The Killing of the Demon Naraka

In the fifty ninth chapter Krsna, at the request of Indra, kills Narakasura, the son of Bhumi, and marries sixteen thousand one hundred dauthers of kings, held captive by him. He also brings the parijata tree from svarga loka.

Please describe the glorious acts of the holder of Sarnga; how Krsna killed Bhaumasura, who held many women captive.

The umbrella acutally belonged to Varuna, but because of Indra’s superior position among the devatas, the verse mentioned that it was stolen from Indra. Being informed about the activities of Bhauma by Indra, whose umbrella, mother's earrings and jewel mountain were stolen, Krsna went to Bhanuma’ss city with his wife Satyabhama.

Krsna had promised to Bhumi that he would not kill her son except with her permission. Satyabhama is non different from Bhumi since Bhumi is her expansion. During the fierce battle Satyabhama would give permission to kill Bhauma, not Bhumi. Krsna took Satyabhama to the battle for this purpose.

Satyabhama became angry when Narada brought a parjiata flower for Rukmini. Krsna then promised her that he would bring her a whole tree of parijata. He therefore brought her along, to show her is capacity to take the tree from Indra.

Krsna destroyed the walls of water, fire and wind with his cakra.

He pierced the hearts of the warriors which were like hard barriers, with sound of his conch.

Hearing the sound of the conch, fearful like the thunderbolt at the time of devastation, (Krsna also appeared like a thunderbolt to the wresters), the Mura demon rose from the water of the moat.

Bhauma waved his trident and made ferocious sounds (vyanada). That great sound (maha) filled the universe.

Krsna broke the trident which was approaching Garuda into three pieces with two arrows. Mura then threw a club at Krsna.

Mura raised his arms and ran towards Krsna.

Mura fell like a mountain top cut off by a thunderbolt (indra tejaa). Filled with anger to avenge their father's death, Mura's seven sons prepared for battle.

They went out (niragan) holding their weapons.

He sent them all to the kingdom of death. The real meaning is however that he gave them liberation, for yama means the process starting with yama and niyama and ending with liberation.

He came out of the city with elephants flowing with mada.

He threw the sataghni weapon at Krsna.

Krsna pierced the enemy troops with colorfully feathered arrows (vicitra vaja).

17.After describing cutting up the arms of the enemy troops, cutting up of their weapons is described. Astras are arrows and other missiles and sastras are swords and other hand weapons. One by one he shot down each weapon with three arrows. Before the weapons thrown could reach their target, he had killed the throwers of the weapons, and then destroyed the missiles while they were still in the air, each with three arrows. And the arrows were shot one after the other, not three at once. So quick was Krsna to shoot that in amazement Sukadeva cried out “O kurudvaha, Parksit!” Such swiftness had not be conceived by any of the Kurus such as Bhims and Arjuna though they had been taught by Krsna.

Seeing Bhauma with the lance in his hand, Satyabhama said, "Kill him quickly." Therfore Krsna killed him then.

The rsis and devatas shouted "Lamentable! Very good!" "Ha" usually indicates sorrow but here indicates condemnation according to Ksira swami. "Oh what a sinful person , disturbing the whole world! It is good that you have killed him." They covered Krsna with garlands.

Bhumi returned everything stolen by her son, including the jewel mountain (maha manim).

“You know my sincere heart, since you are paramatma, even though I am the mother of someone opposed to you.”

She described the sweet beauty of Krsna, indicating that when Krsna came before her, her senses had reached their perfection.

I am playing in the ocean of your sweetness and aisvarya. I pay respects to you, full of all powers( bhagavate). But though are full of all powers, you are the son of Vasudeva (vasudevaya), but still you are the original form of bhagavan. Though you are the son of Vasudeva, you are also Visnu, the all pervading. Though you are all pervading, you are still a person (purusa), individualized. Though you are individualized, you are the source of all (adi bija), even of Visnu, as shown during the Brahma mohana lila. Though you are such a seed, you are form of complete consciousness itself, that is brahman (purna bodha). In other words, though you are endowed with infinite spiritual qualities, you are also the impersonal brahma.

