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Texts:
The
Killing of the Demon Naraka
Text
1
The
honorable king said: 'Please tell me of this adventure of the
wielder of S'ârnga [Krishna]. How was Bhauma, who
captured these women, killed by the Supreme
Lord?
[King
Parîkshit said:] How was Bhaumâsura, who
kidnapped so many women, killed by the Supreme Lord? Please
narrate this adventure of Lord S'ârngadhanvâ's.
(Vedabase)
Text
2-3
S'rî
S'uka said: 'Informed by Indra, whose parasol of Varuna
[his sign of royalty] as well as a place [called
Mani-parvata] on the mountain of the gods [Mandara
hill, see 8.6:
22-23]
had been stolen and whose relative [mother Aditi, see
8.17]
had been robbed of her earrings, went He [Lord Krishna
answering] to what Bhaumâsura all had done together
with His wife [Satyabhâmâ see
*]
seated on Garuda to the city of Prâgjyotisha
[Bhauma's capital now Tejpur of Assam], which lay
protected surrounded by mountains and weapons, fire, water and
wind and was fortified by a [mura-pâs'a]
fence consisting of tens of thousands of tough and dreadful
wires on all sides.
S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî said: After Bhauma had stolen the
earrings belonging to Indra's mother, along with Varuna's
umbrella and the demigods' playground at the peak of Mandara
mountain, Indra went to Lord Krishna and informed Him of
these misdeeds. The Lord, taking His wife
Satyabhâmâ with Him, then rode on Garuda to
Prâgjyotisha-pura, which was surrounded on all sides
by fortifications consisting of hills, unmanned weapons,
water, fire and wind, and by obstructions of
mura-pâs'a wire. (Vedabase)
Text
4
With
His club broke He through the rock fortifications, with His
arrows defeated He the weapon systems, with His disc He broke
through the fire, water and wind defense and with His sword
found He likewise His way through the fence.
With
His club the Lord broke through the rock fortifications;
with His arrows, the weapon fortifications; with His disc,
the fire, water and wind fortifications; and with His sword,
the mura-pâs'a cables. (Vedabase)
Text
5
With
the resounding of His conchshell breaking the seals [of the
fortress] and the hearts of the brave warriors, broke
Gadâdhara with His heavy mace through the
ramparts.
With
the sound of His conchshell Lord Gadâdhara then
shattered the magic seals of the fortress, along with the
hearts of its brave defenders, and with His heavy club He
demolished the surrounding earthen ramparts.
(Vedabase)
Text
6
Hearing
the vibration of the Lord His Pâñcajanya, that
sounded like the thunder when the universe ends, rose up the
five-headed demon Mura who lay asleep in the water [of the
moat].
The
five-headed demon Mura, who slept at the bottom of the
city's moat, awoke and rose up out of the water when he
heard the vibration of Lord Krishna's
Pâñcajanya conchshell, a sound as terrifying as
the thunder at the end of the cosmic age. (Vedabase)
Text
7
Raising
his trident, most difficult to behold with an effulgence as
terrible as the fire of the sun, launched he, as if he with his
five mouths would swallow the three worlds, his attack the way
the son of Târkshya [Garuda] would attack a
snake.
Shining
with the blinding, terrible effulgence of the sun's fire at
the end of a millennium, Mura seemed to be swallowing up the
three worlds with his five mouths. He lifted up his trident
and fell upon Garuda, the son of Târkshya, like an
attacking snake. (Vedabase)
Text
8
Whirling
about his trident threw he it with all his strength at Garuda
with such a tumultuous roar of his five mouths that the earth,
the sky, outer space in all directions and that the egglike
shell of the universe reverberated.
Mura
whirled his trident and then hurled it fiercely at Garuda,
roaring from all five mouths. The sound filled the earth and
sky, all directions and the limits of outer space, until it
reverberated against the very shell of the universe.
(Vedabase)
Text
9
Lord
Krishna then with two arrows broke the trident flying at Garuda
in three pieces and next hit with great force his faces with
more arrows. Thereupon hurled the demon in anger his club at
Him.
