S'rî
S'uka said: 'The Supreme Lord assenting to that [what
Cânûra had said] then confronted
Cânûra and so did the son of Rohinî with
Mushthika.
S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî said: Thus addressed, Lord Krishna made
up His mind to accept the challenge. He paired off with
Cânûra, and Lord Balarâma with Mushthika.
(Vedabase)
Text
2
Seizing
their hands with their hands and locking their legs with their
legs, pulled and pushed they each other with force to attain
the victory.
Seizing
each other's hands and locking legs with each other, the
opponents struggled powerfully, eager for victory.
(Vedabase)
Text
3
With
their elbows against their elbows, dealt they, knees against
knees, head against head and chest against chest one another
their blows.
They
each struck fists against fists, knees against knees, head
against head and chest against chest. (Vedabase)
Text
4
Wheeling,
shoving, crushing and throwing down, releasing, running in
front and running behind, offered they each other
resistance.
Each
fighter contended with his opponent by dragging him about in
circles, shoving and crushing him, throwing him down and
running before and behind him. (Vedabase)
Text
5
Lifting
and carrying, pushing off and holding each other fast wanted
they, harming themselves, the victory.
Forcefully
lifting and carrying each other, pushing each other away and
holding each other down, the fighters hurt even their own
bodies in their great eagerness for victory.
(Vedabase)
Text
6
Feeling
sorry about that fight between the weak and the strong
assembled, to speak among themselves, all the women in groups,
o King:
My
dear King, all the women present, considering the match an
unfair fight between the strong and the weak, felt extreme
anxiety due to compassion. They assembled in groups around
the arena and spoke to one another as follows.
(Vedabase)
Text
7
'Alas,
how great this lack of responsibility on the part of these
people who, present in the king's assembly, are out to join the
king in watching a fight between the strong and the
weak.
[The
women said:] Alas, what a greatly irreligious act the
members of this royal assembly are committing! As the King
watches this fight between the strong and the weak, they
also want to see it. (Vedabase)
Text
8
At
the one side we see the appearance of these two mountains of
master wrestlers, all with limbs as strong as lightning, and at
the other side are there those most tender limbs of the two
youths who haven't attained maturity yet!
What
comparison can there be between these two professional
wrestlers, with limbs as strong as lightning bolts and
bodies resembling mighty mountains, and these two young,
immature boys with exceedingly tender limbs?
(Vedabase)
Text
9
Clearly came it
with this association to a break with the dharma. And there
where unrighteousness has mounted, one should not remain
for a moment longer!
Religious
principles have certainly been violated in this assembly.
One should not remain for even a moment in a place where
irreligion is flourishing. (Vedabase)
Text
10
A wise person
should not attend an assembly where the members are out for
deviating in improprieties, because one then consents in
silence and under false pretexts subscribing to wrong
assumptions will incur sin.
A
wise person should not enter an assembly if he knows the
participants there are committing acts of impropriety. And
if, having entered such an assembly, he fails to speak the
truth, speaks falsely or pleads ignorance, he will certainly
incur sin. (Vedabase)
Text
11
You should see
how Krishna's lotuslike face because of darting around his foe
is as wet of the effort as the whorl of a lotusflower is with
droplets of water.
Just
see the lotus face of Krishna as He darts around His foe!
That face, covered with drops of perspiration brought on by
the strenuous fight, resembles a lotus covered with dew.
(Vedabase)
Text
12
Just see how
Râma's face with eyes like copper in the anger with
Mushthika is even more beautiful, with His laughing in His
focus?
Don't
you see the face of Lord Balarâma, with its eyes
copper-red from His anger toward Mushthika and its beauty
enhanced by His laughter and His absorption in the fight?
(Vedabase)
Text
13
How
meritorious indeed are the tracts of Vraja where the Primeval
Original Personality in this disguise of human traits, with a
wonderful variety of forest flowers, together with
Balarâma, vibrating His flute and moving about in various
pastimes, was herding the cows, while His feet are worshiped by
the lord on the mountain [S'iva] and the goddess of
fortune.
How
pious are the tracts of land in Vraja, for there the
primeval Personality of Godhead, disguising Himself with
human traits, wanders about, enacting His many pastimes!
Adorned with wonderfully variegated forest garlands, He
whose feet are worshiped by Lord S'iva and goddess
Ramâ vibrates His flute as He tends the cows in the
company of Balarâma. (Vedabase)
Text
14
What
austerities must the gopîs have performed to be
allowed to drink in through their eyes the form of such a One
essence of unequaled, unsurpassed loveliness perfect in itself,
ever new and hard to reach as the only abode of fame, beauty
and opulence?
