Advent of Lord Krishna Krishna was born in a tense historical period preceeding a devastating war.

The warring factions built up so many weapons that the burden on the earth became un bearable. Finally the goddess of Earth took the form of a cow and prayed to Lord Brahma for relief. Lord Brahma called all the demigods to the shore of the Milk Ocean to hear Mother Earth and to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, L ord Vishnu. Lord Brahma fell into trance reciting the Vedic hymns known as the P urusa-sukta and heard the voice of Lord Vishnu. Then he announced, O demigods, he ar from me the words of God. He is aware of the distress on Earth and wants you demigods to incarnate as sons and daughters in the Yadu dynasty. The Supreme Per sonality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, will personally appear as the son of Vasudeva . Therefore you will all have the benediction of joining the eternal pastimes of Lord Krishna. Lord Brahma consoled the cow and sent her home, then returned to his planet, Bra hmaloka. The demigods then began to take birth in the Yadu dynasty, awaiting the appearance of Lord Krishna. The members of the Yadu dynasty, headed by Vasudeva and Devaki, along with their friends, relatives and well- wishers were all demi gods. The residents of Vrindavana, headed by King Nanda, Queen Yasoda and Queen Rohini, were also demigods. King Kamsa was another relative in the family, however he was not a demigod. He usurped the throne of his father, Ugrasena, and put him in prison. When Devaki, a member of Ugrasena s family, married Vasudeva, she received a large dowry of ele phants, horses, chariots and servants. After the wedding, Kamsa took the reins o f the wedding chariot and started to escort the couple home. Along the way, a vo ice from the sky addressed him: You foolish king, the eighth son of Devaki will k ill you! Kamsa pulled Devaki down by her hair, drew his sword and prepared to kill her on the spot, but Vausdeva begged for his bride s life and promised to let him kill t he eighth child, so that the oracle would not be fulfilled. Kamsa agreed to spar e her life, but locked Vasudeva and Devaki in a stone prison. Thereafter, he mer cilessly killed the first six sons of Devaki. Devaki s seventh son miscarried but mystically transferred to the womb of Queen Rohini in Vrindavana. This became Kr ishna s older brother, Balarama. Soon thereafter, Devaki became pregnant with her eighth child.

Appearance of Lord Krishna Krishna was born at the stroke of midnight in His four-armed Vishnu form, dresse d in silk and jewels, carrying the four weapons: the conch, disc, club and lotus . His parents prayed for Him to turn Himself into an ordinary baby so they could hide Him from Kamsa. The Lord advised Vasudeva to take him to Vrindavana and ex change him with a girl that had just been born there. Then He turned Himself int o a baby. Magically, the guards in Kamsa s prison fell asleep, and all the iron shackles, ch ains and locks automatically opened. Without questioning this, Vasudeva took the child and departed for Vrindavana. Like the story of Moses, the story of Krishn a also includes a parting of the waters, allowing Vasudeva to carry Krishna acro ss the Jamuna River to Vrindavana. When Vasudeva reached the house of Nanda, all the cowherds were asleep. Thus he placed his own son on the bed of Yasoda, pick ed up her newborn girl and returned to the prison of Kamsa. There was a chance Kamsa would spare the child because the omen said it would be the eighth son that would kill him. Devaki pleaded with him, but Kamsa pulled t he baby girl from her arms and dashed her against a stone. The girl slipped from his hands and rose above his head as the eight-armed form of Goddess Durga, dre

ssed in fine garments and jewels. She said, The enemy you contemplate is living s omewhere else. You are a fool to hurt innocent children. Krishna will kill you. Kamsa became remorseful and begged Devaki and Vasudeva to forgive him for his si ns. He released them from their shackles and fell down on their feet, crying tea rs of regret. The next day, however, Kamsa s ministers advised him to give up his sentimental attitude and take action to kill all newborn children in the region. They also advised him to disturb the demigods and saintly people.

Krishna s Childhood in Vrindavana When Yasoda and Nanda found Krishna as their son, they performed all the religio us ceremonies in secret, to avoid Kamsa s wrath. The family astrologer, Gargamuni, told the family, Your son Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He will protect you from Kamsa s persecutions, and by His grace only, you will surpass al l difficulties. Therefore raise Him carefully, because many demons will try to a ttack him. This warning proved true because throughout His childhood, Krishna fought Kamsa s demons, along with all the other demons and jealous and misguided demigods who a pproached Him.

Krishna Kills the Witch Putana Kamsa enlisted a demon named Putana to kill newborn babies. The demon dressed as a beautiful woman and flew on her broom to Krishna s nursery, hoping to kill Him with the poison she had smeared on her nipples. Krishna s mother innocently let Pu tana pick the baby up and put it to her breast. Krishna closed His eyes and suck ed out her life air, killing her, without taking her poison. When Putana s soul de parted, her body returned to its real form: a gigantic witch that smashed trees as it fell, stretching twelve miles across the landscape. Putana s soul attained l iberation due to the benevolent act of offering her breast milk to Krishna and t he inhabitants of Vrindavana cremated the body.

After Krishna killed Putana, the elder gopis (women of the village) picked Him u p and performed auspicious rites for His protection and purification. They bathe d Him and chanted religious mantras to prevent further attacks. Krishna s parents treated children lovingly, celebrating their birthdays and other rites of passage. They acted in a kindly way to correct their children when the y got into mischief, for example sometimes Krishna and Balarama would get into t he cow shed, catch the tail of a calf and stand up. The calves would drag them a round and they would be covered with mud. Rather than become angry, the mothers would call their friends to watch the fun.

Mother Yasoda never hit Krishna, but once tied Him to a grinding mortar when He stole butter and fed it to the monkeys. The scriptures explain that as she tried to tie him, the rope was too short. She kept using a longer rope, but it always came up too short.

Krishna tried to crawl and the mortar stuck between two Arjuna trees in the cour tyard. The trees fell and two splendorous demigods emerged and offered prayers t

o Krishna. Narada Muni cursed had the souls to stand as trees for one hundred ye ars and Krishna freed them. When the boys got a little older, they spent their days playing with the calves in a nearby field. Their mothers cooked the noon meal and called them from the f ields, or they would pack lunches for them. Children were considered the wealth of the family and were protected from abuse. However, rather than the parents pr otecting Krishna, it is the child who protects the village and all the people in it.

Krishna Kills the Snake Demon Aghasura One day the cowherd boys were playing their games, such as imitating peacocks an d running after birds shadows on the ground, when they came upon a mountain cave. This was actually a demon-brother of Putana s, who had expanded himself into an e ight-mile long snake to kill the boys. The opening to the cave was his mouth. Th e boys felt a hot wind blowing that smelled like fish, or the serpent s intestines .

