The Killing of the Demon Trinavarta

The seventh chapter shows the aisvarya (display of power) aspect of Krsna’s childhood pastimes. After bathing and sleeping he broke the cart. He killed Trnavarta and showed his mother the universe. By chewing Putana’s breast he showed the power of his lips. In the cart pastime he showed the power of his feet, and killing Trnavarta he showed the power of his hands. In revealing the universe twice (in this and the next chapter) to his mother he showed all his powers.

“My mind is attracted to all the pastimes of the Lord’s other avataras, but I am particularly greedy to hear Krsna’s childhood pastimes.” With this intent, Pariksit speaks the verse.

“I relish hearing all the pastimes of the avataras of the Lord and I become blissful. But, if you agree, please speak about those pastimes (like a necklace over the heart-haram) which destroy any human being’s apathy and distaste upon hearing them, which bring out a hankering for them, and which purify the mind of bad desires, like rock candy which first tastes bitter but then gives the ability to taste its sweetness, which quickly produce attachment (asakti), rati (bhava) and prema (bhakti), and brings about, even from the beginning, friendship with the devotees, and in prema causeless friendship with the devotees.”

Though hearing any the topics of the Lord gradually rids one of indifference to hearing about the Lord and makes it possible to attain prema, hearing the pastimes of Krsna’s childhood quickly bring about this prema.

In his enthusiasm, Pariksit repeats his request to make clear his intention. Being requested by mankind the Lord appeared on earth (rather than being requested by devas and appearing on svarga). In this way he particularly gave blessings to the humans on earth.

Kadacit (some time) means when three months had passed after the birth of the child this incident took place, for in the second canto (2.7.27) it is mentioned that the breaking of the cart occurred when Krsna was three months old. When the child was able to turn over (autthanik), the women became overjoyed and when the moon entered his birth star (rohini), Yasoda, surrounded by the gopis, celebrated the event with bathing of the child to the accompaniment of music and songs and chanting by brahmanas

5 The brahmanas, after being honored by gifts of rice and cloth etc. (supujitaih), performed the rites. Because he had sleepy eyes (sanjatanidraksam), Krsna was put to rest (asisayat). Holding him motionlessly in her lap for fear he would wake up, she lay down with him on a cot under a cart situated in the large yard. When she understood that Krsna was fast asleep, she got up very gently.

6 Because she was busy exchanging pleasantries and giving ornaments, garlands, candana, oil and sindhura to the village women who had assembled for the festival, Yasoda did not hear the child crying from hunger on waking (stanarthi). He kicked up his feet in anger, with the thought “You cannot hear me cry, so the sound of the cart breaking will catch your attention.”

7 The cart was struck by the soft feet of Krsna as if with very little force. In breaking the cart he did not extend his foot high upward like Vamana in breaking the shell of the unverse, nor did his feet become hard like Narasimha’s body to tear apart the hard body of Hiranyakasipu. This rare display of power of Krsna which does not contradict the sweetness of his childhood pastimes shows the completeness of Krsna. The car turned upside down and the utensils of gold and silver were scattered everywhere. The wheels and axle were dislocated and the handle was broken. From the Brahmanda Purana it is understood that because of the entrance of the asura into the cart, the wheels sank in the earth and the cart’s height decreased. Thus Krsna’s short legs were able to touch the cart.

8All the women headed by Yasoda who had gathered together for the ceremony, and Nanda and others, seeing that astonishing event, became dismayed. “How could the cart fall apart on its own?” they asked.

9The children who had witnessed the event explained it to the gopis who could not discern what had happened. “Is this the work of some demon or evil planets?” they asked.

10Hearing the statements of the children, the cowherd men could not believe them.

11Yasoda had the brahmanas perform svastyana, chanting mantras to ward off raksasas.

12The cart was restored to its original form and position by strong cowherdmen. This indicates that the cart was very large. They worshipped the cart because the cart was a main utensil of the cowherd men, being the abode of Laksmi, and the storehouse of accumulated wealth.

13-15 Knowing that the blessings of brahmanas were good for his child’s welfare, Nanda spoke this verse. Mana means pride. The blessings of qualified brahmanas must bear fruit. Krsna was sprinkled with water mixed with sarvausadhi and mahausadhi, purified by mantras from the sama, rg and yajur Vedas. He performed sacrifice and then fed the brahmanas with tasty aromatic food (mahagunan).

16 He gave cows. They are described as sarvagunopetah , endowed with all qualities. That means they gave much milk. The brahmanas then (anu) accepted the cows (ayunjata).

17The brahmanas are described here as yukta which means yoginah (yogis), and thus, whatever blessings they gave must come true.

18 ”What use are all these things for me, the Lord of all wealth?” When Krsna was one year old this event took place. Bhagavatam 10. 26.6. says that when he was one year old, Trnavarta took away Krsna. Placing Krsna on her lap and lifing him up in the air with her two hands Yasoda became blissful. Krsna then became heavy like a mountain top. Yasoda was not able to carry him. Knowing that Trnavarta was about to take away Yasoda along with himself, and wanting to avoid pain to Yasoda, Krsna displayed his aisvarya sakti and became heavy, so that she put him on the ground. “Yasoda can only lift me a little, but I want to play in the sky.” Desiring like this, Krsna let the asura Trnavarta approach.