Then
with two arrows Lord Hari struck the trident flying toward
Garuda and broke it into three pieces. Next the Lord hit
Mura's faces with several arrows, and the demon angrily
hurled his club at the Lord. (Vedabase)
Text
10
That
club flying at Him was by the Elder Brother of Gada
[Gadâgraja,
Krishna] on
the battlefield broken into thousands of pieces. With him next
with his arms raised rushing at Him, sliced the unconquerable
One with ease the heads off with His disc.
As
Mura's club sped toward Him on the battlefield, Lord
Gadâgraja intercepted it with His own and broke it
into thousands of pieces. Mura then raised his arms high and
rushed at the unconquerable Lord, who easily sliced off his
heads with His disc weapon. (Vedabase)
Text
11
As
he lifeless fell into the water with his heads severed as if
Indra with his force had split off a mountain peak, moved his
seven sons, feeling greatly distressed upon their father's
death, angered into action to retaliate.
Lifeless,
Mura's decapitated body fell into the water like a mountain
whose peak has been severed by the power of Lord Indra's
thunderbolt. The demon's seven sons, enraged by their
father's death, prepared to retaliate. (Vedabase)
Text
12
Engaged
by Bhaumâsura came Tâmra, Antariksha, S'ravana,
Vibhâvasu, Vasu, Nabhasvân and Aruna the seventh
with Pîthha leading as their general out to the
battlefield carrying their weapons.
Ordered
by Bhaumâsura, Mura's seven sons - Tâmra,
Antariksha, S'ravana, Vibhâvasu, Vasu, Nabhasvân
and Aruna - followed their general, Pîthha, onto the
battlefield bearing their weapons. (Vedabase)
Text
13
In their attack
they angrily used swords, clubs, spears, lances and tridents
against the Invincible One, but at no time was He in His
prowess frustrated by their mountain of weapons; the Supreme
Lord cut them with His arrows all into tiny
pieces.
These
fierce warriors furiously attacked invincible Lord Krishna
with arrows, swords, clubs, spears, lances and tridents, but
the Supreme Lord, with unfailing prowess, cut this mountain
of weapons into tiny pieces with His arrows.
(Vedabase)
Text
14
Cutting off
their heads, thighs, arms, legs and armor sent He them all who
were headed by Pîthha to the abode of Yamarâja.
Bhauma, the son of mother earth, seeing how his army and
leaders succumbed to the arrows and disc of Krishna, unable to
bear that stepped forward with mada exuding elephants that were
born from the milk ocean.
The
Lord severed the heads, thighs, arms, legs and armor of
these opponents led by Pîthha and sent them all to the
abode of Yamarâja. Narakâsura, the son of the
earth, could not contain his fury when he saw the fate of
his military leaders. Thus he went out of the citadel with
elephants born from the Milk Ocean who were exuding mada
from their foreheads out of excitement. (Vedabase)
Text
15
Seeing Lord
Krishna with His wife sitting upon Garuda like a cloud with
lightning sits above the sun, released he his S'ataghnî
[spiked missile] at Him and attacked at the same time
all his soldiers.
Lord
Krishna and His wife, mounted upon Garuda, looked like a
cloud with lightning sitting above the sun. Seeing the Lord,
Bhauma released his S'ataghnî weapon at Him, whereupon
all of Bhauma's soldiers simultaneously attacked with their
weapons. (Vedabase)
Text
16
The Supreme
Lord, the Elder Brother of Gada, turned their bodies - and at
the same time the bodies of the horses and elephants - with
diversely feathered sharp arrows into a collection of severed
arms, thighs and necks.
At
that moment Lord Gadâgraja shot His sharp arrows at
Bhaumâsura's army. These arrows, displaying variegated
feathers, soon reduced that army to a mass of bodies with
severed arms, thighs and necks. The Lord similarly killed
the opposing horses and elephants. (Vedabase)
Text
17-19
Each of the
sharp and shafted weapons that the warriors employed, o hero of
the Kurus, were by Krishna with three arrows at a time cut to
pieces. Carried by the great winged one, were with strokes from
both his wings by Garuda the elephants beaten. The elephants
because of his wings, beak and talons moved in distress back
into the city while Naraka ['hell' or Bhauma] continued
the battle.
Lord
Hari then struck down all the missiles and weapons the enemy
soldiers threw at Him, O hero of the Kurus, destroying each
and every one with three sharp arrows. Meanwhile Garuda, as
he carried the Lord, struck the enemy's elephants with his
wings. Beaten by Garuda's wings, beak and talons, the
elephants fled back into the city, leaving Narakâsura
alone on the battlefield to oppose Krishna.
