Krishna Past times

When Śukadeva Gosvāmī finished describing the dynasty of Yadu, as well as the dynasties of the moon-god and sun-god, Mahārāja Parīkṣit requested him to describe Lord Kṛṣṇa, who appeared with Baladeva in the Yadu dynasty, and how Kṛṣṇa performed His activities within this world. Kṛṣṇa is transcendental, the King said, and therefore to understand His activities is the occupation of liberated persons. Hearing of kṛṣṇa-līlā is the boat by which to achieve the ultimate goal of life. Except for an animal killer or one who is following a policy of suicide, every intelligent person must strive to understand Kṛṣṇa and His activities. Kṛṣṇa was the only worshipable Deity for the Pāṇḍavas. When Mahārāja Parīkṣit was in the womb of his mother, Uttarā, Kṛṣṇa saved him from the attack of the brahma-śastra. Now Mahārāja Parīkṣit asked Śukadeva Gosvāmī how His Lordship Baladeva, the son of Rohiṇī, could have appeared in the womb of Devakī. Why did Kṛṣṇa transfer Himself from Mathurā to Vṛndāvana, King Parīkṣit asked, and how did He live there with His family members? What did Kṛṣṇa do in Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, and why did He kill His maternal uncle Kaṁsa? For how many years did Kṛṣṇa reside in Dvārakā, and how many queens did He have? Mahārāja Parīkṣit asked Śukadeva Gosvāmī all these questions. He also requested Śukadeva Gosvāmī to describe other activities of Kṛṣṇa about which he could not inquire. When Śukadeva Gosvāmī began to speak about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, Mahārāja Parīkṣit forgot the fatigue brought about by his fasting. Enthusiastic to describe Kṛṣṇa, Śukadeva Gosvāmī said, “Like the waters of the Ganges, descriptions of the activities of Kṛṣṇa can purify the entire universe. The speaker, the inquirer and the audience all become purified.” Once when the entire world was overburdened by the increasing military power of demons in the form of kings, mother earth assumed the shape of a cow and approached Lord Brahmā for relief, Sympathetic to mother earth’s lamentation, Brahmā, accompanied by Lord Śiva and other demigods, took the cow-shaped mother earth to the shore of the milk ocean, where he offered prayers to please Lord Viṣṇu, who lay there on an island in transcendental ecstasy. Brahmā thereafter understood the advice of Mahā-Viṣṇu, who informed him that He would appear on the surface of the earth to mitigate the burden created by the demons. The demigods, along with their wives, should appear there as associates of Lord Kṛṣṇa in the family of Yadu to increase the sons and grandsons in that dynasty. By the will of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Anantadeva would appear first, as Balarāma, and Kṛṣṇa’s potency, yogamāyā, would also appear. Brahmā informed mother earth about all this, and then he returned to his own abode. After marrying Devakī, Vasudeva was returning home with her on a chariot driven by Kaṁsa, her brother, when an ominous voice addressed Kaṁsa, warning him that Devakī’s eighth son would kill him. Upon hearing this omen, Kaṁsa was immediately ready to kill Devakī, but Vasudeva diplomatically began to instruct him. Vasudeva stressed that it would not be good for Kaṁsa to kill his younger sister, especially at the time of her marriage. Anyone who possesses a material body must die, Vasudeva advised him. Every living entity lives in a body for some time and then transmigrates to another body, but one is unfortunately misled into accepting the body as the soul. If a person under this mistaken conception wants to kill another body, he is condemned as hellish. Because Kaṁsa was not satisfied by Vasudeva’s instructions, Vasudeva devised a plan. He offered to bring Kaṁsa all of Devakī’s children so that Kaṁsa could kill them. Why then should Kaṁsa kill Devakī now? Kaṁsa was satisfied by this proposal. In due course of time, when Devakī gave birth to a child, Vasudeva brought the newborn baby to Kaṁsa, who, upon seeing Vasudeva’s magnanimity, was struck with wonder. When Vasudeva gave Kaṁsa the child, Kaṁsa, showing some intelligence, said that since he was to be killed by the eighth child, why should he kill the first? Although Vasudeva did not trust him, Kaṁsa requested Vasudeva to take the child back. Later, however, after Nārada approached Kaṁsa and disclosed to him that the demigods were appearing in the Yadu and Vṛṣṇi dynasties and conspiring to kill him, Kaṁsa decided to kill all the children born in these families, and he also decided that any child born from the womb of Devakī must be killed. Thus he arrested and imprisoned both Devakī and Vasudeva and killed six of their sons, one after another. Nārada had also informed Kaṁsa that in his previous birth Kaṁsa was Kālanemi, a demon killed by Viṣṇu. Consequently, Kaṁsa became a great enemy to all the descendants of the yadu-vaṁśa, the Yadu dynasty. He even arrested and imprisoned his own father, Ugrasena, for Kaṁsa wanted to enjoy the kingdom alone.

As described in this chapter, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead entered the womb of Devakī to kill Kaṁsa, all the demigods understood that the Lord was living within Devakī’s womb, and therefore in veneration they offered Him the Garbha-stuti prayers.

Kaṁsa, under the protection of his father-in-law, Jarāsandha, and with the help of his demoniac friends like Pralamba, Baka, Cāṇūra, Tṛṇāvarta, Aghāsura, Muṣṭika, Bāṇa and Bhaumāsura, began oppressing the members of the Yadu dynasty. Therefore, the members of the Yadu dynasty left their homes and sought shelter in such states as Kuru, Pañcāla, Kekaya, Śālva and Vidarbha. Only some of them stayed with Kaṁsa, as nominal friends.
After Kaṁsa killed the ṣaḍ-garbhas, the six sons of Devakī, one after another, Anantadeva entered Devakī’s womb and was transferred to the womb of Rohiṇī by the manipulation of Yogamāyā, who was following the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord Himself, who was soon to appear as the eighth son of Devakī, ordered Yogamāyā to take birth from the womb of Yaśodādevī. Because Kṛṣṇa and His potency, Yogamāyā, appeared simultaneously as brother and sister, the world is full of Vaiṣṇavas and śāktas, and there is certainly some rivalry between them. Vaiṣṇavas worship the Supreme Lord, whereas śāktas, according to their desires, worship Yogamāyā in forms like Durgā, Bhadrakālī and Caṇḍikā. Following the orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Yogamāyā transferred Baladeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, and the seventh child of Devakī, from the womb of Devakī to the womb of Rohiṇī. Because Saṅkarṣaṇa appears in order to increase love of Kṛṣṇa, He is known as Baladeva. One may take auspicious strength from Him to become a devotee of the Lord, and therefore He is also known as Balabhadra.
After Yogamāyā transferred the seventh child of Devakī to the womb of Rohiṇī, the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared within the heart of Vasudeva and transferred Himself into the heart of Devakī. Because the Lord was present in her heart, Devakī, as her pregnancy continued, appeared effulgent. Upon seeing this effulgence, Kaṁsa was full of anxiety, but he could not harm Devakī because of their family relationship. Thus he began indirectly thinking of Kṛṣṇa and became fully Kṛṣṇa conscious.
Meanwhile, because of the Lord’s presence within the womb of Devakī, all the demigods came to offer the Lord their prayers. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, they said, is eternally the Absolute Truth. The spiritual soul is more important than the gross body, and the Supersoul, Paramātmā, is still more important than the soul. The Supreme Godhead is absolutely independent, and His incarnations are transcendental. The prayers of the demigods glorify and exalt devotees and explain the fate of persons who superficially consider themselves liberated from the conditions of material nature. A devotee is always safe. When a devotee fully surrenders at the lotus feet of the Lord, he is completely liberated from the fear of material existence. By explaining why the Supreme Personality of Godhead descends, the prayers of the demigods clearly confirm the Lord’s statement in Bhagavad-gītā (BG 4.7):
Yadā yadā hi dharmasya
Glānir bhavati bhārata
Abhyutthānam adharmasya
Tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham
“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion-at that time I descend myself.”

As described in this chapter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, Hari in His original form, appeared as Viṣṇu so that His father and mother could understand that their son was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because they were afraid of Kaṁsa, when the Lord appeared as an ordinary child they took Him to Gokula, the home of Nanda Mahārāja.
Mother Devakī, being fully transcendental, sac-cid-ānanda, does not belong to this material world. Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared with four hands, as if born from her womb. Upon seeing the Lord in that Viṣṇu form, Vasudeva was struck with wonder, and in transcendental happiness he and Devakī mentally gave ten thousand cows in charity to the brāhmaṇas. Vasudeva then offered prayers to the Lord, addressing Him as the Supreme Person, Parabrahman, the Supersoul, who is beyond duality and who is internally and externally all-pervading. The Lord, the cause of all causes, is beyond material existence, although He is the creator of this material world. When He enters this world as Paramātmā, He is all-pervading (aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham (BS 5.35)), yet He is transcendentally situated. For the creation, maintenance and annihilation of this material world, the Lord appears as the guṇa-avatāras-Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara. Thus Vasudeva offered prayers full of meaning to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Devakī followed her husband by offering prayers describing the transcendental nature of the Lord. Fearing Kaṁsa and desiring that the Lord not be understood by atheistic and materialistic nondevotees, she prayed that the Lord withdraw His transcendental four-armed form and appear like an ordinary child with two hands.

The Lord reminded Vasudeva and Devakī of two other incarnations in which He had appeared as their son. He had appeared as Pṛśnigarbha and Vāmanadeva, and now this was the third time He was appearing as the son of Devakī to fulfill their desire. The Lord then decided to leave the residence of Vasudeva and Devakī, in the prison house of Kaṁsa, and at this very time, Yogamāyā took birth as the daughter of Yaśodā. By the arrangement of Yogamāyā, Vasudeva was able to leave the prison house and save the child from the hands of Kaṁsa. When Vasudeva brought Kṛṣṇa to the house of Nanda Mahārāja, he saw that by Yogamāyā’s arrangement, Yaśodā, as well as everyone else, was deeply asleep. Thus he exchanged the babies, taking Yogamāyā from Yaśodā’s lap and placing Kṛṣṇa there instead. Then Vasudeva returned to his own place, having taken Yogamāyā as his daughter. He placed Yogamāyā on Devakī’s bed and prepared to be a prisoner as before. In Gokula, Yaśodā could not understand whether she had given birth to a male or a female child.

This chapter describes how Kaṁsa, following the advice of his demoniac friends, considered the persecution of small children to be very diplomatic.
After Vasudeva bound himself with iron shackles as before, all the doors of the prison house closed by the influence of Yogamāyā, who then began crying as a newborn child, This crying awakened the doorkeepers, who immediately informed Kaṁsa that a child had been born to Devakī. Upon hearing this news, Kaṁsa appeared with great force in the maternity room, and in spite of Devakī’s pleas that the child be saved, the demon forcibly snatched the child from Devakī’s hands and dashed the child against a rock. Unfortunately for Kaṁsa, however, the newborn child slipped away from his hands, rose above his head and appeared as the eight-armed form of Durgā. Durgā then told Kaṁsa, “The enemy you contemplate has taken birth somewhere else. Therefore your plan to persecute all the children will prove futile.”

According to the prophecy, the eighth child of Devakī would kill Kaṁsa, and therefore when Kaṁsa saw that the eighth child was a female and heard that his so-called enemy had taken birth elsewhere, he was struck with wonder. He decided to release Devakī and Vasudeva, and he admitted before them the wrongness of his atrocities. Falling at the feet of Devakī and Vasudeva, he begged their pardon and tried to convince them that because the events that had taken place were destined to happen, they should not be unhappy for his having killed so many of their children. Devakī and Vasudeva, being naturally very pious, immediately excused Kaṁsa for his atrocities, and Kaṁsa, after seeing that his sister and brother-in-law were happy, returned to his home.
After the night passed, however, Kaṁsa called for his ministers and informed them of all that had happened. The ministers, who were all demons, advised Kaṁsa that because his enemy had already taken birth somewhere else, all the children born within the past ten days in the villages within Kaṁsa’s kingdom should be killed. Although the demigods always feared Kaṁsa, they should not be treated leniently; since they were enemies, Kaṁsa should try his best to uproot their existence. The demoniac ministers further advised that Kaṁsa and the demons continue their enmity toward Viṣṇu because Viṣṇu is the original person among all the demigods. The brāhmaṇas, the cows, the Vedas, austerity, truthfulness, control of the senses and mind, faithfulness and mercy are among the different parts of the body of Viṣṇu, who is the origin of all the demigods, including Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva. Therefore, the ministers advised, the demigods, the saintly persons, the cows and the brāhmaṇas should be systematically persecuted. Strongly advised in this way by his friends, the demoniac ministers, Kaṁsa approved of their instructions and considered it beneficial to be envious of the brāhmaṇas. Following Kaṁsa’s orders, therefore, the demons began committing their atrocities all over Vrajabhūmi.

Kamsa sent Putana demoness, who was wandering here and there killing small babies. One day, Pūtanā arrived from outer space in Gokula, the home of Nanda Mahārāja, and by displaying her mystic power; she assumed the disguise of a very beautiful woman. Taking courage, she immediately entered Kṛṣṇa’s bedroom without anyone’s permission; by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, no one forbade her to enter the house or the room, because that was Kṛṣṇa’s desire. The baby Kṛṣṇa, who resembled a fire covered by ashes, looked upon Pūtanā and thought that He would have to kill this demon, the beautiful woman. Enchanted by the influence of yogamāyā and the Personality of Godhead, Pūtanā took Kṛṣṇa upon her lap, and neither Rohiṇī nor Yaśodā objected. The demon Pūtanā offered her breast for Kṛṣṇa to suck, but her breast was smeared with poison. The child Kṛṣṇa, therefore, squeezed Pūtanā’s breast so severely that in unbearable pain she had to assume her original body and fell to the ground. Then Kṛṣṇa began playing on her breast just like a small child. When Kṛṣṇa was playing, the gopīs were pacified and took the child away to their own laps. After this incident, the gopīs took precautions because of the attack of the Rākṣasī. Mother Yaśodā gave the child her breast to suck and then laid Him in bed.
Meanwhile, Nanda and his associates the cowherd men returned from Mathurā, and when they saw the great dead body of Pūtanā, they were struck with wonder. Everyone was astonished that Vasudeva had foretold this mishap, and they praised Vasudeva for his power of foresight. The inhabitants of Vraja cut the gigantic body of Pūtanā into pieces, but because Kṛṣṇa had sucked her breast, she had been freed from all sins, and therefore when the cowherd men burned the pieces of her body in a fire, the smoke filled the air with a very pleasing fragrance. Ultimately, although Pūtanā had desired to kill Kṛṣṇa, she attained the Lord’s abode. From this incident we gain the instruction that if one is attached to Kṛṣṇa somehow or other, even as an enemy, one ultimately attains success. What then is to be said of devotees who are naturally attached to Kṛṣṇa in love? When the inhabitants of Vraja heard about the killing of Pūtanā and the welfare of the child, they were very much satisfied. Nanda Mahārāja took the baby Kṛṣṇa on his lap and was filled with satisfaction.

When Śrī Kṛṣṇa was only three months old and was just trying to turn backside up, before He even attempted to crawl, mother Yaśodā wanted to observe a ritualistic ceremony with her friends for the good fortune of the child. Such a ritualistic ceremony is generally performed with ladies who also have small children. When mother Yaśodā saw that Kṛṣṇa was falling asleep, because of other engagements she put the child underneath a household cart, called śakaṭa, and while the child was sleeping, she engaged herself in other business pertaining to the auspicious ritualistic ceremony. Underneath the cart was a cradle, and mother Yaśodā placed the child in that cradle. The child was sleeping, but suddenly He awakened and, as usual for a child, began to kick His small legs. This kicking shook the cart, which collapsed with a great sound, breaking completely and spilling all its contents. Children who were playing nearby immediately informed mother Yaśodā that the cart had broken, and therefore she hastily arrived there in great anxiety with the other gopīs. Mother Yaśodā immediately took the child on her lap and allowed Him to suck her breast. Then various types of Vedic ritualistic ceremonies were performed with the help of the brāhmaṇas. Not knowing the real identity of the child, the brāhmaṇas showered the child with blessings.
Another day, when mother Yaśodā was sitting with her child on her lap, she suddenly observed that he had assumed the weight of the entire universe. She was so astonished that she had to put the child down, and in the meantime Tṛṇāvarta, one of the servants of Kaṁsa, appeared there as a whirlwind and took the child away. The whole tract of land known as Gokula became surcharged with dust, no one could see where the child had been taken, and all the gopīs were overwhelmed because He had been taken away in the dust storm. But up in the sky, the asura, being overburdened by the child, could not carry the child far away, although he also could not drop the child because the child had caught him so tightly that it was difficult for him to separate the child from his body. Thus Tṛṇāvarta himself fell down from a very great height, the child grasping him tightly by the shoulder, and immediately died.

The demon having fallen, the gopīs picked the child up and delivered Him to the lap of mother Yaśodā. Thus mother Yaśodā was struck with wonder, but because of yogamāyā’s influence, no one could understand who Kṛṣṇa was and what had actually happened. Rather, everyone began to praise fortune for the child’s having been saved from such a calamity. Nanda Mahārāja, of course, was thinking of the wonderful foretelling of Vasudeva and began to praise him as a great yogī.

One day, Vasudeva sent for Gargamuni, the family priest of the yadu-vaàça, and thus Gargamuni went to the house of Nanda Mahäräja, who received him very well and requested him to give names to Kṛṣṇa and Balaräma. Gargamuni, of course, reminded Nanda Mahäräja that Kaàsa was looking for the son of Devaké and said that if he performed the ceremony very gorgeously, the ceremony would come to the notice of Kaàsa, who would then suspect that Kṛṣṇa was the son of Devaké. Nanda Mahäräja therefore requested Gargamuni to perform this ceremony without anyone’s knowledge, and Gargamuni did so. Because Balaräma, the son of Rohiëé, increases the transcendental bliss of others, His name is Räma, and because of His extraordinary strength, He is called Baladeva. He attracts the Yadus to follow His instructions, and therefore His name is Saìkarñaëa. Kṛṣṇa, the son of Yaçodä, previously appeared in many other colors, such as white, red and yellow, and He had now assumed the color black. Because He was sometimes the son of Vasudeva, His name is Väsudeva. According to His various activities and qualities, He has many other names. After thus informing Nanda Mahäräja and completing the name-giving ceremony, Gargamuni advised Nanda Mahäräja to protect his son very carefully and then departed.

Çukadeva Gosvämé next described how the two children crawled, walked on Their small legs, played with the cows and calves, stole butter and other milk products and broke the butter pots. In this way, he described many naughty activities of Kṛṣṇa and Balaräma. The most wonderful of these occurred when Kṛṣṇa’s playmates complained to Mother Yaçodä that Kṛṣṇa was eating earth. Mother Yaçodä wanted to open Kṛṣṇa’s mouth to see the evidence so that she could chastise Him. Sometimes she assumed the position of a chastising mother, and at the next moment she was overwhelmed with maternal love. After describing all this to Mahäräja Parékñit, Çukadeva Gosvämé, at Mahäräja Parékñit’s request, praised the fortune of Mother Yaçodä and Nanda. Nanda and Yaçodä were formerly Droëa and Dharä, and by the order of Brahmä they came to this earth and had the Supreme Personality of Godhead as their son.

While mother Yaśodā was allowing Kṛṣṇa to drink her breast milk, she was forced to stop because she saw the milk pan boiling over on the oven. The maidservants being engaged in other business, she stopped allowing Kṛṣṇa to drink from her breast and immediately attended to the overflowing milk pan. Kṛṣṇa became very angry because of His mother’s behavior and devised a means of breaking the pots of yogurt. Because He created this disturbance, mother Yaśodā decided to bind Him. These incidents are described in this chapter.

