother Rohini were seated on
a separate cart, and Krsna and Balarama were seated on their
laps. While mother Rohini and Yasoda were riding on the cart,
they talked to Krsna and Balarama, and feeling the pleasure of
such talks, they looked very, very beautiful.
In this way, after reaching Vrndavana, where everyone lives
eternally, very peacefully and happily, they encircled
Vrndavana and kept the carts all together
. After
seeing the beautiful appearance of
Govardhana on the bank of the river Yamuna, they began
to construct their places of residence. While those
of the same age were walking together
and children were talking with their parents,
the inhabitants of Vrndavana felt very happy.
At this time Krsna and Balarama were
given charge of the calves. The first responsibility
of the cowherd boys was to take care of
the little calves. The boys are trained in this
from the very beginning of their childhood. So along
with other little cowherd boys, Krsna and Balarama went
into the pasturing ground and took charge of the calves and
played with Their playmates. While taking charge of
the calves, sometimes the two brothers played on Their flutes.
And sometimes They played with amalaki fruits and bael fruits,
just like small children play with balls. Sometimes They danced
and made tinkling sounds with Their ankle bells. Sometimes They
made Themselves into bulls and cows by covering Themselves with
blankets. Thus Krsna and Balarama played. The two brothers also
used to imitate the sounds of bulls and cows and play at
bullfighting. Sometimes They used to imitate the sounds
of various animals and birds. In this way, They enjoyed Their
childhood pastimes apparently like ordinary, mundane children.
Once, when Krsna and Balarama were playing on the bank of the
Yamuna, a demon of the name Vatsasura assumed the shape of a
calf and came there intending to kill the brothers. By taking
the shape of a calf, the demon could mingle with other
calves. Krsna, however, specifically noticed this, and He
immediately told Balarama about the entrance of the demon.
Both brothers then followed him and sneaked up upon him.
Krsna caught hold of the demon-calf by the two hind legs and
tail, whipped him around very forcibly and threw him up into a
tree. The demon lost his life and fell down from the top of the
tree to the ground. When the demon lay dead on the ground, all
the playmates of Krsna congratulated Him, "Well done, well done,
" and the demigods in the sky began to shower flowers with
great satisfaction. In this way, the maintainers of the
complete creation, Krsna and Balarama, used to take care of the
calves in the morning every day, and thus
They enjoyed Their childhood pastimes as cowherd boys in
Vrndavana.
All the cowherd boys would daily go to the bank of the
River Yamuna to water their calves. Usually, when the calves
drank water from the Yamuna, the boys also drank. One day,
after drinking, when they were sitting on the bank of the river,
they saw a huge animal which looked something like a duck and
was as big as a hill. Its top was as strong as a thunderbolt.
When they saw that unusual animal, they became afraid of it.
The name of this beast was Bakasura, and he was a friend of
Kamsa's. He appeared on the scene suddenly and immediately
attacked Krsna with his pointed, sharp beaks and quickly
swallowed Him up. When Krsna was thus swallowed, all the boys,
headed by Balarama, became almost breathless, as if they had
died. But when the Bakasura demon was swallowing up Krsna, he
felt a burning fiery sensation in his throat. This was due to
the glowing effulgence of Krsna. The demon quickly threw Krsna
up and tried to kill Him by pinching Him in his beaks. Bakasura
did not know that although Krsna was playing the part of a
child of Nanda Maharaja, He was still the original father of
Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe. The child of
mother Yasoda, who is the reservoir of pleasure for the
demigods and who is the maintainer of saintly persons, caught
hold of the beaks of the great gigantic
duck and, before His cowherd boy friends, bifurcated his
mouth, just as a child very easily splits a blade of grass.
From the sky, the denizens of the heavenly planets showered
flowers like the cameli, the most fragrant of all flowers, as
a token of their congratulations. Accompanying the showers of
flowers was a vibration of bugles, drums and conchshells.
When the boys saw the showering of flowers and heard the
celestial sounds, they became struck with wonder. When
they saw Krsna, they
all, including Balarama, were so pleased that
it seemed as if they had regained their very source of life. As
soon as they saw Krsna coming towards them, they one after
another embraced the son of Nanda and held Him to their chests.
