The Killing of the Demon Aghasura

Thinking in this way, Aghasura lay on the path in order to devour Krsna. He was a yojana in length (eight miles). He was as fat (pivaram) as a huge mountain (mahadri). His mouth spread open (vyattam) like a cave.

17His lower lip touched the earth and his upper lip reached the clouds. The front of the mouth was like two mountain caves. The interior of the mouth was dark, and the tongue was like a wide road. His breath was like burning fire and his gaze was like a forest fire.

18Some of the boys on seeing Aghasura started to run away, thinking it was a big snake. Other boys however considered that Aghasura was one of the wonders of Vrndavana. They comforted their fearful friends by saying, “Oh fools, a snake can never be this big. It is something created by the Lord out of clay so that we can appreciate the splendor of Vrndavana even more. He has made it in the form of a huge snake with a big gaping snout.” In this way they thought of the Lord’s creation as something like the gaping mouth of the serpent (upreksyanta), without fear (lilaya).

19Some called out to the chief boys to confirm their thoughts. “Is this some type of immovable living entity?” Kuta means a peak, indicating some large animal. “Is it some peaceful tiger or other big animal, who has his mouth open as if to devour us?”

20One boy agreed with them. “” The cloud reddened by the sun seems to be his upper lip, and its reflection reddening the ground seems to be his lower lip.” Hanu here means lip or jaw rather than chin since there is no upper and lower chin.

21”Look here, these two caves (etah) appear to be like the front part of a mouth. And these mountains (pointing with his forefinger) (etah) appear like a serpent’s teeth.”

22”This wide (astrtayamah) road is like a tongue (rasana). The darkness between the mountain peaks (esam) is like the opening of his mouth.”

23”The smell of animals burned in the forest fire seems to be like the smell of flesh digesting in a snake’s stomach.”

24Together they spoke with a little fear. “This thing, if this is really a snake, and we enter his mouth, will he swallow us up?” Someone then answered to calm them down. “If it is so, then in an instant (ksanena) he will be killed as Baka was killed by Krsna (anena).” Saying this he smiled while looking at Krsna, who was standing some distance away. “Krsna is within our glance, so what have we to worry?” Getting this answer, they all began to laugh loudly and said, “Friends, we must find out what is in that mouth.” Then they entered the mouth out of boyish curiosity. They ran in, clapping their hands, to show their fearlessness and courage, or to dismiss the snake. The calves also raising their tails ran after them inside the snake’s mouth.

25Hearing the boys discuss about the real snake as if it were something else Krsna began to think. “What is really a snake’s mouth they are thinking is some scenic part of Vrndavan, not a snake’s mouth. This is not just a snake, but the demon called Aghasura. ” How did he know this? Because he is situated in everyone’s heart (akhila bhuta hrt sthitah) as paramatma, knowing everything. He then decided to prevent them (svanam) from entering.

26Just as Krsna decided to stop them, the boys entered the serpent’s mouth, but the serpent did not swallow them. Why didn’t he swallow them? Remembering the death of his brother and sister (hata svaka antasmaranena) he was waiting for Krsna. To think that though Krsna wanted to stop the boys from entering he could not do it, and that his satyasankalpa sakti(every desire of the Lord is fulfilled) was thwarted, is incorrect. The devotees had the desire , “ If we go in the serpent’s mouth, will he swallow us? If he swallows us, our friend will kill him as he did Baka.” Of the two desires, the desire of the devotee prevails, as it was explained previously, by the principle that the Lord is controlled by his devotee. This is all arranged by the ever- watchful lila sakti of the Lord, which destroys all contradictions.

27Seeing the boys escape from his hands like jewels and fall into the fire of the snake’s stomach like blades of grass, moved with compassion (ghrnaya arditah), Krsna was astonished at the actions of his lila sakti (dista krtena) or of time (dista) in having them enter the serpent’s mouth. What was the cause of astonishment? “It is not possible for these cowherd boys to have prarabdha karma and besides, the supersoul does not give them the tendency for karma. Because supersoul is my expansion, she does not do anything unfavorable to me. Therefore the lila sakti has made this seemingly unfavorable arrangement with a desire to put me, full of prema, into the compassionate mood (karuna rasa) on seeing this unfortunate situation. How astonishing is her control over me, the form of all rasas, the king of all lila ( lila purusottama).” Though the sorrow due to separation from his friends remained, with the rise of astonishment (vismaya bhava), it reduced a little. This is the meaning.