The scriptures say that when the boys walked into the cave Krishna became moment arily aggrieved because He knew it was one of Kamsa s tricks. He considered for a moment, then decided to enter the cave Himself. Demons all over the world became joyful when Krishna went inside. The demigods, who had been hiding among the cl ouds to see what would happen, became distressed. For a time it seemed as if the snake-demon had killed Krishna, but when Krishna heard the demigods pleas He gre w larger and choked the demon to death. Aghasura s life air burst through a hole i n his skull and waited there for Krishna to come out, then it merged into His bo dy. Krishna showed His benevolent nature by rescuing His friends and giving libe ration to Aghasura.

Lord Brahma Kidnaps the Cowherd Boys When Aghasura died, the demigods offered prayers, threw flowers, and beat drums. Hearing the commotion, Lord Brahma arrived on the scene. At that time Brahma ki dnapped the children , an offense unbecoming of a demigod. Krishna was unhappy b ecause due to Brahma s misdeed, because He would have to go back to the village al one. Instead, He decided to expand himself into substitute boys and calves that looked exactly like the originals, and he returned to the village with them. No one could tell the difference, but families showed increased spontaneous affecti on to their sons (who were actually expansions of God). Balarama, Krishna s brothe r, noticed the parents behavior and asked Krishna what was going on. Krishna expl ained how Lord Brahma had kidnapped the real boys and calves.

Brahma made a mistake in trying to test Krishna s power. Life went on like this fo r a year before Brahma returned. Brahma s time passes much more quickly, so it see med to him only a moment. However, when he returned he was shocked to see the bo ys and calves playing with Krishna, as though nothing had happened. Krishna knew Brahma was perplexed so He transformed all the boys and calves into four-armed Vishnu forms. Brahma heard music and saw many Brahmas, Shivas, demigods and jiva s (souls) singing God s names and dancing. Brahma s mind opened at first to the visi on, but then he became bewildered, so Krishna ended the dazzling scene.

When Brahma woke up, he realized that he was face to face with Krishna the Supre me Personality of Godhead, who was enacting His eternal pastimes as a cowherd bo y in the spiritual land of Vrindavana. Brahma immediately got down from his swan -carrier and fell prostate at Krishna s feet to beg forgiveness. After offering gl orious prayers and penance for his behavior, Brahma circumambulated Krishna thre e times and returned to his planet. Exactly one year before, Krishna had left his friends eating lunch on the bank o f the Jamuna River. When he returned, they had just begun the meal, and thought Krishna had only been gone for a second. None of the boys realized that a whole year had gone by and that they had been kidnapped, asleep in a cave. When the ch ildren returned to their homes and told their parents about the aghasura demon, the demon s corpse had decomposed so the parents thought it was just a wild tale f rom the children s imagination.

Krishna Lifts Govardhana Hill Vishnu in his many forms is an icon of protection and Krishna was (among other t hings) an avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu. It is said that the residents of Vrind avana were sometimes aware of this and at times depended on Krishna to protect t hem. A good example was when Krishna lifted Govardhana Hill. Every year the resi dents of Vrindavana worshiped Lord Indra for supplying rain. One year when Krish na was a youth, He asked Nanda to worship Govardhana Hill instead of Indra. Kris hna argued, We do not derive any special benefit from Indra. Our specific relatio nship is with Govardhana Hill and Vrindavana forest. Let us have nothing to do w ith Indra. King Nanda finally agreed with Krishna and prepared to offer the sacrifice to Go vardhana Hill. This made Lord Indra angry and jealous. Forgetting the divine pos ition of Krishna, Indra reasoned, These cowherd men in Vrindavana have neglected my authority on the advice of this talkative boy who is known as Krishna. He is nothing but a child, and by believing this child, they have enraged me. Indra th en sent a storm to devastate Vrindavana. All the people and animals came to Kris hna for shelter, and in a miraculous show of strength, Krishna lifted Govardhana Hill with one finger to make the mountain into a huge umbrella. Everyone crowde d underneath it and remained safe until the rains stopped. Later, Lord Indra rea lized his mistake in attacking Krishna and apologized. This is an example of one of the demigods behaving like a demon. Indra became angry because he thought th at he was all in all within this universe and that no one was as powerful as he.

The end of Kamsa Kamsa s demons harassed children throughout the region for fifteen years. Magicall y, Krishna and Balarama killed them all as part of their divine play, or lila. T hus, the inhabitants of Vrindavana were thankful, remembering their guru s predict ion about Krishna. After Krishna killed the arista (bull) demon, the great sage Narada Muni went to Kamsa s palace and told him that Krishna and Balarama were the seventh and eighth sons of Vasudeva. Narada described the events that took plac e on the night of Krishna s birth and confirmed that Kamsa would meet his death at Krishna s hands. On hearing this news, Kamsa imprisoned Devaki and Vasudeva again and renewed his vow to kill Krishna and Balarama. He called for the Keshi demon, and other grea t demons, and just in case that didn t work, he planned to draw the boys into a wr estling match with two of his strongest wrestlers. He sent his servant Akrura to bring the boys back to Mathura. This would be Krishna and Balarama s transition i nto adulthood, because they never again return to the lighthearted pastimes of t

heir youth, playing in the pastures or dancing with the young gopis. Kamsa was delirious with fear waiting for Krishna to arrive, and unable to sleep through the night because of bad dreams. He saw his headless body in a mirror, everything appeared double, and he saw the covering of the sky as pierced. He sa w holes in his shadow and left no footprints when he walked. Krishna and Balarama entered the splendorous city with their friends. By and by they came to the wrestling ring and accepted the challenge to fight Kamsa s demons . After fighting for a few moments, Krishna and Balarama easily killed their opp onents. Everyone except Kamsa rejoiced at the wonderful defeat. The evil king st opped the celebration and shouted: Drive the two wicked sons of Vasudeva out of t he city! Confiscate the cowherds property and arrest that evil man Nanda! Kill th at ill-motivated Vasudeva! Also kill my father, Ugrasena, along with his followe rs, who have sided with our enemies. Krishna jumped into the stands, seized Kamsa, knocked off his crown and dragged him to the wrestling mat by his hair. There He easily killed Kamsa, striking him with His fist. Kamsa s eight younger brothers attacked Krishna and Balarama, but Balarama easily killed them with his club. Krishna and Balarama met their parent s, but Devaki and Vasudeva were struck with awe seeing the prophecy fulfilled, a nd because of a feeling of reverence they were afraid to embrace their sons. Aft er that incident, Krishna and Balarama entered the gurukula and became princes i n the court of Yadu. The Court of Dhritarastra In the time of Krishna, the blind King Dhritarastra headed the lunar dynasty in Hastinapur. His wife, Queen Gandhari, had one hundred sons called the Kauravas, the oldest of whom was Duryodhana. Also in the royal palace were Grandfather Bhi sma, the king s uncle, and Queen Kunti and her five sons. Kunti s late husband, Pand u, was King Dhritarastra s brother, so the Kauravas were her nephews. Family Tree of Krisna, Kaurava, Pandava Krishna was also Kunti s nephew, because her brother, Vasudeva, was Krishna s father . She grew up away from her family, in the palace of Kuntibhoja, her cousin. Whe n she was a child, Kunti had pleased the powerful sage Durvasa Muni, who gave he r a mantra that would allow her to conceive five sons from the demigods. She tes ted the mantra and the Sun God gave her Karna, whom she secretly set afloat in a river. Karna grew up to become a great warrior for the Kauravas, and Kunti late r revealed that she was his real mother. When Kunti married Pandu she used the mantra to have three more sons: Yudhistira , Bhima and Arjuna. Pandu was cursed to die if he ever tried to have sex with hi s wives, so he was glad Kunti could obtain sons from the demigods. He asked her to give the last chance to his other wife Madri, who subsequently had twins, Nak ula and Sahadev. These five children were the Pandava brothers.