After this, they assembled all the calves under their charge
and began to return home.
When they arrived home, they began to speak of the wonderful
activities of the son of Nanda. When the gopis and cowherd men
all heard the story from the boys, they felt great happiness
because naturally they loved Krsna, and hearing about His
glories and victorious activities, they became still more
affectionate toward Him. Thinking that the child Krsna was
saved from the mouth of death, they began to see His face
with great love and affection. They were full of anxieties, but
they could not turn their faces from the vision of Krsna. The
gopis and the men began to converse amongst themselves about
how the child Krsna was attacked in so
many ways and so many times by so many demons, and yet the
demons were killed and Krsna was
uninjured. They continued to converse amongst themselves about
how so many great demons in such fierce bodies attacked
Krsna to kill Him, but by the grace of Hari, they could not
cause even a slight injury. Rather, they died
like small flies in a fire. Thus they remembered the words of
Gargamuni who foretold, by dint of his vast knowledge
of the Vedas and astrology, that this boy would be attacked by
many demons. Now they actually saw that this was coming
true, word for word.
All the elderly cowherd men, including Nanda Maharaja, used to
talk of the wonderful activities of Lord Krsna and Balarama,
and they were always so much absorbed in those talks that they
forgot the threefold miseries of this material existence. This
is the effect of Krsna consciousness. What was enjoyed 5,000
years ago by Nanda Maharaja can still be enjoyed by
persons who are in Krsna consciousness simply by
talking about the transcendental pastimes of Krsna and His
associates.
Thus both Balarama and Krsna enjoyed Their childhood pastimes,
imitating the monkeys of Lord Ramacandra who
constructed the bridge over the ocean and Hanuman, who jumped
over the water to Ceylon. And They used to imitate such
pastimes among Their friends and so happily passed Their
childhood life.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Eleventh Chapter of
Krsna, "Killing the Demons Vatsasura and Bakasura."
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KB 11: Killing the Demons Vatsasura and Bakasura
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Killing the Demons Vatsasura and Bakasura
When the twin arjuna trees fell to the ground, making a sound
like the falling of thunderbolts, all the inhabitants of Gokula,
including Nanda Maharaja, immediately came to the spot. They
were very much astonished to see how the two great trees had
suddenly fallen. Because they could find no reason for their
falling down, they were puzzled. When they saw child Krsna
bound up to the wooden mortar by the ropes of Mother Yasoda,
they thought that it must have been caused by some
demon. Otherwise, how was it possible? At the same time, they
were very much perturbed because such uncommon incidents were
always happening to child Krsna. While the cowherd
men were thus contemplating, the small children who were
playing there informed the men that the trees had fallen
because Krsna had pulled the wooden mortar with the rope
binding Him. "Krsna came in between the two trees,"
they explained, "and the wooden mortar was topsy-turvied and
stuck in between the trees. Krsna pulled the rope, and
the trees fell down. When the trees fell down, two very
dazzling men came out of the trees, and they said something
to Krsna."
Most of the cowherd men did not believe the statement of the
children. They could not believe that such things were at all
possible. Some of the men, however, believed them and told
Nanda Maharaja, "Your child is different from all other
children. He just might have done it." Nanda Maharaja smiled to
hear about the extraordinary abilities of his son. He
came forward and untied the knot just to free his wonderful
child. After being freed by Nanda Maharaja, Krsna was taken
onto the laps of the elder gopis. They took Him away to the
courtyard of the house and began to clap, praising His
wonderful activities. Krsna danced along with their
clapping, just like an ordinary child. The Supreme Lord Krsna,
being completely controlled by the gopis, sang and
danced just like a puppet in their hands.
Sometimes Mother Yasoda used to ask Krsna to bring her a wooden
plank for sitting. Although the wooden plank was too heavy to
be carried by a child, still somehow or other Krsna would bring
it to His mother. Sometimes His father, while worshiping
Narayana, would ask Him to bring his wooden slippers,
and Krsna, with great difficulty, would put the slippers on
His head and bring them to His father. When He was asked to
lift some heavy article and was unable to lift it, He would
simply move His arms. In this way, daily, at every moment, He
was the reservoir of all pleasure for His parents. The Lord was
exhibiting such childish dealings with the inhabitants of
Vrndavana because He wanted to show the great philosophers and
sages searching after the Absolute Truth how the Supreme
Absolute Truth Personality of Godhead is controlled by and
subject to the desires of His pure devotees.
