“For two hours Krishna remained like an ordinary child gripped in the coils of Kaliya, but when He saw that all the inhabitants of Gokula—including His mother and father, the gopis, the boys and the cows—were just on the point of death and that they had no shelter for salvation from imminent death, Krishna immediately freed Himself.” (Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Volume 1, Chapter 16)

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It is one of the great memories from your childhood. At the time, you didn’t know better. Why were the parents always enforcing a strict bedtime? Just what exactly took place in the subsequent hours? Just what was airing on television that the parents saw the need to remove the children from the scene? Why do only the big people get to have fun? There was one exception, though, and it happened to occur on Saturday nights, every few months.

That was the time that the regularly scheduled programming was interrupted to bring the viewers a special airing of professional wrestling. That one character that was all the buzz but who never got airtime on the syndicated weekly program? They would be the headline match. They would defend the championship belt against the latest challenger. It was billed as a live match, occurring at midnight, though in reality the entire program was recorded several months prior.

Your parents let you stay up and watch this, because, well, your father really enjoyed the matches. In the main event, it looked like the hero was about to lose. You were so nervous during these times. Miraculously, the champion would get back up on his feet. He would suddenly become so powerful that nothing could stop him. A few moves later and he got the three count. Crisis averted. The mania could continue; at least until the next match.

Many years would pass until you would finally get confirmation that the entire art form features choreography from start to finish, including the outcome. Those moments that got you really nervous, they are known in the business as “high spots”. It is part of the storytelling. Sometimes, they are also known as “false finishes.” Something dramatic is about to happen, which stands out from the usual exchanging of blows, back and forth. It looks like the outcome will go a certain way, only to have everything turned upside down.

As the material world is but a reflection of the akshara realm, which is unmanifest [avyakta] and endless in its existence [ananta], we can find similarities in the storytelling for the real life events involving the Supreme Personality of Godhead. From time to time He descends to this world, personally and as Himself, full and complete in potency [pūrṇa]. He deals with the miscreants and attempts to reestablish order and civility, to help the saintly class, the sadhus, continue with doing good for both themselves and society at large.

परित्राणाय साधूनां
विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्
धर्म-संस्थापनार्थाय
सम्भवामि युगे युगे

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ
vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām
dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya
sambhavāmi yuge yuge

“In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.8)

In the lila of Krishna there are plenty of dramatic moments. As we find people today who are quick to dismiss the idea of Divinity and confident in boldly insisting on the lack of a central controlling authority presiding over the universe, so in Mathura, Gokula, and Vrindavana long ago there were people against Krishna and what was predicted for a particular ruler. King Kamsa was against Vishnu, which is one name for God. Kamsa was also against worship of Vishnu. He took the atheistic tendency to the extreme by trying to stamp out the devotional culture that is known as dharma. When the embodiment of dharma happened to appear in this world, as foretold by a voice in the sky, Kamsa enlisted the help of a series of challengers. Their job was to take out the champion, who happened to be a beautiful young boy of bluish complexion.

1. Putana feeding milk

She was a witch who could change her shape at will. Of all the platforms to which a person might strive to ascend, Putana happened to be an expert at eliminating infants. As if that should be a difficult task, but in this case she prepared by smearing poison on her breast. She would simply offer to feed the baby Krishna and Kamsa’s work would be done.

The first obstacle is entering the arena. Who would allow a witch anywhere near their child? Putana could change her shape at will, and so she happened to give the visual of a goddess. This removed any suspicion as she entered the place where Krishna happened to be. She managed to reach the exact point she wanted. The baby latching onto her breast was like the finishing move.

“She was glancing at everyone with very attractive looks and smiling face, and all the residents of Vrindavana were captivated. The innocent cowherd women thought that she was a goddess of fortune appearing in Vrindavana with a lotus flower in her hand. It seemed to them that she had personally come to see Krishna, who is her husband. Because of her exquisite beauty, no one checked her movement, and therefore she freely entered the house of Nanda Maharaja.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Volume 1, Chapter 6)

Of course, this wasn’t the end for Krishna. The darling child of Yashoda decided to play along. He chose to suck the very life out of Putana. When the end drew near, she could no longer maintain the ruse. Her true and hideous form revealed itself. She became giant in size and then crashed to the ground, as her life ran out.