(Vedabase)
Text
20
Bhauma, annoyed
to see how because of Garuda his army was forced in retreat,
struck him with the spear that [once] withstood the
thunderbolt [of Indra], but he wasn't shaken more by it
than an elephant is upon being hit with a
flower.
Seeing
his army driven back and tormented by Garuda, Bhauma
attacked him with his spear, which had once defeated Lord
Indra's thunderbolt. But though struck by that mighty
weapon, Garuda was not shaken. Indeed, he was like an
elephant hit with a flower garland. (Vedabase)
Text
21
Next took
Bhauma, frustrated in his endeavors, up his trident to kill
Krishna, but before he could even release it, cut the Lord with
the razor-sharp edge of His cakra off the head of
Bhaumâsura as he was sitting on his
elephant.
Bhauma,
frustrated in all his attempts, took up his trident to kill
Lord Krishna. But even before he could release it, the Lord
cut off his head with His razor-sharp cakra as the demon sat
atop his elephant. (Vedabase)
Text
22
Complete with
its brilliant, shining decorations of earrings and a nice
helmet fell it to the ground. Worshiping Him with
[exclamations of] 'Alas, alas' and 'Bravo bravo!'
showered the sages and ruling gods Lord Krishna with
flowers.
Fallen
on the ground, Bhaumâsura's head shone brilliantly,
decorated as it was with earrings and an attractive helmet.
As cries of "Alas, alas!" and "Well done!" arose, the sages
and principal demigods worshiped Lord Mukunda by showering
Him with flower garlands. (Vedabase)
Text
23
Thereupon
approaching Krishna presented mother earth golden earrings
glowing with shining jewels, a Vaijayantî garland of
forest flowers and gave she Him the parasol of Varuna and the
Great Gem [the peak of Mandara].
The
goddess of the earth then approached Lord Krishna and
presented Him with Aditi's earrings, which were made of
glowing gold inlaid with shining jewels. She also gave Him a
Vaijayantî flower garland, Varuna's umbrella and the
peak of Mandara Mountain. (Vedabase)
Text
24
The
goddess then, o King, with a mind full of devotion folding her
palms and bowing down, praised the Lord of the Universe who is
worshiped by the best of the gods.
O
King, after bowing down to Him and then standing with joined
palms, the goddess, her mind filled with devotion, began to
praise the Lord of the universe, whom the best of demigods
worship. (Vedabase)
Text
25
Bhûmi
said: 'To You my obeisances o God of Gods, o Lord, holder of
the conch, the disc and the club, Who to the desire of Your
devotees have assumed Your forms, o Supreme Soul; let there be
the praise unto You.
Goddess
Bhûmi said: Obeisances unto You, O Lord of the chief
demigods, O holder of the conchshell, disc and club. O
Supreme Soul within the heart, You assume Your various forms
to fulfill Your devotees' desires. Obeisances unto You.
(Vedabase)
Text
26
My homage is
for Him with the lotuslike depression in His belly, my
reverence for the One with the garland of lotuses, my respects
for He whose glance is as cool as a lotus, my praise unto You
with the feet that are like lotuses [as in
1.8:
22].
My
respectful obeisances are unto You, O Lord, whose abdomen is
marked with a depression like a lotus flower, who are always
decorated with garlands of lotus flowers, whose glance is as
cool as the lotus and whose feet are engraved with lotuses.
(Vedabase)
Text
27
My obeisances
unto You, the Supreme Lord, Vâsudeva, Vishnu, the
Original Person, the Seed and Full of Knowledge, unto You my
salutations.
Obeisances
unto You, the Supreme Lord Vâsudeva, Vishnu, the
primeval person, the original seed. Obeisances unto You, the
omniscient one. (Vedabase)
Text
28
May
there be the veneration for You, the Unborn Progenitor, the
Unlimited Absolute, the Soul of the energies higher and lower,
the Soul of the Creation, the Supersoul!