28What should I do in this dangerous situation? How can I at once kill the demon without harming the boys? Thinking in this way, and finding a solution, he entered the mouth of the serpent, because he is one who knows what to do in the present and future (asesa drk) and he takes away (hari) danger (for the devotee) and life (for the demon).

29The devatas, who were hiding in the clouds out of fear of Kamsa, began shouting, fearing Krsna’s safety. Though the devatas are aware of the Lord’s powers, because they are also devotees, they shouted in anxiety. The very nature of bhakti is to have affection, and the very nature of affection is to lose ones logical discriminatory powers. Kamsa and the raksasas (kauna pa—eaters of corpses), the sons and brothers of Aghasura, rejoiced on hearing the news from messengers.

30Hearing the sounds of dismay from the devatas, and the sounds of rejoicing from the demons, Krsna then expanded his form in the throat of the snake, who tried to swallow him into his stomach and digest him and the other boys. Krsna did this to reverse sounds of the lamentations of the devatas and the sounds of rejoicing of the demons. In the pastimes of killing Sakatasura, Trnavarta, and getting bound up, Krsna remained in a very small form and spread his powers. Therefore in the throat of Aghasura he expanded his form to show that he did not lack the power to expand himself in size. In the Damodara and other pastimes the Lord maintained his small form suitably because the devotees could taste in that form the full sweetness and within that, the astonishment caused by a show of power, with no disturbance to the conception of Krsna as their child. But here in the absence of the two parents who were relishing the sweetness, he, being the Lord, took the more common method of just expanding himself to kill the demon.

31His throat blocked up (niruddha marginoh), his eyes falling out, the air, trapped in his body with no way of getting out, went out through the brahma randhra at the top of the head, and attained perfection (purnah).

32The cowherd boys and calves who fainted due to separation from Krsna and from the heat of the serpent’s stomach, were brought back to consciousness by Krsna’s glance, which was a shower of nectar.

33The light in the serpent’s body was suddha sattva according to Sridhara Swami. That an evil person can get liberation as illustrated here is for instilling faith in the people. Thought the soul is normally invisible, embraced by the sakti of the Lord, this soul became visible directly as a great light. This is Jiva Goswami’s opinion, in the vaisnava tosani. Like the great light of the para brahman, the light of the soul is not visible to material eyes, it became visible by the Lord’s will, like his own form, in order to show all the world directly the Lord’s quality of giving liberation even to the demons. This is one opinion. According to verses 38 and 39, Aghasura attained a form like the Lord’s and attained the Lord’s abode. From this it is clear that Aghasura did not attain mere sayujya mukti, but svarupya mukti. Therefore the light which was visible was the light from Aghasura’s spiritual body which he attained at that moment. Because the body itself was spiritual, it could not be seen with material eyes. His entrance into the Lord’s body was just a show as in the case of Sisupala and Dantavakra. Though Sisupala and Dantavakra attained sarupya as eternal associates of the Lord, when they died a light from their bodies entered into the Lord. This is another opinion about the visibility of the light. This happened in the presence of the devatas (misatam divaukasam) who were greatly astonished. It can also mean with the use of genative absolute, that Aghasuras soul entered Krsna, not paying attention to the devas though they were present.

The devas peformed (akrta) the worship (arhanam) of Krsna he who creates himself (svakrtah). Su ga meaning those who sing beautifully, refers to the gandharvas. Vadyadhara means the vidyadharas. Vipras means vasistha and others. Ganah means garuda and others.