One day, the maidservants being engaged in other work, mother Yaśodā was churning the yogurt into butter herself, and in the meantime Kṛṣṇa came and requested her to allow Him to suck her breast milk. Of course, mother Yaśodā immediately allowed Him to do so, but then she saw that the hot milk on the oven was boiling over, and therefore she immediately stopped allowing Kṛṣṇa to drink the milk of her breast and went to stop the milk on the oven from overflowing. Kṛṣṇa, however, having been interrupted in His business of sucking the breast, was very angry. He took a piece of stone, broke the churning pot and entered a room, where He began to eat the freshly churned butter. When mother Yaśodā, after attending to the overflowing milk, returned and saw the pot broken, she could understand that this was the work of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore she went to search for Him. When she entered the room, she saw Kṛṣṇa standing on the ulūkhala, a large mortar for grinding spices. Having turned the mortar upside down, He was stealing butter hanging from a swing and was distributing the butter to the monkeys. As soon as Kṛṣṇa saw that His mother had come, He immediately began to run away, and mother Yaśodā began to follow Him. After going some distance, mother Yaśodā was able to catch Kṛṣṇa, who because of His offense was crying. Mother Yaśodā, of course, threatened to punish Kṛṣṇa if He acted that way again, and she decided to bind Him with rope. Unfortunately, when the time came to knot the rope, the rope with which she wanted to bind Him was short by a distance equal to the width of two fingers. When she made the rope longer by adding another rope, she again saw that it was short by two fingers. Again and again she tried, and again and again she found the rope too short by two fingers. Thus she became very tired, and Kṛṣṇa, seeing His affectionate mother so tired, allowed Himself to be bound. Now, being compassionate, He did not show her His unlimited potency. After mother Yaśodā bound Kṛṣṇa and became engaged in other household affairs, Kṛṣṇa observed two yamala-arjuna trees, which were actually Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva, two sons of Kuvera who had been condemned by Nārada Muni to become trees. Kṛṣṇa, by His mercy, now began to proceed toward the trees to fulfill the desire of Nārada Muni.

This chapter describes how Kṛṣṇa broke the twin arjuna trees, from which Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva, the sons of Kuvera, then came out.

Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva were great devotees of Lord Śiva, but because of material opulence they became so extravagant and senseless that one day they were enjoying with naked girls in a lake and shamelessly walking here and there. Suddenly Nārada Muni passed by, but they were so maddened by their wealth and false prestige that even though they saw Nārada Muni present, they remained naked and were not even ashamed. In other words, because of opulence and false prestige, they lost their sense of common decency. Of course, it is the nature of the material qualities that when one becomes very much opulent in terms of wealth and a prestigious position, one loses one’s sense of etiquette and does not care about anyone, even a sage like Nārada Muni. For such bewildered persons (ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā), who especially deride devotees, the proper punishment is to be again stricken with poverty. The Vedic rules and regulations prescribe how to control the false sense of prestige by the practice of yama, niyama and so on (tapasā brahmacaryeṇa śamena ca damena ca (SB 6.1.13)). A poor man can be convinced very easily that the prestige of an opulent position in this material world is temporary, but a rich man cannot. Therefore Nārada Muni set an example by cursing these two persons, Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva, to become dull and unconscious like trees. This was a fit punishment. But because Kṛṣṇa is always merciful, even though they were punished they were fortunate enough to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face. Therefore the punishment given by Vaiṣṇavas is not at all punishment; rather, it is another kind of mercy. By the curse of the devarṣi, Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva became twin arjuna trees and remained in the courtyard of mother Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja, waiting for the opportunity to see Kṛṣṇa directly. Lord Kṛṣṇa, by the desire of His devotee, uprooted these yamala-arjuna trees, and when Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva were thus delivered by Kṛṣṇa after one hundred years of the devas, their old consciousness revived, and they offered Kṛṣṇa prayers suitable to be offered by demigods. Having thus gotten the opportunity to see Kṛṣṇa face to face, they understood how merciful Nārada Muni was, and therefore they expressed their indebtedness to him and thanked him. Then, after circumambulating the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, they departed for their respective abodes.

This chapter describes how the inhabitants of Gokula left Gokula and went to Vṛndāvana and how Kṛṣṇa killed Vatsāsura and Bakāsura.
When the yamala-arjuna trees fell, they made a tremendous sound, like that of falling thunderbolts. Being surprised, Kṛṣṇa’s father, Nanda, and the other elderly inhabitants of Gokula went to the spot, where they saw the fallen trees and Kṛṣṇa standing between them, bound to the ulūkhala, the wooden mortar. They could find no cause for the trees’ having fallen and Kṛṣṇa’s being there. They thought this might be the work of some other asura who had met Kṛṣṇa on this spot, and they inquired from the playmates of Kṛṣṇa about how the whole incident had taken place. The children properly described how everything had happened, but the elderly persons could not believe the story. Some of them, however, thought that it might be true, since they had already seen many wonderful incidents in connection with Kṛṣṇa. Anyway, Nanda Mahārāja immediately released Kṛṣṇa from the ropes.
In this way, Kṛṣṇa, at every day and every moment, displayed wonderful incidents to increase the parental affection of Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodā, who thus felt both surprise and joy. The breaking of the yamala-arjunas was one of these wonderful pastimes.
One day a fruit vendor approached Nanda Mahārāja’s house, and Kṛṣṇa 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 Kṛṣṇa could take. As soon as she did this, her basket became filled with gold and jewels.

Thereafter, all the elderly gopas decided to leave Gokula because they saw that in Gokula there was always some disturbance. They decided to go to Vṛndāvana, Vraja-dhāma, and the next day they all departed. In Vṛndāvana, both Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, after finishing Their childhood pastimes, began to take charge of the calves and send them to the pasturing grounds (go-caraṇa). During this time, a demon named Vatsāsura entered among the calves and was killed, and another asura, in the shape of a big duck, was also killed. The playmates of Kṛṣṇa narrated all these stories to their mothers. The mothers could not believe their children, Kṛṣṇa’s playmates, but because of full affection they enjoyed these narrations of Kṛṣṇa’s activities.

One day Kṛṣṇa 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, Aghāsura, the younger brother of Pütanä and Bakäsura, appeared there, desiring to kill Kṛṣṇa and His companions. The demon, who had been sent by Kaàsa, 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, Aghāsura lay on the road. Kṛṣṇa’s friends, the cowherd boys, thought that the demon’s form was one of the beautiful spots of Våndävana. Thus they wanted to enter within the mouth of this gigantic python. The gigantic figure of the python became a subject for their sporting pleasure, and they began to laugh, confident that even if this figure were dangerous, Kṛṣṇa was there to protect them. In this way, they proceeded toward the mouth of the gigantic figure.
Kṛṣṇa knew everything about Aghāsura, and therefore He wanted to forbid His friends to enter the demon’s mouth, but in the meantime all the cowherd boys, along with their groups of calves, entered the mouth of that gigantic figure. Kṛṣṇa was waiting outside, and Aghāsura was waiting for Kṛṣṇa, thinking that as soon as Kṛṣṇa entered he would close his mouth so that everyone would die. While waiting for Kṛṣṇa, he refrained from swallowing the boys. In the meantime, Kṛṣṇa was thinking of how to save the boys and kill Aghāsura. 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, Kṛṣṇa, by casting His nectarean glance upon His friends, brought them back to life, and with pleasure they all came out unhurt. Thus Kṛṣṇa encouraged all the demigods, and they expressed their pleasure and happiness. For a crooked, sinful person there is no scope for säyujya-mukti, or becoming one with the effulgence of Kṛṣṇa, but because the Supreme Personality of Godhead entered the body of Aghāsura, by His touch this demon got the opportunity to merge into the existence of the Brahman effulgence and thus attain säyujya-mukti.
When this pastime was performed, Kṛṣṇa was only five years old. One year later, when He was six years old and He stepped into the paugaëòa age, this pastime was disclosed to the inhabitants of Vraja. Parékñit Mahārāja inquired, “Why is it that this pastime was disclosed only after one year and yet the inhabitants of Vraja thought that it had been performed that very day?” With this question, the Twelfth Chapter ends.

This chapter describes Lord Brahmā’s attempt to take away the calves and cowherd boys, and it also describes the bewilderment of Lord Brahmā and finally the clearance of his illusion.
Although the incident concerning Aghāsura had been performed one year before, when the cowherd boys were five years old, when they were six years old they said, “It happened today.” What happened was this. After killing Aghāsura, Kṛṣṇa, along with His associates the cowherd boys, went for a picnic within the forest. The calves, being allured by green grasses, gradually went far away, and therefore Kṛṣṇa’s associates became a little agitated and wanted to bring back the calves. Kṛṣṇa, however, encouraged the boys by saying, “You take your tiffin without being agitated. I shall go find the calves.” And thus the Lord departed. Then, just to examine the potency of Kṛṣṇa, Lord Brahmā took away all the calves and cowherd boys and kept them in a secluded place.
When Kṛṣṇa was unable to find the calves and boys, He could understand that this was a trick performed by Brahmā. Then the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes, in order to please Lord Brahmā, as well as His own associates and their mothers, expanded Himself to become the calves and boys, exactly as they were before. In this way, He discovered another pastime. A special feature of this pastime was that the mothers of the cowherd boys thus became more attached to their respective sons, and the cows became more attached to their calves. After nearly a year, Baladeva observed that all the cowherd boys and calves were expansions of Kṛṣṇa. Thus He inquired from Kṛṣṇa and was informed of what had happened.
When one full year had passed, Brahmā returned and saw that Kṛṣṇa was still engaged as usual with His friends and the calves and cows. Then Kṛṣṇa exhibited all the calves and cowherd boys as four-armed forms of Nārāyaṇa. Brahmā could then understand Kṛṣṇa’s potency, and he was astonished by the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, his worshipable Lord. Kṛṣṇa, however, bestowed His causeless mercy upon Brahmā and released him from illusion. Thus Brahmā began to offer prayers to glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

This chapter describes the prayers Brahmā offered to Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is also known as Nanda-nandana.
For His satisfaction, Brahmā first praised the beauty of the Lord’s transcendental limbs and then declared that His original identity of sweetness is even more difficult to comprehend than His opulence. Only by the devotional process of hearing and chanting transcendental sounds received from Vedic authorities can one realize the Personality of Godhead. It is fruitless to try to realize God through processes outside the scope of Vedic authority.
The mystery of the Personality of Godhead, who is the reservoir of unlimited spiritual qualities, is inconceivable; it is even more difficult to understand than the impersonal Supreme. Thus only by the mercy of God can one understand His glories. Finally realizing this, Brahmā repeatedly condemned his own actions and recognized that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the ultimate shelter of the universe, is Brahmā’s own father, the original Nārāyaṇa. In this way Brahmā begged the Lord’s forgiveness.
Brahmā then glorified the inconceivable opulence of the Personality of Godhead and described the ways in which Brahmā and Śiva differ from Lord Viṣṇu, the reason for the Supreme Lord’s appearance in various species of demigods, animals and so on, the eternal nature of the pastimes of the Personality of Godhead, and the temporality of the material world. By knowing the Supreme Personality in truth, the individual spirit soul can achieve liberation from bondage. In actuality, however, both liberation and bondage are unreal, for it is only from the living entity’s conditioned outlook that his bondage and liberation are produced. Thinking the personal form of Lord Kṛṣṇa illusory, fools reject His lotus feet and look elsewhere to find the Supreme Self. But the futility of their search is the obvious proof of their foolishness. There is simply no way to understand the truth of the Personality of Godhead without His mercy.
Having established this conclusion, Lord Brahmā analyzed the great good fortune of the residents of Vraja and then personally prayed to be born there even as a blade of grass, a bush or a creeper. Indeed, the homes of the residents of Vṛndāvana are not prisons of material existence but rather abodes envied even by the jñānīs and yogīs. On the other hand, any home without a connection to Lord Kṛṣṇa is in fact a prison cell of material existence. Finally, Brahmā offered his whole self at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord and, praising Him again and again, circumambulated Him and took his leave.

Lord Kṛṣṇa then gathered the animals Brahmā stole and led them to the place on the Yamunā’s bank where the cowherd boys had been taking lunch. The same friends who had been present before were sitting there now. By the power of Kṛṣṇa’s illusory energy, they were not at all aware of what had happened. Thus when Kṛṣṇa arrived with the calves, the boys told Him, “You’ve returned so quickly! Very good. As long as You were gone we couldn’t take even a morsel of food, so come and eat.”
Laughing at the words of the cowherd boys, Lord Kṛṣṇa began taking His meal in their company. While eating, Kṛṣṇa pointed out to His young friends the skin of the python, and the boys thought, “Kṛṣṇa has just now killed this terrible snake.” Indeed, later they related to the residents of Vṛndāvana the incident of Kṛṣṇa’s killing the Agha demon. In this way, the cowherd boys described pastimes that Lord Kṛṣṇa had performed in His bālya age (one to five), even though His paugaṇḍa age (six to ten) had begun.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī concludes this chapter by explaining how the gopīs loved Lord Kṛṣṇa even more than they loved their own sons.

This chapter describes how Lord Balarāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa, while tending Their cows in the pastures of Vṛndāvana, killed Dhenukāsura, enabled the residents of Vṛndāvana to eat the fruits of the tāla trees and saved the young cowherds from Kāliya’s poison.
Revealing Their boyhood (paugaṇḍa) phase of pastimes, Rāma and Kṛṣṇa were one day bringing the cows to pasture when They entered an attractive forest decorated with a clear lake. There They began playing forest sports along with Their friends. Pretending to tire, Lord Baladeva laid His head upon the lap of a cowherd boy and rested as Lord Kṛṣṇa helped relieve His elder brother’s fatigue by massaging His feet. Then Kṛṣṇa also placed His head on the lap of a cowherd boy to rest, and another cowherd boy massaged His feet. In this way Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and Their cowherd friends enjoyed various pastimes.
During this play, Śrīdāmā, Subala, Stoka-kṛṣṇa and other cowherd boys described to Rāma and Kṛṣṇa a wicked and irrepressible demon named Dhenuka, who had assumed the form of a jackass and was living in the Tālavana forest near Govardhana Hill. This forest was full of many varieties of sweet fruits. But fearing this demon, no one dared try to relish the taste of those fruits, and thus someone had to kill the demon and all his associates. Lord Rāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa, hearing of the situation, set off for this forest to fulfill the desire of Their companions.

Arriving at the Tālavana, Lord Balarāma shook many fruits out of the palm trees, and as soon as He did so the jackass demon, Dhenuka, ran swiftly to attack Him. But Balarāma grabbed his hind legs with one hand, whirled him around and threw him into the top of a tree, thus slaying him. All of Dhenukāsura’s friends, overcome by fury, then rushed to attack, but Rāma and Kṛṣṇa took hold of them one by one, swung them around and killed them, until the disturbance was finally finished. When Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma returned to the cowherd community, Yaśodā and Rohiṇī placed Them on their respective laps. They kissed Their faces, fed Them with finely prepared food and then put Them to bed.
Some days later Lord Kṛṣṇa went with His friends, but without His older brother, to the banks of the Kālindī in order to tend the cows. The cows and cowherd boys became very thirsty and drank some water from the Kālindī. But it had been contaminated with poison, and they all fell unconscious on the riverbank. Kṛṣṇa then brought them back to life by the merciful rain of His glance, and all of them, regaining their consciousness, appreciated His great mercy.

This chapter describes Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastime of subduing the serpent Kāliya within the lake adjoining the river Yamunā and His showing mercy to Kāliya in response to the prayers offered by Kāliya’s wives, the Nāga-patnīs.
To restore the purity of the Yamunā’s waters, which had been contaminated by Kāliya’s poison, Lord Kṛṣṇa climbed into a kadamba tree on the riverbank and jumped into the water. Then He began fearlessly playing within the water like a maddened elephant. Kāliya could not tolerate Kṛṣṇa’s trespassing upon his personal residence, and the serpent quickly went up to the Lord and bit Him on the chest. When Kṛṣṇa’s friends saw this, they fell down on the ground unconscious. At that time all sorts of evil omens appeared in Vraja, such as earth tremors, falling stars and the trembling of various creatures’ left limbs.
The residents of Vṛndāvana thought, “Today Kṛṣṇa went to the forest without Balarāma, so we do not know what great misfortune may have befallen Him.” Thinking in this way, they traced the path of Kṛṣṇa’s footprints to the bank of the Yamunā. Within the water of the lake adjoining the river they saw Lord Kṛṣṇa, the very essence of their lives, enwrapped in the coils of a black snake. The residents thought the three worlds had become empty, and they all prepared to enter the water. But Lord Balarāma checked them, knowing well the power of Kṛṣṇa.
Then Lord Kṛṣṇa, seeing how disturbed His friends and relatives had become, expanded His body greatly and forced the serpent to loosen his grip and release Him. Next the Lord began playfully dancing about on the serpent’s hoods. By this wonderful, boisterous dancing, Śrī Kṛṣṇa trampled the serpent’s one thousand hoods until his body slackened. Vomiting blood from his mouths, Kāliya finally understood that Kṛṣṇa was the primeval personality, Lord Nārāyaṇa, the spiritual master of all moving and nonmoving creatures, and he took shelter of Him.

Seeing how very weary Kāliya had become, his wives, the Nāga-patnīs, bowed down at Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. Then they offered Him various prayers in hopes of gaining their husband’s freedom: “It is quite fitting that You have brought our cruel husband to this condition. Indeed, by Your anger he has gained great benefit. What piety Kāliya must have amassed in his previous lives! Today he has borne upon his head the dust of the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead, the attainment of which is difficult for even the mother of the universe, goddess Lakṣmī. Please kindly forgive the offense Kāliya has committed out of ignorance, and allow him to live.”
Satisfied by the Nāga-patnīs’ prayers, Kṛṣṇa released Kāliya, who slowly regained his sensory and vital powers. Then Kāliya, in a distressed voice, acknowledged the offense he had committed, and finally he offered Kṛṣṇa many prayers and said he was ready to accept His command. Kṛṣṇa told him to leave the Yamunā lake with his family and return to Ramaṇaka Island.

This chapter describes how Kāliya left the island of the snakes and how the sleeping residents of Vṛndāvana were saved from a forest fire.
When King Parīkṣit inquired about Kāliya’s leaving Ramaṇaka Island, the abode of the serpents, and about why Garuḍa acted inimically toward him, Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī replied as follows: All the serpents on the island were afraid of being devoured by Garuḍa. To placate him, every month they would leave various offerings for him at the foot of a banyan tree. But Kāliya, puffed-up as he was with false pride, would eat these offerings himself. Hearing of this, Garuḍa became furious and went to kill Kāliya, whereupon the snake began biting the great bird. Garuḍa fiercely beat him with his wing, sending Kāliya fleeing for his life to a lake adjoining the Yamunā River.
Prior to the above incident, Garuḍa had once come to the Yamunā and started eating some fish. Saubhari Ṛṣi had tried to stop him, but Garuḍa, agitated by hunger, had refused to heed the sage’s prohibitions, and in response the sage had cursed Garuḍa that if he ever came there again he would immediately die. Kāliya had heard of this, and thus he lived there without fear. In the end, however, he was driven out by Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

When Lord Balarāma and all the residents of Vṛndāvana saw Śrī Kṛṣṇa rise up out of the lake, beautifully decorated with many different gems and ornaments, they embraced Him in great pleasure. The spiritual masters, priests and learned brāhmaṇas then told Nanda Mahārāja, the king of the cowherds, that although his son had been caught in the grips of Kāliya, it was by the king’s good fortune that He was now free again.
Because the people of Vṛndāvana were quite worn out by hunger, thirst and fatigue, they spent that night on the banks of the Yamunā. In the middle of the night, a fire happened to blaze up within the forest, which had become dry during the hot season. As the fire surrounded the sleeping inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, they suddenly awoke and rushed to Śrī Kṛṣṇa for protection. Then the unlimitedly powerful Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, seeing His dear relatives and friends so distressed, immediately swallowed up the terrible forest fire.

The killing of Pralambāsura is described in this chapter. While playing happily in Vṛndāvana, Lord Baladeva climbed up on the shoulders of the demon Pralamba and struck his head with His fist, destroying him.
Śrī Vṛndāvana, where Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma enacted Their pastimes, was even during the summer decorated with all the qualities of spring. At that time Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa would become absorbed in various sports, surrounded by Balarāma and all the cowherd boys. One day they were intently dancing, singing and playing when a demon named Pralamba entered their midst, disguised as a cowherd boy. The omniscient Lord Kṛṣṇa saw through the disguise, but even as He thought of how to kill the demon, He treated him as a friend.