Eventually, Pandu attempted to have sex with Madri and immediately died from the curse. Madri killed herself in the funeral pyre but Kunti lived on to care for the children. She and her sons moved into the palace of Dhritarastra, provoking scorn and jealousy among the hundred Kauravas. Her son Bhima caused problems wit h the other children, because he was a bully. In retaliation, the Kaurava brothe rs once tied him up and threw him in the ocean, but Bhima returned with added si

ddhis (yogic powers), annoying them all the more. At this time Grandfather Bhisma enrolled the Pandava and Kaurava brothers in arc hery training under the renowned archer, Drona. At the end of their lessons, Arj una ranked first place in Drona s tests, and this was another factor to incite jea lousy in the Kauravas. As a final request to his students (guru-dakshine), Drona asked them to arrest a neighboring king, Drupada, and bring him there for justi ce. The Kauravas failed, but Arjuna succeeded, increasing the Pandava s status.

When their training as princes ended, Dhritarastra acknowledged Yudhistira, Kunt i s oldest son, as the heir-apparent to the throne. Dhritarastra s move was an indir ect insult to his oldest son, Duryodhana, whom he considered a buffoon. This ang ered the Kauravas and moved the family deeper into conflict that would eventuall y erupt in the devastating war, which was the basis of the most fundamental book s of the Hindu religion: Mahabharata and Bhagavad-gita.

Vengeance and Cunning Destroy the Family Feeling angry and jealous of the Pandavas, Duryodhana made a plan to kill them. On a family pilgrimage, he built a house of lac for them, and then his servants set it on fire. The Kauravas thought the Pandavas were dead, but they had escape d through an underground tunnel and lived anonymously in the forest for a time. Finally, they heard about and engagement contest (svayamvara) for the hand of th e Princess of Panchali, Droupadi, and went there in disguise. The object of the svayamvara was that the contestants had to string a heavy bow and shoot five arr ows into the eye of a fish that was dangling on a target in a courtyard. Many pr inces had gathered, including the Kauravas, but Arjuna won the competition and b rought Droupadi back to the forest retreat with him. The other princes were unha ppy at losing Droupadi, but Krishna reasoned with them in Arjuna s favor. When the y arrived home with Droupadi, Arjuna told his mother that he had won a great pri ze that day. Without knowing what it was, Kunti instructed her sons to divide it equally among themselves, and thus they all shared Droupadi as their bride. Draupadi Svayamvara Everyone was joyful to find the Pandavas still alive, and married into a promine nt ruling family, and so King Dhritarastra invited them to come back to Hastinap ura and told his sons to give Yudhistira half the kingdom. Yudhistira built his palace and lived peacefully with his brothers, Droupadi and their other wives.

Reunion at Kurukshetra On the occasion of a solar eclipse, all the royal families traveled to Kurukshet ra to observe religious rites. Kurukshetra would later become the battlefield fo r the Great War, but for now it was known only as a holy place of pilgrimage. In a previous millennium, Parasurama, an ancient incarnation of God, had killed th ousands of evil military kings there, and their blood formed a river at that spo t. Kurushetra When the royal families met their relations in Kurukshetra, there were great exc hanges of love. The Krishna Book describes, Meeting after long separation, they w ere all jubilant; their hearts were throbbing, and their faces appeared like fre

shly bloomed lotus flowers. There were drops of tears falling from their eyes, t he hair on their bodies stood on end, and because of their extreme ecstasy, they were temporarily speechless. At this meeting, Vasudeva and Kunti, who were brother and sister, lamented their long separation. Kunti complained about all she had been through due to Duryodh ana. Vasudeva reminded her that he loved her and would have been there to help, except that his life was also miserable due to Kamsa s persecutions. Krishna and Balarama met the residents of Vrindavana and renewed their relations hips with their foster parents, Nanda, Yasoda and Rohini, and the gopis, cowherd girls. The gopis were especially pleased to see Krishna again, since He had nev er fulfilled His promise to return to Vrindavana. While Krishna and Balarama met their childhood friends, Krishna and Balarama met their childhood friends Krishna s parents from Vrindavana met with Vasudeva and Devaki. Vasudeva finally d isclosed to Nanda the events surrounding Krishna s birth, and they both felt grate ful for their fate, having Krishna as their son. While Nanda and Yasoda sometime s thought of Krishna as their ordinary child, Vasudeva and Devaki had always rem ained conscious of Krishna s divinity.

The Great War at Kurukshetra Duryodhana remained angry at the Pandavas and wanted to drive them from the king dom. He challenged Yudhistira to a game of dice, in which Yudhistira lost everyt hing including his brothers, Droupadi and himself. Duryodhana and Yudhistira playing a game of dice. The Kauravas brought Droupadi to the arena to strip off her sari and humiliate h er, but she prayed to Krishna and He mystically supplied an unending length of c loth. Cheer Haran of Draupadi King Dhritarastra came on the scene and gave everything back to the Pandavas and sent them home. Soon after that, despite warnings and protests from all sides, Duryodhana convinced Yudhistira to play dice again, and Yudhistira lost again. T hus to satisfy the terms of the wager, Kunti, the Pandavas and Droupadi went to the forest for twelve years, and spent a additional year incognito. Pandavas and Droupadi went to the forest for twelve years The Pandavas migrated as far north as Badrikashram in the Himalayas for some yea rs, then back to neighboring regions. Toward the end of their exile, the fightin g between the Pandavas and Kauravas heated up again. Duryodhana and his men occa sionally visited the Pandavas in the forest to pick fights. Another mortal enemy , Jayadrath, kidnapped Droupadi, but the Pandavas rescued her. After satisfying the conditions of the dice game by living in exile, the Pandavas returned to Has tinapura to reclaim their kingdom, but Duryodhana refused to give them even a pi npoint of land. The situation between the Kauravas and Pandavas grew extremely t ense. Krishna tried to make peace between the parties, but a war was destined to take place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Krishna became Arjuna s chariot dri ver and spoke the Bhagavad-gita

