Krsna Book Audio Dictation - Chapter 36
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter Thirty-six. Subject: "Sending of Akrūra for Kṛṣṇa."
In this way, Vṛndāvana was always absorbed in thought of Kṛṣṇa remembering His pastimes, and they were constantly merged in the ocean of transcendental bliss. But the material world is so much contaminated that even in Vṛndāvana the asuras, or the demons, tried to disturb the peaceful situation of transcendental bliss.
So once, a demon of the name Ariṣṭāsura entered the village of Vṛndāvana like a great bull with his gigantic body and horns, and digging the earth by the hoofs. When the demon entered Vṛndāvana, it appeared that the whole land was trembling like earthquake. He was roaring very fiercely, and after digging the earth on the riverside, gradually he entered into the village proper.
The fearful roaring sound of the bull was so much piercing that untimely some of the cows and women who were pregnant, they undergone abortion. And its body was so big, stout and strong that the cloud in the sky rested on the body as if the cloud rest on the mountain hill. The demon Ariṣṭāsura entered Vṛndāvana in such a fearful appearance. Just on seeing this great demon, all the men and women of Vṛndāvana were afflicted with great fear, and the animals, cows, they fled away from the village Gokula.
When the situation becomes very much terrible, all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana began to cry, "Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Please save us!" And Kṛṣṇa also saw that the cows were running away from the village of Gokula. Kṛṣṇa immediately replied the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, "Don't be afraid of. Don't be afraid of." And He appeared before the demon in the shape of bull, addressed the demon as follows: "You, the lowborn, you the lowest of the living entities, why you are thus frightening the inhabitants of Gokula? What you will gain by this action of frightening the inhabitants of Gokula? If you have come to challenge My authority, then I am prepared to fight with you." In this way, Kṛṣṇa challenged the demon, and the demon also became very angry on this challenging. The demon became too much angry by the splashing sound made by Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa thus stood before the bull, keeping His hand on the shoulder of His friend, and the bull began to proceed towards Kṛṣṇa with anger and digging the earth with his hoofs. The demon lifted up its tail, and it appeared that the clouds were roaming around the tail. The demon’s eyes were reddish and moving with anger within the sockets, and keeping its horns towards Kṛṣṇa began to proceed towards Him forcibly, exactly like the thunderbolt of Indra that he proceeds in electrical force. Kṛṣṇa immediately caught up the horns and pushed him back 18 cubits immediately and threw him away, exactly like the gigantic elephant pushes back the small inimical elephant.
The demon, however, although appeared to be very much tired and was perspiring, still took courage and got up again and began to proceed toward Kṛṣṇa with great force and anger. While proceeding towards Kṛṣṇa, the animal demon was breathing very heavily. Kṛṣṇa again caught up its horns and immediately threw it on the ground, breaking the horns, and when the animal was on the ground Kṛṣṇa began to kick it on the body, exactly one squeezes a wet cloth on the ground, and thus the animal became dead immediately. The demon was oozing out blood from the mouth and passing stool and urine. The Ariṣṭāsura animal, thus being hurt by Kṛṣṇa, fell down and began to move his legs very violently, and oozing out blood and passing stool and urine and the eyes in the socket stopped upwards, and in this way the animal passed to the kingdom of death.
The demigods, however, from the celestial planet began to shower flowers on Kṛṣṇa on His wonderful achievements. Kṛṣṇa was already the life and soul of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, and after killing this Ariṣṭāsura in the shape of bull He become the cynosure of the neighboring eyes. And along with Balarāma He entered the village Vṛndāvana triumphantly, and the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana in great jubilation began to glorify Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. When a person acts something wonderful, the kinsmen and relatives and friends of such person naturally becomes too much jubilant, and as such the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, they become too much satisfied and jubilant on this act of Kṛṣṇa.
After this incidence, the great sage Nārada took the opportunity of disclosing the secret of Kṛṣṇa. Nārada Muni is generally known as deva-darśana, which means that he could be seen only by the demigods or persons on the same level of the demigods. Now, he was visiting Kaṁsa, but he was not at all on the level of the demigods. So how Kaṁsa was able to see Nārada Muni? The only reason is that Kaṁsa also saw Kṛṣṇa, what to speak of Nārada Muni. But unless one has the eyes purified to see the Lord or His devotees, he cannot derive the actual benefit. Of course, by association of such devotee he derives a imperceptible benefit, which is called ajṣatasukṛti. Imperceptible. He cannot understand how he is making progress, but still he makes some progress by seeing the devotee and the Lord. So Nārada's mission was to finish him.
Kṛṣṇa appeared to kill all kinds of demons at that time, so Kaṁsa was the chief amongst them. So Nārada wanted to expedite the business; therefore immediately he approached Kaṁsa and appraised him with all the real information. He informed Kaṁsa that he was to be killed by the eighth son of Vasudeva. That eighth son of Vasudeva is Kṛṣṇa. He was misled by Vasudeva, that he understood that the eighth issue of Vasudeva was a daughter. "Actually, the daughter was born of Yaśodā, wife of Nanda Mahārāja, and Vasudeva exchanged the daughter and you were misled. So Kṛṣṇa is the son of…, actually the son of Vasudeva, so also Balarāma, He is also the son of Vasudeva, and Vasudeva tactfully hided Them in Vṛndāvana out of your sight, just being afraid of your atrocious nature." Nārada informed him that Kaṁsa may know now that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were living incognito at the care of Nanda Mahārāja, and all the asuras, the companion of Kaṁsa that was sent to Vṛndāvana to kill different children, but actually they were killed, and Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma actually killed all your men.