Obeisances
unto You of unlimited energies, the unborn progenitor of
this universe, the Absolute. O Soul of the high and the low,
O Soul of the created elements, O all-pervading Supreme
Soul, obeisances unto You. (Vedabase)
Text
29
You,
desiring to create o Master stand out Unborn [as
Brahmâ], for annihilation You adopt the ignorance
[as S'iva] and for maintenance You are [manifested
as] the goodness [as vishnu-avatâras]
of the Universe [and yet are You] not covered [by
these modes], o Lord of Jagat [the Living Being that is
the Universe]. Being Kâla [time],
Pradhâna [the original state of matter] and
Purusha [the complete as the Original Person] are You
yet of a separate existence.
Desiring
to create, O unborn master, You increase and then assume the
mode of passion. You do likewise with the mode of ignorance
when You wish to annihilate the universe and with goodness
when You wish to maintain it. Nonetheless, You remain
uncovered by these modes. You are time, the pradhâna,
and the purusha, O Lord of the universe, yet still You are
separate and distinct. (Vedabase)
Text
30
This
self of mine, the water, the fire and the air, the ether, the
sense objects, the demigods, the mind, the senses, the doer,
the total material energy, in sum everything that moves around
or doesn't move, constitutes [when it exists only for
itself] perplexity o Supreme Lord, because this all resides
within You, the One Without a Second [see also
siddhânta]!
This
is illusion: that earth, water, fire, air, ether, sense
objects, demigods, mind, the senses, false ego and the total
material energy exist independent of You. In fact, they are
all within You, my Lord, who are one without a second.
(Vedabase)
Text
31
This
son of him [Bhauma's son, Bhûmi's grandson] has
in his fear approached the lotus feet of You who removes the
distress of those who take shelter; please protect him and
place on his head Your lotushand which eradicates all
sins.
Here
is the son of Bhaumâsura. Frightened, he is
approaching Your lotus feet, since You remove the distress
of all who seek refuge in You. Please protect him. Place
Your lotus hand, which dispels all sins, upon his head.
(Vedabase)
Text
32
S'rî
S'uka said: 'The Supreme Lord, with these words entreated by
Bhûmi with devotion and humility, entered, to take away
the fear, the residence of Bhauma that was rich with all
opulences.
S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî said: Thus entreated by Goddess
Bhûmi in words of humble devotion, the Supreme Lord
bestowed fearlessness upon her grandson and then entered
Bhaumâsura's palace, which was filled with all manner
of riches. (Vedabase)
Text
33
There
the Lord saw sixteen thousand [**]
maidens of the royal order who by Bhaumâsura by force
were stolen from the kings.
There
Lord Krishna saw sixteen thousand royal maidens, whom Bhauma
had taken by force from various kings. (Vedabase)
Text
34
The
women upon seeing Him entering, the most excellent of all men,
enchanted chose for Him who was brought by fate to them as the
husband of their desire.
The
women became enchanted when they saw that most excellent of
males enter. In their minds they each accepted Him, who had
been brought there by destiny, as their chosen husband.
(Vedabase)
Text
35
Absorbed
in Krishna thinking: 'May providence make that He becomes my
husband', installed they Him thus all individually in their
hearts.
With
the thought "May providence grant that this man become my
husband," each and every princess absorbed her heart in
contemplation of Krishna. (Vedabase)
Text
36
Having
them properly washed and clad in spotless clothes, sent He them
in palanquins off to Dvârakâ together with the
enormous treasure of chariots, horses and a great number of
other valuables [that was seized].
The
Lord had the princesses arrayed in clean, spotless garments
and then sent them in palanquins to Dvârakâ,
together with great treasures of chariots, horses and other
valuables. (Vedabase)
Text
37
Kes'ava
dispatched also sixty-four swift white elephants with four
tusks stemming from the family of Airâvata [Indra's
elephant].
Lord
Krishna also dispatched sixty-four swift white elephants,
descendants of Airâvata, who each sported four tusks.
(Vedabase)
Text
38-39
Going
to the abode of the king of the gods and giving Aditi her
earrings was He together with His beloved
[Satyabhâmâ] worshiped by Indra the head of
the [chief] thirty demigods and the great king his
wife. Urged by His wife He uprooted the pârijâta,
placed it on Garuda and brought it, defeating the demigods
[who opposed that], to His city.