to Arjuna when the armies drew up to begin fighting. After eighteen days, the wa r was over. All the great heroes of the Kaurava dynasty, along with millions of soldiers, la y dead on the battlefield. Only the Pandavas and a small handful of others remai ned. Asvatthama, one of the remaining warriors, killed Draupadi s children in thei r sleep, hoping to end the royal lineage. Even though Prince Duryodhana wanted t o find some last revenge, he was appalled by this atrocity and died of grief. Th e Pandavas arrested Asvatthama and brought him before Droupadi, but out of compa ssion she pleaded for his life. The shameless Asvatthama made one more attempt t o kill the remaining heir, an unborn grandson in the womb of Uttara, Arjuna s wife . He hurled a brahmastra (nuclear) weapon at Uttara, and when she saw the missil e coming toward her, she ran to Krishna for protection. Krishna, who was prepari ng to leave for His own kingdom, defeated the missile with his Sudarshan-chakra. The child Pariksit grew up to inherit the kingdom. When Gandhari came to Kurukshetra and saw the corpses of her sons scattered on t he battlefield, she blamed Krishna for everything. She cursed Him that in thirty -six years He would also lose everything and die, so that the women in His famil y would cry, just as she was crying. Then King Dhritarastra, Gandhari, Kunti and their gurus Vidura and Sanjaya left for the forest.

Demise of the Dynasties and Death of Krishna The Pandavas lived in grief due to separation from their relatives. After six ye ars, Yudhistira saw his mother in a dream and they all went to the forest to see her. They took Vyasa, a sage and grandfather in the family, with them. Gandhari and Kunti told Vyasa they wanted to see their dead relatives. Vyasa advised the m to dip into the Ganges, which they did, and when they came out they saw Karna, Duryodhana and all the others standing on the bank of the river. Even the blind king Dhritarastra saw the vision. After the Pandavas returned to Hastinapura, t wo days later a forest fire killed Dhritarastra, Kunti and Gandhari. Yudhistira had become king after the Great War, but reigned for only a few years before the family crowned Pariksit, Arjuna s son, as king. The Pandavas and Droup adi left their material engagements to prepare for the end of life (maha-prastha na). They departed for the Himalayas mountains where heaven is, walking in a lin e with Yudhistira first, then the other brothers, Droupadi, and finally Yudhisti ra s dog. As they climbed the mountains, first Droupadi died, then each of the bro thers died, until finally Yudhistira reached the gates of heaven, followed only by the dog. Lord Indra was there to meet him. When Yudhistira realized that his brothers and wife were dead, he didn t want to go into heaven alone, but Indra sai d the others were already there waiting for him, thus Yudhistira and the dog ent ered heaven with Lord Indra. Along with the curse of Gandhari, another curse befell Krishna s dynasty that cont ributed to its annihilation. Once some of Krishna s sons were playing around and t hey dressed Samba as a pregnant woman, and brought him before some visiting sage s Visvamitra, Kanva and Narada Muni. In jest they asked the sages to predict wha t kind of child Samba would give birth to. Insulted, the sages said he would giv e birth to an iron rod that would become the instrument to fulfill the prophecy of their dynasty s demise. Fearful and repentant, the boys asked Krishna what to d o, but Krishna acknowledged the curse and said it was meant to be. When Samba de livered an iron rod the next day, the Yadavas (Krishna s sons) filed it into powde r and threw it into the sea. Krishna enforced a prohibition on liquor in Dvaraka , hoping to avoid what was destined to come. Still evil omens began: rats multip lied and attacked humans in their sleep, sheep howled like jackals, asses were b orn from cows, and cats from mules. Krishna s Sudarshan-chakra weapon disappeared into the sky.

Eventually the powder from the iron rod washed up on the shore and grew into arr ow-like grass. The Yadavas became drunk and used the rods to kill each other. Ev en Krishna beat people out of anger. In this fratricidal war all the descendents of Krishna killed each other. Krishna sent His messenger Daruka to Hastinapura to inform Arjuna of the demise of the Yadava race, then consoled the women in th e palace. He told his wives that Arjuna would take care of them and left for the forest. Krishna s brother Balarama sat down under a tree and his life air came ou t of his mouth like a white serpent and entered the sea. Krishna roamed the fore st for some time, then sat down to meditate. When a hunter named Jara came by, h e mistook Krishna for a deer and shot an arrow into His foot. Krishna died at on ce and his spirit rose into heaven. Arjuna cremated Krishna and several of His p rinciple queens died in the funeral pyre after Him. Arjuna left for Hastinapura with the remaining wives, but on the way, forest dwellers attacked and the women dove into the Satasvati River and died to escape. Philosophers and scholars of the time knew that the death of Krishna marked the beginning of Kali-yuga, the present age of degradation. Thus, to preserve this h eritage and the stories of Krishna for future generations, they held a conventio n in the Forest of Naimasharanya. The sages discussed all these stories and Vyas a, one of the sages present, later wrote everything down in what is now the Srim ad-Bhagavatam.

In Hinduism and Indian mythology Krishna is the eighth avatar or reincarnation o f the god Vishnu. He is one of the most popular Hindu gods. Birth He is the son of Yadava cheif Vasudeva and his wife Devaki. Because of that he i s also known as 'Vasudeva Krishna' or Vasudeva. He was the eigth son in the fami ly. Devaki's brother,Kansa had ascended the throne of Mathura by imprisoning his father, King Ugrasena. The king Kansa,afraid of a prophecy that predicted his d eath at the hands of Devaki's eighth son, Kansa had the couple locked into a pri son cell. After Kansa killed the first six children, Krishna's brother, Devaki's seventh child, Balarama was miraculously saved by Vishnu. Krishna was also save d when exchanged by his parents for the daughter of a herdsman Nanda and his wif e Yasoda (the daughter was also a divine being, an incarnation of Maya). Life Nanda was the head of a community of cow-herders in Vrindavana. The stories of K rishna's childhood and youth tell how he became a cow herder, his mischievous pr anks as Makhan Chor (butter thief), and his role as a protector of the people of