One day, a fruit vendor came before the house of Nanda Maharaja.
Upon hearing the vendor call, "If anyone wants fruits, please
come and take them from me!" child Krsna immediately took some
grains in His palms and went to get fruits in exchange. In
those days exchange was by barter; therefore Krsna might have
seen His parents acquire fruits and other things by bartering
grain, and so He imitated. But His palms were very small, and
He was not very careful to hold the grains tight, so He was
dropping them. The vendor who came to sell fruits saw
this and was very much captivated by the beauty of the Lord, so
she immediately accepted whatever few grains were left in His
palms and filled His hands with fruits. In the meantime, the
vendor saw that her whole basket of fruit had become filled
with jewels. The Lord is the bestower of all benedictions. If
someone gives something to the Lord, he is not the loser; he is
the gainer by a million times.
One day Lord Krsna, the liberator of the twin arjuna trees, was
playing with Balarama and the other children on the bank of the
Yamuna, and because it was already late in the morning, Rohini,
the mother of Balarama, went to call them back home. But
Balarama and Krsna were so engrossed in playing with Their
friends that They did not wish to go back; They just engaged
Themselves in playing more and more. When Rohini was unable to
take Them back home, she went home and sent Mother Yasoda to
call Them again. Mother Yasoda was so affectionate toward her
son that as soon as she came out to call Him back home, her
breasts filled up with milk. She loudly cried, "My dear child,
please come back home. Your time for lunch is already past."
She then said, "My dear Krsna, O my dear lotus-eyed child,
please come and suck my breast. You have played enough. You
must be very hungry, my dear little child. You must be tired
from playing for so long." She also addressed Balarama thus: "
My dear Rama, the glory of Your family, my dear child, please
come back with Your younger brother Krsna immediately. You have
been engaged in playing since early morning, and You must be
very tired. Please come back and take Your lunch at home. Your
father Nandaraja is waiting for You. He has to eat, so You must
come back so that he can eat."
As soon as Krsna and Balarama heard that Nanda Maharaja was
waiting for Them and could not take his food in Their absence,
They started to return. Their playmates complained, "
Krsna is leaving us just at the point when our playing is at
the summit. Next time we shall not allow Him to leave."
His playmates then threatened not to allow Him to play with
them again. Krsna became afraid, and instead of going back home,
He went back again to play with the boys. At that time, Mother
Yasoda scolded the children and told Krsna, "My dear Krsna, do
You think that You are a street boy? You have no home? Please
come back to Your home! I see that Your body has become very
dirty from playing since early morning. Now come home and take
Your bath. Besides, today is Your birthday ceremony; therefore
You should come back home and give cows in charity to the
brahmanas. Don't You see how Your playmates are decorated with
ornaments by their mothers? You should also be cleansed and
decorated with nice dress and ornaments. Please, therefore,
come back, take Your bath, dress Yourself nicely, and then
again You may go on playing."
In this way Mother Yasoda called back Lord Krsna and Balarama,
who are worshipable by great demigods like Lord Brahma and Lord
Siva. She was thinking of Them as her children.
When Mother Yasoda's children, Krsna and Balarama, came home,
she bathed Them very nicely and dressed Them with ornaments.
She then called for the brahmanas, and through her children she
gave many cows in charity for the occasion of Krsna's birthday.
In this way she performed the birthday ceremony of Krsna at
home.
