Immediately upon setting foot in Mathura, Krishna plentifully blessed a few devotees with every boon including liberation.

“In this vast city of Mathura, Krishna made his way to the sacrificial hall, forcibly snatched the enormous heavy golden bow and, even before the soldiers could react, strung it and broke it into two”.

It can be said that it was impossible for a single person to even move the bow, let alone lift or break it. Krishna amazingly lifted up the bow, playfully strung it and broke it. During His incarnation as Rama, He broke the bow to marry Sita. In this incarnation as Krishna He broke the bow to kill demon Kamsa. The breaking of the bow was an inauspicious omen for the demon but for us, it is an auspicious omen. To us, who are listening to Bhagavatam, it is an auspicious omen.

Some of the priests who had assembled in the sacrificial hall to conduct the bow-ritual included demons as well. In matters pertaining to Vedas, these demons had an upper hand. They were masters in Vedic knowledge and had an edge over others due to their mastery.

While they abided by Vedic dictates, they also engaged in many atrocities. Cheating, lying, consuming forbidden food was rampant in them. Barring these wrongful deeds, these demons were filled with virtuous tendencies.

When listening to such incidents or statements, we should wisely use our discretion and not come to hasty, irrational decisions which lead us to condemn Vedas and Vedic ritual. This bow-sacrifice was no ordinary Yagna. It was a grand and elaborate ritual. That the entire sacrificial hall was laden with golden objects itself indicates the grandeur of the Yagna being conducted. In that Dwapara Yuga, gold was easily available like German-silver or plastic commonly found everywhere today. Gold had no monetary value in those eons. As such gold was used extensively by everyone. Door frames, doors and towers were often made of gold.

What would have happened to all this gold? During the annihilations that followed, most of this gold disappeared. A little of this gold can be seen in the submerged city of Dwaraka. A sudden tsunami destroys an entire city. Likewise some small destructions occasionally take place in creation. Every year in America a thunderstorm/ tornado destroys an entire city submerging it totally in waters. Salty mountains are created due to the salt from the ocean waters during such storms.

Don’t we see the sand dunes of the deserts moving from place to place depending upon the strong blowing winds? A valley becomes a mountain while a mountain turns into a valley when these sand dunes shift. These are tiny destructions. Day in and day out we hear news of flooding, loss of crops, earthquakes, melting of ice, fire mountains and other destructions. We lack the capacity to handle even small destructions of this level. Deprived of food people die. Unable to withstand heat waves people die. These deaths happen despite the aid being sent by other countries. Such destructions are termed prākŗtika pralaya and are considered small. During such destructions all these golden chariots, domes, towers etc. have been eroded. They could have sunk into the depths of the earth, melted in fire, or submerged into the oceans. Occasionally the members of the Archaeological department find them in the depths of the earth.

When gold was available in plenty in that eon, is there anything surprising in knowing that the entire decorations in the sacrificial hall and the decorations on the bow were made exclusively of gold?

To me, Krishna is a little boy although he had reached teenage. Don’t we lovingly call our daughter ‘pappi’ or ‘chinni’ even after she turns eighty? Even Appaji calls his children ‘putta, putti, mari, puttamari’. In fact, even the birds here are addressed as such. ‘Mari’ is a kannada word meaning ‘little one’. Jayalakshmi mata would lovingly use that term. Hence Swamiji uses that term considering the person to be Jayalakshmi mata herself. Swamiji addresses even elders as ‘puttamari’- small child. Boys are lovingly addressed as ‘anna’. Similarly throughout Bhagavatam we address Krishna as ‘Chinna Krishna’ or small Krishna. Even Chinni is the name of the Lord.

Krishna Narayana