Balvihar Classes

Class 58 Sept 30, 2018 • Last class we saw how Devki’s eigth child was born • Kansa’s atrocities- killing of cows, learned brahmins, innocent people etc • Nand went to Mathura to pay taxes and he met with Vasudev. Vasudev was delighted to hear and Balrama were safe. • Nand was retuning home. He saw a huge demoness lying on the road. He came to know of her death. • She was Putana, sent by Kans to kill baby Krishna with the poison she had in herself. She assumed the form a beautiful lady and she carried Krishna in her arms. Nobody objected. She tried to kill the baby but Krishna killed her. • • Krishna was 3 months old.He was trying to flip and crawl. had lot of work to do. She put Krishna in a cradle under a household cart. The word for cart is “Sakata” in . Krishna was sleeping. • • He awakened after some time and started kicking his legs. The kicking shook the cart and broke it to several pieces. This was unusual and the people thought it was some demon and they did ceremony to ward off evil.

• Next Trinavarta entered Gokul. He was Kansa’s servant. He became a whirlwind and carried away Krishna. • The people of Gokul saw a dust storm. Krishna was in there. After some time, Trinavarta could not move because Krishna became too heavy for him. Trinavarta fell as a demon on the ground and died. Krishna was safe in the storm • Krishna grew up and he started enjoying butter and curd • If there was no butter and curd at home, he would go about in the neighborhood looking in other’s houses. He was known as Maakhanchor, butter thief • One day, his friends said that he had eaten mud. Yashoda was very angry and told him to open his mouth. She saw the whole universe inside Krishna’s mouth. She fainted and later forgot what she saw. Liberation of Gandharvas

• Yashoda was unable to watch Krishna all the time. He was very mischievous.One day, she tied Krishna onto a “Ulukhala”. It is a huge mortar meant for grinding spices. He first grew his belly fatter and larger so that his mom will not be able to tie him. Then he saw she was frustrated and allowed himself to be tied . • Krishna was tied and Yashoda went to do her chores. He saw two “Yamala-arjuna” trees. • They were twin trees. The two trees had trapped the sons of - Nalakuvara and Manigriva by Narada. • Krishna dragged the “Ulukhala” and dashed against the trees, the trees fell down and the Gandharvas were released. • They bowed before Krishna , praised him and left for heavenly abode. When the trees fell they made a huge noise. Nand and Yashoda went there immediately and they untied Krishna. They were shocked to see he was safe. • One day a fruit vendor approached Nanda’s house, and Krishna gathered some food grains with his little palms and went to the vendor to exchange the grains for fruit. • On the way, almost all the grains fell from His palms, only one or two grains remaining, but the fruit vendor, out of full affection, accepted these grains in exchange for as much fruit as Krishna could take. As soon as she did this, her basket became filled with gold and jewels. • There were always some incidents happening with Krishna around . Some of them were mysterious. So Nand decided to shift the entire village to Vrindavan. So they relocated to Vrindavan from Gokul. • This Ends, the first part of Krishna’s childhood times, Krishnaleela in Gokul • Vraj leela or times in Vrindavan begins….

• The boys grew up, Krishna and Balrama could now take care of cows. They grazed the cows everyday. (Go-charana) • During this time, a demon named Vatsasura entered among the calves and was killed, and another asura, in the shape of a big duck (Bakasur) , was also killed. The playmates of Krishna narrated all these stories to their mothers. Demon Aghasur

• One day Krishna wanted to enjoy a picnic lunch within the forest, and therefore He went out early into the forest with the other cowherd boys, accompanied by their respective groups of calves. While they were enjoying their picnic, Aghasur the younger brother of Putana and Bakasur , appeared there, desiring to kill Krishna and his companions. • The demon, who had been sent by Kansa, assumed the form of a python, expanding himself to a length of eight miles and the height of a mountain, his mouth seeming to extend from the surface of the earth to the heavenly planets. Having assumed this feature, Aghasur lay on the road. • Krishn’s friends, the cowherd boys, thought that the demon’s form was one of the beautiful spots of Vrindavan. Thus they wanted to enter within the mouth of this gigantic python. They were fascinated. Krishna saw who aghasur was. He wanted to prevent the boys from entering, but it was too late • All boys entered the open cave. Krishna was waiting outside but Aghasur was waiting for Krishna to enter. His mouth was still open and so the other boys were safe inside. • In the meantime, Krishna was thinking of how to save the boys and kill Aghasur. Thus he entered the mouth of the gigantic asura, and when he was within the demon’s mouth along with his friends, he expanded his body to such an extent that the asura suffocated and died. • After this, Krishna, by casting His nectarean glance upon His friends, brought them back to life, and with pleasure they all came out unhurt. • Aghasur was sinful and wicked but since Krishna entered inside him and killed him he is said to be liberated of all sins