Kṛṣṇa then suggested to His young friends and Baladeva that they play a game involving contending parties. Taking the role of leaders, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma divided the boys into two groups and determined that the losers would have to carry the winners on their shoulders. Thus when Śrīdāmā and Vṛṣabha, members of Balarāma’s party, were victorious, Kṛṣṇa and another boy in His party carried them on their shoulders. Pralambāsura thought that the unconquerable Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa would be too great an opponent to contend with, so the demon fought with Balarāma instead and was defeated. Taking Lord Balarāma on his back, Pralambāsura began to walk away very swiftly. But Balarāma became as heavy as Mount Sumeru, and the demon, unable to carry Him, had to reveal his true, demoniac form. When Balarāma saw this terrible form, He struck the demon a ferocious blow on the head with His fist. This blow shattered Pralambāsura’s head just as lightning bolts hurled by the king of the demigods shatter mountains. The demon repeatedly vomited blood and then fell upon the ground. When the cowherd boys saw Lord Balarāma return, they joyfully embraced and congratulated Him as the demigods showered garlands of flowers from the heavens and glorified Him.

This chapter describes how the marriageable daughters of the cowherd men worshiped Kātyāyanī to get Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as their husband, and how Kṛṣṇa stole the garments of the young girls and gave the girls benedictions.
During the month of Mārgaśīrṣa, every day early in the morning the young daughters of the cowherds would take one another’s hands and, singing of Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental qualities, go to the Yamunā to bathe. Desiring to obtain Kṛṣṇa as their husband, they would then worship the goddess Kātyāyanī with incense, flowers and other items.
One day, the young gopīs left their garments on the shore as usual and began playing in the water while chanting of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s activities. Suddenly Kṛṣṇa Himself came there, took away all the garments and climbed a nearby kadamba tree. Wanting to tease the gopīs, Kṛṣṇa said, “I understand how fatigued you gopīs are from your austerities, so please come onto the shore and take back your clothes.”
The gopīs then pretended to become angry and said the cold water of the Yamunā was giving them great pain. If Kṛṣṇa did not give them back their garments, they said, they would inform King Kaṁsa of all that had happened. But if He did give the clothes back, they would willingly carry out His orders in the mood of humble servants.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa replied that He had no fear of King Kaṁsa, and that if the girls really intended to follow His command and be His maidservants they should each immediately come onto the shore and take their respective garments. The girls, trembling from the cold, climbed out of the water with their two hands covering their private parts. Kṛṣṇa, who felt great affection for them, again spoke: “Because while executing a vow you bathed in the water naked, you have committed an offense against the demigods, and to counteract it you should offer obeisances with joined palms. Then your vow of austerity will achieve its full result.”
The gopīs followed this instruction and, folding their hands in respect, offered obeisances to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Satisfied, He gave them back their clothing. But the young girls had become so attracted to Him that they could not leave. Understanding their minds, Kṛṣṇa said that He knew they had worshiped Kātyāyanī to get Him as their husband. Because they had offered their hearts to Him, their desires would never again become tainted by the mood of materialistic enjoyment, just as fried barleycorns can no longer grow into shoots. Next autumn, He told them, their most cherished desire would be fulfilled.
Then the gopīs, fully satisfied, returned to Vraja, and Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His cowherd friends went off to a distant place to graze the cows.
Sometime later, when the boys felt disturbed by the great heat of summer, they took shelter at the base of a tree that stood just like an umbrella. The Lord then said that the life of a tree is most excellent, for even while feeling pain a tree continues to protect others from heat, rain, snow and so on. With its leaves, flowers, fruits, shade, roots, bark, wood, fragrance, sap, ashes, pulp and sprouts, a tree fulfills the desires of everyone. This kind of life is ideal. Indeed, said Kṛṣṇa, the perfection of life is to act with one’s vital energy, wealth, intelligence and words for the benefit of all.
After the Lord had glorified the trees in this way, the entire company went to the Yamunā, where the cowherd boys let the cows drink the sweet water and also drank some themselves.

This chapter relates how the gopīs, overwhelmed by feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa, sat down on the bank of the Yamunā and began praying for His audience and singing His glories.
Because the gopīs had dedicated their minds and very lives to Kṛṣṇa, they were beside themselves with the transcendental pain of separation. But their crying, which appears like evidence of misery, actually shows their exalted state of transcendental bliss. As it is said, yata dekha vaiṣṇaver vyavahāra duḥkh/ niścaya jāniha sei paramānanda sukh: “Whenever one sees a Vaiṣṇava acting unhappy, one should know it for sure that he is actually experiencing the highest spiritual bliss.” Thus each of the gopīs began addressing Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa according to her individual mode of ecstasy, and they all prayed for Him for His mercy.
As the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa spontaneously arose in the minds of the gopīs, they sang their song, which relieves the agony of those suffering from the burning pain of separation from Kṛṣṇa and which bestows supreme auspiciousness. They sang, “O Lord, O lover, O cheater, when we remember Your smile, Your loving glances and Your pastimes with Your boyhood friends, we become extremely agitated. Remembering Your lotus face, adorned with locks of blackish hair smeared with the dust of the cows, we become irrevocably attached to You. And when we remember how You followed the cows from forest to forest with Your tender feet, we feel great pain.”
In their separation from Kṛṣṇa the gopīs considered a single moment an entire age. Even when they had previously seen Him they had found the blinking of their eyelids intolerable, for it blocked their vision of Him for a fraction of a second.

The ecstatic sentiments for Lord Kṛṣṇa that the gopīs expressed may appear like symptoms of lust, but in reality they are manifestations of their pure desire to satisfy the Supreme Lord’s spiritual senses. There is not even the slightest trace of lust in these moods of the gopīs.

This chapter describes Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s rāsa dance, which He enjoyed with His beloved girlfriends in the forests along the Yamunā River.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is most expert in the knowledge of transcendental moods. In the company of the gopīs, who were tightly bound to Him by the ropes of affection and totally dedicated to His service, the Lord expanded Himself into numerous forms. The gopīs became intoxicated with their enthusiasm to enjoy the rāsa dance, and thus they began satisfying Kṛṣṇa’s senses by singing, dancing and gesturing amorously. The sweet voices of the gopīs filled all the directions.
Even after Lord Kṛṣṇa manifested Himself in numerous forms, each gopī thought He was standing next to her alone. Gradually the gopīs became fatigued from the continuous dancing and singing, and each of them placed her arm on the shoulder of the Kṛṣṇa standing beside her. Some gopīs smelled and kissed Kṛṣṇa’s arm, which bore the fragrance of the lotus and was anointed with sandalwood paste. Others put Kṛṣṇa’s hand on their bodies, and yet others gave Kṛṣṇa pleasure by embracing Him lovingly.

Lord Kṛṣṇa, being the Supreme Absolute Truth, is the only actual enjoyer and object of enjoyment. Although He is one without a second, He expands Himself into many forms to increase His personal pastimes. Therefore great scholars say that Kṛṣṇa’s rāsa-līlā is like a child’s playing with His own reflection. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is self-satisfied and fully endowed with inconceivable, transcendental opulences. When He exhibits such pastimes as the rāsa-līlā, all living beings, from Brahmā down to the blades of grass, become merged in the ocean of astonishment.
When Mahārāja Parīkṣit heard the narration of Kṛṣṇa’s conjugal pastimes with the gopīs, which superficially resemble the activities of lusty, wanton persons, he expressed a doubt to the great devotee Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Śukadeva dispelled this doubt by stating, “Since Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the absolute enjoyer, such pastimes as these can never be contaminated by any fault. But if anyone other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead tries to enjoy such pastimes, he will suffer the same fate that someone other than Lord Rudra would suffer if he attempted to drink an ocean of poison. Moreover, even one who only thinks of imitating Lord Kṛṣṇa’s rāsa-līlā will certainly suffer misfortune.”
The Supreme Absolute Truth, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is present within the hearts of all living entities as their indwelling witness. When out of His mercy He exhibits His intimate pastimes to His devotees, these activities are never besmirched by mundane imperfection. Any living being who hears of the spontaneous loving attraction the gopīs felt for Lord Kṛṣṇa will have his desires for material sense gratification destroyed at the root and will develop his natural propensity for serving the Supreme Lord, the spiritual master, and the Lord’s devotees.

This chapter describes how Akrūra informed Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma of Kaṁsa’s plans and his activities in Mathurā; what the gopīs cried out in distress when Kṛṣṇa left for Mathurā; and also the vision of Lord Viṣṇu’s abode that Akrūra saw within the water of the Yamunā.
When Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma offered Akrūra great respect and comfortably seated him on a couch, he felt that all the desires he had reflected on while traveling to Vṛndāvana were now fulfilled. After the evening meal, Kṛṣṇa asked Akrūra whether his trip had been peaceful and whether he was well. The Lord also inquired about how Kaṁsa was behaving toward their family members, and finally He asked why Akrūra had come.
Akrūra described how Kaṁsa had been persecuting the Yādavas, what Nārada had told Kaṁsa and how Kaṁsa had been treating Vasudeva cruelly. Akrūra also spoke of Kaṁsa’s desire to bring Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma to Mathurā to kill Them on the pretext of Their seeing the bow sacrifice and engaging in a wrestling match. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma laughed out loud when They heard this. They went to Their father, Nanda, and informed him of Kaṁsa’s orders. Nanda then issued an order to all the residents of Vraja that they should collect various offerings for the King and prepare to go to Mathurā.
The young gopīs were extremely upset to hear that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma would be going to Mathurā. They lost all external awareness and began to remember Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes. Condemning the creator for separating them from Him, they began to lament. They said that Akrūra did not deserve his name (a, “not”; krūra, “cruel”), since he was so cruel to be taking away their dearmost Kṛṣṇa. “It must be that fate is against us,” they lamented, “because otherwise the elders of Vraja would have forbidden Kṛṣṇa to leave. So let us forget our shyness and try to stop Lord Mādhava from going.” With these words the young cowherd girls began to chant Kṛṣṇa’s names and cry.
But even as they wept, Akrūra began taking Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma to Mathurā in his chariot. The cowherd men of Gokula followed behind on their wagons, and the young gopīs also walked behind for some distance, but then they became placated by Kṛṣṇa’s glances and gestures and pacified by a message from Him that said “I will return.” With their minds completely absorbed in Kṛṣṇa, the cowherd girls stood as still as figures in a painting until they could no longer see the chariot’s flag or the dust cloud being raised on the road. Then, chanting Kṛṣṇa’s glories all the while, they despondently returned to their homes.

Akrūra halted the chariot at the bank of the Yamunā so Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma could perform a ritual of purification and drink some water. After the two Lords had gotten back into the chariot, Akrūra took Their permission to bathe in the Yamunā. As he recited Vedic mantras, he was startled to see the two Lords standing in the water. Akrūra came out of the river and returned to the chariot-where he saw the Lords still sitting. Then he returned to the water to find out if the two figures he had seen there were real or not.
What Akrūra saw in the water was four-armed Lord Vāsudeva. His complexion was dark blue like a fresh raincloud, He wore yellow garments and He lay on the lap of thousand-hooded Ananta Śeṣa. Lord Vāsudeva was receiving the prayers of perfected beings, celestial serpents and demons, and He was encircled by His personal attendants. Serving Him were His many potencies, such as Śrī, Puṣṭi and Ilā, while Brahmā and other demigods sang His praises. Akrūra rejoiced at this vision and, joining his palms in supplication, began to pray to the Supreme Lord in a voice choked with emotion.

This chapter relates Akrūra’s prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Akrūra prayed, “Brahmā, who created this visible world, emanated from the lotus navel of the Supreme Lord. The five elements of physical nature, the five corresponding objects of perception, the ten senses, the ego, the total nature, the primeval creator and the demigods all originate from His bodily limbs. He cannot be known by sensory knowledge, and thus even Brahmā and the other demigods are ignorant of His real identity.
“Different classes of people worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead in different ways. Fruitive workers worship Him by performing Vedic sacrifices, philosophers by renouncing material work and pursuing spiritual knowledge, yogīs by meditating, Śaivites by worshiping Lord Śiva, Vaiṣṇavas by following the injunctions of such scriptures as the Pañcarātra, and other saintly persons by worshiping Him as the original form of the self, of the material substance and of the controlling demigods. Just as rivers flow from various directions into the ocean, the worship of those who dedicate themselves to these various entities finds its ultimate purpose within the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu.

“The form of the total universe, the Virāṭ-rūpa, is imagined to be the form of Lord Viṣṇu. Like aquatics moving about in water or like tiny insects burrowing in an udumbara fruit, all living beings move about within the Lord. These living beings, bewildered by His Māyā, wander along the path of material work, falsely identifying with body, home and so forth. Under the sway of illusion, a foolish person may overlook a reservoir of water covered by grass and leaves and instead run after a mirage. Similarly, living beings caught in the grip of ignorance abandon Lord Viṣṇu and become attached to their bodies, homes and so on. Such faithful servants of their senses cannot take shelter of the Supreme Lord’s lotus feet. Only if, by His mercy, they get the association of saintly devotees will their material entanglement end. Only then can they develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness by serving the Lord’s pure devotees.”

This chapter describes how Lord Kṛṣṇa entered the city of Mathurä, killed a washerman and bestowed benedictions upon a weaver and a garland-maker named Sudämä.
After showing His Viñëu form to Akrüra in the waters of the Yamunä and receiving Akrüra’s prayers, Lord Kṛṣṇa withdrew that vision just as an actor winds up his performance. Akrüra emerged from the water and in great amazement approached the Lord, who asked him whether he had seen something wonderful while bathing. Akrüra replied, “Whatever wonderful things there are in the realms of water, earth or sky, all have their existence within You. Thus when one has seen You, nothing remains unseen.” Akrüra then began driving the chariot again.
Kṛṣṇa, Balaräma and Akrüra reached Mathurä late in the afternoon. After meeting up with Nanda Mahäräja and the other cowherds, who had gone on ahead, Kṛṣṇa asked Akrüra to return home, promising to visit him there after He had killed Kaàsa. Akrüra unhappily bade the Lord goodbye, went to King Kaàsa to inform him that Kṛṣṇa and Balaräma had come, and went home.
Kṛṣṇa and Balaräma took the cowherd boys with Them to see the splendorous city. As they all entered Mathurä, the women of the city eagerly came out of their houses to see Kṛṣṇa. They had often heard about Him and had long since developed a deep attraction for Him. But now that they were actually seeing Him, they were overwhelmed with happiness, and all their distress due to His absence was eradicated.

Kṛṣṇa and Balaräma then came upon Kaàsa’s wicked washerman. Kṛṣṇa asked him for some of the first-class garments he was carrying, but he refused and even chastised the two Lords. At this Kṛṣṇa became very angry and beheaded the man with His fingertips. The washerman’s assistants, seeing his untimely end, dropped their bundles of clothes on the spot and ran off in all directions. Kṛṣṇa and Balaräma then took some of the garments They especially fancied.
Next a weaver approached the two Lords and arrayed Them suitably, for which service he received from Kṛṣṇa opulence in this life and liberation in the next. Kṛṣṇa and Balaräma then went to the house of the garland-maker Sudämä. Sudämä offered Them his full obeisances, worshiped Them by bathing Their feet and offering Them such items as arghya and sandalwood paste, and chanted prayers in Their honor. Then he adorned Them with garlands of fragrant flowers. Pleased, the Lords offered him whatever benedictions he wished, and then They moved on.

This chapter describes the benediction Trivakrā received, the breaking of the sacrificial bow, the destruction of Kaṁsa’s soldiers, the inauspicious omens Kaṁsa saw and the festivities at the wrestling arena.
After leaving Sudāmā’s house, Lord Kṛṣṇa came upon Trivakrā, a young hunchbacked maidservant of Kaṁsa’s who was carrying a tray of fine ointments. The Lord asked her who she was and requested some ointment from her. Entranced by His beauty and joking words, Trivakrā gave both Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma a good deal of ointment. In return, Kṛṣṇa stepped on her toes with His lotus feet, took hold of her chin and lifted, thus straightening her spine. The now beautiful and charming Trivakrā then grabbed the edge of Kṛṣṇa’s upper cloth and asked Him to come to her house. Kṛṣṇa replied that after He had taken care of some business He would certainly come and relieve her mental torment. Then the two Lords continued Their sightseeing tour of Mathurā.
As Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma walked along the King’s road, the merchants worshiped Them with various offerings. Kṛṣṇa asked where the bow sacrifice was to take place, and when He arrived at the arena He saw the wonderful bow, which resembled Lord Indra’s. Despite the guards’ protests, Kṛṣṇa forcibly picked up the bow, easily strung it and in an instant broke it in half, producing an ear-splitting sound that filled the heavens and struck terror in the heart of Kaṁsa. The many guards attacked Kṛṣṇa, crying out “Seize Him! Kill Him!” But Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma simply picked up the two halves of the bow and beat the guards to death. Next the Lords annihilated a company of soldiers sent by Kaṁsa, and then They left the arena and continued Their tour.

When the people of the city saw the amazing prowess and beauty of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, they thought They must be two chief demigods. Indeed, as the residents of Mathurā gazed upon the Lords, they enjoyed all the blessings the gopīs had predicted.
At sunset Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma returned to the cowherds’ camp for Their evening meal. They then passed the night resting comfortably. But King Kaṁsa was not so fortunate. When he heard how Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma had easily broken the mighty bow and destroyed his soldiers, he spent the night in great anxiety. Both while awake and while dreaming he saw many ill omens portending his imminent death, and his fear ruined any chance for rest.
At dawn the wrestling festival began. Crowds of people from the city and outlying districts entered the arena and took their seats in the lavishly decorated galleries. Kaṁsa, his heart trembling, sat down on the royal dais and invited Nanda Mahārāja and the other cowherd men to come sit in their places, and they did so after offering him their gifts. The musical overture then began as the sounds of the wrestlers slapping their arms resounded.

This chapter tells how Lord Kṛṣṇa killed the lordly elephant Kuvalayāpīḍa, how Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma entered the wrestling arena and what Kṛṣṇa said to the wrestler Cāṇūra.
After finishing Their early-morning rituals, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma heard kettledrums heralding the start of the wrestling match, and They went to see the festivities. At the gate of the wrestling arena They encountered an elephant named Kuvalayāpīḍa, who attacked Kṛṣṇa at the urging of his keeper. The mighty elephant grabbed at Kṛṣṇa with his trunk, but the Lord struck back and then disappeared from the beast’s sight among his legs. Enraged at not being able to see Kṛṣṇa, Kuvalayāpīḍa sought Him out with his sense of smell and seized Him. But the Lord pulled loose. In this way Kṛṣṇa teased and tormented Kuvalayāpīḍa, finally yanking out one of his tusks and beating him and his keepers to death.

Sprinkled with the elephant’s blood and carrying one of his tusks on His shoulder as a weapon, Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared unprecedentedly beautiful as He entered the wrestling arena. There the various classes of people saw Him in different ways, according to their specific relationship with Him.
When King Kaṁsa heard how Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma had killed Kuvalayāpīḍa, he realized They were invincible and became filled with anxiety. The members of the audience, on the other hand, became joyful as they reminded one another about the Lords’ amazing pastimes. The people declared that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma must be two expansions of the Supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa who had descended into the house of Vasudeva.
Cāṇūra then stepped forward and challenged Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma to wrestle, saying King Kaṁsa wished to see such a match. Kṛṣṇa replied, “Although We are merely nomadic forest folk, We are nonetheless subjects of the King; thus We will not hesitate to please him with an exhibition of wrestling.” As soon as Cāṇūra heard this, he suggested that Kṛṣṇa should wrestle him and that Balarāma should wrestle Muṣṭika.

This chapter tells how Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma killed the wrestlers, how Kṛṣṇa killed Kaṁsa and consoled Kaṁsa’s wives, and how the two Lords were reunited with Their mother and father.

