Thursday 5 April 2012

Lord Krishna’s Vrindavana Pastimes (Part 4) (B)



So, one of his friends came and told Kamsa, you should call Bhakasura and Bhakasura was so powerful that even the demigods in the heaven used to tremble in fear just hearing his name and I will describe how powerful Bhakasura actually was. So Kamsa then called Bhakasura and they said that look Bhakasura is so powerful that he would positively kill Krishna. No one is able to do it Krishna won’t be able to do anything to Bhakasura. Now others were not strong enough. But this one is much stronger. So, he would surely kill Krishna. So, Kamsa called Bhakasura and he told Bhakasura. So, Bhakasura I think you should go and do something about this boy and Bhakasura said “No problem, I will go and take care of him. I was just waiting for your command, your order.” But then Kamsa said “Be careful, all this great powerful demons have been killed by this little boy. It seems that he has
some great power. Maybe He is one of the demigods who have been born as a cowherd
boy. Because the power He is displaying is uncommon. It is not possible for a human
being to display this kind of power. Now, Bhakasura said “Kamsa, don’t worry, I will
just take care of him.” Kamsa agreed “Okay! Demon bless you. Let all the demons bless
you for your success [HHBCS laughs]. So, then Bhakasura went there in the morning
when the cowherd boys were tending the cows in the pasturing ground. All of a sudden
Krishna saw that there was a White Mountain peak in Vrindavana. So, Krishna became
very surprised. He said” Where did the mountain come from? But then when they
observed closely then they saw that was actually a huge crane and the white of the crane
was appearing like a mountain peak and so Krishna became very surprised and he said
that this is a special type of creature. So, Krishna’s friends got excited “Krishna let’s go
and see what it is.” So, they all went close to the bird. And when they came close then
Bhakasura came charging towards Krishna and but when he grabbed Krishna in his
mouth and he found that this little boy was very hot. So, he let the boy go. But this time
Krishna just played with the crane for some time. In between the crane’s beak Krishna
used his feet and pushed the lower back onto the ground and with his hands he pulled the
beak. Although the other cowherd boys couldn’t see that. But Krishna expanded his body
to such an extent in that way that the crane’s mouth and his neck and the whole body got
torn into two pieces. First when Bhakasura actually helped Krishna within his mouth then
the demigods became very concerned and felt that now they cannot do something to help
Krishna. So, Indra actually released his thunderbolt. But the thunderbolt struck on
Bhakasura’s body. Even Indra’s thunderbolt couldn’t do anything. Other demigods
started to release their weapons but nothing happened to him actually. So, in this way
Krishna played with the Bhakasura for some time. Then Krishna killed that demon. So,
this way Bhakasura was killed. Again the news was taken to Kamsa and Kamsa got really
upset. And so the next one was. So, what I will do is, I will just I will describe, today I
will describe how Krishna killed the demons. I am not going in chronological order. Like
many things happened actually between. Krishna killed this demon but today I will just
describe the killing demons and this way I will deal with different aspects of Krishna’s
pastimes. Now next one was Aghasura. Aghasura was the brother of Bhakasura. So,
Kamsa called Aghasura. Aghasura was another very, very ferocious demon. So, Kamsa
told Aghasura that Bhakasura had been killed and now what could be done. So Aghasura
said “Don’t worry I will go and take revenge of my brother’s death. So, Kamsa again
blessed him on behalf of all the demons. He was a huge python. The description of that
python has been given as his mouth was wide open and it seems that the upper jaw of the mouth of the snake was touching the sky. The teeth of the snake appeared to be like
mountain. And the mouth of the snake appeared to be like a huge cave in the mountain.
So, the boys became very surprised. They said “Wow! Look there is a new cave. We
didn’t see this cave before. So, they just walked right into it along with the calves and
Krishna was standing there and Krishna could sense some danger. But Krishna felt that
the boys have already entered his mouth and Krishna’s friends were completely fearless.