Though you are unborn (aja), you generate the universes. Though you generate the universes, you are impersonal brahman. Though you are impersonal and without qualities, you are endowed with form and unlimited qualities and energies (ananta saktaye). Though you have unlimited energies, you have three principal energies: tatashta, bahiranga and antaranga. You are the jiva composed of all the elevated and degraded souls (para avara atma), you are the body made of the five gross material elements (bhuta atma) and you are the internal witness, paramatma.

According to the time, you carry out creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe through your maya sakti. You contain the activated raja, tama and sattva gunas, but are not covered by them like the jivas. Time, maya and the jivas are all eternal and are yourself, being your energies, but you are different from all these energies by your svarupa sakti (parah).

“ If you say that the material body, the senses, the gunas are me, brahman colored by maya, then how can you say that I am also separate?”

“Those people who say that earth and all the other elements, the senses, the tan mantras (matrani), mind, ahankara (karta), and citta (mahan) the moving (mind and senses) and non moving (dull matter and prana) exist in you are mistaken, because in you there is no difference (advitiye). Your body and senses are all spiritual. It cannot be that matter is the same as you.”

After praising Krsna, Bhumi makes a request.

According to the Visnu Purana, there were actually sixteen thousand one hundred women there. Bhauma had stolen the women not only from kings, but from saints and others as well.

They travelled to Dvaraka in palanquins (nara yanaih).

Instigated by Satyabhama, Krsna took the parijata tree.

He planted the tree in Satyabhama’s private garden.

Hearing that Indra fought with his worshipful Lord Krsna, Pariksit was astonished. Sukadeva therefore condemned Indra's character. Having asked Krsna to fulfill his desire (artha sadhaka) to kill Narakasura and take Aditi's earrings and return them, and having his wish fulfilled, he then fought with Krsna, though he was king of the devatas.

What anger the devatas had! It should be impossible for one really in sattva guna to do such a thing, and he was the king of the devatas as well. How dangerous is wealth (atyatam). A wealthy person cannot escape such anarthas!"

Returning to Devaka, he married all of the women at the same moment (ekasmin muhurte), which was chosen by specialists because it would bring the most auspicious results. He expanded himself into as many forms as there were brides. Though he had one body, it appeared in separate and he controlled all of them. But one should not explain the phrase tavad rupa dhara as simply a multiplication of bodies (kaya vyuha), for Narada says later, "How astonishing that Krsna with one form, simultaneously married sixteen thousand women in different places." Not only that, but his associates such as his father and mother and friends, also arrived in all the houses at the same time. Krsna, by his inconceivable energy, manifested many forms of each of his associates as well. Krsna was complete in each house (avayaya), not partially there as an amsa. Bhagavatamrta says: the prakasa form is not different at all from the original.

43.Performing inconceivable activities (atarka krt), Krsna was situated in each of the houses of all the wives (anapayi), such that each thought that the Lord was with them and not with anyone else. Their houses had no equal or superior, even in Vaikuntha. What then to speak of the enjoyment there? Being submerged in his natural love, he enjoyed with all those women, whereas in Vaikuntha Narayana enjoys with only one woman. Dvaraka was thus more opulent than Vaikuntha. And there he carried out household duties (arham ) with the addition of sweetness (adhikam).

Skanda Purana explains that these women were the eternal saktis of the Lord. "Sixteen thousand gopis went to Dvaraka. Krsna is Paramatma, Janardana, and they were his energies, famous as sixteen, just as the moon has sixteen phases, a full circle with sixteen parts. Each then expanded into a thousand to become sixteen thousand." Padma Purana says in the kartika mahatmya, "Those who were gopis of kaisora age became the sixteen thousand queens at Dvaraka during their yauvana period." In other words, Krsna in Vrndavana was most perfect, and his prakasa form in Dvaraka was perfect. The gopis in Vrndavana were the most perfect forms of the hladini sakti and their prakasa forms in Dvaraka were perfect.

Brahma and others do now know the method of attaining Krsna, who is the husband of those perfect Laksmis. What then to speak of others, and what to speak of directly knowing him? And what to speak of actually attaining him? With continuously increasing joy, they experienced his smiling glances filled with love, bodily contact, exchanges of words and then they displayed bashfulness.