Deciding to wrestle, Lord Kṛṣṇa faced off against Cāṇūra, and Lord Baladeva took on Muṣṭika. Battling arm to arm, head to head, knee to knee and chest to chest, the opponents attacked each other so fiercely that they appeared to be harming even their own bodies. The ladies in the arena, seeing the violent battle, began to condemn the King and all the members of the assembly: “A respectable audience should never have allowed a wrestling match between such huge wrestlers, whose limbs are as tough as lightning bolts, and such tender young boys, who are just entering youth. An intelligent person should never enter an assembly if he sees injustice being done there.” Because Vasudeva and Devakī did not fully understand the power of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, they became extremely unhappy when they heard the women of the audience speak these words.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa then grabbed Cāṇūra’s arms, whirled him around several times and threw him to the ground, killing him. Muṣṭika met a similar fate: after being struck powerfully by Lord Baladeva’s palm, he began vomiting blood and then fell down dead. Thereupon the wrestlers named Kūṭa, Śala and Tośala came forward, but Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma easily killed them with the blows of Their fists and feet. The remaining wrestlers, fearing for their lives, all fled.
Except for Kaṁsa, everyone present cheered Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. The King, in a rage, stopped the festive music and ordered that Vasudeva, Nanda, Ugrasena and all the cowherds be severely punished and that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma be driven from the assembly. Kṛṣṇa became furious when He heard Kaṁsa speak this way, and He instantly leapt onto the lofty royal dais. He grabbed Kaṁsa by the hair, hurled him down onto the floor of the wrestling ring and threw Himself on top of him. In this way, Kaṁsa met his death. Because out of fear Kaṁsa had always thought of Kṛṣṇa, after his death he gained the liberation of having a form like the Lord’s.

Kaṁsa’s eight brothers then attacked Kṛṣṇa, but Balarāma easily killed each of them with His club, just as a lion kills defenseless animals. Kettledrums resounded in the sky as the joyful demigods rained down flowers and chanted the glories of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma.
The wives of Kaṁsa, grieving for their husband, lamented that he had died because of his violence toward other living beings and his lack of respect for Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Soul, who creates, maintains and destroys the entire universe. The Lord consoled the widows, had the funeral rites performed for Kaṁsa and his brothers and then released His mother and father from bondage. Kṛṣṇa offered obeisances at His parents’ feet, but they, now understanding Him to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, did not embrace Him.

This chapter describes how Lord Kṛṣṇa consoled Devakī, Vasudeva and Nanda Mahārāja and installed Ugrasena as king. It also relates how Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma completed Their education, retrieved the dead son of Their guru and then returned home.
Noting that His parents-Vasudeva and Devakī-had realized His true position as God, Śrī Kṛṣṇa expanded His Yogamāyā to again make them think of Him as their dear child. Then, with Lord Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa approached them and said how unhappy He was that He and they had been unable to enjoy the mutual satisfaction of parents and children who live together. Then He stated, “Even in a lifetime of one hundred years, no son can ever repay the debt he owes his parents, from whom he receives his very body. Any capable son who fails to support his parents will be forced, in the hereafter, to eat his own flesh. Indeed, any person who does not maintain and nourish those under his care-children, wife, spiritual masters, brāhmaṇas, elderly parents and so on-is simply a living corpse. It was out of fear of Kaṁsa that We could not serve you, so now please forgive Us.” Vasudeva and Devakī, overcome with emotion upon hearing these words of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s, embraced their two sons and in ecstasy shed a torrent of tears.
Having thus satisfied His mother and father, Lord Kṛṣṇa offered Kaṁsa’s kingdom to His maternal grandfather, Ugrasena, and then arranged for all His family members who had fled in fear of Kaṁsa to return to their homes. Protected by the mighty arms of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, the Yādavas began to enjoy supreme bliss.
Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma next approached Nanda Mahārāja and praised him for having cared so lovingly for Them, another’s sons. Kṛṣṇa then said to Nanda, “Dear Father, please return to Vraja. Knowing how much you and Our other relatives are suffering in separation from Us, Balarāma and I will come to see you as soon as We have satisfied your friends here in Mathurā.” Kṛṣṇa then worshiped Nanda with various offerings, and Nanda felt overwhelmed with love for his sons. After tearfully embracing Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, he took the cowherd men and departed for Vraja. Next Vasudeva had his priests perform his sons’ ritual of second birth, brahminical initiation. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma then went to Garga Muni to take the vow of brahmacarya, celibacy. Afterward, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, though omniscient, desired to reside at the school of a spiritual master, and thus They went to live with Sāndīpani Muni at Avantīpura.
To teach the proper way to respect one’s guru, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma served Their spiritual master with great devotion, as They would a Deity of the Supreme Lord Himself. Sāndīpani Muni, pleased by Their service, imparted to Them detailed knowledge of all the Vedas, together with their six corollaries and the Upaniṣads. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma needed to hear each subject explained only once to assimilate it completely, and thus in sixty-four days They learned the sixty-four traditional arts.
Before taking leave of Their guru, the two Lords offered Sāndīpani Muni any gift he desired. The wise Sāndīpani, seeing Their amazing prowess, requested that They bring back his son, who had died in the ocean at Prabhāsa.
Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma mounted a chariot and went to Prabhāsa, where They approached the shore and worshiped the presiding deity of the ocean. Kṛṣṇa asked the ocean to return His spiritual master’s son, and the lord of the ocean replied that a demon dwelling within the ocean named Pāñcajana had taken the boy away. Hearing this, Śrī Kṛṣṇa entered the ocean, killed that demon and took the shell that had grown from his body. But when Kṛṣṇa did not find His guru’s son within the demon’s belly, He went to the planet of Yamarāja, the lord of death. Yamarāja came forward when he heard Kṛṣṇa blow the Pāñcajanya conchshell and devotedly worshiped Him. Lord Kṛṣṇa then asked Yamarāja for Sāndīpani Muni’s son, and Yamarāja immediately gave him to the two Lords.

Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma then returned to Their spiritual master and presented him with his son, requesting him to choose yet another favor. But Sāndīpani Muni replied that by having obtained disciples such as Them, all his desires were fulfilled. He thus instructed Them to return home.
Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma traveled to Their home by chariot, and upon Their arrival all the citizens became unlimitedly ecstatic to see Them, just like persons who have regained a lost treasure.

This chapter describes how Śrī Kṛṣṇa sent Uddhava to Vraja to relieve the distress of Nanda, Yaśodā and the young gopīs.
One day Lord Kṛṣṇa asked His intimate friend Uddhava to take news of Him to Vraja and thus relieve His parents and the gopīs of their misery caused by their separation from Him. Riding on a chariot, Uddhava reached Vraja at sunset. He saw the cows returning home to the cowherd village and the calves jumping here and there as their mothers followed slowly behind, weighed down by their heavy milk bags. The cowherd men and women were chanting the glories of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, and the village was attractively decorated with burning incense and rows of lamps. All this presented a scene of exceptional transcendental beauty.

Nanda Mahārāja welcomed Uddhava warmly into his home. The cowherd King then worshiped him as nondifferent from Lord Vāsudeva, fed him nicely, seated him comfortably upon a bed and then inquired from him about the welfare of Vasudeva and his sons, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Nanda asked, “Does Kṛṣṇa still remember His friends, the village of Gokula and Govardhana Hill? He protected us from a forest fire, wind and rain, and many other disasters. By remembering His pastimes again and again, we are relieved of all karmic entanglement, and when we see the places marked by His lotus feet, our minds become fully absorbed in thought of Him. Garga Muni told me that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma have both descended directly from the spiritual world. Just see how They have so easily dispatched Kaṁsa, the wrestlers, the elephant Kuvalayāpīḍa and many other demons!” As Nanda remembered Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, his throat choked up with tears and he could speak no further. Meanwhile, as mother Yaśodā heard her husband speak of Kṛṣṇa, the intense love she felt for her son caused a flood of milk to pour from her breasts and a torrent of tears from her eyes.
Seeing the superexcellent affection Nanda and Yaśodā had for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Uddhava commented, “You two are indeed most glorious. One who has attained pure love for the Supreme Absolute Truth in His humanlike form has nothing further to accomplish. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are present in the hearts of all living beings, just as fire lies dormant within wood. These two Lords see all equally, having no particular friends or enemies. Free from egoism and possessiveness, They have no father, mother, wife or children, are never subject to birth, and have no material body. Only to enjoy spiritual happiness and deliver Their saintly devotees do They appear by Their own sweet will among various species of life, both high and low.
“Lord Kṛṣṇa is not merely the son of you, O Nanda and Yaśodā, but the son of all persons, as well as their mother and father. In fact, He is everyone’s dearest relation inasmuch as nothing that is seen or heard in the past, present or future, among the moving or nonmoving, is independent of Him.”
Nanda Mahārāja and Uddhava passed the night talking about Kṛṣṇa in this way. Then the cowherd women performed their morning worship and began churning butter, singing the glories of Śrī Kṛṣṇa as they busily pulled the churning ropes. The sounds of churning and singing reverberated into the sky, cleansing the world of all inauspiciousness.
When the sun rose, the gopīs saw Uddhava’s chariot at the edge of the cowherd village, and they thought that Akrūra might have returned. But just then Uddhava finished his morning duties and presented himself before them.

This chapter describes how Uddhava, on the order of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, delivered the Lord’s message to the gopīs, consoled them and then returned to Mathurā.
When the young maidens of Vraja saw lotus-eyed Uddhava, who wore a yellow garment and attractive earrings, they were astonished at how much he resembled Kṛṣṇa. Thinking “Who is this?” they approached and encircled him. When they realized that Kṛṣṇa must have sent him, they brought him to a secluded place where he could speak to them confidentially.
The gopīs then began to remember the pastimes they had enjoyed with Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and putting aside all ordinary propriety and shyness, they loudly wept. One gopī, while deeply meditating on Her association with Kṛṣṇa, noticed a bumblebee before Her. Imagining the bee to be a messenger from Him, She said, “Just as bees wander among various flowers, Śrī Kṛṣṇa has abandoned the young girls of Vraja and developed affection for other women.” The gopī continued to speak in this way, contrasting Her own supposed ill fortune to Her rival lovers’ good fortune, all the while glorifying the names, forms, qualities and pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. She then declared that although Kṛṣṇa may have abandoned the gopīs, they could not possibly stop remembering Him for even a moment.

Uddhava tried to console the damsels of Vraja, who were so anxious to see Kṛṣṇa once again. Uddhava explained, “While ordinary persons must perform many pious deeds to qualify as servants of Lord Kṛṣṇa, you simple cowherd girls are so extremely fortunate that the Lord has favored you with the very highest degree of pure devotion for Him.” Uddhava then related to them the Lord’s message.
Quoting Lord Kṛṣṇa, Uddhava said, “I am the Supreme Soul and supreme shelter of all. By My potencies I create, maintain and destroy the cosmos. I am indeed most dear to you gopīs, but to increase your attraction for Me and intensify your remembrance of Me, I left you. After all, when a woman’s beloved is far away, she fixes her mind upon him constantly. By incessantly remembering Me, you are sure to regain My association without delay.’ ”
The gopīs then asked Uddhava, “Is Kṛṣṇa happy now that Kaṁsa is dead and He can enjoy the company of His family members and the women of Mathurā? Does He still remember all the pastimes He enjoyed with us, such as the rāsa dance? Will Śrī Kṛṣṇa once again appear before us and give us ecstasy, just as Lord Indra, with his rain, gives life back to the forests aggrieved by the summer heat? Although we know that the greatest happiness comes from renunciation, we simply cannot stop hoping to attain Kṛṣṇa, for the marks of His lotus feet are still present throughout the land of Vraja, reminding us of His graceful gait, generous smiles and gentle talks. By all these our hearts have been stolen away.”
Having said this, the gopīs loudly chanted Lord Kṛṣṇa’s names, calling out, “O Govinda, please come and destroy our suffering!” Uddhava then pacified the gopīs with statements that dispelled their pain of separation, and they in turn worshiped him as nondifferent from Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Uddhava stayed in the district of Vraja for several months, giving pleasure to the residents by reminding them about Kṛṣṇa in various ways. Very satisfied at seeing the extent of the gopīs’ love for the Lord, he declared, “These cowherd girls have perfected their lives by coming to the platform of unalloyed love for Kṛṣṇa. Indeed, even Lord Brahmā is inferior to them. The goddess of fortune herself, who always resides on Kṛṣṇa’s chest, could not get the same mercy as that which the gopīs obtained during the rāsa dance, when Kṛṣṇa embraced their necks with His mighty arms. What, then, to speak of other women! Indeed, I would consider myself most fortunate to take birth as even a bush or creeper that would sometimes be touched by the dust of these gopīs’ lotus feet.”
Finally, Uddhava entreated Nanda Mahārāja and the other cowherd men for permission to go back to Mathurā. Nanda presented him with many gifts and prayed to Uddhava for the ability to always remember Kṛṣṇa. Returning to Mathurā, Uddhava offered Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa and King Ugrasena the gifts sent by Nanda Mahārāja and described to them everything he had experienced in Vraja.

In this chapter Lord Çré Kṛṣṇa first visits Trivakrä (also known as Kubjä) and enjoys with her, and then He visits Akrüra. The Lord sends Akrüra to Hastinäpura to satisfy the Päëòavas.
After Uddhava had related to Çré Kṛṣṇa the news of Vraja, the Lord went to the home of Trivakrä, which was decorated with diverse ornamentation conducive to sexual enjoyment. Trivakrä welcomed Kṛṣṇa with great respect, giving Him a raised seat and, together with her female companions, worshiping Him. She also offered Uddhava a seat, as befitted his position, but Uddhava simply touched the seat and sat on the floor.
Lord Kṛṣṇa then reclined on an opulent bed as the maidservant Trivakrä elaborately washed and decorated herself. Then she approached Him. Kṛṣṇa invited Trivakrä to the bed and began to enjoy with her in various ways. By embracing Lord Kṛṣṇa, Trivakrä freed herself of the torment of lust. She asked Kṛṣṇa to remain with her for some time, and the considerate Lord promised to fulfill her request in due course. He then returned with Uddhava to His residence. Apart from offering sandal paste to Kṛṣṇa, Trivakrä had never performed any pious acts, yet simply on the strength of the piety of this single act she attained the rare personal association of Çré Kṛṣṇa.

Sri Kṛṣṇa next went to Akrüra’s house with Lord Baladeva and Uddhava. Akrüra honored the three of them by bowing down and presenting them with suitable sitting places. Then he worshiped Räma and Kṛṣṇa, washed Their feet and poured the water on his head. Akrüra also offered Them many prayers.
Lord Kṛṣṇa was pleased with Akrüra’s prayers. He told him that since he, Akrüra, was in fact Their paternal uncle, Kṛṣṇa and Balaräma should be the recipients of his protection and mercy. Lord Kṛṣṇa then praised Akrüra as a saint and purifier of the sinful, and He asked him to visit Hastinäpura to find out how the Päëòavas, deprived of their father, were faring. Finally, the Lord returned home, taking Balaräma and Uddhava with Him.

This chapter describes how Akrūra went to Hastināpura, saw Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s unfair behavior toward his nephews, the Pāṇḍavas, and then returned to Mathurā.
On the order of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Akrūra went to Hastināpura, where he met the Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas and then set about to find out how Dhṛtarāṣṭra was treating the latter. This task would keep Akrūra in Hastināpura for several months.
Vidura and Kuntīdevī described to Akrūra in detail how Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons, envious of the exalted qualities of the Pāṇḍavas, had tried to destroy them by various evil means and were contemplating further atrocities. With tearful eyes, Kuntīdevī asked Akrūra, “Do my parents and other relatives, headed by Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, ever think of me and my sons, and will Kṛṣṇa ever come to console us in our distress?” Then Kuntīdevī began to chant Lord Kṛṣṇa’s names for her protection, and she also chanted mantras expressing surrender to Him. Akrūra assured Kuntīdevī, “Since your sons were born from demigods like Dharma and Vāyu, there is no reason to expect that any misfortune will befall them; rather, you should be confident that very soon they will receive the greatest possible good fortune.”
Akrūra then delivered to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the message from Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Akrūra told the King, “You have assumed the royal throne after the death of Pāṇḍu. Seeing all equally, which is the religious duty of kings, you should protect all your subjects and personal relations. By such fair behavior you will gain all fame and good fortune. But if you act otherwise, you will attain only infamy in this life and condemnation to a hellish existence in the next. A living being takes his birth all alone, and alone he gives up his life. Alone he enjoys the fruits of his piety and sin. If one fails to understand the true identity of the self and instead maintains his progeny by indulging in evil deeds, then surely he will go to hell. One should therefore learn to understand the unsteadiness of material existence, which is like a sleeper’s dream, a magician’s illusion or a flight of fancy, and should thus control his mind in order to remain peaceful and equipoised. ”
To this Dhṛtarāṣṭra replied, “I cannot hear enough of your beneficial words, O Akrūra, which are like the sweet nectar of immortality. But because the tight knot of affection for my sons has made me biased toward them, your statements cannot become fixed within my mind. No one can transgress the arrangement of the Supreme Lord; His purpose for descending into the Yadu dynasty will inevitably be fulfilled.”
Knowing now the mentality of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Akrūra took permission from his dear relatives and friends and returned to Mathurā, where he related everything to Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma.

This chapter relates how Lord Kṛṣṇa defeated Jarāsandha seventeen times in battle and then constructed the city of Dvārakā.
After Kaṁsa was killed, his two queens, Asti and Prāpti, went to the home of their father, Jarāsandha, and sorrowfully described to him how Kṛṣṇa had made them widows. Upon hearing this account, King Jarāsandha became angry. He vowed to rid the earth of all the Yādavas, and he gathered an immense army to lay siege to Mathurā. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa saw Jarāsandha attacking, the Lord considered the reasons for His descent to this world and then decided to destroy Jarāsandha’s army, which was a burden to the earth.
Two effulgent chariots suddenly appeared, equipped with drivers and furnishings, together with all the Lord’s personal weapons. Seeing this, Lord Kṛṣṇa addressed Lord Baladeva, “My dear brother, Jarāsandha is now attacking Mathurā-purī, so please mount Your chariot and let Us go destroy the enemy’s army.” The two Lords took up Their weapons, mounted Their chariots and went forth from the city.
When Lord Kṛṣṇa came before His opponent’s army, He sounded His conchshell, striking fear into His enemies’ hearts. King Jarāsandha surrounded Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma with his soldiers, chariots and so on, and the women of the city, having climbed up to the roofs of the palaces, became extremely unhappy because they could not see the Lords. Then Kṛṣṇa twanged His bow and started to rain down a torrent of arrows upon the enemy soldiers. Soon Jarāsandha’s unfathomable army had been annihilated.
Then Lord Baladeva arrested Jarāsandha and was about to bind him up with ropes when Śrī Kṛṣṇa had Baladeva release the King. Lord Kṛṣṇa reasoned that Jarāsandha would assemble another army and return again to fight; this would facilitate Kṛṣṇa’s goal of removing the earth’s burden. Released, Jarāsandha returned to Magadha and vowed to perform austerities with the aim of avenging his defeat. The other kings advised him that his defeat was only a reaction of his karma. Thus informed, King Jarāsandha withdrew to his kingdom with a heavy heart.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa rejoined the citizens of Mathurā, who began rejoicing, singing songs of triumph and arranging victory celebrations. The Lord brought all the warriors’ jewelry and ornaments that had been picked up from the battlefield and presented them to Mahārāja Ugrasena.
Jarāsandha attacked the Yādavas in Mathurā seventeen times, and each time his armies were totally destroyed. Then, as Jarāsandha prepared to attack for the eighteenth time, a warrior named Kālayavana, who had been searching for a worthy opponent, was sent by Nārada Muni to fight the Yādavas. With thirty million soldiers Kālayavana laid siege to the Yādava capital. Lord Kṛṣṇa looked upon this attack with concern, for He knew that with Jarāsandha’s arrival imminent, there was a serious danger that the simultaneous attack of these two enemies might endanger the Yādavas. Therefore the Lord constructed a wonderful city within the sea as a safe haven for the Yādavas; then He brought them all there by His mystic power. This city was fully populated with members of all four social orders, and within it no one felt the pangs of thirst and hunger. The various demigods, headed by Indra, each offered as tribute to Lord Kṛṣṇa the same opulences they had originally obtained from Him to establish their positions of authority.

Once He saw His subjects safely settled, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa took permission from Lord Baladeva and went out of Mathurā unarmed.