2. Trinavarta in the sky

This asura could take the shape of a whirlwind. The high-spot in this case had a literal meaning, as Trinavarta took baby Krishna high into the air. Gravity would take care of the rest. It should have been child’s play. It was in a sense, but for the child. Krishna suddenly changed His mass. Krishna became too heavy for Trinavarta to hold up in the air. The demon completely lost control. His planned finishing move happened to work exactly in the opposite way. It was Trinavarta who fell to the ground and died.

3. Aghasura opening his mouth

This demon could also change his shape. Notice a pattern yet? Changing shapes at will is not necessarily something good people strive for. To show off some black magic is not a sign of advancement, either. Rather, if the inimical spirit towards transcendence remains, then the enhanced abilities accelerate the regression.

Aghasura took the shape of a large python. The python opening its mouth gave the visual of a cave. It was false, of course, but that was the trick. Krishna’s friends and favorite animals would enter that cave. Krishna would follow behind them. Aghasura would then eat them all.

It looked like it was working. The match was practically over. Everyone was in the clutches of the fumes of agha, which literally refers to sin. But Krishna is the supreme pure, and so He was not affected by the association. He happened to expand His size while inside of the python. This was too much for Aghasura to take. The demon could not escape. After Aghasura died, Krishna managed to revive His friends and the children of the cows.

तेनैव सर्वेषु बहिर्गतेषु
प्राणेषु वत्सान् सुहृद: परेतान्
द‍ृष्टय‍ा स्वयोत्थाप्य तदन्वित: पुन-
र्वक्त्रान्मुकुन्दो भगवान् विनिर्ययौ

tenaiva sarveṣu bahir gateṣu
prāṇeṣu vatsān suhṛdaḥ paretān
dṛṣṭyā svayotthāpya tad-anvitaḥ punar
vaktrān mukundo bhagavān viniryayau

“When all the demon’s life air had passed away through that hole in the top of his head, Krishna glanced over the dead calves and cowherd boys and brought them back to life. Then Mukunda, who can give one liberation, came out from the demon’s mouth with His friends and the calves.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.12.32)

4. Kaliya tightening its grip

Another tale involving poison, this time the water of the Yamuna River became contaminated. Krishna knew what was going on. He decided to jump into the water to tackle the problem directly. Kaliya was a powerful serpent. It should have been easy for him to deal with a young child. Krishna looked to be in trouble. He was ensnared in the grip of Kaliya. The people of the community were watching in horror. They could not believe what was happening. Only Krishna’s elder brother Balarama was confident.

The turnaround from this danger resulted in Krishna in the highest spot, playfully dancing on Kaliya’s hoods. The serpent was really struggling. He was only spared due to the heartfelt prayers for clemency from his wives, who are known as the Nagapatnis. Krishna was kind enough to leave footprints on the hoods, which allowed Kaliya to return to a previously unsafe area. The eagle known as Garuda would see those sacred footprints and know not to attack.

5. Devastating rain befalls Govardhana

We might be surprised to learn that sometimes even the gods succumb to envy. Though someone like Indra should know better, though Vishnu is always favoring him, the slightest offense can trigger the worst in people. Indra retaliated against the innocent villagers of Vrindavana by sending torrential rain. This was the payback for the people skipping the Indra-yajna. You see, they worshiped Govardhana Hill, instead. This was at the suggestion of Krishna Himself.

With so much rain, dropped from the samvartaka cloud, it sure looked like the end. What recourse did the people have? They were not prepared. They had just worshiped Govardhana with devotion, bliss, and happiness. They even received personal confirmation of the satisfaction of the hill. Now it looked to be a giant mistake; a case of misplaced trust.

Krishna turned the situation around by uprooting that very hill. He held Govardhana up to serve as protection, in the literal sense. The symbolic meaning is also obvious. If you have Krishna protecting you, no one can interfere in the devotion. Not even if they have the power of devastation at their disposal, used to target innocent people.

In Closing:

Flabbergasted at even the proposal,
Now to use cloud at his disposal.

For the most rain to fall,
Failure that puja to call.

Because then instantly washed away,
Punishment for following Krishna’s way.

But in an instant that very hill taking,
And umbrella for His friends making.

Categories: the five

Tags: dailyprompt, krishna lila, poem, poems, poetry, stories