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aho—alas; baki—the she-demon (Putana); yam—whom; stana—of her breast; kala—deadly; kutam—poison; jighamsaya—out of envy; apayayat—nourished; api—although; asadhvi—unfaithful; lebhe—achieved; gatim—destination; dhatri-ucitam—just suitable for the nurse; tatah—beyond whom; anyam—other; kam—who else; va—certainly; dayalum—merciful; saranam—shelter; vrajema—shall I take.

Alas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He who granted the position of mother to a she-demon [Putana] although she was unfaithful and she prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her breast?

Here is an example of the extreme mercy of the Lord, even to His enemy. It is said that a noble man accepts the good qualities of a person of doubtful character, just as one accepts nectar from a stock of poison. In His babyhood, He was administered deadly poison by Putana, a she-demon who tried to kill the wonderful baby. And because she was a demon, it was impossible for her to know that the Supreme Lord, even though playing the part of a baby, was no one less than the same Supreme Personality of Godhead. His value as the Supreme Lord did not diminish upon His becoming a baby to please His devotee Yasoda. The Lord may assume the form of a baby or a shape other than that of a human being, but it doesn’t make the slightest difference; He is always the same Supreme. A living creature, however powerful he may become by dint of severe penance, can never become equal to the Supreme Lord.

Lord Krsna accepted the motherhood of Putana because she pretended to be an affectionate mother, allowing Krsna to suck her breast. The Lord accepts the least qualification of the living entity and awards him the highest reward. That is the standard of His character. Therefore, who but the Lord can be the ultimate shelter?

SB3.2.24

TEXT 24

manye ’suran bhagavatams tryadhise

samrambha-margabhinivista-cittan

ye samyuge ’caksata tarksya-putram

amse sunabhayudham apatantam

manye—I think; asuran—the demons; bhagavatan—great devotees; tri-adhise—unto the Lord of the threes; samrambha—enmity; marga—by the way of; abhinivista-cittan—absorbed in thought; ye—those; samyuge—in the fight; acaksata—could see; tarksya-putram—Garuda, the carrier of the Lord; amse—on the shoulder; sunabha—the wheel; ayudham—one who carries the weapon; apatantam—coming forward.

I consider the demons, who are inimical toward the Lord, to be more than the devotees because while fighting with the Lord, absorbed in thoughts of enmity, they are able to see the Lord carried on the shoulder of Garuda, the son of Tarksya [Kasyapa], and carrying the wheel weapon in His hand.

The asuras who fought against the Lord face to face got salvation due to their being killed by the Lord. This salvation of the demons is not due to their being devotees of the Lord; it is because of the Lord’s causeless mercy. Anyone who is slightly in touch with the Lord, somehow or other, is greatly benefited, even to the point of salvation, due to the excellence of the Lord. He is so kind that He awards salvation even to His enemies because they come into contact with Him and are indirectly absorbed in Him by their inimical thoughts. Actually, the demons can never be equal to the pure devotees, but Uddhava was thinking in that way because of his feelings of separation. He was thinking that at the last stage of his life he might not be able to see the Lord face to face as did the demons. The fact is that the devotees who are always engaged in the devotional service of the Lord in transcendental love are rewarded many hundreds and thousands of times more than the demons by being elevated to the spiritual planets, where they remain with the Lord in eternal, blissful existence. The demons and impersonalists are awarded the facility of merging in the brahmajyoti effulgence of the Lord, whereas the devotees are admitted into the spiritual planets. For comparison, one can just imagine the difference between floating in space and residing in one of the planets in the sky. The pleasure of the living entities on the planets is greater than that of those who have no body and who merge with the molecules of the sun’s rays. The impersonalists, therefore, are no more favored than the enemies of the Lord; rather, they are both on the same level of spiritual salvation.

SB3.2.25

TEXT 25

vasudevasya devakyam

jato bhojendra-bandhane

cikirsur bhagavan asyah

sam ajenabhiyacitah

vasudevasya—of the wife of Vasudeva; devakyam—in the womb of Devaki; jatah—born of; bhoja-indra—of the King of the Bhojas; bandhane—in the prison house; cikirsuh—for doing; bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; asyah—of the earth; sam—welfare; ajena—by Brahma; abhiyacitah—being prayed for.

The Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna, being prayed to by Brahma to bring welfare to the earth, was begotten by Vasudeva in the womb of his wife Devaki in the prison of the King of Bhoja.

Although there is no difference between the Lord’s pastimes of appearance and disappearance, the devotees of the Lord do not generally discuss the subject matter of His disappearance. Vidura inquired indirectly from Uddhava about the incident of the Lord’s disappearance by asking him to relate krsna-katha, or topics on the history of Lord Krsna. Thus Uddhava began the topics from the very beginning of His appearance as the son of Vasudeva and Devaki in the prison of Kamsa, the King of the Bhojas, at Mathura. The Lord has no business in this world, but when He is so requested by devotees like Brahma, He descends on the earth for the welfare of the entire universe. This is stated in Bhagavad-gita (4.8): paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam/ dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge.

SB3.2.26

TEXT 26

tato nanda-vrajam itah

pitra kamsad vibibhyata

ekadasa samas tatra

gudharcih sa-balo ’vasat

tatah—thereafter; nanda-vrajam—cow pastures of Nanda Maharaja; itah—being brought up; pitra—by His father; kamsat—from Kamsa; vibibhyata—being afraid of; ekadasa—eleven; samah—years; tatra—therein; gudha-arcih—covered fire; sa-balah—with Baladeva; avasat—resided.

Thereafter, His father, being afraid of Kamsa, brought Him to the cow pastures of Maharaja Nanda, and there He lived for eleven years like a covered flame with His elder brother, Baladeva.

There was no necessity of the Lord’s being dispatched to the house of Nanda Maharaja out of fear of Kamsa’s determination to kill Him as soon as He appeared. It is the business of the asuras to try to kill the Supreme Personality of Godhead or to prove by all means that there is no God or that Krsna is an ordinary human being and not God. Lord Krsna is not affected by such determination of men of Kamsa’s class, but in order to play the role of a child He agreed to be carried by His father to the cow pastures of Nanda Maharaja because Vasudeva was afraid of Kamsa. Nanda Maharaja was due to receive Him as his child, and Yasodamayi was also to enjoy the childhood pastimes of the Lord, and therefore to fulfill everyone’s desire, He was carried from Mathura to Vrndavana just after His appearance in the prison house of Kamsa. He lived there for eleven years and completed all His fascinating pastimes of childhood, boyhood and adolescence with His elder brother, Lord Baladeva, His first expansion. Vasudeva’s thought of protecting Krsna from the wrath of Kamsa is part of a transcendental relationship. The Lord enjoys more when someone takes Him as his subordinate son who needs the protection of a father than He does when someone accepts Him as the Supreme Lord. He is the father of everyone, and He protects everyone, but when His devotee takes it for granted that the Lord is to be protected by the devotee’s care, it is a transcendental joy for the Lord. Thus when Vasudeva, out of fear of Kamsa, carried Him to Vrndavana, the Lord enjoyed it; otherwise, He had no fear from Kamsa or anyone else.

SB3.2.27

TEXT 27

parito vatsapair vatsams

carayan vyaharad vibhuh

yamunopavane kujad-

dvija-sankulitanghripe

paritah—surrounded by; vatsapaih—cowherd boys; vatsan—calves; carayan—herding, tending; vyaharat—enjoyed by traveling; vibhuh—the Almighty; yamuna—the Yamuna River; upavane—gardens on the shore; kujat—vibrated by the voice; dvija—the twice-born birds; sankulita—densely situated; anghripe—in the trees.

In His childhood, the Almighty Lord was surrounded by cowherd boys and calves, and thus He traveled on the shore of the Yamuna River, through gardens densely covered with trees and filled with vibrations of chirping birds.