This chapter describes how Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa caused Mucukunda to kill Kālayavana with his harsh glance, and it also relates the conversation between Mucukunda and Lord Kṛṣṇa.
After placing His family members safely within the Dvārakā fortress, Śrī Kṛṣṇa went out of Mathurā. He appeared like the rising moon. Kālayavana saw that Kṛṣṇa’s brilliantly effulgent body matched Nārada’s description of the Lord, and thus the Yavana knew He was the Personality of Godhead. Seeing that the Lord carried no weapons, Kālayavana put his own weapons aside and ran toward Him from behind, wanting to fight with Him. Śrī Kṛṣṇa ran from the Yavana, staying just barely beyond Kālayavana’s grasp at every step and eventually leading him a long distance toward a mountain cave. As Kālayavana ran, he hurled insults at the Lord, but he could not grasp Him, since his stock of impious karma was not yet depleted. Śrī Kṛṣṇa entered the cave, whereupon Kālayavana followed after Him and saw a man lying on the ground. Taking him for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Kālayavana kicked him. The man had been sleeping for a very long time, and now, having been violently awakened, he looked around angrily in all directions and saw Kālayavana. The man stared harshly at him, igniting a fire in Kālayavana’s body and in a moment burning him to ashes.

This extraordinary person was a son of Mandhātā’s named Mucukunda. He was devoted to brahminical culture and always true to his vow. Previously, he had spent many long years helping to protect the demigods from the demons. When the demigods had eventually obtained Kārttikeya as their protector, they allowed Mucukunda to retire, offering him any boon other than liberation, which only Lord Viṣṇu can bestow. Mucukunda had chosen from the demigods the benediction of being covered by sleep, and thus since then he had been lying asleep within the cave.
Upon Kālayavana’s immolation, Śrī Kṛṣṇa showed Himself to Mucukunda, who was struck with wonder at seeing Kṛṣṇa’s incomparable beauty. Mucukunda asked Lord Kṛṣṇa who He was and also explained to the Lord his own identity. Mucukunda said, “After growing weary from remaining awake for a long time, I was enjoying my sleep here in this cave when some stranger disturbed me and, suffering the reaction of his sins, was burnt to ashes. O Lord, O vanquisher of all enemies, it is my great fortune that I now have the vision of Your beautiful form.”
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa then told Mucukunda who He was and offered him a boon. The wise Mucukunda, understanding the futility of material life, asked only that he might be allowed to take shelter of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet.
Pleased at this request, the Lord said to Mucukunda, “My devotees are never enticed by material benedictions offered to them; only nondevotees, namely yogīs and speculative philosophers, are interested in material benedictions, having mundane desires in their hearts. My dear Mucukunda, you will have perpetual devotion for Me. Now, always remaining surrendered to Me, go perform penances to eradicate the sinful reactions incurred from the killing you had to do in your role as a warrior. In your next life you will become a first-class brāhmaṇa and attain Me.” Thus the Lord offered Mucukunda His blessings.

This chapter describes how Lord Balarāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa, running as if in fear, went to Dvārakā. Then Lord Kṛṣṇa heard the message of Rukmiṇī from the mouth of a brāhmaṇa and chose her as His wife.
King Mucukunda, shown mercy by Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, offered obeisances and circumambulated Him. The King then left the cave and saw that humans, animals, trees and plants were all smaller than when he had fallen asleep. From this he could understand that the age of Kali was at hand. Thus, in a mood of detachment from all material association, the King began worshiping the Supreme Lord, Śrī Hari.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa returned to Mathurā, which was still under siege by the barbarian army. He destroyed this army, collected all the valuables the soldiers had been carrying, and set off for Dvārakā. Just then Jarāsandha arrived on the scene with a force of twenty-three akṣauhiṇīs. Lord Balarāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa, acting as if fearful, left Their riches aside and ran far away. Because Jarāsandha could not appreciate Their true power, he ran after Them. After running a long way, Rāma and Kṛṣṇa came to a mountain named Pravarṣaṇa and proceeded to climb it. Jarāsandha thought They had hidden inside a cave and looked all over for Them. Unable to find Them, he built fires on all sides of the mountain. As the vegetation on the mountain slopes burst into flame, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma jumped off the peak. After reaching the ground unseen by Jarāsandha and his followers, They returned to the Dvārakā fort, which floated within the sea. Jarāsandha decided that Rāma and Kṛṣṇa had burned to death in the fire, and he took his army back to his kingdom.
At this point Mahārāja Parīkṣit asked a question, and Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī responded to it by beginning to narrate the history of the marriage of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Rukmiṇī. Rukmiṇī, the young daughter of Bhīṣmaka, King of Vidarbha, had heard of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s beauty, strength and other fine qualities, and she therefore made up her mind that He would be the perfect husband for her. Lord Kṛṣṇa also wanted to marry her. But although Rukmiṇī’s other relatives approved of her marriage to Kṛṣṇa, her brother Rukmī was envious of the Lord and thus forbade her to marry Him. Rukmī wanted her to marry Śiśupāla instead. Rukmiṇī unhappily took up her duties in preparation for the marriage, but she also sent a trustworthy brāhmaṇa to Kṛṣṇa with a letter.
When the brāhmaṇa arrived in Dvārakā, Śrī Kṛṣṇa properly honored him with ritual worship and other tokens of reverence. The Lord then asked the brāhmaṇa why he had come. The brāhmaṇa opened Rukmiṇī’s letter and showed it to Lord Kṛṣṇa, who had the messenger read it to Him. Rukmiṇī-devī wrote, “Ever since I have heard about You, my Lord, I have become completely attracted to You. Without fail please come before my marriage to Śiśupāla and take me away. In accordance with family custom, on the day before my marriage I will visit the temple of goddess Ambikā. That would be the best opportunity for You to appear and easily kidnap me. If You do not show me this favor, I will give up my life by fasting and observing severe vows. Then perhaps in my next life I will be able to obtain You.”
After reading Rukmiṇī’s letter to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the brāhmaṇa took his leave so he might carry out his daily religious duties.

This chapter describes how Lord Çré Kṛṣṇa arrived in Kuëòina, the capital of Vidarbha, and kidnapped Rukmini in the presence of powerful enemies.
After Lord Kṛṣṇa had heard the brähmaëa messenger recite Rukmini’s letter, the Lord said to him, “I am indeed attracted to Rukmini, and I know of her brother Rukmé’s opposition to My marrying her. Therefore I must kidnap her after crushing all the low-class kings, just as one might generate fire from wood by friction.” Since the solemnizing of vows between Rukmini and Çiçupäla was scheduled to occur in only three days, Lord Kṛṣṇa had Däruka ready His chariot at once. Then He immediately set out for Vidarbha, which He reached after one night’s travel.
King Bhéñmaka, trapped by his affection for his son Rukmé, was prepared to give his daughter to Çiçupäla. Bhéñmaka saw to all the necessary preparations: he had the city decorated in various ways and had its main roads and intersections thoroughly cleansed. Damaghoña, the King of Cedi, having also done everything necessary to prepare for his son’s marriage, arrived in Vidarbha. King Bhéñmaka greeted him properly and gave him a place to stay. Many other kings, such as Jaräsandha, Çälva and Dantavakra, also came to witness the occasion. These enemies of Kṛṣṇa had conspired to kidnap the bride if Kṛṣṇa came. They planned to fight Him together and thus guarantee Çiçupäla his bride. Hearing of these plans, Lord Baladeva gathered His entire army and quickly went to Kuëòinapura.
On the night before the wedding, Rukmini, about to retire, had still not seen either the brähmaëa or Kṛṣṇa arrive. In anxiety, she cursed her bad fortune. But just then she felt her left side twitch, a good omen. Indeed, the brähmaëa shortly appeared and related to her what Kṛṣṇa had said, including His firm promise to kidnap her.
When King Bhéñmaka heard that Kṛṣṇa and Balaräma had arrived, he went out to greet Them to the accompaniment of triumphant music. He worshiped the Lords with various gifts and then designated residences for Them. Thus the King showed due respect to the Lords, as he did to each of his numerous royal guests.
The people of Vidarbha, seeing Lord Kṛṣṇa, remarked to one another that He alone would be a suitable husband for Rukmini. They prayed that on the strength of whatever pious credit they had, Kṛṣṇa might win Rukmini’s hand.
When the time came for Çrématé Rukmini-devé to visit the temple of Çré Ambikä, she proceeded there surrounded by many guards. After bowing down to the deity, Rukmini prayed to be allowed to have Çré Kṛṣṇa as her husband. Then she took the hand of a girlfriend and left the Ambikä temple. Seeing her inexpressible beauty, the great heroes present dropped their weapons and fell to the ground unconscious. Rukmini walked with deliberate steps until she noticed Kṛṣṇa. Then, as everyone looked on, Çré Kṛṣṇa took Rukmini onto His chariot. Like a lion claiming his rightful share from a band of jackals, He drove back all the opposing kings and slowly made His exit, followed by His associates. Jaräsandha and the other kings, unable to bear their defeat and dishonor, loudly condemned themselves, declaring that this defamation was like a petty animal’s stealing away what rightfully belongs to the lion.

This chapter describes how Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa defeated the opposing kings after kidnapping Rukmiṇī, disfigured Rukmiṇī’s brother Rukmī, brought Rukmiṇī to His capital and married her.
As Śrī Kṛṣṇa was taking Queen Rukmīṇī away, the inimical kings gathered their armies and pursued Him. Lord Baladeva and the generals of the Yādava army turned to face these opponents, blocking their advance. The enemy armies then began pouring incessant showers of arrows upon Lord Kṛṣṇa’s army. Seeing her husband-to-be’s forces under such violent attack, Śrīmatī Rukmiṇī looked at Śrī Kṛṣṇa fearfully. But Kṛṣṇa simply smiled and told her there was nothing to fear because His army would surely destroy the enemy in short order.
Lord Balarāma and the other heroes then began to annihilate the opposing army with nārāca arrows. The enemy kings, headed by Jarāsandha, retreated after suffering the destruction of their armies at the hands of the Yādavas.
Jarāsandha consoled Śiśupāla: “Happiness and distress are never permanent and are under the control of the Supreme Lord. Seventeen times Kṛṣṇa defeated me, but in the end I was victorious over Him. Thus seeing that victory and defeat are under the control of destiny and time, I have learned not to succumb to either lamentation or joy. Time now favors the Yādavas, so they have defeated you with only a small army, but in the future time will favor you, and you will surely conquer them.” Consoled in this way, Śiśupāla took his followers and returned to his kingdom.
Rukmiṇī’s brother Rukmī, who hated Kṛṣṇa, was infuriated by Kṛṣṇa’s kidnapping of his sister. So, after vowing before all the kings present that he would not return to Kuṇḍina until Kṛṣṇa had been destroyed and Rukmiṇī rescued, Rukmī set out with his army to attack the Lord. Ignorant of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s glories, Rukmī boldly went out to attack Kṛṣṇa in a lone chariot. He approached the Lord, struck Him with arrows and demanded that He release Rukmiṇī. Śrī Kṛṣṇa fended off Rukmī’s weapons, breaking them to pieces. Then He raised His sword high and was about to kill Rukmī when Rukmiṇī interceded and fervently pleaded that her brother’s life be spared. Lord Kṛṣṇa did not kill Rukmī, but with His sword He shaved off bits of Rukmī’s hair here and there, leaving him disfigured. Just then Lord Baladeva appeared on the scene with the Yādava army. Seeing Rukmī disfigured, He gently reproached Kṛṣṇa: “To disfigure such a close family member is as good as killing him; therefore he should not be killed but set free.”
Lord Baladeva then told Rukmiṇī that the sorry condition of her brother was only the fruit of his past work, since everyone is responsible for his own happiness and suffering. He further instructed her about the transcendental position of the jīva soul and how the illusion of happiness and distress is simply a result of ignorance. Accepting Lord Balarāma’s instructions, Rukmiṇī gave up her sorrow.
Rukmī, meanwhile, felt totally frustrated, deprived as he was of all his strength and his will to fight. Since he had vowed not to return home without conquering Kṛṣṇa, Rukmī constructed a city on that very spot and took up residence there in a mood of undiminished anger.
Lord Kṛṣṇa took Rukmiṇī to His capital, Dvārakā, and married her. All the citizens celebrated in lavish style, broadcasting throughout the city accounts of how the Lord had kidnapped Rukmiṇī. Everyone in Dvārakā was delighted to see Lord Kṛṣṇa united with Rukmiṇī.

This chapter tells how Pradyumna was born as the son of Lord Kṛṣṇa and then kidnapped by the demon Śambara. It also describes how Pradyumna killed Śambara and returned home with a wife.
Kāmadeva (Cupid), an expansion of Lord Vāsudeva, had been burned to ashes by Lord Śiva’s anger and was reborn as part and parcel of Pradyumna from the womb of Rukmiṇī. A demon named Śambara, thinking Pradyumna his enemy, kidnapped Him from the maternity room even before He was ten days old. Śambara threw Pradyumna into the ocean and returned to his kingdom. A powerful fish swallowed Pradyumna and was caught by fishermen in a net. They presented the huge fish to Śambara, and when his cooks cut it open they found a child within its belly. The cooks gave the infant to the maidservant Māyāvatī, who was astonished to see Him. Just then Nārada Muni appeared and told her who the infant was. Māyāvatī was actually Kāmadeva’s wife, Ratidevī. While waiting for her husband to be reborn in a new body, she had taken employment as a cook in the household of Śambara. Now that she understood who the infant was, she began to feel intense affection for Him. After a very short time, Pradyumna grew to youthful maturity, entrancing all the women with His beauty.

Once, Ratidevī approached Pradyumna and playfully moved her eyebrows in a conjugal mood. Addressing her as His mother, Pradyumna commented that she was putting aside her proper maternal mood and behaving like a passionate girlfriend. Rati then told Pradyumna who they both were. She advised Him to kill Śambara, and to help Him she instructed Him in the mystic mantras known as Mahā-māyā. Pradyumna went to Śambara and, after angering him with various insults, challenged him to fight, upon which Śambara angrily took up his club and marched outside. The demon tried various magic spells against Pradyumna, but Pradyumna fended off all of them with the Mahā-māyā mantras and then beheaded Śambara with His sword. At that moment Ratidevī appeared in the sky and took Pradyumna away to Dvārakā.
When Pradyumna and His wife entered the inner chambers of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s palace, the many beautiful ladies there thought He was Kṛṣṇa Himself, so much did His appearance and dress resemble the Lord’s. Out of shyness the ladies ran here and there to hide themselves. But after a little while they noticed small differences in Pradyumna’s and Kṛṣṇa’s appearances, and once they understood that He was not Lord Kṛṣṇa, they gathered around Him.
When Rukmiṇī-devī saw Pradyumna, she felt overwhelmed with motherly love, and milk began to flow spontaneously from her breasts. Noting that Pradyumna looked exactly like Kṛṣṇa, she became eager to find out who He was. She remembered how one of her sons had been abducted from the maternity room. “If He were still alive,” she thought, “He would be the same age as this Pradyumna standing before me.” While Rukmiṇī reflected in this way, Lord Kṛṣṇa arrived in the company of Devakī and Vasudeva. Although the Lord understood the situation perfectly well, He remained silent. Then Nārada Muni arrived and explained everything. Everyone was amazed to hear the account and embraced Pradyumna in great ecstasy.
Because Pradyumna’s beauty so closely resembled Kṛṣṇa’s, the ladies in a maternal relationship with Pradyumna could not help thinking of Him as their conjugal lover. He was, after all, the exact reflection of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and therefore it was natural for them to see Him in this way.

This chapter describes how Lord Kṛṣṇa recovered the Syamantaka jewel to allay false accusations against Him and married the daughters of Jāmbavān and Satrājit. By enacting the pastime involving the Syamantaka jewel, the Lord demonstrated the futility of material wealth.
When Śukadeva Gosvāmī mentioned that King Satrājit offended Lord Kṛṣṇa on account of the Syamantaka jewel, King Parīkṣit became curious to hear the details of this incident. Thus Śukadeva Gosvāmī narrated the story.
King Satrājit received the Syamantaka gem by the grace of his best well-wisher, the sun-god, Sūrya. After fastening the gem to a chain, which he then hung around his neck, Satrājit traveled to Dvārakā. The residents, thinking he was the sun-god himself, went to Kṛṣṇa and told Him that Lord Sūrya had come to take His audience. But Kṛṣṇa replied that the man who had come was not Sūrya but King Satrājit, who looked extremely effulgent because he was wearing the Syamantaka jewel.
In Dvārakā Satrājit installed the precious stone on a special altar in his home. Every day the gem produced a large quantity of gold, and it had the additional power of assuring that wherever it was properly worshiped no calamity could occur.
On one occasion Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa requested Satrājit to give the gem to the King of the Yadus, Ugrasena. But Satrājit refused, obsessed as he was with greed. Shortly thereafter Satrājit’s brother Prasena left the city to hunt on horseback, wearing the Syamantaka jewel on his neck. On the road a lion killed Prasena and took the jewel away to a mountain cave, where the king of the bears, Jāmbavān, happened to be living. Jāmbavān killed the lion and gave the jewel to his son to play with.
When King Satrājit’s brother did not return, the King presumed that Śrī Kṛṣṇa had killed him for the Syamantaka gem. Lord Kṛṣṇa heard about this rumor circulating among the general populace, and to clear His name He went with some of the citizens to find Prasena. Following his path, they eventually found his body and that of his horse lying on the road. Further on they saw the body of the lion Jāmbavān had killed. Lord Kṛṣṇa told the citizens to remain outside the cave while He went in to investigate.
The Lord entered Jāmbavān’s cave and saw the Syamantaka jewel lying next to a child. But when Kṛṣṇa tried to take the jewel, the child’s nurse cried out in alarm, bringing Jāmbavān quickly to the scene. Jāmbavān considered Kṛṣṇa an ordinary man and began fighting with Him. For twenty-eight days continuously the two fought, until finally Jāmbavān grew weak from the Lord’s blows. Now understanding that Kṛṣṇa was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Jāmbavān began to praise Him. The Lord touched Jāmbavān with His lotus hand, dispelling his fear, and then explained everything about the jewel. With great devotion Jāmbavān gladly presented the Syamantaka jewel to the Lord, together with his unmarried daughter, Jāmbavatī.

Meanwhile Lord Kṛṣṇa’s companions, having waited twelve days for Kṛṣṇa to come out of the cave, returned to Dvārakā despondent. All of Kṛṣṇa’s friends and family members became extremely sorrowful and began regularly worshiping Goddess Durgā to assure the Lord’s safe return. Even as they performed this worship, Lord Kṛṣṇa entered the city in the company of His new wife. He summoned Satrājit to the royal assembly and, after recounting to him the entire story of the Syamantaka jewel’s recovery, gave the jewel back to him. Satrājit accepted the jewel, but with great shame and remorse. He went back to his home, and there he decided to offer Lord Kṛṣṇa not only the jewel but also his daughter so as to atone for the offense he had committed against the Lord’s lotus feet. Śrī Kṛṣṇa accepted the hand of Satrājit’s daughter, Satyabhāmā, who was endowed with all divine qualities. But the jewel He refused, returning it to King Satrājit.

