“At this time when the children were dancing merrily and playing with Krishna, a mighty demon called Agha arrived there unexpectedly”.

Bhagavatam is filled with unexpected happenings. Even before we can say, ‘Krishna is about to exhibit another transcendental sport’- He completes it.

“Seeing the approaching demon, the boys abruptly stopped their games and their chatter. Agha, the dreaded demon, could not tolerate the happiness being enjoyed by these cowherd boys”.

Why are these boys laughing heartily? Why are they happily playing? Why should they be in such pleasurable, joyous mood? Agha could not digest their happiness. People who are filled with envy seeing others who are happy try their best to infuse grief into them. Through criticism or through any other means, they try to spoil the mind of those who are happy. They are at peace when others are unhappy. In this context I recollect an old fable.

There was a man who derived great delight in disrupting every happy family by creating disputes within family members such that relationships turned sour. Such persons are sadists, to whom others’ happiness becomes an eyesore. Since his life is devoid of any happiness, the sadist is filled with bitterness seeing others happy. Thus he seeks to fill them with grief.

In that village there lived a very happy couple, who loved each other very dearly. They remained happy and blissful even though they were childless. Their love for each other became the talk of the village. It was impossible to create a rift between them. This sadist wanted to split this couple through some means or the other. When his repeated attempts failed, he began to think of novel ideas.

One morning, finding a suitable time when the husband was alone, he approached him and said, ‘Sir, you are truly great. Your qualities are akin to those of the Devatas. However I am sorry at your misfortune’. The husband eagerly enquired, ‘What is wrong with my fortune?’ The sadist said, ‘Sir, for many births you have had virtuous qualities akin to the Devatas. However your wife is not as fortunate as you. Do you know that in her previous birth she was a maid who collected sea-salt from salt ponds?’ ‘What do we gain by knowing that?’ enquired the husband.

‘My dear sir, there is no particular problem. But yet, isn’t it a pity that you have married such a low-class woman?’- asked the sadist. ‘What should I do now’ asked the puzzled husband. ‘Nothing much sir. During midnight just check her backbone. You will find it filled with salt. This will help you believe my words’- said the sadist.

The sadist thereafter went to the wife and convinced her that her husband was a dog in his previous birth and that it was her misfortune to have married him in this birth. He said that if she checked her husband’s backbone in the middle of the night she would find evidence of his previous birth.

With this, seeds of discomfort were sown in both the husband and wife. One midnight, the wife tried to check the backbone of her husband. He immediately pounced on her. She then yelled that he had pounced on her like a dog and thus he was behaving in accordance to his past tendencies. A bitter fight ensued which subsequently led to their divorce.

Such sadists are aplenty in our society. They spin a web of lies into which they trap happy families, splitting them from one another. They derive great joy in breaking friendships. Beware of such fraudsters! A true friend should never listen to criticisms about his friend. These sadists try to go and split even that couple who are eternally engrossed in spiritual subjects.

It is incorrect to address such trouble-makers as ‘Narada’. The rifts that Maharishi Nārada would create between people were only to ensure the well-being of the universe. In them ultimately both the husband and the wife stood to gain. In the rifts created by the trouble-makers, the husband and wife divorce. Therefore, comparing such trouble-makers to Nārada is wrong. Such trouble-makers are like the fit-for-nothing dogs that only howl. They are degraded.

Here, Aghasura demon could not tolerate the happiness being enjoyed by the cowherd boys and hence was eager to bring it to a sad ending. He wanted to transform their happiness into sorrow.

“Fearing demon Agha, even the Devatas who have obtained nectar, eternally recount the transcendental sports of Lord Srikrishna and eagerly await the death of this dreaded demon”.

From this it is evident that even the Devatas, who had become immortal due to drinking nectar, were suffering piteously in the hands of demon Agha so much so that they deeply feared him and eagerly awaited his death. These demons would mercilessly trash the Devatas. Having drunk nectar, the Devatas could not die, nevertheless they had no escape from this torture. They underwent excruciating pain such that they wished they could have died than withstand this agony. In order to give respite to these Devatas, Krishna had come here on the pretext of picnic. Aghasura was the trouble-maker demon who inevitably visited places where people were happy and saddened them by filling them with grief. He approached mighty people and rendered them weak. Seeing people desolate and unhappy, he derived delight.

“Aghasura was the brother of demoness Putana and demon Bakasura”.

Putana assumed the form of a loving mother and approached Krishna when he was an infant. It is said that as Putana walked on the streets of Gokula, all the residents were captivated by her beauty. Young children wished that she would carry and cajole them. Infants desired that she should breast-feed them. Young men and women wanted to touch this beautiful damsel who was walking past them. Everyone was drawn towards her. Difficulties always land in this fashion. The Supreme Lord liberated both Putana as well as the demon Baka who had attacked Him previously.

Krishna Krishna Srihari