What
austerities must the gopîs have performed! With
their eyes they always drink the nectar of Lord Krishna's
form, which is the essence of loveliness and is not to be
equaled or surpassed. That loveliness is the only abode of
beauty, fame and opulence. It is self-perfect, ever fresh
and extremely rare. (Vedabase)
Text
15
They, the
fortunate ladies of Vraja, while milking, threshing, churning,
smearing [with the dung], swinging on swings, with
crying babies, sprinkling and cleaning and so on, fondly
thinking sing about Him, choked up with tears and have, by
their consciousness of Urukrama,
all they wish for.
The
ladies of Vraja are the most fortunate of women because,
with their minds fully attached to Krishna and their throats
always choked up with tears, they constantly sing about Him
while milking the cows, winnowing grain, churning butter,
gathering cow dung for fuel, riding on swings, taking care
of their crying babies, sprinkling the ground with water,
cleaning their houses, and so on. By their exalted Krishna
consciousness they automatically acquire all desirable
things. (Vedabase)
Text
16
Hearing
Him playing the flute, together with the cows early in the
morning leaving and late in the evening returning to Vraja,
hurry the women outside meet on the road in utter piety with
the smiling, merciful face and glances.'
When
the gopîs hear Krishna playing His flute as He leaves
Vraja in the morning with His cows or returns with them at
sunset, the young girls quickly come out of their houses to
see Him. They must have performed many pious activities to
be able to see Him as He walks on the road, His smiling face
mercifully glancing upon them. (Vedabase)
Text
17
As they were
thus speaking decided the Supreme Lord, the Controller of
Mystic Power, to kill His enemy, o hero of the
Bhâratas.
[S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî continued:] As the women spoke thus,
O hero of the Bhâratas, Lord Krishna, the master of
all mystic power, made up His mind to kill His opponent.
(Vedabase)
Text
18
Their
parents [in prison] hearing of the women the words of
concern about their sons, overwhelmed with sorrow burned in
distress not knowing how strong their kids were.
Out
of affection for the two Lords, Their parents
[Devakî and Vasudeva] became overwhelmed with
sorrow when they heard the women's fearful statements. They
grieved, not knowing their sons' strength. (Vedabase)
Text
19
As Acyuta and
His opponent fought each other with all the different wrestling
techniques, did Balarâma and Mushthika the
same.
Lord
Balarâma and Mushthika, expertly displaying numerous
wrestling techniques, battled each other in the same way
that Lord Krishna and His opponent did. (Vedabase)
Text
20
Due
to the crushing, lightning hard blows dealt by the hands and
feet of the Supreme Lord, was Cânûra, more and more
feeling pained and exhausted, completely broken.
The
harsh blows from the Supreme Lord's limbs fell like crushing
lightning bolts upon Cânûra, breaking every part
of his body and causing him more and more pain and fatigue.
(Vedabase)
Text
21
He with the
speed of a hawk falling upon Him, both his hands clenching to
fists, struck the Supreme Lord Vâsudeva enraged upon His
chest.
Furious,
Cânûra attacked Lord Vâsudeva with the
speed of a hawk and struck His chest with both fists.
(Vedabase)
.
Text
22-23
Not moved by
His blows like an elephant hit with a garland, seized the Lord
Cânûra by his arms and whirled He him around
several times to throw him with great force down to the earth
so that he, crashing like a massive festival column, with his
clothes, hair and garland all scattered, lost his
life.
No
more shaken by the demon's mighty blows than an elephant
struck with a flower garland, Lord Krishna grabbed
Cânûra by his arms, swung him around several
times and hurled him onto the ground with great force. His
clothes, hair and garland scattering, the wrestler fell down
dead, like a huge festival column collapsing.
(Vedabase)
Text
24-25
Likewise did
also Mushthika after striking the powerful Lord Balabhadra with
his fist receive a violent blow from His palm so that he
trembling, giving up blood from his mouth, right where he stood
lifeless fell to the ground,
like a tree struck down by the wind.
Similarly,
Mushthika struck Lord Balabhadra with his fist and was
slain. Receiving a violent blow from the mighty Lord's palm,
the demon trembled all over in great pain, vomited blood and
then fell lifeless onto the ground, like a tree blown down
by the wind. (Vedabase)
Text
26
Then was
Kûtha, coming forward, nonchalantly with a left fist
playfully killed by Râma, the best of all fighters, o
King.