This chapter describes how Lord Kṛṣṇa, after the murder of Satrājit, killed Śatadhanvā and had Akrūra bring the Syamantaka jewel back to Dvārakā.
When Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa heard that the Pāṇḍavas had supposedly been burned to death in the palace of lac, He went to Hastināpura with Lord Baladeva to maintain the principles of worldly protocol, even though, being omniscient, He knew the report was false. With Kṛṣṇa out of Dvārakā, Akrūra and Kṛtavarmā incited Śatadhanvā to steal the Syamantaka jewel from Satrājit. Bewildered by their words, the sinful Śatadhanvā murdered King Satrājit in his sleep and stole the gem. Queen Satyabhāmā was overcome with grief at the death of her father, and she rushed to Hastināpura to report the sorrowful news to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Together with Lord Baladeva, Kṛṣṇa then returned to Dvārakā to kill Śatadhanvā.
Śatadhanvā went to Akrūra and Kṛtavarmā to beg for help, but when they refused he left the jewel with Akrūra and fled for his life. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma pursued him, and Lord Kṛṣṇa beheaded him with His sharp-edged disc. When the Lord could not find the Syamantaka jewel on Śatadhanvā’s person, Baladeva told Him that Śatadhanvā must have left it in someone’s care. Baladeva further suggested that Kṛṣṇa return to Dvārakā to find the jewel while He, Baladeva, would take the opportunity to visit the King of Videha. Thus Lord Balarāma traveled to Mithilā and remained there for a few years, during which He taught King Duryodhana the art of fighting with a club.
Lord Kṛṣṇa returned to Dvārakā and had the funeral rites performed for Satrājit. When Akrūra and Kṛtavarmā heard how Śatadhanvā had met his death, they fled Dvārakā. Soon many kinds of disturbances-mental, physical and so on-began to afflict Dvārakā, and the citizens concluded that the cause of these troubles must be Akrūra’s exile. The city elders explained, “Once there was a drought in Benares, and the king of the region gave his daughter in marriage to Akrūra’s father, who was visiting Benares at the time. As a result of this gift, the drought ended.” The elders, thinking Akrūra had the same power as his father, declared that Akrūra should be brought back.
Lord Kṛṣṇa knew that Akrūra’s exile was not the main cause of the disturbances. Still, He had Akrūra brought back to Dvārakā, and after properly honoring him with worship and greeting him with sweet words, Kṛṣṇa told him, “I know Śatadhanvā left the jewel in your care. Since Satrājit had no sons, his daughter’s offspring are the just claimants to whatever property he has left behind. Nonetheless, it would be best for you to keep the troublesome jewel in your care. Just let Me show it once to My relatives.” Akrūra presented Kṛṣṇa with the jewel, which shone as brilliantly as the sun, and after the Lord had shown it to His family members He returned it to Akrūra.

This chapter describes how Lord Kṛṣṇa married five brides, beginning with Kālindī, and went to Indraprastha to visit the Pāṇḍavas.
After the Pāṇḍavas had completed their incognito exile, Lord Kṛṣṇa went with Sātyaki and other Yadus to see them in Indraprastha. The Pāṇḍavas greeted the Lord and embraced Him in great ecstasy. Their new bride, Draupadī, shyly approached Kṛṣṇa and bowed down to Him. Then the Pāṇḍavas properly worshiped and welcomed Sātyaki and the Lord’s other companions, offering them sitting places.
Lord Kṛṣṇa paid a visit to Queen Kuntī, and after He had offered her His respects, they inquired from each other about their family members. As Kuntī-devi recalled the various miseries Duryodhana had inflicted upon her and her sons, she remarked that Kṛṣṇa was their only protector. “You are the well-wisher of the entire universe,” she said, “yet even though You are free from all delusion of ‘mine’ and ‘another’s,’ You nonetheless reside within the hearts of those who meditate on You constantly, and from within their hearts You destroy all their miseries.” Then Yudhiṣṭhira told Kṛṣṇa, “Only because we executed many pious acts are we able to see Your lotus feet, which even great yogīs find it impossible to attain.” Honored by King Yudhiṣṭhira, Śrī Kṛṣṇa happily remained as a guest in Indraprastha for several months.
One day, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna went hunting in the forest. While bathing in the Yamunā River, they saw a charming young maiden. On Kṛṣṇa’s request Arjuna went up to the girl and asked who she was. The beautiful maiden replied, “I am Kālindī, the daughter of the sun-god. Hoping to attain Lord Viṣṇu as my husband, I have been performing severe austerities. I will accept no one else as my husband, and until He marries me I will remain in the Yamunā, living in a house my father built for me here.” After Arjuna reported all this to Kṛṣṇa, the omniscient Lord took Kālindī onto His chariot, and then the three of them returned to Yudhiṣṭhira’s residence.
Later the Pāṇḍavas requested Kṛṣṇa to build them a city, and He did so by having Viśvakarmā, the architect of the demigods, construct one that was extremely attractive. The Lord satisfied His beloved devotees by remaining with them there for some time. Then, to please Agni, the fire-god, Kṛṣṇa arranged to offer him the Khāṇḍava forest. The Lord asked Arjuna to burn down the forest and accompanied him as his charioteer. Agni was so satisfied with the offering that he presented Arjuna with the Gāṇḍīva bow, a team of horses, a chariot, two inexhaustible quivers, and armor. While the Khāṇḍava forest burned, Arjuna saved a demon named Maya from the blaze. Maya Dānava reciprocated by building Arjuna a splendid palace. In this building Duryodhana would later get a good drenching after mistaking the surface of a pond for a solid floor, thus embarrassing himself.
Next Lord Kṛṣṇa took permission from Arjuna and His other relatives and went back to Dvārakā with His entourage. There He married Kālindī. Some time later He went to Avantīpura, where, in the presence of manv kings, He abducted the King of Avantī’s sister, Mitravindā, who was very much attracted to Him.
In the kingdom of Ayodhyā lived a devout king named Nagnajit. He had an extraordinarily beautiful, marriageable daughter named Satyā, or Nāgnajitī. The girl’s relatives had laid down the stipulation that any man who could subdue a certain group of seven ferocious bulls would win her hand. When Kṛṣṇa heard about this princess, He went to Ayodhyā with a large contingent of soldiers. King Nagnajit greeted Him hospitably and joyfully worshiped Him with various offerings. When Satyā saw Kṛṣṇa, she immediately desired Him as her husband, and King Nagnajit, understanding his daughter’s intentions, informed Lord Kṛṣṇa of his own wish that the Lord and his daughter be married. The King affectionately told the Lord, “You alone would be a suitable husband for my daughter, and if You subdue the seven bulls You may certainly marry her.”
Lord Kṛṣṇa then manifested Himself in seven separate forms and subdued the seven bulls. King Nagnajit duly presented his daughter to the Lord, together with a dowry of abundant gifts, and the Lord took Satyā onto His chariot for the journey back to Dvārakā. Just then the rival kings who had been defeated by the bulls tried to attack Lord Kṛṣṇa. But Arjuna easily beat them back, and Kṛṣṇa proceeded with Nāgnajitī to Dvārakā.

Subsequently Śrī Kṛṣṇa married Bhadrā after abducting her from her svayaṁ-vara ceremony, and He also married Lakṣmaṇā, the royal daughter of the King of Madra.

This chapter tells how Lord Kṛṣṇa killed Narakāsura, the son of the earth-goddess, and married the thousands of maidens the demon had kidnapped. It also describes how the Lord stole the pārijāta tree from heaven and how He behaved like an ordinary householder in each of His palaces.
After Narakāsura stole Lord Varuṇa’s umbrella, mother Aditi’s earrings, and the playground of the demigods known as Maṇi-parvata, Indra went to Dvārakā and described the demons transgressions to Lord Kṛṣṇa. Together with Queen Satyabhāmā, the Lord mounted His carrier Garuḍa and traveled to the capital of Narakāsura’s kingdom. On a field outside the city He decapitated the demon Mura with His disc. Then He fought Mura’s seven sons and sent them all to the abode of death, after which Narakāsura himself entered the battlefield on the back of an elephant. Naraka threw his śakti lance at Śrī Kṛṣṇa, but the weapon proved ineffective, and the Lord cut the demon’s entire army to pieces. Finally, with His sharp-edged disc Kṛṣṇa cut off Narakāsura’s head.

The earth-goddess, Pṛthivī, then approached Lord Kṛṣṇa and gave Him the various items Narakāsura had stolen. She offered prayers to the Lord and presented Naraka’s frightened son at Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. After pacifying the demon’s son, Kṛṣṇa entered Narakāsura’s palace, where He found sixteen thousand one hundred young women. As soon as they caught sight of the Lord, they all decided to accept Him as their husband. The Lord sent them to Dvārakā along with a great quantity of treasure and then went with Queen Satyabhāmā to the abode of Indra. There He returned Aditi’s earrings, and Indra and his wife, Śacī-devī, worshiped Him. On Satyabhāmā’s request, Lord Kṛṣṇa uprooted the heavenly pārijāta tree and put it on the back of Garuḍa. After defeating Indra and the other demigods who opposed His taking of the tree, Kṛṣṇa returned with Queen Satyabhāmā to Dvārakā, where He planted it in a garden adjacent to Satyabhāmā’s palace.

Indra had originally come to Lord Kṛṣṇa offering obeisances and begging Him to kill Narakāsura, but afterwards, when his business had been accomplished, he quarreled with the Lord. The demigods are prone to anger because they become intoxicated with pride in their opulences.
The infallible Supreme Lord manifested Himself in sixteen thousand one hundred separate forms and married each of the sixteen thousand one hundred brides in a different temple. He took up the required activities of household life just like an ordinary person, accepting various kinds of service from each of His many wives.

This chapter describes how Lord Kṛṣṇa provoked anger in Queen Rukmiṇī with joking words and then consoled her, thus demonstrating the opulence of a lovers’ quarrel.
One day Lord Kṛṣṇa sat at ease in Queen Rukmiṇī’s bedroom while she and her maidservants attended to Him in various ways. Rukmiṇī always responded to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s moods, whatever they might be. On this occasion the Lord looked at Rukmiṇī, whose beauty was faultless, and began to tease her: “Previously many wealthy kings, worthy of you in their appearance and character, wanted to marry you. In fact, your father and brother intended to give you in marriage to Śiśupāla. Why, then, did you accept such an unsuitable husband as Me, who once renounced My kingdom and fled to the sea in fear of Jarāsandha? Besides, I transgress worldly morality, and because I own nothing I am dear to other paupers. Certainly the well-to-do would not worship one such as Me.

“When a man and a woman share the same social class, influence, physical beauty and so on, marriage or friendship can flourish between them. But out of shortsightedness you have accepted a husband who lacks every good quality and is glorified by beggars. Better you had married some prominent warrior; then you might have been happy in this life and the next. Your brother Rukmī and kings like Śiśupāla all hate Me, and it was only to cut down their pride that I kidnapped you. But as for such things as body, home, wife and children, I’m indifferent to them, being the self-satisfied Personality of Godhead, transcendental to all material affairs.”
Śrī Kṛṣṇa stopped speaking, having destroyed Queen Rukmiṇī’s confidence that she was her husband’s favorite. She began to cry, and soon she became stunned in extreme fear, pain and sadness and fell unconscious. Lord Kṛṣṇa saw that she had misunderstood His joking, and thus He felt compassion for her. He picked her up from the floor and, caressing her face, consoled her: “I know you are totally attached to Me. It was only out of eagerness to see your lotus face adorned with a frown that I teased you. To joke with one’s beloved is the highest enjoyment for householders.” These words dispelled Rukmiṇī’s fear of rejection. Seeing that Kṛṣṇa had spoken only in jest, she said, “What You said about the two of us being mismatched is actually true. After all, no one is equal to You, the omnipotent master of the three principal deities-Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva.” Rukmiṇī went on to show how everything Kṛṣṇa had said denigrating Himself was actually glorification.
Lord Kṛṣṇa then spoke to Rukmiṇī with deep affection: “I did not intend to agitate your mind with My joking words; rather, I wanted to demonstrate the strength of your chastity. Anyone who prays to Me for sense gratification and happiness in family life is simply deluded by My illusory energy, Māyā. Such a person will take a low birth. Ordinary women with corrupt desires cannot possibly worship Me faithfully, as you have done. At the time of your marriage you showed no interest in any of the royal suitors; rather, you sent a brāhmaṇa messenger for Me. Thus you are certainly the most beloved of all My consorts.”
In this way the Lord of the universe, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, took pleasure in joking with the goddess of fortune in her form as Rukmiṇī, and in a similar fashion He fulfilled all the duties of a householder in each palace of His other queens.

This chapter recounts the meeting of Aniruddha and Ūṣā, and also Aniruddha’s battle with Bāṇāsura.
Of the one hundred sons of King Bali, the oldest was Bāṇāsura. He was a great devotee of Lord Śiva, who favored Bāṇa so much that even demigods like Indra would serve him. Bāṇāsura once satisfied Śiva by playing musical instruments with his one thousand hands while Śiva danced his tāṇḍava-nṛtya. In response, Śiva offered Bāṇa whatever benediction he chose, and Bāṇa asked Śiva to become the guardian of his city.
One day when Bāṇa was feeling an urge to do battle, he told Lord Śiva: “Except for you, in the whole world there is no warrior strong enough to fight me. Therefore these thousand arms you’ve given me are merely a heavy burden.” Angered by these words, Lord Śiva replied, “Your pride will be crushed in battle when you meet my equal. Indeed, your chariot flag will fall to the ground, broken.”

Bāṇāsura’s daughter, Ūṣā, once had an encounter with a lover in her sleep. Several nights in a row this occurred, until one night she failed to see Him in her dreams. She suddenly awoke, speaking aloud to Him in a state of agitation, but when she noticed her maidservants around her, she felt embarrassed. Ūṣā’s companion Citralekhā asked her who she had been addressing, and Ūṣā told her everything. Hearing of Ūṣā’s dreamlover, Citralekhā tried to relieve her friend’s distress by drawing pictures of Gandharvas and other celestial personalities, as well as various men of the Vṛṣṇi dynasty. Citralekhā asked Ūṣā to pick out the man she had seen in her dreams, and Ūṣā pointed to the picture of Aniruddha. Citralekhā, who had mystic powers, knew at once that the young man her friend had pointed out was Lord Kṛṣṇa’s grandson Aniruddha. Then, using her mystic powers, Citralekhā flew through the sky to Dvārakā, found Aniruddha and brought Him back with her to Śoṇitapura, Bāṇāsura’s capital. There she presented Him to Ūṣā.
Having obtained the man of her desires, Ūṣā began serving Him very affectionately within her private quarters, which were supposed to be strictly off limits to men. After some time the female guards of the inner palace noticed symptoms of sexual activity on Ūṣā’s person, and they went to Bāṇāsura to inform him. Greatly disturbed, Bāṇāsura rushed to his daughter’s apartments with many armed guards and, to his great surprise, saw Aniruddha there. As the guards attacked Him, Aniruddha took up His club and succeeded in killing a few before the powerful Bāṇa could capture Him with his mystic nāga-pāśa ropes, filling Ūṣā with lamentation.

This chapter describes the battle between Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Śiva, as well as Śiva’s glorification of Kṛṣṇa after the Lord had cut off Bāṇāsura’s arms.
When Aniruddha did not return from Śoṇitapura, His family and friends passed the four months of the rainy season in extreme distress. When they finally heard from Nārada Muni how Aniruddha had been captured, a large army of the best Yādava warriors, under Kṛṣṇa’s protection, set off for Bāṇāsura’s capital and laid siege to it. Bāṇāsura fiercely opposed them with his own army of equal size. To help Bāṇāsura, Lord Śiva, accompanied by Kārtikeya and a horde of mystic sages, took up arms against Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa. Bāṇa began fighting against Sātyaki, and Bāṇa’s son fought against Sāmba. All the demigods assembled in the sky to witness the battle. With His arrows Lord Kṛṣṇa harassed the followers of Lord Śiva, and by putting Lord Śiva into a state of confusion He was able to destroy Bāṇāsura’s army. Kārtikeya was so strongly beaten by Pradyumna that he fled the battlefield, while the remnants of Bāṇāsura’s army, harried by the blows of Lord Balarāma’s club, scattered in all directions.
Enraged to see his army’s destruction, Bāṇāsura rushed Kṛṣṇa to attack Him. But the Lord immediately killed Bāṇa’s chariot driver and broke his chariot and bow, and then He sounded His Pāñcajanya conchshell. Next Bāṇāsura’s mother, trying to save her son, appeared naked in front of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who averted His face to avoid looking at her. Seeing his chance, Bāṇa fled into his city.
After Lord Kṛṣṇa had thoroughly defeated the ghosts and hobgoblins fighting under Lord Śiva, the Śiva-jvara weapon-a personification of fever with three heads and three legs-approached Lord Kṛṣṇa to fight Him. Seeing the Śiva-jvara, Kṛṣṇa released His Viṣṇu-jvara. The Śiva-jvara was overwhelmed by the Viṣṇu-jvara; having nowhere else to turn for shelter, the Śiva-jvara began to address Lord Kṛṣṇa, glorifying Him and asking for mercy. Lord Kṛṣṇa was pleased with the Śiva-jvara, and after the Lord had promised him freedom from fear, the Śiva-jvara bowed down to Him and departed.

Next Bāṇāsura returned and attacked Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa again, wielding all kinds of weapons in his thousand hands. But Lord Kṛṣṇa took His Sudarśana disc and began cutting off all the demon’s arms Lord Śiva approached Kṛṣṇa to pray for Bāṇāsura’s life, and when the Lord agreed to spare him, He spoke as follows to Śiva: “Bāṇāsura does not deserve to die, since he was born in the family of Prahlāda Mahārāja. I have severed all but four of Bāṇa’s arms just to destroy his false pride, and I have annihilated his army because they were a burden to the earth. Henceforward he will be free from old age and death, and remaining fearless in all circumstances, he will be one of your principal attendants.”
Assured he had nothing to fear, Bāṇāsura then offered his obeisances to Lord Kṛṣṇa and had Ūṣā and Aniruddha seated on their wedding chariot and brought before the Lord. Kṛṣṇa then set off for Dvārakā with Aniruddha and His bride leading the procession. When the newlyweds arrived at the Lord’s capital, they were honored by the citizens, the Lord’s relatives and the brāhmaṇas.

This chapter describes how Śrī Kṛṣṇa released King Nṛga from a curse and instructed the royal order on the great danger of taking a brāhmaṇa’s property.
One day Sāmba and other young boys of the Yādava dynasty went to the forest to play, and after playing for a long time they became very thirsty and began looking for water. Inside a dry well they found an amazing creature: a huge lizard resembling a hill. The boys felt sorry for it and tried to pull it out. But after several attempts with leather thongs and ropes, they saw that they would not be able to rescue the creature, and thus they went to Lord Kṛṣṇa and told Him what had happened. The Lord accompanied them to the well and, extending His left hand, easily lifted the lizard out. By the touch of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s hand the creature transformed at once into a demigod. Then Lord Kṛṣṇa asked, “Who are you, and how did you assume such a lowly form?

The divine being replied, “My name was King Nṛga, son of Ikṣvāku, and I was famous for giving charity. Indeed, I gave away countless cows to numerous brāhmaṇas. But on one occasion a cow belonging to a first-class brāhmaṇa wandered into my herd. Unaware of this, I gave this cow in charity to a different brāhmaṇa. When the cow’s previous owner saw the second brāhmaṇa taking this cow away, the first brāhmaṇa claimed the cow as his and began arguing with the second brāhmaṇa. After quarreling for some time they approached me, and I implored them to each take one hundred thousand cows in exchange for that one cow, and to please forgive me for the offense I had unknowingly committed. But neither brāhmaṇa would accept my proposal, and the matter remained unsettled.
“Shortly thereafter I died and was taken by the Yamadūtas to the court of Yamarāja. Yama asked me which I preferred to do first: suffer the results of my sins or enjoy the results of my pious acts. I decided to suffer my sinful reactions first, and thus I assumed the body of a lizard.”
After King Nṛga had told his story, he offered prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa and then mounted a celestial airplane, which transported him to heaven.

Lord Kṛṣṇa then instructed His personal associates, as well as the general mass of people, on the dangers of stealing a brāhmaṇa ‘s property. Finally, the Lord returned to His palace.

This chapter relates how Lord Balarāma went to Gokula, enjoyed the company of the cowherd girls and dragged the Yamunā River.
One day Lord Balarāma went to Gokula to see His relatives and friends. When He arrived there, the elder gopīs and Lord Kṛṣṇa’s parents, Nanda and Yaśodā, who had all been in great anxiety for a long time, embraced Him and blessed Him. Lord Balarāma offered appropriate respects and greetings to each of His worshipable elders according to age, friendship and family relation. After Gokula’s residents and Lord Balarāma had inquired about each other’s welfare, the Lord rested from His journey.
In a short while the young gopīs came to Lord Balarāma and questioned Him about Kṛṣṇa’s well-being. They asked, “Does Kṛṣṇa still remember His parents and friends, and will He be coming to Gokula to visit them? For Kṛṣṇa’s sake we gave up everything-even our fathers, mothers and other relatives-but now He has abandoned us. How could we help but put our faith in Kṛṣṇa’s words after seeing His sweetly smiling face and thus being overwhelmed by the urges of Cupid? Still, if Kṛṣṇa can spend His days in separation from us, why can’t we tolerate separation from Him? So there is no reason to keep talking about Him.” In this manner the gopīs remembered Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s charming talks, enchanting glances, playful gestures and loving embraces, and as a result they began to cry. Lord Balarāma consoled them by conveying the attractive messages Kṛṣṇa had given Him for them.
Lord Balarāma stayed in Gokula for two months, sporting with the gopīs in the groves on the Yamunā’s shore. The demigods who witnessed these pastimes played kettledrums in the heavens and showered down flower petals, while the celestial sages recited Balarāma’s glories.
One day Lord Balarāma became intoxicated by drinking some vāruṇī liquor and began wandering about the forest in the company of the gopīs. He called out to the Yamunā, “Come near so I and the gopīs can enjoy sporting in your waters.” But the Yamunā ignored His command. Lord Balarāma then started to pull the Yamunā with the end of His plow, splitting her into hundreds of tributaries. Trembling out of fright, the goddess Yamunā appeared, fell down at Lord Balarāma’s feet and prayed for forgiveness. The Lord let her go and then entered her waters with His girlfriends to sport for some time. When they rose from the water, the goddess Kānti presented Lord Balarāma with beautiful ornaments, clothing and garlands. Even today the Yamunā River flows through the many channels cut by Lord Baladeva’s plow, the signs of His having subdued her.