Nanda Maharaja was a landholder for King Kamsa, but because by caste he was a vaisya, a member of the mercantile and agricultural community, he maintained thousands of cows. It is the duty of the vaisyas to give protection to the cows, just as the ksatriyas are to give protection to the human beings. Because the Lord was a child, He was put in charge of the calves with His cowherd boy friends. These cowherd boys were great rsis and yogis in their previous births, and after many such pious births, they gained the association of the Lord and could play with Him on equal terms. Such cowherd boys never cared to know who Krsna was, but they played with Him as a most intimate and lovable friend. They were so fond of the Lord that at night they would only think of the next morning when they would be able to meet the Lord and go together to the forests for cowherding.

The forests on the shore of the Yamuna are all beautiful gardens full of trees of mango, jackfruit, apples, guava, oranges, grapes, berries, palmfruit and so many other plants and fragrant flowers. And because the forest was on the bank of the Yamuna, naturally there were ducks, cranes and peacocks on the branches of the trees. All these trees and birds and beasts were pious living entities born in the transcendental abode of Vrndavana just to give pleasure to the Lord and His eternal associates, the cowherd boys.

While playing like a small child with His associates, the Lord killed many demons, including Aghasura, Bakasura, Pralambasura and Gardabhasura. Although He appeared at Vrndavana just as a boy, He was actually like the covered flames of a fire. As a small particle of fire can kindle a great fire with fuel, so the Lord killed all these great demons, beginning from His babyhood in the house of Nanda Maharaja. The land of Vrndavana, the Lord’s childhood playground, still remains today, and anyone who visits these places enjoys the same transcendental bliss, although the Lord is not physically visible to our imperfect eyes. Lord Caitanya recommended this land of the Lord as identical with the Lord and therefore worshipable by the devotees. This instruction is taken up especially by the followers of Lord Caitanya known as the Gaudiya Vaisnavas. And because the land is identical with the Lord, devotees like Uddhava and Vidura visited these places five thousand years ago in order to have direct contact with the Lord, visible or not visible, Thousands of devotees of the Lord are still wandering in these sacred places of Vrndavana, and all of them are preparing themselves to go back home, back to Godhead.

SB3.2.28

TEXT 28

kaumarim darsayams cestam

preksaniyam vrajaukasam

rudann iva hasan mugdha-

bala-simhavalokanah

kaumarim—just suitable to childhood; darsayan—while showing; cestam—activities; preksaniyam—worthy to be seen; vraja-okasam—by the inhabitants of the land of Vrndavana; rudan—crying; iva—just like; hasan—laughing; mugdha—struck with wonder; bala-simha—lion cub; avalokanah—looking like that.

When the Lord displayed His activities just suitable for childhood, He was visible only to the residents of Vrndavana. Sometimes He would cry and sometimes laugh, just like a child, and while so doing He would appear like a lion cub.

If anyone wants to enjoy the childhood pastimes of the Lord, then he has to follow in the footsteps of the residents of Vraja like Nanda, Upananda and other parental inhabitants. A child may insist on having something and cry like anything to get it, disturbing the whole neighborhood, and then immediately after achieving the desired thing, he laughs. Such crying and laughing is enjoyable to the parents and elderly members of the family, so the Lord would simultaneously cry and laugh in this way and merge His devotee-parents in the humor of transcendental pleasure. These incidents are enjoyable only by the residents of Vraja like Nanda Maharaja, and not by the impersonalist worshipers of Brahman or Paramatma. Sometimes when attacked in the forest by demons, Krsna would appear struck with wonder, but He looked on them like the cub of a lion and killed them. His childhood companions would also be struck with wonder, and when they came back home they would narrate the story to their parents, and everyone would appreciate the qualities of their Krsna. Child Krsna did not belong only to His parents, Nanda and Yasoda; He was the son of all the elderly inhabitants of Vrndavana and the friend of all contemporary boys and girls. Everyone loved Krsna. He was the life and soul of everyone, including the animals, the cows and the calves.

SB3.2.29

TEXT 29

sa eva go-dhanam laksmya

niketam sita-go-vrsam

carayann anugan gopan

ranad-venur ariramat

sah—He (Lord Krsna); eva—certainly; go-dhanam—the treasure of cows; laksmyah—by opulence; niketam—reservoir; sita-go-vrsam—beautiful cows and bulls; carayan—herding; anugan—the followers; gopan—cowherd boys; ranat—blowing; venuh—flute; ariramat—enlivened.