Kaṁsa, as soon as got this information from Nārada Muni, immediately got out his sharpened sword and became ready to kill Vasudeva for his (indistinct). But Nārada pacified him, that "You are not to be killed by Vasudeva. Then why you are so much anxious to kill Vasudeva? Better try to kill Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma." But in order to satisfy his wrath, Kaṁsa immediately arrested Vasudeva along with his wife and shackled them with iron chains.
After this information of Nārada to Kaṁsa, he immediately called for Keśī demon and asked him to go to Vṛndāvana and bring Baladeva and Kṛṣṇa immediately. In other words, Kaṁsa asked Keśī demon to go to Vṛndāvana for being killed by Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma and thus get salvation. Then he called for two expert elephant trainers, Cāṇūra, Muṣṭika, Tāla, Sitala(?), and began to instruct them as follows: "My dear friends, please try to hear me attentively. Please note that Nanda…, at Nanda Mahārāja's place in Vṛndāvana two brothers, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, are living, but They are actually two sons of Vasudeva. You should know that I am destined to be killed by Kṛṣṇa. There is a foretelling like this. Now I am requesting you to arrange for a wrestling platform, and I am arranging to get these two boys here and you try to kill Them, on the plea of wrestling. Just immediately arrange to prepare a nice battling circus so that people of different parts about the country may come and see the festival."
This wrestling competition is still enjoyed by the Indian people in the northern part of India, and it appears from the statement of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that five thousand years ago also the same system was there. And Kaṁsa advised to arrange for such wrestling competition and invite people to visit. "My dear trainer of the elephants, you please bring especially the elephant of the name Kuvalayāpīḍa (K-U-V-A-L-A-Y-A-P-I-D-A) and keep the elephant on the gate of the wrestling camp. And you just try to capture Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma on Their arrival and kill Them."
Kaṁsa advised also his friends that they should arrange for worshiping Lord Śiva by giving sacrifices of animals and perform the sacrifice called Dhanur-yajṣa, and he arranged for the sacrifice on the fourteenth day of Manu (sic) known as Caturdaśī. This date falls three days after Ekādaśī, and this Caturdaśī is specifically counted for worshiping Lord Śiva. One of the plenary portion of Lord Śiva is called Kālabhairava. This Kālabhairava form of Lord Śiva is worshiped by the demons by offering animals killed before him. This process is still current in India in a place known as Vaidyanātha-dhāma, and there is the deity Kālabhairava and the demons offer animal sacrifice. Kaṁsa belonged to this demon group. King Kaṁsa was expert diplomat. Therefore, he advised his different demon friends nicely to arrange for killing Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma.
Then he called for Akrūra, one of the descendants in the family of Yadu in which Kṛṣṇa was born as the son of Vasudeva. And when Akrūra came to see him, he very politely shaked hands with him and began to say as follows: "My dear Akrūra, actually there is no better friend than you in the whole family of Bhoja dynasty and Yadu dynasty. Besides that, you are the most munificent amongst the persons charitably disposed, so as a friend I am begging from you one charity. Actually, I have taken your shelter exactly like King Indra takes shelter of Lord Viṣṇu for serving his purpose. I request you to go immediately to Vṛndāvana, and there are two boys of the name Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. They are sons of Nanda Mahārāja. And you take this nice chariot especially prepared for the boys, and bring Them here immediately. That is my request to you.
"I may also disclose my plan in this connection. I want to kill these two boys. So as soon as They come in the gate, there will be the giant elephant of the name Kuvalayāpīḍa, and possibly the elephant alone will be able to kill Them immediately. But if somehow or other He escapes killing by the elephant, the next He will meet the wrestlers on the wrestling camp, and the boys will be killed there. That is my plan.
"I may also disclose my plan in this connection that after killing these two boys, then I shall kill all others, just like Vasudeva, Nanda, who are supporter of the Vṛṣṇi dynasty and Bhoja dynasty. Then I shall also kill my father Ugrasena and his brother Devaka, because they are actually my enemies and hindrance to my procedure of diplomacy and politics. In this way I shall get rid of all my enemies, and you know that Jarāsandha is my father-in-law, and I have got a great friend of the name monkey Dvivida. With their help it will be very easy for me to kill all the kings on the surface of the world who supports the demigods.
"So this is my plan, and in this way I shall be free from the opposing elements, and it will be very pleasing for me to rule over the world without any obstruction. And you know also that Śambara, Narakāsura, Bāṇāsura, all of them are my intimate friends. And when I shall begin this war against the kings in support of the demigods, they will help me considerably, and in this way I shall be free from all my enemies. Please therefore go immediately to Vṛndāvana and entice the boys to come here to see the beauty of Mathurā City and to take pleasure in the wrestling competition."
After hearing this statement of Kaṁsa, Akrūra replied, "My dear King, your plan is very excellent. It is exactly defeating to counteract the hindrances of your diplomatic activities. But you should maintain equilibrium in the result of your activities. It may be fruitful or it may not be fruitful. After all, man proposes, God disposes. We may make a very great plan, but unless it is sanctioned by the supreme authority, it is not possible to get the desired result. Everyone in this material world knows that the supernatural power above him is the ultimate disposer of everything. Still, one makes a very great plan according to his fertile brain, and therefore he becomes subjected to the resultant action of misery and happiness. But I have nothing to say against your proposal, and as a friend I shall carry out your order and I shall bring Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma as desired by you."
In this way Kaṁsa, after instructing his different kinds of friends differently, went back to his home, and Akrūra also went back to his home.
Next paragraph.
Thus ends the successive Thirty-sixth Chapter of Kṛṣṇa in the matter of "Sending Akrūra for Kṛṣṇa."