After this incident, all the elder cowherd men
assembled together, and Nanda Maharaja presided. They began to
consult amongst themselves how to stop the great disturbances
in Mahavana on account of the demons. In this meeting,
Upananda, the brother of Nanda Maharaja, was present. He was
considered to be learned and experienced, and he was a well-
wisher of Krsna and Balarama. He was a leader, and he addressed
the meeting as follows: "My dear friends! Now we
should leave here for another place because we are continually
finding that great demons are coming here to disturb the
peaceful situation, and they are especially attempting to kill
the small children. Just consider Putana and Krsna. It was
simply by the grace of Lord Hari that Krsna was saved from the
hands of such a great demon. Next the whirlwind demon took
Krsna away into the sky, but by the grace of Lord Hari He was
saved, and the demon fell down on a stone slab and died. Very
recently, this child was playing between two trees, and the
trees fell down violently, and yet there was no injury to the
child. So Lord Hari saved Him again. Just imagine the calamity
if this child or any other child playing with Him were crushed
by the falling trees! Considering all these incidents, we must
conclude that this place is no longer safe. Let us leave. We
have all been saved from different calamities by the grace of
Lord Hari. Now we should be cautious and leave this place and
reside somewhere where we can live peacefully. I think that we
should all go to the forest known as Vrndavana, where just now
there are newly grown plants and herbs. It is very suitable for
pasturing ground for our cows, and we and our families, the
gopis with their children, can very peacefully live there. Near
Vrndavana is Govardhana Hill, which is very beautiful,
and there are newly grown grass and fodder for the animals, so
there will be no difficulty in living there. I therefore
suggest that we start immediately for that beautiful place, as
there is no need to waste any more time. Let us prepare all our
carts immediately, and, if you like, let us go, keeping all the
cows in front."
On hearing the statement of Upananda, all the cowherd men
immediately agreed. "Let us immediately go there." Everyone
then loaded all their household furniture and utensils onto the
carts and prepared to go to Vrndavana. All the children, women
and old men of the village were
arranged on seats, and the cowherd men equipped themselves with
bows and arrows to follow the carts. All the cows and bulls
were placed in the front along with
their calves, and the men, with their bows and arrows,
surrounded the herds and carts and began to blow on their horns
and bugles. In this way, with tumultuous sound, they started
for Vrndavana.
And who can describe the damsels of Vraja? They were all seated
on the carts and were very beautifully dressed with ornaments
and costly saris. They chanted the pastimes of child
Krsna as usual. Mother Yasoda and Mother Rohini were seated on
a separate cart, and Krsna and Balarama were seated on their
laps. While Mother Rohini and Yasoda were riding on the cart,
they talked to Krsna and Balarama, and feeling the pleasure of
such talks, they looked very, very beautiful.
In this way, after reaching Vrndavana, where everyone lives
eternally, very peacefully and happily, they encircled
Vrndavana, drew all the carts together in a half circle,
and in this way constructed a temporary residence. When Krsna
and Balarama saw the beautiful appearance of Vrndavana,
Govardhana Hill and the banks of the river Yamuna, They felt
very happy. As They grew up They began
talking with Their parents and others in childish language,
and thus They gave great pleasure to all the
inhabitants of Vrndavana.
Soon Krsna and Balarama had grown sufficiently to be
given charge of the calves. Cowherd boys, from the
very beginning of their childhood, are trained to take care of
the cows, and their first responsibility
is to take care of the little calves. So along
with the other little cowherd boys, Krsna and Balarama went
into the pasturing ground and took charge of the calves, and
there They played with Their playmates. While taking charge of
the calves, sometimes the two brothers played on Their flutes.
And sometimes They played with amalaka fruits and bael fruits,
just as small children play with balls. Sometimes They danced
and made tinkling sounds with Their ankle bells. Sometimes They
made Themselves into bulls and cows by covering Themselves with
blankets. Thus Krsna and Balarama played. The two brothers also
used to imitate the sounds of bulls and cows and play like two
bulls fighting. Sometimes They used to imitate the sounds
of various animals and birds. In this way, They enjoyed Their
childhood pastimes apparently like ordinary, mundane children.
Once, when Krsna and Balarama were playing on the bank of the
Yamuna, a demon of the name Vatsasura assumed the shape of a
calf and came there intending to kill the brothers. By taking
the shape of a calf, the demon could mingle with the other
calves. Krsna, however, specifically noticed this, and He
immediately alerted Balarama about the entrance of the demon.
Both brothers then silently approached him.
Krsna caught hold of the demon-calf by the two hind legs and
tail, whipped him around very forcibly and threw him up into a
tree. The demon lost his life and fell down from the top of the
tree to the ground. When the demon lay dead on the ground, all
the playmates of Krsna congratulated Him, "Well done! Well done!