While herding the very beautiful bulls, the Lord, who was the reservoir of all opulence and fortune, used to blow His flute, and thus He enlivened His faithful followers, the cowherd boys.

As He grew to six and seven years old, the Lord was given charge of looking after the cows and bulls in the grazing grounds. He was the son of a well-to-do landholder who owned hundreds and thousands of cows, and according to Vedic economics, one is considered to be a rich man by the strength of his store of grains and cows. With only these two things, cows and grain, humanity can solve its eating problem. Human society needs only sufficient grain and sufficient cows to solve its economic problems. All other things but these two are artificial necessities created by man to kill his valuable life at the human level and waste his time in things which are not needed. Lord Krsna, as the teacher of human society, personally showed by His acts that the mercantile community, or the vaisyas, should herd cows and bulls and thus give protection to the valuable animals. According to smrti regulation, the cow is the mother and the bull the father of the human being. The cow is the mother because just as one sucks the breast of one’s mother, human society takes cow’s milk. Similarly, the bull is the father of human society because the father earns for the children just as the bull tills the ground to produce food grains. Human society will kill its spirit of life by killing the father and the mother. It is mentioned herein that the beautiful cows and bulls were of various checkered colors—red, black, green, yellow, ash, etc. And because of their colors and healthy smiling features, the atmosphere was enlivening.

Over and above all, the Lord used to play His celebrated flute. The sound vibrated by His flute would give His friends such transcendental pleasure that they would forget all the talks of the brahmananda which is so praised by the impersonalists. These cowherd boys, as will be explained by Sukadeva Gosvami, were living entities who had accumulated heaps of pious acts and thus were enjoying with the Lord in person and were hearing His transcendental flute. The Brahma-samhita (5.30) confirms the Lord’s blowing His transcendental flute.

venum kvanantam aravinda-dalayataksam
barhavatamsam asitambuda-sundarangam
kandarpa-koti-kaminiya-visesa-sobham
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

Brahmaji said, “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who plays on His transcendental flute. His eyes are like lotus flowers, He is decorated with peacock plumes, and His bodily color resembles a fresh black cloud although His bodily features are more beautiful than millions of cupids.” These are the special features of the Lord.

SB3.2.30

TEXT 30

prayuktan bhoja-rajena

mayinah kama-rupinah

lilaya vyanudat tams tan

balah kridanakan iva

prayuktan—engaged; bhoja-rajena—by King Kamsa; mayinah—great wizards; kama-rupinah—who could assume any form they liked; lilaya—in the course of the pastimes; vyanudat—killed; tan—them; tan—as they came there; balah—the child; kridanakan—dolls; iva—like that.

The great wizards who were able to assume any form were engaged by the King of Bhoja, Kamsa, to kill Krsna, but in the course of His pastimes the Lord killed them as easily as a child breaks dolls.

The atheist Kamsa wanted to kill Krsna just after His birth. He failed to do so, but later on he got information that Krsna was living in Vrndavana at the house of Nanda Maharaja. He therefore engaged many wizards who could perform wonderful acts and assume any form they liked. All of them appeared before the child-Lord in various forms, like Agha, Baka, Putana, Sakata, Trnavarta, Dhenuka and Gardabha, and they tried to kill the Lord at every opportunity. But one after another, all of them were killed by the Lord as if He were only playing with dolls. Children play with toy lions, elephants, boars and many similar dolls, which are broken by the children in the course of their playing with them. Before the Almighty Lord, any powerful living being is just like a toy lion in the hands of a playing child. No one can excel God in any capacity, and therefore no one can be equal to or greater than Him, nor can anyone attain the stage of equality with God by any kind of endeavor. Jnana, yoga and bhakti are three recognized processes of spiritual realization. The perfection of such processes can lead one to the desired goal of life in spiritual value, but that does not mean that one can attain a perfection equal to the Lord’s by such endeavors. The Lord is the Lord at every stage. When He was playing just like a child on the lap of His mother Yasodamayi or just like a cowherd boy with His transcendental friends, He continued to remain God, without the slightest diminution of His six opulences. Thus He is always unrivaled.