They knew that Krishna will protect them from all dangers. So, they did not have any fear
of anything. So, they walked straight into Aghasura’s mouth and then Aghasura was also
waiting just for Krishna to enter. Aghasura felt that as soon as Krishna would enter, he
would just close his mouth. So, he just kept his mouth open and Krishna was just
watching and that day Balarama was not there because that day was the birthday of
Balarama… So, Krishna finally, when all the friends entered into Aghasura’s mouth
Krishna felt that he must do something to save them. And so finally Krishna walked into
Aghasura’s mouth and as soon as Krishna entered, Aghasura demon closed his mouth and
then Krishna expanded himself in such a way and His body became so hot that He got
stuck in Aghasura’s throat suffocating him to death. And he could not breathe anymore
because Krishna had struck his throat and finally his life air left from his head. His life air
penetrated through Brahmarandra, the hole on the top of the head and left the body. There
is a very nice discussion about Aghasura and Krishna from Jiva Goswami. After the life
air left, Krishna told Aghasura “Sorry, the space was so small that either I had to leave or
your life air had to leave .I felt [HHBCS laughs]. So your life air had to leave from the
top of your head and all the cowherd boys came out. So, this is how Krishna saved the
cowherd boys and killed Aghasura, So, after that they all went and had a picnic. They
went to the bank of Yamuna and Krishna told the friends “Today we all will share our
food” and Krishna felt and Krishna actually told His friends that My father is the king, so
they give me such nice prasadam but others are not so rich, others parents are not so rich,
so they can’t give them such opulent food so today we will share our food and they all
started to share they all sat down in a circle and some were giving, offering some food to
Krishna’s mouth and Krishna was eating that. So, Brahma who was also watching he was
wondering who this personality actually is? In many ways he felt that he must be
Narayana but when he saw that Krishna was eating the remnants of other cowherd boys,
he felt that this cannot be Narayana because Narayana would never eat anyone’s
remnants. So, Brahma decided to check out Krishna. Brahma felt that let me see who this
person actually is? At that time Brahma stole the calves. So, all of a sudden the cowherd
boys noticed that the calves were missing. They were about to get up and started looking
for the calves. So, Krishna said just wait a minute maybe they have gone to some
distance; you all carry on taking prasadam I will go and look for the calves and I will
bring back the calves. When Krishna went to look for the calves, Brahma stole the
cowherd boys also. First he stole the calves and now he stole the cowherd boys and he
took them in a mountain cave, kept them in a mountain cave, he filled the mountain cave,
the mouth of the mountain with a big stone, big And it took Brahma just one second to
steal the cowherd boys and fill them up in a mountain cave and turn around and look at
Krishna. But Brahma’s one second is actually 1 year according to human calculation. In
the 3th Canto, Srimad Bhagvatam, the description has been given very vividly, how the
time calculation differs in different planes. Like in the human calculation, we have 12
months in a year. First of all 1 month has 2 sections, the Krishna Paksa and the Sukla Paksa, the waxing period of the moon and the waning period of the moon. Now 1 period,
waxing period takes 15 days and waning period takes 15 days. Now this one month is
actually a day and night of the Pitri lokas. In the Pitri loka, the Sukla Paksa is the day, our
15 days is the day of the Pitri loka and the night is also 15 days. In the heavenly planets
our 6 months is the day and our 6 months is the night. Like when the sun is in the
northern hemisphere, then is the day of the demigods and when the sun is in the southern
hemisphere, then it is the night of the demigods. So, in this way the concept of day and
night ranges in different planes. How much is the day of Brahma? What is the duration of
the day of the Brahma?
Devotee: 4.3 Billion Years
HHBCS: 4.2 Billion Years
So, 1000 Chatur yugas- Sat, Treta , Dwapara and Kali, this four yugas multiplied by
thousand is a day of Brahma and that is the duration of Brahma’s night. So, Brahma’s one
second is our year. So Brahma looked back and he found he was thinking …. Krishna is
in great anxiety but when he looked back he found all the cowherd boys and all the calves
there. Actually what happened is when Krishna came back after looking for the cows and
not finding them, he found that his friends are also missing and remember that day
Balarama was not there. So, somehow Brahma….. Because if he tried any funny trick
with Balarama, he would have been in trouble. [All laughs]. So, Brahma was, so that day
Balarama was not there, So, Brahma stole all the other cowherd boys and when Krishna
came back He found that all the cowherd boys were missing. So, he could understand that
this was the brain of Brahma. So, he immediately expanded all the cowherd boys and all
the calves from his body. So, actually this cowherd boys and calves were expansions of
Krishna. That means they were not Jiva Tatva anymore. They were Vishnu Tatva. They
all were non-different from Krishna. So, when Brahma looked back, he found the
cowherd boys and the calves and then he could understand that this kind of performance