While Lord Balarāma played, His mind became enchanted by the gopīs’ pastimes. Thus the many nights He spent in their company seemed to Him like a single night.

This chapter relates how Lord Kṛṣṇa went to Kāśī (present-day Benares) and killed Pauṇḍraka and Kāśirāja, and how the Lord’s Sudarśana disc defeated a demon, incinerated the city of Kāśī and killed Sudakṣiṇa.
While Lord Baladeva was visiting Vraja, King Pauṇḍraka of Karūṣa, encouraged by fools, announced that he was the real Vāsudeva. Thus he challenged Lord Kṛṣṇa with the following message: “Since I alone am the true Personality of Godhead, You should give up Your false claim to this position, as well as my divine symbols, and take shelter of me. If You do not, then prepare for battle.”
When Ugrasena and the members of his royal assembly heard Pauṇḍraka’s foolish boast, they all laughed heartily. Śrī Kṛṣṇa then told Pauṇḍraka’s messenger to convey a message to his master: “O fool, I will force you to give up the so-called Sudarśana disc and the other divine symbols of Mine you have dared to assume. And when you lie down on the battlefield, you will become the shelter of dogs.”
Lord Kṛṣṇa then went to Kāśī. Pauṇḍraka, seeing the Lord preparing for battle, quickly came out of the city to confront Him with his army. His friend Kāśirāja followed him, leading the rear guard. Just as the fire of universal devastation destroys every living being in all directions, so Lord Kṛṣṇa annihilated the armies of Pauṇḍraka and Kāśirāja. Then, after chastising Pauṇḍraka, the Lord beheaded both him and Kāśirāja with His Sudarśana disc. Thereafter, He returned to Dvārakā. Because Pauṇḍraka had constantly meditated on the Supreme Lord, even dressing like Him, he gained liberation.

When Kṛṣṇa beheaded Kāśirāja, the King’s head flew into his city, and when his queens, sons and other relatives saw it, they all began to lament. At that time a son of Kāśirāja’s named Sudakṣiṇa, wanting to avenge his father’ s death, began worshiping Lord Śiva with the intention of destroying his father’s killer. Gratified by Sudakṣiṇa’s worship, Lord Śiva offered him a choice of benedictions, and Sudakṣiṇa asked for a means to kill the one who had slain his father. Lord Śiva advised him to worship the Dakṣiṇāgni fire with black magic rituals. This Sudakṣiṇa did, with the result that a fearsome demon with a body of flames appeared from the pit of the sacrificial fire. The demon rose up carrying a fiery trident and at once set off for Dvārakā.
The residents of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s capital became terrified as the demon approached the city, but Lord Kṛṣṇa assured them of protection and dispatched His Sudarśana cakra to oppose the magic creation of Lord Śiva. The Sudarśana overpowered the demon, who then returned to Vārāṇasī and burned Sudakṣiṇa to ashes, together with his priests. The Sudarśana disc, following the demon, entered Vārāṇasī and burned the entire city to the ground. Then the Lord’s disc returned to His side in Dvārakā.

This chapter describes how Lord Baladeva enjoyed the company of the young girls of Vraja on Raivataka Mountain and killed the ape Dvivida there.
Narakāsura, a demon whom Lord Kṛṣṇa killed, had a friend named Dvivida, an ape. Dvivida wanted to avenge the death of his friend, so he set fire to the homes of the cowherds, devastated Lord Kṛṣṇa’s province of Ānarta and flooded coastal lands by churning the ocean’s water with his mighty arms. The rascal then tore down the trees in the āśramas of great sages and even passed stool and urine on their sacrificial fires. He kidnapped men and women and imprisoned them in mountain caves, which he sealed off with boulders. After thus disrupting the entire land and polluting many young women of respectable families, Dvivida came upon Raivataka Mountain, where he found Lord Baladeva enjoying in the company of a bevy of attractive women. Ignoring Lord Baladeva, who was apparently intoxicated from drinking Vāruṇī liquor, Dvivida displayed his anus to the women right in front of the Lord and further insulted them by making crude gestures with his eyebrows and passing stool and urine.
Dvivida’s outrageous behavior angered Lord Baladeva, and He threw a stone at the ape. But Dvivida managed to dodge it. He then ridiculed Lord Baladeva and tugged at the women’s dresses. Seeing this audacity, Lord Baladeva decided to kill Dvivida. Thus He took up His club and His plow weapon. Powerful Dvivida then armed himself by pulling up a śāla tree from the ground, and with this tree he struck the Lord on the head. Lord Baladeva, however, remained unmoved and smashed the tree trunk to pieces. Dvivida uprooted another tree, and yet another and another, until the forest was denuded. But although he struck Baladeva on the head with one tree after another, the Lord simply broke all the trees to pieces. Then the foolish ape started throwing a barrage of stones. Lord Baladeva crushed them all to powder, after which Dvivida charged the Lord and hit Him on the chest with his fists, infuriating Him. Putting aside His club and plow weapons, Lord Balarāma then struck Dvivida’s throat and shoulder, at which point the ape vomited blood and fell down dead.

Having killed Dvivida, Lord Baladeva set off for Dvārakā as demigods and sages showered flowers from the sky and offered Him praises, prayers and obeisances.

This chapter describes how the Kauravas captured Sāmba and how Lord Baladeva dragged the city of Hastināpura to secure his release.
Sāmba, the darling son of Jāmbavatī, kidnapped Duryodhana’s daughter Lakṣmaṇā from her svayaṁ-vara assembly. In response, the Kauravas joined forces to arrest him. After Sāmba held them off single-handedly for some time, six warriors of the Kaurava party deprived him of his chariot, broke his bow to pieces, seized him, tied him up and brought both him and Lakṣmaṇā back to Hastināpura.
When King Ugrasena heard of Sāmba’s capture, he called upon the Yādavas to retaliate. Angered, they prepared to fight, but Lord Balarāma pacified them, hoping to avoid a quarrel between the Kuru and Yadu dynasties. The Lord set off for Hastināpura, together with several brāhmaṇas and Yādava elders.
The party of Yādavas set up camp in a garden outside the city, and Lord Balarāma sent Uddhava to ascertain King Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s frame of mind. When Uddhava appeared in the Kaurava court and announced Lord Balarāma’s arrival, the Kauravas worshiped Uddhava and went to see the Lord, taking auspicious items to offer Him. The Kauravas honored Balarāma with rituals and items of respect, but when He conveyed Ugrasena’s demand that they release Sāmba, they became angry. “It is very amazing,” they said, “that the Yādavas are trying to give orders to the Kauravas. This is like a shoe trying to climb atop one’s head. It is from us alone that the Yādavas have obtained their royal thrones, and yet now they are presuming themselves our equals. No longer will we extend to them royal privileges.”
Having said this, the Kaurava nobles went inside their city, and Lord Baladeva decided that the only way to deal with those who are maddened by false prestige is through brute punishment. Thus He took His plow weapon and, intending to rid the earth of all the Kurus, began dragging Hastināpura toward the Ganges. Seeing that their city was in imminent danger of falling into the river, the terrified Kauravas quickly brought Sāmba and Lakṣmaṇā before Lord Balarāma and began to glorify Him. Then they prayed, “O Lord, please forgive us, who were so ignorant of Your true identity.”
Baladeva assured the Kauravas He would not harm them, and Duryodhana presented various wedding gifts to his daughter and new son-in-law. Then Duryodhana, extending his greetings to the Yādavas, requested Lord Baladeva to return to Dvārakā with Sāmba and Lakṣmaṇā.

This chapter relates how Nārada Muni was amazed to see the household pastimes of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and how he offered prayers to the Lord.
After killing the demon Naraka, Lord Kṛṣṇa had simultaneously married sixteen thousand maidens, and sage Nārada wanted to observe the Lord’s diverse activities in this unique family situation. Thus he went to Dvārakā. Nārada entered one of the sixteen thousand palaces and saw Goddess Rukmiṇī personally rendering menial service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, despite her being in the company of thousands of maidservants. As soon as Lord Kṛṣṇa noticed Nārada, He got up from His bed, offered obeisances to the sage and seated him on His own seat. Then the Lord bathed Nārada’s feet and sprinkled the water on His own head. Such was the exemplary behavior of the Lord.

After conversing with the Lord for a short while, Nārada went to another of His palaces, where the sage saw Śrī Kṛṣṇa playing at dice with His queen and Uddhava. Going from there to another palace, he found Lord Kṛṣṇa coddling His infant children. In another palace he saw Him preparing to take a bath; in another, performing fire sacrifices, in another, feeding brāhmaṇas; and in another, eating the remnants left by brāhmaṇas. In one palace the Lord was performing noontime rituals; in another, quietly chanting the Gāyatrī mantra; in another, sleeping on His bed; in another, consulting with His ministers; and in yet another, playing in the water with His female companions. Somewhere the Lord was giving charity to brāhmaṇas, in another place He was joking and laughing with His consort, in yet another place He was meditating on the Supersoul, somewhere He was serving His spiritual masters, in another place He was arranging for the marriages of His sons and daughters, somewhere else He was going out to hunt animals, and elsewhere He was moving about in disguise to find out what the citizens were thinking.
Having seen all this, Nārada addressed Lord Kṛṣṇa: “Only because I have served Your lotus feet can I understand these varieties of Your Yogamāyā potency, which ordinary living beings bewildered by illusion cannot begin to perceive. Thus I am most fortunate, and I simply desire to travel all over the three worlds chanting the glories of Your pastimes, which purify all the worlds.”
Śrī Kṛṣṇa asked Nārada not to be confused by his vision of the Lord’s transcendental opulences, and He described to him the purposes of His appearances in this world. He then honored the sage properly, according to religious principles, and Nārada departed, continuously meditating on the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

This chapter describes Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s daily activities and two proposals placed before Him-one by a messenger from Dvārakā and another by the sage Nārada.
In the early hours of the morning, Lord Kṛṣṇa would rise from bed and bathe Himself in clear water. After executing the dawn rituals and other religious duties, He would offer oblations into the sacred fire, chant the Gāyatrī mantra, worship and pay tribute to the demigods, sages and forefathers, and offer respects to learned brāhmaṇas. Then He would touch auspicious substances, decorate Himself with celestial ornaments and gratify His subjects by giving them whatever they desired.
The Lord’s chariot driver, Dāruka, would bring His chariot, and the Lord would mount it and drive to the royal assembly hall. When He would take His seat in the assembly, surrounded by the Yādavas, He would appear like the moon surrounded by the circle of stars called nakṣatras. Bards would recite His praises to the accompaniment of drums, cymbals, vīṇās and other instruments.
On one occasion, the doorkeepers escorted a messenger into the assembly hall. The messenger offered prostrated obeisances to the Lord and then, standing with joined palms, addressed Him: “O Lord, Jarāsandha has captured twenty thousand kings and is holding them prisoner. Please do something, for these kings are all Your surrendered devotees.”
Just at that moment Nārada Muni appeared. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and all the members of the assembly stood up and offered obeisances to Nārada by bowing their heads. The sage accepted a seat, and then Lord Kṛṣṇa gently questioned him: “Since you travel all over the universe, please inform Us what the Pāṇḍava brothers are planning to do.” Nārada then praised the Supreme Lord and replied, “King Yudhiṣṭhira desires to perform the Rājasūya sacrifice. For this he requests Your sanction and presence. Many demigods and illustrious kings will come just to see You.”
Understanding that the Yādavas wanted Him to defeat Jarāsandha, Lord Kṛṣṇa asked His wise minister Uddhava to determine which of the two matters at hand-the defeat of Jarāsandha or the Rājasūya sacrifice-should be attended to first.

This chapter relates how Lord Kṛṣṇa followed Uddhava’s advice and went to Indraprastha, where the Pāṇḍavas celebrated His arrival with great festivity.
Wise Uddhava, knowing Lord Kṛṣṇa’s inner desire, advised the Lord as follows: “By conquering all directions and then performing the Rājasūya sacrifice, King Yudhiṣṭhira will fulfill all his purposes-defeating Jarāsandha, protecting those who have taken shelter of You, and executing the Rājasūya-yajña. Thus the Yādavas’ powerful enemy will be destroyed and the imprisoned kings freed, and both deeds will glorify You.
“King Jarāsandha can be killed only by Bhīma, and since Jarāsandha is very devoted to the brāhmaṇas, Bhīma should disguise himself as a brāhmaṇa, go to Jarāsandha and beg a fight from him. Then, in Your presence, Bhīma will defeat the demon.”
Nārada Muni, the Yādava elders and Lord Kṛṣṇa praised Uddhava’s plan, and Lord Kṛṣṇa proceeded to mount His chariot and head for Indraprastha, followed by His devoted queens. Soon Lord Kṛṣṇa arrived in that city. Hearing of the Lord’s arrival, King Yudhiṣṭhira immediately came out of the city to greet Him. Yudhiṣṭhira repeatedly embraced Lord Kṛṣṇa, losing external consciousness in his ecstasy. Then Bhīmasena, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva and others each embraced or bowed down to Him, as was appropriate.
After Lord Kṛṣṇa had properly greeted everyone, He entered the city as a fanfare of many musical instruments played and reverential hymns were chanted. The women of the city scattered flowers down from the rooftops, remarking on the extreme good fortune of the Lord’s queens.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa entered the royal palace and offered respects to Queen Kuntīdevī, who embraced her nephew, and Draupadī and Subhadrā offered obeisances to the Lord. Kuntīdevī then requested Draupadī to worship Lord Kṛṣṇa’s wives.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, gratified King Yudhiṣṭhira by remaining there for some months. During this stay He enjoyed strolling here and there. He would drive on chariots with Arjuna, followed by many warriors and soldiers.

This chapter describes how Lord Kṛṣṇa heard King Yudhiṣṭhira’s request and then arranged for Bhīmasena to defeat Jarāsandha.
One day King Yudhiṣṭhira addressed Lord Kṛṣṇa as He sat in the royal assembly: “My Lord, I wish to perform the Rājasūya sacrifice. In this sacrifice people uninterested in Your devotional service will be able to see firsthand the superiority of Your devotees and the inferiority of nondevotees. They will also be able to see Your lotus feet.”
Lord Kṛṣṇa extolled Yudhiṣṭhira’s proposition: “Your scheme is so excellent that it will spread your fame throughout the universe. Indeed, all living beings should desire that this sacrifice be performed. To make this sacrifice possible, however, you must first defeat all the kings of the earth and collect all the necessary paraphernalia.”
Satisfied with Lord Kṛṣṇa’s words, King Yudhiṣṭhira sent his brothers to conquer the various directions. After they had conquered-or won the fealty of-the kings in their assigned directions, they brought back abundant wealth to Yudhiṣṭhira. They informed him, however, that Jarāsandha could not be defeated. As King Yudhiṣṭhira pondered how he could subdue Jarāsandha, Śrī Kṛṣṇa revealed to him the means for doing so, following the previous advice of Uddhava.
Bhīma, Arjuna and Śrī Kṛṣṇa then disguised themselves as brāhmaṇas and went to the palace of Jarāsandha, who was very devoted to the brahminical class. They introduced themselves as brāhmaṇas to King Jarāsandha, flattering him by praising his reputation for hospitality, and requested him to grant their desire. Seeing the marks of bowstrings on their limbs, Jarāsandha concluded that they were warriors and not brāhmaṇas, but still, even though fearful, he promised to fulfill whatever desire they might have. At that point Lord Kṛṣṇa discarded His disguise and asked Jarāsandha to fight Him in one-to-one combat. But Jarāsandha refused, claiming that Kṛṣṇa was a coward because He had once fled the battlefield. Jarāsandha also declined to fight Arjuna on the plea that he was inferior in age and size. But Bhīma he considered a worthy opponent.
Thus Jarāsandha handed Bhīma a club and took up another himself, and they all went outside the city to begin the fight.
After the fight had gone on for some time, it became clear that the two opponents were too equally matched for either to gain victory. Lord Kṛṣṇa then split a small tree branch in half, thus showing Bhīma how to kill Jarāsandha. Bhīma threw Jarāsandha to the ground, stepped on one of his legs, seized the other with his arms and proceeded to tear him apart from his genitals to his head.
Seeing Jarāsandha dead, his relatives and subjects cried out in lamentation. Lord Kṛṣṇa then appointed Jarāsandha’s son ruler of Magadha and released the kings Jarāsandha had imprisoned.

This chapter describes how Lord Kṛṣṇa received the honor of first worship during the Rājasūya sacrifice, and how He killed Śiśupāla.
After glorifying Lord Kṛṣṇa, King Yudhiṣṭhira selected qualified brāhmaṇas such as Bharadvāja, Gautama and Vasiṣṭha to serve as the priests of the Rājasūya sacrifice. Then many exalted guests of all the four social orders arrived to see the sacrificial performance.
As the sacrifice proceeded, the ritual of “first worship” had to be performed, and the members of the assembly were called upon to decide who would receive this honor. Sahadeva spoke up: “Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, is indeed the most exalted person, for He Himself comprises all the deities worshiped by Vedic sacrifice. In His role as the Supersoul in the heart, He arranges for everyone in the universe to engage in his particular kind of work, and by His mercy alone human beings can perform various kinds of pious activities and receive the resultant benefits. One who worships Him worships all living entities. Surely Lord Kṛṣṇa should be worshiped first.”
Nearly everyone in the assembly agreed with Sahadeva’s proposal and loudly congratulated him. Thus King Yudhiṣṭhira happily worshiped Lord Kṛṣṇa. After bathing His feet, the King took the wash water and sprinkled it on his head, and his wives, younger brothers, ministers and relatives also sprinkled that water on their heads. Then everyone shouted, “All victory, all victory!” and bowed down to Lord Kṛṣṇa as flowers rained down from above.
Śiśupāla, however, could not tolerate this worship and glorification of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He stood up from his seat and harshly rebuked the wise elders for choosing Kṛṣṇa to be worshiped first. “After all” he said, “this Kṛṣṇa is outside the system of Vedic social and spiritual orders and the society of respectable families. He follows no principles of religion and has no good qualities.”
Even as Śiśupāla continued to blaspheme Him in this way, Lord Kṛṣṇa remained silent. But many members of the assembly covered their ears and quickly left the hall, while the Pāṇḍava brothers raised their weapons and prepared to kill Śiśupāla. Lord Kṛṣṇa stopped them from attacking, however, and instead used His Sudarśana disc to decapitate the offender. At that moment an effulgent spark of light rose out of Śiśupāla’s dead body and entered the transcendental body of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Having lived through three births as the enemy of the Lord, Śiśupāla now attained the liberation of sāyujya, merging into Him, by dint of his constant meditation on Him.