Vrindavana. Krishna is said to have killed the demons like Putana, sent by Kams a for Krishna's life. He tamed the serpent Kaliya, who previously poisoned the w aters of Yamuna river.Krishna is believed to have lifted the Govardhana hill and taught Indra, the king of the devas and rain, a lesson to protect native people of Vrindavana from persecution by Indra and prevent the devastation of the past ure land of Govardhan. With his foster parents Krishna spent a happy life playin g boyish pranks and seducing the gopis (cow girls) and other rustic maidens. The y found his flute playing irresistible. Legend has it he may have had 16,000 wiv es. But his favorite was Radha, daughter of his foster father, and his childhood lover, although they did not marry. On his return to Mathura as a young man, Krishna overthrew and killed his matern al uncle, Kansa, after avoiding several assassination attempts from Kansa's foll owers. He reinstated Kansa's father, Ugrasena, as the king of the Yadavas and be came a leading prince at the court. During this period, he became a friend of Ar juna and the other Pandava princes of the Kuru kingdom, who were his cousins. Marriage and Family Krishna married Rukmini, the Vidarbha princess, by abducting her,at her request, from her proposed wedding with Shishupala. Krishna also married Jambavati, the daughter of Jambavat, and Satyabhama, the daughter of Satrajit.Krishna subsequen tly married 16,100 maidens who were held captive by demon Narakasura, of which e ight were chief collectively called the Ashta Bharya including Rukmini, Satyabhama, Jambavati, Kalindi, Mitravrinda, Nagnajiti, Bhadra and Lakshana.Krishna killed t he demon and released them all. He had about 180,000 sons. With his first wife Rukmini he had ten sons -Pradyumna being the first, Charudes hna, Sudeshna ,Charudeha, Sucharu, Chharugupta, Bhadracaru, Charuchandra, Vicaru , Caru the tenth and a daughter Charumati. The ten sons of Satyabhama were Bhanu, Subhanu, Svarbhanu, Prabhanu, Bhanuman, C handrabhanu, Brihadbhanu, Atibhanu (the eighth), Sribhanu and Pratibhanu. His sons by Jambavati were Samba, Sumitra, Purujit, Satajit, Sahasrajit, Vijaya, Citraketu, Vasuman, Dravida and Kratu. The sons of Nagnajiti were Vira, Candra, Asvasena, Citragu, Vegavan, Vrisha, Ama , Sanku, Vasu and the opulent Kunti. Sruta, Kavi, Vrisha, Vira, Subahu, Bhadra, Santi, Darsa and Purnamasa were sons of Kalindi. Her youngest son was Somaka. Madra's sons were Praghosha, Gatravan, Simha, Bala, Prabala, Urdhaga, Mahasakti, Saha, Oja and Aparajita. Mitravinda's sons were Vrika, Harsha, Anila, Gridhra, Vardhana, Unnada, Mahamsa, Pavana, Vahni and Kshudhi. Sangramajit, Brihatsena, Sura, Praharana, Arijith, Jaya and Subhadra were the so ns of Bhadra, together with Vama, Ayur and Satyaka. Diptiman, Tamratapta and others were the sons by Rohini. Role in Mahabharath

Krishna had a profound effect on the Mahabharata war and its consequences. Krish na played a crucial role in trying to bring peace between the warring brothers a nd finally taking the side of the Pandavas and ensuring their victory. At the ou tset of the great war, as the two armies stood on the plains of Kurukshetra ,in the present day it is the state of Haryana , Arjuna, the greatest among the arch ers, refused to fight. He refused to fight with his own kith and kin, his belove d elders and venerable gurus (teachers).

Holding the reins of Arjuna's chariot, Krishna,the charioteer or `sarathi` of Ar juna during this war , extolled and inspired him to do his duty to restore 'Dhar ma'. Krishna then advises him about the battle, with the conversation soon exten ding into a discourse which was later compiled as the Bhagavad Gita. With the cl ouds of guilt cleared from his conscience, Arjuna lifted his bow to fulfill his duty that is to wipe the earth of all evil-doers and supporters of Adharma. Thus Krishna's mission accomplished in Mahbharata, he then returned to his own s easide kingdom of Dwarka on the western coast of India in the present Saurashtra (Gujarat). Death In the Kurukshetra war Krishna was a witness of Bhisma`s and Duryodhana`s death. Immediately after, Lord Krishna received the curse of Duryodhana`s mother, Gand hari for not rescuing his son , as she worshipped and revered him eqaully with l ord Vishnu. She (Gandhari) cursed Lord Krishna that he would perish after thirty -six years, all alone and in a miserable state. All his followers, devotees, rel atives and loved ones will also die simultaneously. When this time arrived in Lo rd Krishna`s life, a madness seized the inhabitants of Dwaraka in such an extent that the people started to kill one another. All sons and grandsons of Krishna were also dead in the massacre. Only the women, Krishna and Balaram were alive i n Dwaraka. Balarama then gave up his body using Yoga.Lord Krishna sent the women and childr en along with a messenger to the Kuru city and they were left with the Pandavas. Krishna then retired into the forest and sat under a tree in meditation. He was believed to be shot by a hunter ( Bali in his previous life ) who mistook him f or a peacock by glimse of peacock feather that Krishna used to wear on his head. Then Krishna's soul ascended to heaven, his mortal body was cremated by Arjuna. It is also said that after the Pandavas had died. Krishna was reborn. The Abhir as, the very people who destroyed Dwaraka, brought Krishna back to life by makin g him their god.

