Narayana

“One morning, Krishna and Balarama, along with the thousands of cowherd children, took the cattle for grazing near the banks of Yamuna. As the calves were thirsty, they took them to the river bank. Exactly at that time, a demon arrived there with the intent of killing Krishna. Finding this an opportune moment, the demon entered into the herd of calves”.

Each demon who arrived to kill Krishna was eager to be applauded by Kamsa. However, contrary to the demon’s expectation, he would never return alive to Mathura. Kamsa was eternally puzzled. He would send demons in every direction to find this boy who was born to kill him. Those who went in other directions would return to Mathura, mysteriously those who went in the direction of Gokula never returned. Kamsa would therefore direct all the demons who returned from other directions to travel towards Gokula so that he could solve the mystery. Kamsa was almost sure that Krishna was growing in Gokula. He had also learnt that they had abandoned Gokula and had moved to Brindavana.

The journey from Gokula to Brindavana was long and tiresome. Barring women, infants and toddlers, every other child walked. Naturally they were more hungry than normal. They ate the food packed from their homes, but still experienced unbearable hunger-pangs. At that moment, in order to abate the hunger of all his kinsmen, Krishna glanced once at the trees. Suddenly all the trees were filled with ripened fruits. None among the lakhs of people who were travelling guessed that it was a transcendental sport of the Lord. They assumed they had entered a fruit garden. In great happiness, all of them plucked the fruits of their choice and ate with great relish. In that were many almond trees filled with fruit. In memory of this incident, yesterday Swamiji distributed almonds to all in the ashram. Daily I feed the birds in Shuka vana with almonds since it is Krishna prasada**_. If anyone wants to eat Krishna’s prasada, he/ she should eat one almond. Almonds fill us with excellent energy. They strengthen the bones and the muscles. To obtain the best benefit, just eat one or two almonds a day. That’s it. Excessive consumption of almonds is harmful._**

Accompanied by his friends Krishna joyfully went to the banks of Yamuna to quench thirst. The demon found this a suitable opportunity. He considered the Lord to be a mere human and hence devised a plan to quickly eliminate him. He too transformed into a calf and mingled with the thousands of calves near the river bank.

“The demon who was in the form of a calf, slowly inched towards Krishna, who saw through his disguise and pointed him out to Balarama.”

He is the Lord of all Lords. He is the supreme conjurer, who has a role in every illusion created, be it big or small. How could it be possible for Him to not identify the demon? In front of the mega illusion created by the Lord, the illusion created by demons was insignificant. It was but natural for Him to devour the illusion created by demons. Although in form He was small, His transcendence was unimaginable.

“He pointed this calf to brother Balarama saying, ‘Just observe the way that calf walks. Its actions, style of walking and behaviour is distinctly different from other calves. He is a demon in the guise of a calf’. Then with an innocent face, the Lord walked towards that calf”.

If you close your eyes and listen to the story, you can visualize the entire scene- thousands of cowherd boys accompanied by millions of calves; the banks of Yamuna; the children who had worn the costume of animals; the atmosphere filled with merriment; the demon who was amidst the herd in the guise of a calf and Krishna walking towards him. Listen with faith in Krishna. You have devotion towards Swamiji. With devotion upon Krishna, please listen attentively. Then you will see the calves. You will see the forest with its rugged terrain. You will see Krishna.

Every instance wherein Krishna killed a demon has some story associated with it. We need to listen to it. Did we not understand the story of demoness Putana in detail? The story of the cart, the story of Tŗnavarta were all narrated in great detail. The Lord would not directly go and kill any demon. He would create the right circumstances leading to it.

Narayana