॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Sunday, 2 April 2023 - X a.06 - The demoness Putana is foiled in her attempt to kill baby Krishna.
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Sage Shuka describes how Nanda was filled with forbodings on his way returning to Gokula, as Vasudeva had cautioned him. Shuka also says that indeed, Gokula, being the place where righteous people were full of good feelings and always engaged in prayers, was protected by Bahgavan's grace always.
Then came the demoness Putana. She was an Asura woman in the employ of Kamsa, sent to go and poison all infants and kill them. She had been doing this for some time now, and she entered Gokula.
Assuming with her Asuric power the form of an extremely beautiful, physically endowed lady, dressed to kill, as they say, she roamed carefree in Gokula till she came into Nanda's palace. She was so well-mannered and bewitchingly beautiful that all Gopis and Gopas were cordial and totally unsuspecting. Even Yashoda and Rohini let her enter the inner chamber and go near Sri Krishna, lying in the cradle like burning embers covered with ashes. Putana could sense that this was a divine child, come to destroy Asuras!
विबुध्य तां बालकमारिकाग्रहं चराचरात्मा स निमीलितेक्षणः । अनन्तमारोपयदङ्कमन्तकं यथोरगं सुप्तमबुद्धिरज्जुधीः ॥
T: Bhagavan, Paramatma Sri Krishna, knew at once that the baby-killer Putana was there to try and kill him. He closed his eyes, giving Putana a chance to pick him up and clasp him to her bosom.
the all-pervading Supersoul, lying on the bed, understood that Pūtanā, a witch who was expert in killing small children, had come to kill Him. Therefore, as if afraid of her, Kṛṣṇa closed His eyes. Putana was an evil demoness, sporting a coy smile but harbouring the most evil of intentions, like a sheathed sword!
Putana put Sri Krishna's little mouth at her massive breast, which had been smeared with infallible, fatal poison. Sri Krishna applied his mouth and began to suck fiercely.
Soon, Putana was unable to bear the pain of the baby's deadly bite. She began to scream and roll around, saying, "enough, enough, let go!" But her end was near. She let out a terrifying scream. Not only did Krishna suck out her life, but her massive ugly Asuric corpse was also strewn wildly over a large area! The demoness was looking most scary with her demoniac teeth resembling the large ploughs employed to till the earth. And baby Sri Krishna was happily playing around on her breast when the Gopis rushed to pick him up. Imagine the fright that Yashoda and Rohini felt at what they saw!
Shuka describes what doting women do to children just saved from danger. They bathed Krishna in cow urine, sprinkled him with sanctifying cow dung, and so on. They gave him a thorough bath and chanted prayers for his protection!
गोप्यः संस्पृष्टसलिला अङ्गेषु करयोः पृथक् । न्यस्यात्मन्यथ बालस्य बीजन्यासमकुर्वत ॥
अव्यादजोऽङ्घ्रिमणिमांस्तव जान्वथोरूयज्ञोऽच्युतः कटितटं जठरं हयास्यः ।
हृत्केशवस्त्वदुर ईश इनस्तु कण्ठं विष्णुर्भुजं मुखमुरुक्रम ईश्वरः कम् ॥
चक्र्यग्रतः सहगदो हरिरस्तु पश्चात्त्व त्पार्श्वयोर्धनुरसी मधुहाजनश्च ।
कोणेषु शङ्ख उरुगाय उपर्युपेन्द्रस्तार्क्ष्यः क्षितौ हलधरः पुरुषः समन्तात् ॥
इन्द्रियाणि हृषीकेशः प्राणान् नारायणोऽवतु । श्वेतद्वीपपतिश्चित्तं मनो योगेश्वरोऽवतु ॥
पृश्निगर्भस्तु ते बुद्धिमात्मानं भगवान् परः । क्रीडन्तं पातु गोविन्दः शयानं पातु माधवः ॥
व्रजन्तमव्याद्वैकुण्ठ आसीनं त्वां श्रियःपतिः । भुञ्जानं यज्ञभुक्पातु सर्वग्रहभयङ्करः ॥
डाकिन्यो यातुधान्यश्च कूष्माण्डा येऽर्भकग्रहाः । भूतप्रेतपिशाचाश्च यक्षरक्षोविनायकाः ॥
कोटरा रेवती ज्येष्ठा पूतना मातृकादयः । उन्मादा ये ह्यपस्मारा देहप्राणेन्द्रियद्रुहः ॥
स्वप्नदृष्टा महोत्पाता वृद्धबालग्रहाश्च ये । सर्वे नश्यन्तु ते विष्णोर्नामग्रहणभीरवः ॥
T: The Gopis solemnly took Achamana, (a purifying sip of holy water), purified themselves with Nyasa mantras and started reciting the mantras to protect baby Krishna, with accompanying hand gestures.