Confronted
next by the wrestler Kûtha, Lord Balarâma, the
best of fighters, playfully and nonchalantly killed him with
His left fist, O King. (Vedabase)
Text
27
Next
then did both S'ala and Tos'ala, struck in the head by the toes
of Krishna and torn apart, come to fall.
Then
Krishna struck the wrestler S'ala in the head with His toes
and tore him in half. The Lord dealt with Tos'ala in the
same way, and both wrestlers fell down dead.
(Vedabase)
Text
28
With
Cânûra, Mushthika, Kûtha, S'ala and Tos'ala
being killed fled the remainder of the wrestlers in the hope to
save their life.
Cânûra,
Mushthika, Kûtha, S'ala and Tos'ala having been
killed, the remaining wrestlers all fled for their lives.
(Vedabase)
Text
29
Gathering with
Their young cowherd friends sported They [Krishna and
Râma] together with them, playing musical instruments
and dancing about tinkling with Their
anklebells.
Krishna
and Balarâma then called Their young cowherd
boyfriends to join Them, and in their company the Lords
danced about and sported, Their ankle bells resounding as
musical instruments played. (Vedabase)
Text
30
Except for
Kamsa rejoiced all the people over the accomplishment of
Râma and Krishna while the best of the learned and the
saintly exclaimed 'Excellent, excellent!'
Everyone
except Kamsa rejoiced at the wonderful feat Krishna and
Balarâma had performed. The exalted brâhmanas
and great saints exclaimed, "Excellent! Excellent!"
(Vedabase)
Text
31
With the best
of his wrestlers killed and running off, silenced the bhoja
king his instrumental music and spoke he the
words:
The
Bhoja king, seeing that his best wrestlers had all been
killed or had fled, stopped the musical performance
originally meant for his pleasure and spoke the following
words. (Vedabase)
Text
32
'Expel the two
sons of Vasudeva who behaved so badly from the city, take the
gopas their wealth and tie up that fool
Nanda!
[Kamsa
said:] Drive the two wicked sons of Vasudeva out of the
city! Confiscate the cowherds' property and arrest that fool
Nanda! (Vedabase)
Text
33
And Vasudeva
who is so stupid, Ugrasena, my father the ignoramus and his
followers, should all, for their siding with the enemy, be
killed right away.'
Kill
that most evil fool Vasudeva! And also kill my father,
Ugrasena, along with his followers, who have all sided with
our enemies! (Vedabase)
Text
34
With Kamsa thus
raving indeed extremely mad, jumped the Imperishable Lord with
ease high up to swiftly climb upon the high royal
dais.
As
Kamsa thus raved so audaciously, the infallible Lord
Krishna, intensely angry, quickly and easily jumped up onto
the high royal dais. (Vedabase)
Text
35
Seeing
Him, his own death, approaching, got he, smart enough, up from
his seat immediately and took he up his sword and
shield.
Seeing
Lord Krishna approaching like death personified, the
quick-witted Kamsa instantly rose from his seat and took up
his sword and shield. (Vedabase)
Text
36
Kamsa, sword in
hand moving about left and right as quick as a hawk in the sky,
was by force of the irresistible and fearsome strength seized
like a snake would by the son of Târkshya
[Garuda].
Sword
in hand, Kamsa moved quickly from side to side like a hawk
in the sky. But Lord Krishna, whose fearsome strength is
irresistible, powerfully seized the demon just as the son of
Târkshya might capture a snake. (Vedabase)
Text
37
Grabbing him by
the hair, slipped the crown from his head and hurled the One
with the Lotus Navel him down from the high platform into the
wrestling arena after which He, the Independent Support of the
Entire Universe, jumped on top of him.
Grabbing
Kamsa by the hair and knocking off his crown, the
lotus-naveled Lord threw him off the elevated dais onto the
wrestling mat. Then the independent Lord, the support of the
entire universe, threw Himself upon the King.
(Vedabase)
Text
38
Like a lion
with an elephant dragged He him dead along the ground before
the eyes of all the people of whom then arose a loudly sounded
'Ooo..h, ooooh', o King of the humans.
As
a lion drags a dead elephant, the Lord then dragged Kamsa's
dead body along the ground in full view of everyone present.