can only be done by Narayana, only by the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is his
father. So, Brahma came to Krishna, beg forgiveness. So, this is called Brahma-Vimohan
Lila. How Brahma was bewildered? There is another important thing to remember, that is
that Brahma at that time became very, very repentant that he did something that he
committed a great offense to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and although the Lord
although Krishna forgave him, Brahma was not satisfied. So, he wanted to perform great
penance to neutralize his offence and Brahma actually came here in Navadwip and he
performed great penance thousands of years and as a result of that the Supreme
Personality of Godhead appeared to him in a very wonderful form. The Supreme
Personality of Godhead appeared to him in the golden form and he assured Brahma that
there was no offense. His offense was forgiven. He did not mind it at all. So, then
Brahma asked him “This form of yours I have never seen before. What is the secret
behind this form? So, then the Lord told him that in the age of Kali, He appears in this
form and that form is known as Gauranga, Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So, Brahma requested
golden Supreme Personality of Godhead to give him the chance to appear with him in
that pastime in the age of Kali. So, Lord accepted that prayer of Brahma and then again
Brahma requested that my Lord usually I am very proud, I become so puffed up, I
become so arrogant that I forget your supreme position and becoming proud of my elevated position of Brahma, I commit offense to you. When you appear and you allow
me to come with you in that pastime, please allow me to be born in a very low class
family. Let me have a very low birth so that there won’t be any room for me to become
proud. So, the Lord said “Okay, if you desire that way, then your desire will be fulfilled.”
So, then Brahma got a chance to appear in Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastime as
Haridas Thakur. Haridas Thakur was born in a Muslim family. But he is actually the
highest of all the greatest of all the Brahmanas. Brahma himself, but he was the most
intimate associate of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So, this way Brahma stole the calves
and he was blessed by the Lord in his golden incarnation. Now one day the cowherd boys
were playing in the forests of Vrindavan and then they came to the Talavan for, Tala
means palm fruit. Those who were being in India in summer have seen that. Tala fruit is a
big type of fruit which has a beautiful fragrance. So, there was a Tala forest which was
full of Tala fruits and the boys were playing, they started to get hungry and they smelt the
beautiful fragrance of this Tala fruit. And they asked Krishna and Balarama “Please we
are feeling very hungry. So, please let us have some fruits, Tala fruits.” But some said
that please do not go there because this forest is actually the forest of the demon called
Dhenukasura. So, Dhenukasura was a demon in the form of a donkey. He used to protect
the Tala forest. So Balarama said “Don’t worry, we can take care of any demon”. They
also said yes. When Balarama and Krishna are there, we are not afraid of anything.
Because we know you can kill anyone. So, then Balarama just went and He started to
shake the forest, the trees, this Tala fruit trees are very strong but Balarama is so strong
that he started to shake the trees and the fruits started to drop on the ground making great
noise and so, Dhenukasura when he heard the noise he became very angry and
immediately he came running and he saw that these little boys were plundering his Tala
forest. So, he immediately charged towards Balarama. But Balarama He just grabbed
Dhenukasura by his hind leg and started to swing him and then He threw him and
Dhenukasura just fell on the top of a Tala tree and left his body. Then Dhenuka’s friends
also came and attacked Krishna and Balarama. But Krishna and Balarama one after
another finished all the demons. So, in this way Krishna and Balarama killed the demons.
Anyway I will try to finish the demons story today and I will go through quickly. And
then another demon came his name is Pralambasura. Pralamba was a very powerful
demon but Pralamba actually came in the disguise of a cowherd boy. Pralamba saw that
Krishna and Balarama were playing with Their friends. So, the way they were playing is
Srinath was sitting in one place and surrounded by some of his friends and Srinath was
playing a role of a king and Krishna and Balarama appeared there and told Srinath with
folded hands that My lord, your highness how you address a king your majesty that Your
majesty we are dancers. So, we want to perform some dances for your pleasure. So,
everyone said that’s very nice, our king appreciates it very much and the king said I will
reward you if I am pleased with your dance, I will reward you with many wonderful
things. So, then Krishna and Balarama started dancing. That was the most beautiful
dance. So, they said, the king was very pleased. So, the king said as I told you if I am
pleased I will reward you to your satisfaction. So, I will give you many valuable jewels or
gold. So, Krishna said from your name I know you are Srinath you are the abode of Sri
means you are the abode of Laxmi, so you can give a lot of Laxmi, a lot of wealth but I
am not interested in wealth. Actually I like to fight. So, I want to fight, I want to wrestle
with you. So, if you are really pleased with us so accept our challenge.