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Prologue

'Whenever dharma or righteousness declines and unrighteousness is on rise I embo dy myself as an Incarnation - Avatara -' so declares Lord Krishna in the Gita. I n Hindu mythology such incarnations are always of Lord Vishnu, the sustainer of the three worlds. Sri Krishna is no exception. The ancient India was ridden with adharma - sense enjoyment, hatred, jealousy, e xploitation and crimes on innocent people. The kings had forgotten their duties of protecting the people and ruling for the welfare of all. God and religion wer e swept under the carpet; forgotten in the sense gratification of the rich and t he powerful. Kamsa, the king of Mathura, was one such cruel king who ruled his kingdom heavyhandedly. Sycophancy, neglect of needs of the people, and exploitation of the we ak was rampant. He drove out his father and took his throne per force. People we re afraid of him, cursing his wickedness in silence, but without any power to di slodge him or openly revolt against him. And, as is customary, they all prayed t o the Lord Almighty to embody as human being and relive them from their miseries by destroying the wicked King. The gods in the heaven heard their prayers. Indra, the King of Heavenly Kingdom, was also worried about the growing power of wicked Kamsa who, Indra was afraid, might attack and snatch the Kingdom of Heaven from him. Thus, after consultatio ns among themselves, all the heavenly gods approached Lord Vishnu in His abode a t Vaikuntha and pleaded to save mankind as well as them from the evil propensiti es of Kamsa. "O Lord of Lords, O savior of all, nothing is unknown to you. You know the condi tion of earthly people under the malevolent rule of Kamsa, and the threat he pos es to the kingdom of heaven. Instead of dharma, adharma reigns supreme now. O de stroyer of enemies, help us; help us. We take refuge in you," so prayed Indra to Lord Vishnu. Reassuring the terrified and anxious gods, the Lord replied, "Have no worries an ymore, for soon I will take birth on the Earth to put the unrighteous rule of Ka msa to an end. And behold! the sinner will also be destroyed along with all his power and supporters. I have decided to be born as his nephew, as the son of his sister Devaki." Indian mythology is full of such wonderful complexities. The Lord taking birth i n the family of the wicked king to destroy the wicked himself! Of course Kamsa h ad no prior knowledge of all these promises and plans of the Lord. Kamsa gave his sister Devaki in marriage to a noble king Vasudeva, who was pious , god-fearing, righteous, and a devotee of Vishnu. Devaki herself was kind, comp assionate, and devoted to God. Thus, the couple offered the perfect human condit ions for the Lord to incarnate on the Earth as their son. During the marriage pr ocession, as Kamsa himself was driving her sister to her husband's palace, there occurred an unusual forecast. A ringing voice echoed from the heavens: "O fool Kamsa, Devaki and Vasudeva to whom you are so lovingly driving to their palace shall be the cause of your downfall and death. Listen, the eighth son of Devaki will be Lord Himself who would not spare you and your wicked supporters f rom total annihilation." Kamsa was flabbergasted to hear such a strange and inauspicious forecast. Fear d renched his brow and his heart trembled in desperation. His wicked mind instantl y decided to put an end to both his newly wedded sister and his brother-in-law. Taking out his sword he was about to attack Devaki, when Vasudeva intervened and said: "O Kamsa, how cruel you are! The sin you are going to commit of killing n

ewly married younger sister will bring windfall of miseries and diseases to you. Even life in hell will not be sufficient penance for such a ghastly crime. I su ggest an alternative; don't kill her, I give my word of honor that the eighth ch ild that will be born to us will be handed over to you. Then there will be no da nger to you; you can very easily kill the child." Kamsa accepted the offer partly. He made the couple promise that every child bor n to them would be handed over within hours of birth, and he put his sister Deva ki and her husband Vasudeva in the prison, soldiers constantly guarding the cell .

Birth of Sri Krishna Days passed by; tyranny of Kamsa increased. He levied unnecessary stiff taxes fr om farmers, petty traders and businessmen, not sparing milkmen, washer-men, and similar simple people. Villages close to the capital city of Mathura, like Gokul and Vrindavan, bore the maximum brunt of these atrocities. Instead of mitigatio n of sufferings, protests and appeals were severely and ruthlessly dealt with, w ith harsh punishment. People continued to pray to the Lord for respite from such dreadful rule of asura - demon - Kamsa. Meanwhile in the prison, Devaki gave birth to her first child. The cry of the ne wborn reached the ears of the guards who immediately conveyed the news to now Un cle Kamsa of the birth of his first nephew! Stonehearted Kamsa had no hesitation in snatching the baby from the lap of the mother and smashing her on the stony walls of the prison. Cruelty thus showed its worst form in this act of Kamsa. Va sudeva and Devaki protested and pleaded that it was the eighth child that posed threat to Kamsa's life, and hence it's sinful to kill other babies. But cunning and fearful Kamsa was not ready to listen to these sane arguments. "Birth and de ath are cycles in circles, and thus who knows, which child is first and which on e is the eighth?" he argued and justified his killing seven children subsequentl y. His quota of sin was now full, and the Lord incarnated as Sri Krishna as the eig hth child of Devaki and Vasudeva. It was rainy night of eighth day of the month of Shravana (Hindu Calendar); the sky was filled with dark heavy clouds and rain s poured incessantly cats and dogs. Lightning struck terror all around. The near by river Jamuna swelled in full flood, water rising sky high; her currents roare d noisily causing fear in every heart. But inside the prison-cell there appeared the Divine Form of Sri Vishnu, with ra diant aura and halo around His face; the celestial beauty unsurpassed by any for m and countenance. His four hands granted boons, showered Grace, and offered pro tection to all. Thus, presenting Himself before the couple devotees, the Lord sa id: "O Devaki, as per your wish of yester births, I now take the form of Sri Kri shna as your son. Do not worry; everything will come to most benevolent end. Thu s speaking in sweetest reassuring voice, the Lord took the form of an ordinary h uman baby and sat on the lap of Mother Devaki." Soon the play, 'Lila' of the God Almighty was enacted. All the soldiers guarding the prison were put to deep sleep; there was quiet peace all around. The prison

gates opened automatically, and a voice was heard: "O Vasudeva, put me in that basket and take me to the house of Nandalal across the river Jamuna to the villa ge of Gokul. There exchange me with the newly born daughter Maya of Yashoda and come back." Bewildered, Vasudeva, as if hypnotized, got up, his shackles/fetters dropping of f their own. A basket with soft cushions lay in the corner and Vasudeva keeping the baby Krishna in it started for Gokul. Nandalal, the chieftain of Gokul, was a friend of Vasudeva where baby Krishna would be safe from the evil designs of K amsa. Nandalal's wife Yashoda had also given birth to a baby girl on the same ni ght. But both Nandalal and Yashoda were in a state of mystic sleep, oblivious to all the happenings around. Play of the Lord is always inscrutable! Vasudeva was to exchange Sri Krishna with that girl, Maya. As already told, the river Jamuna was in full spate, but Vasudeva was in no hurr y or worry. With constant gratefulness in the heart for the merciful Lord (for h aving given darshana to him), Vasudeva proceeded ahead in a manner of least both eration. The rains, lightning, darkness of night; nothing perturbed him any more . And soon he reached the flooded river Jamuna. What would one do to cross such a mighty river? Nothing, as far as Vasudeva was concerned! He continued to march ahead and as soon as he touched the waters of Jamuna, the river parted in two, leaving a dry path in between. On both the sides the waters of Jamuna rose head high, but for Vasudeva they posed no difficulty. And the Gracious Krishna, as an act of love and blessings, outstretched his feet so as to allow Jamuna to touch and wash them. It was the late hours of night when Vasudeva reached the house of Nandalal in Go kul. The gates opened and allowed Vasudeva to enter without hurdle. He exchanged the baby boy Sri Krishna, with the baby girl of Yashoda and returned to the pri son cell before dawn.