"May Aja protect your legs, may Maniman protect your knees, Yajna your thighs, Achyuta the upper part of your waist, and Hayagriva your abdomen. May Keshava protect your heart, Isha your chest, the sun-god your neck, Vishnu your arms, Urukrama your face, and Ishwara your head. May Chakri protect you from the front; may Sri Hari, Gadadhari, the carrier of the club, protect you from the back; and may the carrier of the bow, who is known as the enemy of Madhu, and Lord Ajana, the carrier of the sword, protect your two sides. May Lord Urugaya, the carrier of the conchshell, protect You from all corners; may Upendra protect you from above; may Garuda protect you on the ground; and may Lord Haladhara, the Parama Purusha, protect you on all sides.
May Hrishikesha protect your senses, and Narayaṇa your Prana (life breath). May the master of Shvetadvweepa protect the core of your heart, and may Lord Yogeshwara protect your mind.
May Lord Prishnigarbha protect your intelligence, and Bhagavan your soul. While you are playing, may Govinda protect you, and while you are sleeping, may Madhava protect you. May Lord Vaikuntha protect you while you are walking, and may Lord Narayana, the husband of the goddess of fortune, protect you while you are sitting. Similarly, may Lord Yajnabhuk, the fearsome enemy of all evil planets, always protect you while you enjoy life.
The evil witches known as Dakinis, Yatudhanis and Kushmandas are the greatest enemies of children, and the evil spirits like Bhutas, Pretas, Pishachas, Yakshas, Rakshasas and Vinayakas, as well as witches like Kotara, Revati, Jyeshtha Putana and Matrika, are always ready to give trouble to the body, the life air and the senses, causing loss of memory, madness and bad dreams. Like the most experienced evil stars, they all create great disturbances, especially for children, but one can vanquish them simply by uttering Lord Vishnu’s name, for when Lord Vishnu’s name resounds, all of them become afraid and go away."
The Gopis continued thus, showering benedictions, and Yashoda breastfed her baby and put him on the bed to sleep.
When Putana's gigantic body was cut down to pieces and cremated, a divine fragrance of Agaru emanated! How come a demoness's body contained such divine fragrance!? Because she had breastfed Sri Krishna! Can you then imagine how the Gopis who fed Sri Krishna, and all the cattle who gave him milk, would be blessed!!!
Remember Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva constantly worship Bhagavan Sri Krishna. He is the indweller of all. He blessed Putana by embracing her and suckling at her breast. That was enough.
The Gopis were blessed. They were in this world, behaving like normal people, going about their daily chores. But the moment they established themselves maternally and loved Bhagavan Sri Krishna, all cause for rebirth vanished from their Karma.
A most-relieved Nanda came, embraced Sri Krishna, and fondled him in his lap. His moment of bliss was immense.
Any person who hears with faith and devotion about how Bhagavan Sri Krishna killed Putana, and who thus invests his hearing in such childhood pastimes of Sri Krishna, certainly attains devotion to Govinda, the Parama Purusha.
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॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