The
Lord then went to the abode of Indra, the demigods' king,
and gave mother Aditi her earrings; there Indra and his wife
worshiped Krishna and His beloved consort
Satyabhâmâ. Then, at Satyabhâmâ's
behest the Lord uprooted the heavenly pârijâta
tree and put it on the back of Garuda. After defeating Indra
and all the other demigods, Krishna brought the
pârijâta to His capital. (Vedabase)
Text
40
All
the way from heaven followed by the bees greedy for its sweet
fragrance and juice, beautified the tree after being planted in
the garden of Satyabhâmâ's
residence.
Once
planted, the pârijâta tree beautified the garden
of Queen Satyabhâmâ's palace. Bees followed the
tree all the way from heaven, greedy for its fragrance and
sweet sap. (Vedabase)
Text
41
After
he [Indra] had bowed down, to the occasion of which he
with the tips of his crown touched His feet, and had begged
Acyuta to fulfill his purpose, started he, that great soul
among the demigods, having achieved his purpose, to quarrel
with Him [about the pârijâta]. To hell with
their wealth, what an ignorance! [see also:
3.3:
5]
Even
after Indra had bowed down to Lord Acyuta, touched His feet
with the tips of his crown and begged the Lord to fulfill
his desire, that exalted demigod, having achieved his
purpose, chose to fight with the Supreme Lord. What
ignorance there is among the gods! To hell with their
opulence! (Vedabase)
Text
42
Then
married the Supreme Lord, all at the same time in various
residences, those women as should, for the purpose of which
the Imperishable One assumed as many forms
[see
10.58:
45,
10.69:
19-45 and
B.G. 9:
15;
13:
31].
Then the
imperishable Supreme Personality, assuming a separate form
for each bride, duly married all the princesses
simultaneously, each in her own palace. (Vedabase)
Text
43
Remaining
in their unequalled and superior palaces which He never left,
enjoyed He, the performer of the inconceivable, with the women
eager to please Him and fulfilled He, being absorbed in the
pleasure like any other man, His duties as a householder
[see also
1.11:
37-39].
The
Lord, performer of the inconceivable, constantly remained in
each of His queens' palaces, which were unequaled and
unexcelled by any other residence. There, although fully
satisfied within Himself, He enjoyed with His pleasing
wives, and like an ordinary husband He carried out His
household duties. (Vedabase)
Text
44
The
women so obtaining the Husband of Ramâ thus knew to
attain Him in a manner not even available to Brahmâ and
the other gods, the way they shared in an ever-increasing
pleasure the always fresh loving attraction of associating with
Him in smiles and glances, intimate talks and
bashfulness.
Thus
those women obtained as their husband the husband of the
goddess of fortune, although even great demigods like
Brahmâ do not know how to approach Him. With
ever-increasing pleasure they experienced loving attraction
for Him, exchanged smiling glances with Him and reciprocated
with Him in ever-fresh intimacy, replete with joking and
feminine shyness. (Vedabase)
Text
45
Approaching
Him, offering a seat, being of first-class worship, washing His
feet, serving with betelnut, massages and fanning, fragrances,
garlands, dressing His hair, arranging His bed, bathing and
presenting gifts were they, though having hundreds of
maidservants, [personally] of service to the Almighty
Lord.
Although
the Supreme Lord's queens each had hundreds of maidservants,
they chose to personally serve the Lord by approaching Him
humbly, offering Him a seat, worshiping Him with excellent
paraphernalia, bathing and massaging His feet, giving Him
pân to chew, fanning Him, anointing Him with fragrant
sandalwood paste, adorning Him with flower garlands,
dressing His hair, arranging His bed, bathing Him, and
presenting Him with various gifts. (Vedabase)
*
The âcâryas explain that
Satyabhâmâ would accompany Krishna to give
permission to kill Bhauma despite of the promise He once made
to Bhûmi, the earth-goddess, not to hurt her son Bhauma
without her permission. She would also come along to procure
the pârijâta flower tree Krishna had promised her
after He brought Rukminî one such flower [see also
10.50:
54
and 3.3:
5]
**
As to the number of Krishna's queens there is no absolute
agreement. Here is written 16000. The Vishnu Purâna V.19
- 9.31 mentions 16100 while even others speak of 16001. Not
counting the verse 10.90:
29
which again mentions over 16100 of them, would reasoning from
the Bhâgavatam stories only, there be 16008 queens
[see also previous
footnote].