35There was the sound of wonderful stutis, beauty instrumental music, soft singing, shouts of jaya jaya combining to make, not one festival, but an infinity of festivals. From mahaloka to jana loka from jana loka to tapoloka, the inhabitants were listening and then singing. From tapoloka next to brahmaloka (svadhamnah anti-next to brahma loka), Brahma heard the singing. While the light of Aghasura was going to Vaikuntha, at that time, to see the glory of Krsna (isasya mahi), Brahma (ajah) came to Vrndavana, unseen by others, and was astonished. Or it can mean: coming to Vrndavana and seeing his glory, he was astonished.

The dry skin of the snake remained there for a long time (bahutitham) and became a cave in which the children used to carry out various pastimes.

37 There was another astonishing event which you should hear about. Though Krsna performed the pastime when he was five years old (kaumara jam) the cowherd boys reported the incident when they were six years old (pauganda), but as if the incident –being freed from the mouth of the serpent--happened that day.

38 The human child form of Krsna is his svarupa (manuja mayinah), for maya is well known to mean svarupa in the srutis. He is one who causes by his own free will (vedhasah) and is the supreme form among all the expansions and expansions of expansions (paravaranam). For him it is not remarkable, that Aghasura was purified of all his sins by touching him (or he was purified of his bad odor by touch). This second meaning can be taken because in Putana’s case also her body was freed of bad odor. Because Krsna and his friends used his dead body as a playground it must have been so. He also attained a similar body to Krsna (atma samyam), which was very, very rare for a demon (asatam). Sayujya is rare for the demons, and sarupya is even rarer (su durlabham), as this is reserved for the devotees.

39This verse speaks of the cause of Aghasura gaining sarupya mukti. For Krsna whose form (anga pratima) meditated on (antarhita) by the mind (manomayi) awarded the supreme destination (bhagavati gati) to Khatvanga and others, who has directly (eva) an eternal body (nityatma), is direct perception of happiness, and destroyer of maya, who is the avatari Krsna (paramah) , who entered into the demon’s stomach (antargatah), is it so astonishing? However, in the case of Khatvanga and others, the cause of their attaining the Lord was devotion. In Aghasura however, the absence of devotion acts as a deterrent in attaining the Lord, for the Lord says, “Only by devotion can I be attained.” (bhaktyaham ekaya grahya). True, that rule is there, but it is for other times.

When Krsna comes as avatara, a person can attain his abode simply by contact, because of the extra surge of his perfect krpa sakti at that time. That is why it is said: “Those who approach me in just one of the moods –lust, anger, fear, affection, oneness, friendship and devotion- certainly attain love of that nature.” B. 10.29.15. “Do not think that this is astonishing for Krsna the master of yoga. He gives liberation not only to humans but also to non moving entities.” (10.29.16) That Krsna gives liberation to his enemies is a remarkable quality in his completeness. He does however reward according to the mood of the person approaching him. From the statement that Aghasura’s body became the playground for the boys for many days, it should be understood, that the demon’s unfavorable attitude had been transformed into favorable attitude, and he had attained sarupya in Vaikuntha, but he did not attain a form in Vrndavana, because of his lack of that particular type of bhakti

.

40Parkiksit, who was given to Uttara or Yudhisthira by Krsna (yadava deva datta) hearing of the wonderful pastimes of he who gives himself to his devotees(svaratuh), whose heart was controlled by hearing those pastimes (yad nigrhita cetah) again began to ask questions to Sukadeva.

41”How can past events appear as if they happened very recently? How can Krsna make the pastimes which happened when the boys were in their kaumara age (five years) appear to have happened later, when they were six years old?”

42Maya here means the Lord’s sakti which is expert at making the unexpected happen. Because it is here called the Lord’s maya (harer maya), it cannot mean anything else except yogamaya. The eternal associates of the Lord can fall into illusion by this energy alone.

43Pariksit speaks. “O guru…” This implies, “I am your student, and because of the rule ‘the guru will teach esoteric topics to the devoted student’ please tell me what should be told.” His devotion is indicated by his own efforts, through the words “I drink the nectar.”

44Sukadeva regained external consciousness because of the loud chanting of the Lord’s name by Narada, Vyasa and others present there, with great effort (krcchrat). Bhagavatottamottama refers to Saunaka in this verse.