Atrocities continue Soon the illusion created by Almighty vanished; the baby started crying, and the guards hearing the cry rushed to their Master Kamsa to inform the fateful birth of his terminator, the eighth child of Devaki. Rushing to the prison, Kamsa sna tched the baby from the crying Devaki. He was surprised to learn that the child was a female, but the pleas to spare the girl fell on deaf ears. Determined, as he was to leave no trace of any child of Devaki, Kamsa, the maternal uncle of th e child, was about to hit the baby on the stony prison wall. But Lo! The child M aya escaped from his hands and swirled high in the sky, making one more pronounc ement: "O cruel king, what's the use of trying to kill me. Your destroyer has al ready taken birth; be certain your end has come near. No power on the earth woul d now be able to save you from the final annihilation at the hands of the Lord." Kamsa could not understand this intriguing announcement. How could anyone escape from his heavily guarded prison! He threatened Devaki and Vasudeva of serious c onsequences, if they did not tell him the truth, all truth about the pronounceme nt. But the couple was now fearless, as both of them had seen God. They knew tha t nothing evil could befall upon them whom the Lord Himself was protecting. Henc e no threat could make them tell the story of the previous night.

Enraged and worried, Kamsa hit upon a plan; he ordered that all babies born in h is kingdom during those last days should be killed. Whole kingdom was on put on alert, sins compounding sins further! The tragedy was heart rendering for many i nnocent mothers, babies being snatched from their breasts and put to death. This is how sins increase, adharma manifests. Reason and compassion lose their value and importance in the eyes of cruel. The Mother Earth weeps silently and prays for respite from the Lord. Childhood of Sri Krishna Here at Gokul, Yashoda came out of the spellbinding sleep and heard the child cr ying beside her. Pleased to see the most beautiful, healthy, and radiant child, she put him to her breast, tears of joy flowing from her eyes. She was not aware of the unusual thing of the exchange of babies at the behest of none other than the Lord with his Power of Maya. Morning saw the news spread all over the village, Nandalal was pleased, and so w as everyone. A festive atmosphere prevailed all around. Merriment and jubilation s, dancing and singing was in the air. Women folk assembled in the spacious hous e of Yashoda, now Yashoda Maiyya (mother). Everyone wanted to look at the beauti ful newborn, every woman desiring to cuddle the child. It was customary in those days to allow breastfeeding of the child by other lactating mothers of the vill age as well. Joy of Yashoda and Nandalal knew no bounds. Childhood Lilas 1 The Killing of Putana In the first week messengers of Kamsa informed about the birth of a new baby at Nandalal's house. Gokul and Nandalal were loyal to the king, hence Kamsa decided to handle the situation with some finesse. Instead of directly ordering his sol diers to kill the baby, he summoned one of his lady attendants, Putana, and inst ructed her to kill the baby Krishna by some or other trick. Putana was capable o f changing herself into a variety of forms through her magical powers. Thus, ass uring her chief Kamsa about the desired result to his plan, she left for Gokul. In the Gokul atmosphere was full of gaiety and lavish decor, filled with sweet s inging of customary songs for the newborn. Ladies filled the room, dressed in mo st lovely costumes adorning most enchanting jewelry and perfumes. The demoness P utana changed herself into a beautiful and young lactating mother when she reach ed the house of Yashoda. Posing herself as a distant aunt of baby Krishna, Putan a requested Mother Yashoda to allow her to take the child to her breast, for she said, 'the flow of milk from her breast could not be stopped now on seeing such a wonderful child'. Putana had changed herself into such an attractive and enchanting motherly lady that Yashoda never suspected any foul play. Moreover, so many women had gathered in her house that it was not easy to know each and every one of them. Thus, unh esitant and simple-minded Yashoda allowed Putana to breastfeed the baby in the i nner chamber of her house that allowed some privacy. What was the plan of the ki ller Putana? How was to kill baby Krishna? Putana had thought of a novel plan. She was pretty sure that Yashoda would allow her to feed the child. All that she needed to do was to apply a large amount po isonous potion to her breasts. Thus, pleased with the opportunity to serve the w icked boss Putana put the baby to her breast. Lord Krishna knew everything; for the whole purpose of His incarnation was to destroy the wicked. Poison would not affect Him in the least, but He also had to send the message to Kamsa and other s of His arrival and His power.

Thus, instead of suckling the breast, baby Krishna bites the breast tissue with all His power. The unexpected and severe pain was too much for Putana to bear. S he tried to escape, but of no avail. The Lord had taken her hold and no power co uld free her. Short of breath, writhing and sweating in pain and distress, Putan a shouted for help and mercy. Soon she turned blue and died, baby Krishna playin g on her chest. Magic power of Putana left her after her death, and the 'enchant ing and attractive' lady form changed to most ghastly and ugly look of a demon. Rushing at the unusual noises and cries, Yashoda and other ladies saw the most t errifying sight of their lives. The demon was lying with unusually large and dar k form, and the fair boy playing calmly over her huge chest! Terrified and anxio us Ma Yashoda took the child in her arms and started praising the Lord for the s afe escape of her child from the clutches of the demon, with Lord in her arms! Soon with the maya power of the Lord, everyone forgot about the unusual display of power by a mere baby! *

Childhood Lilas 2 Thus, baby Krishna killed many more demons sent by Kamsa. These include Bakasura , Aghasura, Shakatasura, Trunavarta, Dhenukasura, and many more. To describe all of these would be repetition in most parts. Hence, we would only take up some important 'playfulness' of baby Krishna. All these Lilas point to divine prowess of the Lord, and to look at them from human point of view, of rea son and rationality would be of no use. The Lord has His own way to lead the hum an kind towards gaining His love and yearning for spiritual realizations. Thus, Bhakti forms the basic theme of childhood Lilas of Sri Krishna. There sole purpo se is to imbibe upon the mind of we ordinary mortals in the supernatural, or to be precise, transcendental nature and power of the Divine. All these Lilas are t rue, most Hindus, in particular Vaishnava (sect of followers of Sri Krishna) bel ieve. Some maintain that over a period of time excessive emphasis led to mytholo gization of the Life of God Incarnate Sri Krishna. Whatever may be the case, lis tening to or reading these Lilas instills unusual peace and fearlessness in the mind of listeners and the readers. Ma Yashoda has Vishwa Rupa Darshana (Vision of all pervading Universal form of t he Lord) Once it was brought to the notice of Yashoda that her Krishna eats earthly clods now and then. Yashoda did not believe it, but one day she decided to look for h erself. On a complaint by a Gopi, milkmaid, she caught hold of child Krishna and insisted he open his mouth to show whether in fact he has eaten dirt etc. Reluc tantly Krishna opened his mouth, and what Yashoda saw therein made her head swir l. For there she saw not tongue or teeth, nor dirt or saliva, but presence of th ree worlds! Yashoda saw the Universal Mouth occupied by both sentient and insentient beings, heavens and earth with their suns and moons, stars and nebulae, mountains and r ivers, she also saw the five primordial principles of Ether, Air, Fire, water, a nd earth, and three gunas sattva, rajas, and tamas. The gods were seen there pra ising the Almighty Lord, and all human forms, in the three phases of creation, s ustenance and destruction. Puzzled beyond imagination, Ma Yashoda suspected herself to be dreaming or in th