" and the demigods in the sky showered flowers with
great satisfaction. In this way, the maintainers of the
complete creation, Krsna and Balarama, used to take care of the
calves every day, beginning in the morning, and thus
They enjoyed Their childhood pastimes as cowherd boys in
Vrndavana.
One day, all the cowherd boys went to the bank of the
river Yamuna to water their calves. When the calves
drank water from the Yamuna, the boys also drank. After
drinking, when they were sitting on the bank of the river,
they saw a huge animal which looked something like a heron and
was as big as a hill. Its top was as strong as a thunderbolt.
When they saw that unusual animal, they became afraid of it.
The name of this beast was Bakasura, and he was a friend of
Kamsa's. He appeared on the scene suddenly and immediately
attacked Krsna with his pointed, sharp beak and quickly
swallowed Him up. When Krsna was thus swallowed, all the boys,
headed by Balarama, became almost breathless, as if they had
died. But when the Bakasura demon was swallowing up Krsna, he
felt a burning, fiery sensation in his throat. This was due to
the glowing effulgence of Krsna. The demon quickly threw Krsna
up and tried to kill Him by pinching Him in his beak. Bakasura
did not know that although Krsna was playing the part of a
child of Nanda Maharaja, He was still the original father of
Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe. Mother
Yasoda's child, who is the reservoir of pleasure for the
demigods and who is the maintainer of saintly persons, caught
hold of the great gigantic heron by the two halves of his
beak and, before His cowherd boyfriends, bifurcated his
mouth, just as a child very easily splits a blade of grass.
From the sky, the denizens of the heavenly planets showered
flowers like the mallika, the most fragrant of all flowers, as
a token of their congratulations. Accompanying the showers of
flowers was a vibration of bugles, drums and conchshells.
When the boys saw the showering of flowers and heard the
celestial sounds, they became struck with wonder. And when
they saw Krsna freed from the mouth of the great demon
Bakasura, all of them, including Balarama, were so pleased that
it seemed as if they had regained their very source of life. As
soon as they saw Krsna coming toward them, they one after
another embraced the son of Nanda and held Him to their chests.
After this, they assembled all the calves under their charge
and began to return home.
When they arrived home, they spoke of the wonderful
activities of the son of Nanda. When the gopis and cowherd men
all heard the story from the boys, they felt great happiness
because naturally they loved Krsna, and by hearing about His
glories and victorious activities they became still more
affectionate toward Him. Thinking that child Krsna had been
saved from the mouth of death, they looked upon His face
with great love and affection. They were full of anxiety
and could not turn their faces from the vision of Krsna. The
gopis and the men began to converse amongst themselves about
how wonderful it was that child Krsna had been attacked in so
many ways and so many times by so many demons, and yet the
demons themselves had been killed and Krsna had remained
uninjured. They continued to converse amongst themselves about
how so many great demons in such fierce bodies had attacked
Krsna to kill Him but, by the grace of Hari, had not
been able to cause even a slight injury. Rather, they had died
like small flies in a fire. Thus they remembered the words of
Garga Muni, who had foretold, by dint of his vast knowledge
of the Vedas and astrology, that this boy would be attacked by
many demons. Now they were actually seeing that this was coming
true, word for word.
All the cowherd men, including Nanda Maharaja, used to
talk of the wonderful activities of Lord Krsna and Balarama,
and they were always so much absorbed in those talks that they
forgot the threefold miseries of this material existence. This
is the effect of Krsna consciousness. What was enjoyed five
thousand years ago by Nanda Maharaja can still be enjoyed by
Krsna conscious persons simply by
talking about the transcendental pastimes of Krsna and His
associates.
Thus Balarama and Krsna enjoyed Their childhood pastimes,
imitating Lord Ramacandra's monkeys, who
constructed the bridge over the ocean, and Hanuman, who jumped
over the water to Ceylon. They used to imitate such
pastimes among Their friends and so happily passed Their
childhood life.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Eleventh Chapter of
Krsna, "Killing the Demons Vatsasura and Bakasura."
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