॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
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Balarama was very fond of sporting with the Gopis of Vraja, especially in an inebriated state. So much for his being an Amshavatara! The Rajo Guna which drives such intemperate behaviour is also a part of Prakriti which is Bhagavan's Leela anyway.
Narakasura, whom Sri Krishna killed, had a friend named Dvivida, a giant monkey. He is perhaps the same Dvivida who comes in Valmiki Ramayana whom Sri Rama asks to dwell on earth till the end of creation.
But Dvivida was now a bad sort.
Dvivida wanted to avenge the death of his friend Naraka. So he set fire to the homes of the cowherds, devastated Lord Krishna’s province of Anarta surrounding Dwaraka, and flooded coastal lands by churning the ocean’s water with his mighty arms. The evil Dvivida then tore down the trees in the ashramas 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 molesting many young women of respectable families, Dvivida came upon the Raivataka mountain, where he found Balarama enjoying the company of a bevy of attractive women. Ignoring Balarama, who was apparently intoxicated from drinking Varuni liquor, Dvivida flashed his genitals (a very monkey kind of thing) to the women right in front of the Lord and further insulted them by making crude gestures with his eyebrows and defecating there.
Dvivida’s outrageous behaviour angered Balarama, and he threw a stone at the ape. But Dvivida managed to dodge it. He then teased Balarama and tugged at the women’s dresses. Seeing his audacity, Balarama decided to kill Dvivida. Thus, he took up his club and his plough weapons.
The powerful Dvivida then armed himself by pulling up a Saal tree from the ground, and with this tree, he struck the Lord on the head. Balarama, however, remained unmoved (Sage Shuka reminds us he was none other than Adishesha) and smashed the tree trunk to pieces. Dvivida uprooted another tree, and yet another and another, until the forest was denuded.
But although Dvivida struck Balarama 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 Balarama 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 plough, Balarama then struck Dvivida’s throat and shoulder, at which point the ape vomited blood and fell down dead.
Having killed Dvivida, Lord Balarama set off for Dwaraka as the gods and sages showered flowers from the sky and offered him praises, prayers and obeisances, for getting rid of another menace to creation.
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