King Yudhiṣṭhira then distributed profuse gifts to the respected guests of the assembly and to the priests, and finally he executed the purificatory oblations known as the prāyaścitta-homa, which counteract errors made during the sacrifice. Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rājasūya sacrifice having now been completed, Lord Kṛṣṇa took His leave from the King and set off for Dvārakā in the company of His wives and ministers.
Duryodhana could not bear to see this abundant manifestation of King Yudhiṣṭhira’s prosperity, but apart from him, everyone happily praised the glories of the Rājasūya sacrifice and of the Lord of all sacrifices, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

This chapter relates how Lord Kṛṣṇa killed Dantavakra and Vidūratha, visited Vṛndāvana, and then returned to Dvārakā. It also describes how Lord Baladeva killed the offensive Romaharṣaṇa Sūta.
Intent upon avenging the death of his friend Śālva, Dantavakra appeared on the battlefield with club in hand. Lord Kṛṣṇa took up His own club and came before him. Dantavakra then insulted the Lord with harsh words and struck Him a terrific blow on the head. Without budging in the slightest, Lord Kṛṣṇa bludgeoned Dantavakra’s chest, shattering his heart. Dantavakra had a brother named Vidūratha, and he became distraught at Dantavakra’s death. Taking up his sword, Vidūratha confronted Śrī Kṛṣṇa, but the Lord cut off Vidūratha’s head with His Sudarśana disc. Lord Kṛṣṇa then visited Vṛndāvana for two months, and finally He returned to Dvārakā.
When Lord Baladeva heard that the Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas were about to go to war, in order to remain neutral He left Dvārakā on the pretext of going on pilgrimage. The Lord bathed in sacred places such as Prabhāsa, Tritakūpa and Viśāla, and eventually He came to the holy Naimiṣāraṇya forest, where great sages were performing an extended fire sacrifice. While being worshiped by the assembled sages and offered a seat of honor, the Lord noticed that Romaharṣaṇa Sūta, sitting on the speaker’s seat, had failed to stand in deference to Him. Greatly angered by this offense, Lord Balarāma killed Romaharṣaṇa by touching him with the tip of a blade of kuśa grass.

The assembled sages were disturbed by what Lord Baladeva had done, and they said to Him, “You have unknowingly killed a brāhmaṇa. Therefore, even though You are above the Vedic injunctions, we request You to set a perfect example for the general populace by atoning for this sin.” Then Śrī Baladeva, following the Vedic maxim that “one’s son takes birth as one’s own self,” granted to Romaharṣaṇa’s son Ugraśravā the position of speaker of the Purāṇas, and in accordance with the sages’ desires He promised Ugraśravā a long life with unfailing sensory capacity.
Wanting to do something more for the sages, Lord Baladeva promised to kill a demon named Balvala, who had been polluting their sacrificial arena. Finally, on the sages’ advice, He agreed to go on a year-long pilgrimage of all the holy places in India.

This chapter describes how the Yādavas and many other kings met at Kurukṣetra during a solar eclipse and discussed topics concerning Lord Kṛṣṇa. It also relates how Kṛṣṇa met Nanda Mahārāja and the other residents of Vṛndāvana at Kurukṣetra and gave them great joy.
Hearing that a total eclipse of the sun was soon to occur, people from all over Bhārata-varṣa, including the Yādavas, converged at Kurukṣetra to earn special pious credit. After the Yadus had bathed and performed other obligatory rituals, they noticed that kings of Matsya, Uśīnara and other places had also come, as well as Nanda Mahārāja and the cowherd community of Vraja, who were always feeling the intense anxiety of separation from Kṛṣṇa. The Yādavas, overjoyed to see all these old friends, embraced them one by one as they shed tears of happiness. Their wives also embraced one another with great pleasure.

When Queen Kuntī saw her brother Vasudeva and other members of her family, she put aside her sorrow. Yet still she said to Vasudeva, “O brother, I am so unfortunate, because all of you forgot me during my tribulations. Alas, even one’s relatives forget a person whom Providence no longer favors.”
Vasudeva replied, “My dear sister, everyone is merely a plaything of fate. We Yādavas were so harassed by Kaṁsa that we were forced to scatter and take shelter in foreign lands. So there was no way for us to keep in touch with you.”
The kings present were struck with wonder upon beholding Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His wives, and they began to glorify the Yādavas for having gotten the Lord’s personal association. Seeing Nanda Mahārāja, the Yādavas were delighted, and each of them embraced him tightly. Vasudeva also embraced Nanda with great joy and remembered how, when Vasudeva was tormented by Kaṁsa, Nanda had taken his sons, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, under his protection. Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa embraced and bowed down to mother Yaśodā, but Their throats choked up with emotion and they could say nothing to her. Nanda and Yaśodā lifted their two sons onto their laps and embraced Them, and in this way they relieved the distress of separation. Rohiṇī and Devakī both embraced Yaśodā and, remembering the great friendship she had shown them, told her that the kindness she had done by raising and supporting Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma could not be repaid even with the wealth of Indra.
Then the Supreme Lord approached the young cowherd girls in a secluded place. He consoled them by pointing out that He is all-pervasive, being the source of all energies, and thus He implied that they could never be separated from Him. Having been at long last reunited with Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs prayed simply to have His lotus feet manifested in their hearts.

This chapter relates a conversation between Draupadī and Lord Kṛṣṇa’s foremost queens, in which each of them describes how the Lord married her.
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa returned from His meeting with the gopīs and asked King Yudhiṣṭhira and His other relatives whether they were well. They replied, “My Lord, anyone who has just once imbibed through his ears the honey of Your pastimes can never know misfortune.”
Then Draupadī inquired from Lord Kṛṣṇa’s wives how the Lord had come to marry them. Queen Rukmiṇī spoke first: “Many kings, headed by Jarāsandha, were intent on giving me in marriage to Śiśupāla. Thus at my wedding they all stood with bows in hand, ready to support Śiśupāla against any opponents. But Śrī Kṛṣṇa came and forcibly took me away, as a lion takes his prey from amidst goats and sheep.”
Queen Satyabhāmā said, “When my uncle Prasena was killed, my father, Satrājit, falsely accused Lord Kṛṣṇa of murder. To clear His name, Kṛṣṇa defeated Jāmbavān, recovered the Syamantaka jewel and returned it to Satrājit. Repentant, my father presented the Lord with both the jewel and myself.”
Queen Jāmbavatī said, “When Śrī Kṛṣṇa entered my father’s cave in search of the Syamantaka jewel, at first my father, Jāmbavān, did not understand who He was. So my father fought with Him for twenty-seven days and nights. Finally, Jāmbavān understood that Kṛṣṇa was none other than Lord Rāmacandra, his worshipable Lord. Thus he gave Kṛṣṇa the Syamantaka jewel, along with me.”
Queen Kālindī said, “To obtain Kṛṣṇa as my husband, I performed severe austerities. Then one day Lord Kṛṣṇa came to me in the company of Arjuna, and at that time the Lord agreed to marry me.”
Queen Mitravindā said, “Śrī Kṛṣṇa came to my svayaṁ-vara ceremony, where He defeated all the opposing kings and took me away to His city of Dvārakā.”
Queen Satyā said, “My father stipulated that to win my hand, a prospective suitor would have to subdue and tie up seven powerful bulls. Accepting this challenge, Lord Kṛṣṇa playfully subdued them, defeated all His rival suitors and married me.”
Queen Bhadrā said, “My father invited his nephew Kṛṣṇa, to whom I had already given my heart, and offered me to Him as His bride. The dowry was an entire military division and a retinue of my female companions.”
Queen Lakṣmaṇā said to Draupadī, “At my svayaṁ-vara, as at yours, a fish-target was fastened near the ceiling. But in my case the fish was concealed on all sides, and only its reflection could be seen in a pot of water below. Several kings tried to hit the fish with an arrow but failed. Arjuna then made his attempt. He concentrated on the reflection of the fish in the water and took careful aim, but when he released his arrow it only grazed the target. Then Śrī Kṛṣṇa fixed His arrow on the bow and shot it straight through the target, knocking it to the ground. I placed the victory necklace on Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s neck, but the kings who had failed raised a violent protest. Lord Kṛṣṇa valiantly fought them, cutting off the heads, arms and legs of many and sending the rest fleeing for their lives. Then the Lord took me to Dvārakā for our lavish wedding.”
Rohiṇī-devī, representing all the other queens, explained that they were daughters of the kings defeated by Bhaumāsura. The demon had held them captive, but when Lord Kṛṣṇa killed him He had released them and married them all.

This chapter describes the arrival of great sages at Kurukṣetra to observe the auspicious occasion of a solar eclipse, the sages’ glorification of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and Vasudeva’s enthusiastic performance of sacrifices.
On the occasion of a solar eclipse at Kurukṣetra, exalted ladies like Kuntī, Draupadī and Subhadrā got the chance to associate with Lord Kṛṣṇa’s queens. Seeing how much the Lord’s consorts loved their husband, the ladies were struck with wonder. As the women talked among themselves, and the men did likewise, great sages headed by Nārada and Vyāsadeva arrived there, desiring to see Lord Kṛṣṇa. The various kings and other leading personalities who were sitting at their leisure, including the Pāṇḍavas, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, stood up as soon as they saw the sages. The leaders all bowed down to the great souls, inquired about their well-being and worshiped them by offering them sitting places, water and so on. Lord Kṛṣṇa then said, “Now our lives are successful, for we have obtained the goal of life: the audience of great sages and yoga masters, which even demigods only rarely obtain. The water at a holy place of pilgrimage and the deity forms of the gods can purify one only after a long time, but saintly sages purify just by being seen. Those who identify themselves with their bodies and neglect to honor transcendental sages like you are no better than asses.”
After hearing Lord Kṛṣṇa speak these words in the mood of a mere mortal, the sages remained silent for some time, bewildered. Then they said, “How amazing our Lord is! He covers His true identity with humanlike activities and pretends to be subject to superior control. Surely He has spoken in this way only to enlighten the general populace. Such behavior of His is indeed inconceivable.” The sages continued to glorify the Lord as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul, and the friend and worshiper of the brāhmaṇas.
After the sages had praised Him, Lord Kṛṣṇa offered them His obeisances, and they begged His permission to return to their hermitages. But just then Vasudeva came forward, bowed to the sages and asked, “What activities can one perform to be freed from the bondage of fruitive work?” The sages replied, “By worshiping the Supreme Lord, Hari, through the performance of Vedic sacrifices, you will become free from the bondage of fruitive work.” Vasudeva then requested the sages to act as his priests, and he arranged for Vedic sacrifices to be performed with superexcellent paraphernalia. Afterward, Vasudeva presented the priests with valuable gifts of cows and jewelry, and also with marriageable brāhmaṇa girls. He then performed the ritual bath marking the end of the sacrifice and fed everyone sumptuously, even the village dogs. Next he gave ample gifts to his relatives, the various kings and others, who all took Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s leave and returned to their own homes.
Unable to depart because of his intense affection for his relatives, Nanda Mahārāja remained at Kurukṣetra for three months, served with reverence by the Yādavas. On one occasion, Vasudeva began to describe the deep friendship Nanda had shown him, shedding tears openly. At the end of three months, Nanda left for Mathurā with the fond farewells of all the Yādavas. When the Yādavas finally saw that the rainy season was about to begin, they returned to Dvārakā, where they related all that had happened at Kurukṣetra to the residents of their capital.

This chapter describes how Arjuna kidnapped Subhadrā and how Lord Kṛṣṇa went to Mithilā to bless His devotees Bahulāśva and Śrutadeva.
When King Parīkṣit desired to learn about the marriage of his grandmother, Subhadrā-devī, Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said, “While touring on pilgrimage, Arjuna heard that Lord Baladeva intended to give the hand of His sister Subhadrā to Duryodhana in marriage. Wanting to kidnap Subhadrā and marry her himself, Arjuna disguised himself as a renunciant and went to Dvārakā. So effective was the disguise that neither Balarāma nor any other resident of Dvārakā recognized him; rather, they all showed him the respect due a Vaiṣṇava mendicant. In this way the four months of the rainy season passed. One day Arjuna received an invitation to dine at Lord Balarāma’s home. There he caught sight of Subhadrā and was immediately overwhelmed with desire for her. Subhadrā also desired to have Arjuna as her husband, and thus she glanced back at him shyly. A few days later, Subhadrā left the palace to participate in a chariot festival. Taking this opportunity, Arjuna abducted Subhadrā and defeated the Yādavas who tried to stop him. Lord Balarāma was at first greatly angered to hear of this, but when Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and other family members pacified Him, He became joyful and sent the bride and groom off with elaborate wedding gifts.”
There was a brāhmaṇa devotee of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s named Śrutadeva, who lived in the city of Mithila. By the will of Providence, he could earn only barely enough to keep himself and his family alive. Still, he was always satisfied and spent all his time executing his religious duties. King Bahulāśva was another great devotee of the Lord residing in Mithilā. A member of the dynasty in which King Janaka had appeared, Bahulāśva ruled over the whole province of Videha, yet he remained as detached from material wealth as Śrutadeva. Pleased with the devotional attitude of both these great souls, Lord Kṛṣṇa went on His chariot to Mithilā to visit them, taking along Nārada and several other learned sages. The people of Mithila greeted the Lord and His saintly entourage with great delight. Bearing various gifts for Kṛṣṇa, they bowed down and offered obeisances to both Him and the sages.

Bahulāśva and Śrutadeva both stepped forward and respectfully requested Śrī Kṛṣṇa to visit their homes. To satisfy both of them, the Lord expanded Himself and went to each of their homes simultaneously. They each worshiped Him suitably, offered prayers, washed His feet and then sprinkled themselves and all their family members with the wash water. Lord Kṛṣṇa then praised the sages who were with Him and glorified brāhmaṇas in general. He also imparted instructions to His hosts concerning devotional service. Understanding these instructions, both Śrutadeva and Bahulāśva honored the sages and Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa with single-minded devotion. Lord Kṛṣṇa then returned to Dvārakā.

This chapter describes how it is that the devotees of Viṣṇu obtain liberation, while the devotees of other deities obtain material opulences.
Lord Viṣṇu possesses all opulences, while Lord Śiva lives in poverty. Yet the devotees of Viṣṇu are generally poverty-stricken, while Śiva’s attain abundant wealth. When Mahārāja Parīkṣit asked Śukadeva Gosvāmī to explain this puzzling fact, the sage replied as follows: “Lord Śiva manifests as false ego in three varieties, according to the three modes of nature. From this false ego arise the five physical elements and the other transformations of material nature, totaling sixteen. When a devotee of Lord Śiva worships his manifestation in any of these elements, the devotee obtains all sorts of corresponding enjoyable opulences. But because Lord Śrī Hari is transcendental to the modes of material nature, His devotees also become transcendental.”
At the end of the performance of his Aśvamedha sacrifices, King Yudhiṣṭhira had asked this same question of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who replied, “When I feel special compassion for someone, I gradually deprive him of his wealth. Then the poverty-stricken man’s children, wife and other relations all abandon him. When he again tries to acquire wealth in order to win back his family’s favor, I mercifully frustrate him so that he becomes disgusted with fruitive work and befriends My devotees. And at that time I bestow upon him My extraordinary grace; then he can become freed from the bondage of material life and attain to the kingdom of God, Vaikuṇṭha.”
Lord Brahmā, Lord Viṣṇu and Lord Śiva can each bestow or withhold favors, but whereas Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva are satisfied or angered very quickly, Lord Viṣṇu is not. In this regard the Vedic literature relates the following account: Once the demon Vṛka asked Nārada which god was most quickly pleased, and Nārada answered that Lord Śiva was. Thus Vṛkāsura went to the holy place of Kedāranātha and began worshiping Lord Śiva by offering pieces of his own flesh as oblations into the fire. But Śiva did not appear. So Vṛka decided to commit suicide by cutting off his head. Just at the critical moment, Lord Śiva appeared from the sacrificial fire and stopped him, offering the demon whatever boon he chose. Vṛka said, “May death come to whomever I touch upon the head with my hand.” Lord Śiva was obliged to fulfill this request, and at once the wicked Vṛka tried to test the benediction by putting his hand on the lord’s head. Terrified, Śiva fled for his life, running as far as heaven and the outer limits of the mortal world. Finally the lord reached the planet of Śvetadvīpa, where Lord Viṣṇu resides. Seeing the desperate Śiva from afar, the Lord disguised Himself as a young student and went before Vṛkāsura. In a sweet voice he addressed the demon: “My dear Vṛka, please rest awhile and tell Us what you intend to do.” Vṛka was charmed by the Lord’s words and revealed everything that had happened. The Lord said, “Ever since Lord Śiva was cursed by Prajāpati Dakṣa, he has become just like a carnivorous hobgoblin. So you shouldn’t trust his word. Better to test his benediction by putting your hand on your own head.” Bewildered by these words, the foolish demon touched his own head, which immediately shattered and fell to the ground. Cries of “Victory!” “Obeisances!” and “Well done!” were heard from the sky, and the demigods, sages, celestial forefathers and Gandharvas all congratulated the Supreme Lord by raining down flowers upon Him.

This chapter describes how Bhṛgu Muni proved the supremacy of Lord Viṣṇu, and how Lord Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna recovered the dead sons of an aggrieved brāhmaṇa in Dvārakā.
Once, long ago, on the shore of the river Sarasvatī, a discussion arose among a group of sages as to which of the three chief lords-Brahmā, Viṣṇu or Śiva-is the greatest. They deputed Bhṛgu Muni to investigate the matter.
Bhṛgu decided to test the lords’ tolerance, for that quality is a sure sign of greatness. First he entered the court of Lord Brahmā, his father, without offering him any respect. This enraged Brahmā, who suppressed his anger because Bhṛgu was his son. Next Bhṛgu went to Lord Śiva, his older brother, who rose from his seat to embrace him. But Bhṛgu rejected the embrace, calling Śiva a deviant heretic. Just as Śiva was about to kill Bhṛgu with his trident, Goddess Pārvatī interceded and pacified her husband. Next Bhṛgu went to Vaikuṇṭha to test Lord Nārāyaṇa. Going up to the Lord, who was lying with His head on the lap of the goddess of fortune, Bhṛgu kicked His chest. But instead of becoming angry, both the Lord and His consort stood up and offered Bhṛgu respects. “Welcome,” said the Lord. “Please sit down and rest awhile. Kindly forgive us, dear master, for not noticing your arrival.” When Bhṛgu went back to the assembly of sages and told them all that had happened, they concluded that Lord Viṣṇu is certainly supreme.
Once in Dvārakā a brāhmaṇa’s wife gave birth to a son who immediately died. The brāhmaṇa took his dead son to the court of King Ugrasena and berated the King: “This duplicitous, greedy enemy of brāhmaṇas has caused my son’s death by failing to execute his duties properly!” The same misfortune continued to befall the brāhmaṇa, and each time he would bring his dead infant’s body to the royal court and berate the King. When the ninth son died at birth, Arjuna happened to hear the brāhmaṇa’s complaint, and he said, “My lord, I will protect your progeny. And if I fail, I will enter fire to atone for my sin.”
Some time later, the brāhmaṇa’s wife was about to give birth for the tenth time. When Arjuna learned of this, he went to the maternity house and enveloped it with a protective cage of arrows. Arjuna’s efforts were to no avail, however, for as soon as the child was born and began to cry, it disappeared into the sky. As the brāhmaṇa profusely derided Arjuna, the warrior set off for the abode of Yamarāja, the king of death. But Arjuna did not find the brāhmaṇa’s son there, and even after searching throughout the fourteen worlds he could find no trace of the infant.
Having failed to protect the brāhmaṇa’s son, Arjuna was now intent on committing suicide by entering the sacred fire. But just as he was about to do so, Lord Kṛṣṇa stopped him and said, “I will show you the brāhmaṇa’s sons, so please don’t despise yourself like this.” Lord Kṛṣṇa then took Arjuna onto His transcendental chariot, and the two of them crossed over the seven universal islands with their seven oceans, passed over the Lokāloka mountain range and entered the region of dense darkness. Since the horses could not find their way, Kṛṣṇa sent His blazing Sudarśana disc ahead to pierce the gloom. Gradually they came to the water of the Causal Ocean, within which they found the city of Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu. There they saw the thousand-hooded serpent Ananta and upon Him lay Mahā-Viṣṇu. The great Lord greeted Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, saying “I brought the brāhmaṇa’s sons here simply because I wanted to see the two of you. Please continue to benefit the people in general by exemplifying religious behavior in your forms of Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi.”

Lord Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna then took the brāhmaṇa’s sons, went back to Dvārakā and returned the infants to their father. Having directly experienced the greatness of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna was amazed. He concluded that only by the Lord’s mercy can a living being exhibit any power or opulence.