O King, all the people in the arena tumultuously cried out,
"Oh! Oh!" (Vedabase)
Text
39
Since he,
constantly anxious of mind, had seen Him, the Controller with
the cakra in His hand, before him wherever he drank or
ate, walked, slept or breathed, achieved he therefore that same
so difficult to achieve form [see also
sârûpya 10.41:
42 and
10.29:
13]
Kamsa
had always been disturbed by the thought that the Supreme
Lord was to kill him. Therefore when drinking, eating,
moving about, sleeping or simply breathing, the King had
always seen the Lord before him with the disc weapon in His
hand. Thus Kamsa achieved the rare boon of attaining a form
like the Lord's. (Vedabase)
Text
40
His eight
younger brothers Kanka,
Nyagrodhaka and the rest, infuriated ran forward in attack to
make Him pay for their brother.
Kamsa's
eight younger brothers, led by Kanka and Nyagrodhaka, then
attacked the Lords in a rage, seeking to avenge their
brother's death. (Vedabase)
Text
41
Thus
rushing ahead ready to strike were they beaten down by
Balarâma, who like the lion king with the animals wielded
His club.
As
they ran swiftly toward the two Lords, ready to strike, the
son of Rohinî slew them with His club just as a lion
easily kills other animals. (Vedabase)
Text
42
Kettledrums
resounded in the sky, Brahmâ, S'iva, the other gods and
the ones empowered pleased chanted praises and showered flowers
upon Him as their wives danced.
Kettledrums
resounded in the sky as Brahmâ, S'iva and other
demigods, the Lord's expansions, rained down flowers upon
Him with pleasure. They chanted His praises, and their wives
danced. (Vedabase)
Text
43
The
wives, o Emperor, grieving over the death of their well-wishers
approached there with tears in their eyes beating their
heads.
My
dear King, the wives of Kamsa and his brothers, aggrieved by
the death of their well-wishing husbands, came forward with
tearful eyes, beating their heads. (Vedabase)
Text
44
Embracing
their husbands lying on the hero's bed, lamented the women
loudly shedding a river of tears:
Embracing
their husbands, who lay on a hero's final bed, the sorrowful
women loudly lamented while shedding constant tears.
(Vedabase)
Text
45
"Alas,
o master, o dearest, o defender of the holy duty, o kindness, o
you so full of compassion; together with your being killed have
we, your household and offspring, been killed.
[The
women cried out:] Alas, O master, O dear one, O knower
of religious principles! O kind and compassionate protector
of the shelterless! By your being slain we have also been
slain, together with your household and offspring.
(Vedabase)
Text
46
Bereft
of you, the master, does this city just like us, o most heroic
of men, not appear as beautiful with the festivity and bliss
all ended.
O
great hero among men, bereft of you, its master, this city
has lost its beauty, just as we have, and all festivity and
good fortune within it have come to an end.
(Vedabase)
Text
47
The
terrible violence you've committed against innocent living
creatures brought you in this condition, o dearest; how can he
who causes harm to other living beings end well?
O
dear one, you have been brought to this state because of the
terrible violence you committed against innocent creatures.
How can one who harms others attain happiness?
(Vedabase)
Text
48
He
who is neglectful of this One, Him who of all living beings in
this world is for certain the origin, maintenance and
disappearance, can never prosper in happiness.'
Lord
Krishna causes the appearance and disappearance of all
beings in this world, and He is their maintainer as well.
One who disrespects Him can never prosper happily.
(Vedabase)
Text
49
S'rî
S'uka said: 'The Supreme Lord, the Sustainer of All Worlds,
consoling the wives around the king, as enjoined arranged for
the funeral rites for the deceased.
S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî said: After consoling the royal ladies,
Lord Krishna, sustainer of all the worlds, arranged for the
prescribed funeral rites to be performed. (Vedabase)
Text
50
Thereafter
did Krishna and Râma as well free their father and mother
from their fetters, proving their respect by touching their
feet with their heads.
Then
Krishna and Balarâma released Their mother and father
from bondage and offered obeisances to them, touching their
feet with Their heads. (Vedabase)
Text
51
Devakî
and Vasudeva in recognition of [Them as] the
Controllers of the Universe paying their respects with joined
palms, apprehensively didn't embrace their
sons.'
Devakî
and Vasudeva, now knowing Krishna and Balarâma to be
the Lords of the universe, simply stood with joined palms.
Being apprehensive, they did not embrace their sons.
(Vedabase)