19 Disturbed, she placed Krsna on the ground. How has he become so heavy she wondered in dismay. Maybe some raksasa had done this. With this fear, she took shelter of Narayana, he Lord of the universe. Glancing upward to Vaikuntha, in meditation she said, “ O Lord, You have given this son. You must protect him.” Then in anxiety, she went to call some brahmanas to perform svastyayana karma.

20 Just at that time, Trnavarta came and stole the child. By the Lord’s aisvarya sakti, at that time Krsna became light so that Trnavarta could lift him.

21 A tumultuous sound reverberated (irayan) in all directions.

She did not see him there (tasmin), where (yatah) she had left him (nyastavati).

24 Because dust showered down from the whirlwind she could not see the child (avilaksya).

25When the dust cleared from the blowing wind, the gopis heard crying from Yasoda’s house, they all came from far off and also began crying.

26 At first Krsna was as light as a normal child and Trnavarta lifted him up high in the sky. But then Krsna became heavy, and Trnavarta slowed down. He was unable to carry him further and stopped moving.

27 Having fulfilled his desire to fly in sky and having fulfilled the desire of the women of svarga by giving them a glance of his beauty, Krsna then got ready to kill Trnavarta. Krsna became heavier than Trnavarta, and felt like iron, as heavy as a mountain, but Trnavarta could not throw him off, because Krsna was holding him by the neck. Playing the part of a small child, Krsna seemed afraid of falling from that height and therefore clung to Trnavarta’s neck.

30 The gopas and gopis picked up Krsna, who was clinging to (lambamanam) the chest of the demon, and gave him to Yasoda. They were astonished. The demon fell on his back on the stone slab, and Krsna was unharmed on his chest. He had been taken by the demon (purusada: eater of humans) into the sky (vahayasa), but had been freed from the mouth of death.

31Though only a small, delicate child, Krsna clearly manifested the power to kill a great demon. But this did not decrease the affection of Nanda and others, rather it increased it. This idea is expressed in three verses. This was more astonishing than the astonishing, and more astonishing than even that (adi adbhutam etad). That was because the baby had approached his end (nivrti). The word marana (death) is not used because of its inauspicious connotations. Though he neared death, he again returned (abhi agat). He returned to his friends (bandhunam abhimukham) . One among them then said, “But what is so astonishing? Because of his sin, stealing an innocent child (sva papena), the cruel demon was destroyed. Though he is only a child, he is saintly, regarding enemy and friend equally (samatvena), and thus he was released from danger.”

32 Nanda and the others began to speak. “If anything inauspicious had happened to Krsna we all would have died. That Krsna is unharmed is a result of heaps of pious activities.” Thus they speak this verse. How much austerities they must have done (cirna), how much worship of the Lord, how much help to other living entities, how much charity of construction of a well or canal (purta) and sacrifices (istam), because of which (yat), Krsna has come back from death, bringing life to his friends or showing affection for his friends (pranayan).

35-36 Krsna had almost completely finished drinking her milk. When he yawned she saw within his mouth (mukhe) this universe (idam-that which we see). In another version it states that while she was kissing him, she saw in his stomach the universes. In the prayers of Brahma the same is mentioned: krsnasya cantar jathare. Though he was in his mother’s lap, by his inconceivable energy he is also the foundation of the whole universe. At the one moment when he yawned, he displayed the universe with all its details by his inconceivable energy. She saw the antariksa, bhuvar loka (kham), svarga, martya and patala, the three worlds (rodasi), the constellations, directions, sun, moon, fire, air, Jambudviipa and the other islands (dvipan), the trees and mountains (nagan), rivers (duhitr), forests and all moving and non moving entities.

Suddenly or at the same time (sahasa) she began trembling out of fear. She closed her eyes in order to meditate of Visnu. “Oh Lord, please protect my child from this disturbance.” She is described as having deer-like eyes, because she glanced around like a frightened deer. In this way, Krsna’s display of power in killing demons did not curb the prema. Rather the ocean of prema increased, due to the appearance of anxiety. They believed Krsna was saved because of the punyas of Nanda and the gopas. In this case however, Krsna displayed his aisvarya sakti without cause (not because of demons). Krsna simply displayed his power. Therefore Yasoda was surprised. She thought “What has happened to my child.” That was all. Her affection did not decrease from thinking of Krsna as the Supreme Lord. She did not need to find some cause for what happened. The cause of her disturbance was deep prema alone. This fixed quality of prema is continuously glorified.

Thus it is described as follows: The energy of the Lord occasionally appeared to test Yasoda, but she made that energy a servant of her prema.

prema devya pariksartham agacchanty antarantara

saktir esa hareh kintu taya sa dasi krt bhavet