SB3.2.31

TEXT 31

vipannan visa-panena

nigrhya bhujagadhipam

utthapyapayayad gavas

tat toyam prakrti-sthitam

vipannan—perplexed in great difficulties; visa-panena—by drinking poison; nigrhya—subduing; bhujaga-adhipam—the chief of the reptiles; utthapya—after coming out; apayayat—caused to drink; gavah—the cows; tat—that; toyam—water; prakrti—natural; sthitam—situated.

The inhabitants of Vrndavana were perplexed by great difficulties because a certain portion of the Yamuna was poisoned by the chief of the reptiles [Kaliya]. The Lord chastised the snake-king within the water and drove him away, and after coming out of the river, He caused the cows to drink the water and proved that the water was again in its natural state.

SB3.2.32

TEXT 32

ayajayad go-savena

gopa-rajam dvijottamaih

vittasya coru-bharasya

cikirsan sad-vyayam vibhuh

SYNONYMS

ayajayat—made to perform; go-savena—by worship of the cows; gopa-rajam—the king of the cowherds; dvija-uttamaih—by the learned brahmanas; vittasya—of the wealth; ca—also; uru-bharasya—great opulence; cikirsan—desiring to act; sat-vyayam—proper utilization; vibhuh—the great.

TRANSLATION

The Supreme Lord, Krsna, desired to utilize the opulent financial strength of Maharaja Nanda for worship of the cows, and also He wanted to give a lesson to Indra, the King of heaven. Thus He advised His father to perform worship of go, or the pasturing land and the cows, with the help of learned brahmanas.

PURPORT

Since He is the teacher of everyone, the Lord also taught His father, Nanda Maharaja. Nanda Maharaja was a well-to-do landholder and owner of many cows, and, as was the custom, he used to perform yearly worship of Indra, the King of heaven, with great opulence. This worship of demigods by the general populace is also advised in the Vedic literature just so people can accept the superior power of the Lord. The demigods are servants of the Lord deputed to look after the management of various activities of universal affairs. Therefore it is advised in the Vedic scriptures that one should perform yajnas to appease the demigods. But one who is devoted to the Supreme Lord has no need to appease the demigods. Worship of the demigods by common people is an arrangement for acknowledging the supremacy of the Supreme Lord, but it is not necessary. Such appeasement is generally recommended for material gains only. As we have already discussed in the Second Canto of this literature, one who admits the supremacy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not need to worship the secondary demigods. Sometimes, being worshiped and adored by less intelligent living beings, the demigods become puffed up with power and forget the supremacy of the Lord. This happened when Lord Krsna was present in the universe, and thus the Lord wanted to give a lesson to the King of heaven, Indra. He therefore asked Maharaja Nanda to stop the sacrifice offered to Indra and to use the money properly by performing a ceremony worshiping the cows and the pasturing ground on the hill of Govardhana. By this act Lord Krsna taught human society, as He has instructed in the Bhagavad-gita also, that one should worship the Supreme Lord by all acts and by all their results. That will bring about the desired success. The vaisyas are specifically advised to give protection to the cows and their pasturing ground or agricultural land instead of squandering their hard-earned money. That will satisfy the Lord. The perfection of one’s occupational duty, whether in the sphere of duty to oneself, one’s community or one’s nation, is judged by the degree to which the Lord is satisfied.

SB3.2.33

TEXT 33

varsatindre vrajah kopad

bhagnamane ’tivihvalah

gotra-lilatapatrena

trato bhadranugrhnata

varsati—in pouring water; indre—by the King of heaven, Indra; vrajah—the land of cows (Vrndavana); kopat bhagnamane—having been in anger on being insulted; ati—highly; vihvalah—perturbed; gotra—the hill for the cows; lila-atapatrena—by the pastime umbrella; tratah—were protected; bhadra—O sober one; anugrhnata—by the merciful Lord.