e hold of some yogic Maya power. She wondered whether her mind was under the spe ll of illusion or her thought under the spell of delusion. But soon she realized she was looking at the Divine Play of the Lord, and started praising Him as: "O ne, who cannot be the object of mind, thought, imagination, reason, and one who is beyond all actions, beyond all words and languages; the whole universe is und er whose control, to that Lord I bow down in gratitude and reverence. One, whose Maya every soul is incapable of understanding, His true nature is beyond the fi ve senses, whose Maya compels everyone on the earth to remain tied or bound in r elations, and whereby one speaks of 'my husband, my wife, my son, my money, my h ouse, my wealth' and such bondage with pride and infatuation, to that Lord I sur render in gratitude and reverence." When Yashoda had such knowledge of the Principle of Sri Krishna, the omnipotent Lord led her to the state of samadhi and erased all this knowledge through His M aya Power, lest Yashoda should give up her duties and motherly love towards chil d Krishna. Yashoda tries to tie Baby Krishna Baby Krishna had now grown up a little and was able to walk a bit, and also run with unsteady steps. He used to steal butter, break earthen pots that stored mil k, curd, etc., which caused many problems as any naughty child would pose to the mother. On most occasions, even when neighbors complained, Ma Yashoda would tur n a deaf ear and blind eye to all such playfulness of her loving child. But one day the she was very angry with baby Krishna's naughtiness. She decided to tie him with a string/rope for some time so that she could finish her househo ld work without any disturbance from him. Thus, she ran after Krishna and tried to catch him, but does Lord allow such 'catching Him' easily? Such a small child made fun of her and escaped now and then. Tired, and with sweat appearing on he r face, Yashoda pleaded with him to be obedient. At last out of love Krishna all owed himself to be caught. Yashoda brought a thin rope long enough to tie a baby and tried to brace it arou nd his waist. But the rope fell two inches short. Hence she added another length to the first one, but of no avail. The rope became very long that would have go ne all over the house itself, but fell two inch short every time Yashoda tried t o tie baby Krishna! Is it possible for anyone or has anyone yet put a limit to l imitless! Has anyone bound the boundless! Tears started flowing from the eyes of the mother, and then all merciful Lord allowed Himself to be tied. Bhakti and l ove limits the Lord to a form, and then the Lord is tied in a relationship with a true bhakta, as a lover, a mother, a friend, or a servant.

Life in Vrindavan Days passed by. Child Krishna grew into most loving and attractive boy of about six or seven years of age. Playful and joyful he pleased everyone, including the elders as well as the young. He was very naughty and stole butter and cheese fr om nearby houses. With sham anger Gopis, milkmaids and friends of Yashoda, used to complain to her about the troubles that the boy made them suffer. But the rea l reason of coming to Yashoda's house was to have a look at the most loving Kris hna, or Kishan as most called the boy. Joy of Yashoda and Nandalal knew no bounds. However, dismayed and worried at the

frequent attacks on the life of Krishna at Gokul by the demons, they decided to shift their clan to nearby safer Vrindavan. Thus, at about the age of six Krish na with his elder brother Balaram (Balaram was the son of Nandalal from his seco nd wife Rohini) left Gokul for Vrindavan where many more Lilas were enacted. Bot h the children enjoyed the forests and trees, and swimming in the clean waters o f Jamuna. Moreover, they were now permitted to tend cows to the forest for grazi ng, although mostly it was Krishna who went on this errand, Balaram rarely did s o. Here, in calm and serene atmosphere on the banks of Jamuna, many village boys became his friends and they were engaged in variety of plays, games, and sports . Kaliya Mardan (taming of poisonous snake Kaliya) One day all the boys were playing the game of throwing ball. To avoid the hit, t he boys ran hither and thither. On one occasion when the game was in full swing and at its climax, the ball fell into in the river Jamuna at one particular spot where a deadly water serpent lived. This caused lots of disappointment in the b oys. Hence Sri Krishna decided to bring it. He was preparing to jump in the rive r when one of his friends shouted, 'Gopal, do not go into those waters, for ther e lives a dangerous and most poisonous snake with his family who kills everyone going near him. The ball is probably in that area and it would be totally unsafe fro you to attempt to fetch it.' It so happened that from the fear of Eagle Garuda this snake family had ran away from the sea and taken shelter in the safe waters of Jamuna. But the poison ema nating from them had killed many a man and woman, so also innumerable cows and a nimals. Sri Krishna knew about this and it was a part of his plan to kill that s nake known as Kaliya. Therefore, not heeding to warning of his friends, he jumpe d into the river. Going deep in search of ball as well as the deadly Kaliya, Krishna heard the his sing at a distance. Alarmed and cautious he looked for the enemy and soon found the black serpent approaching him. The serpent had innumerable fangs in many mou ths. Soon Sri Krishna and the snake were engaged in the bitterest fight. The Lor d was agile and did not allow any fang to touch him, but at the same time shower ed blows on the head of the snake one after the other. Angered and hurt the serp ent fumed and poured all the venom on the child, but of no avail. The serpent wa s vanquished once for all. Taming the serpent, baby Krishna climbed on the huge hood of the snake and came up above the water level. Here he enacted the most ec static, rhythmic and graceful, dance. The worried friends on the bank were surpr ised at this unusual victory of their friend, and started shouting 'Glory unto S ri Krishna, Glory unto Sri Krishna!" Soon the news spread to the hutments in the village and people flocked to see th is unusual sight. Worried and terrified, Ma Yashoda came rushing praying to the Lord to keep her Krishna safe. Beauty of the blue bodied, wearing yellow silk cl oth, radiant and all graceful Krishna is described in most beautiful way in Bhag avata (Holy Book of Vaishnava). The ladies of serpent family showered praise and prayed to Krishna to pardon their husband Kaliya. They pleaded 'O Lord, because of evil deeds of our past lives, you and your Maya Power has given us poison an d nothing else. What could we do to worship you! In your worship also we eject a nd vomit poison, O Lord save us from such drudgery. Do not kill Kaliya." Heart of all-merciful Lord melted at the praise and pleas of the creatures, and he ordered them to leave Jamuna and shift their residence elsewhere. On this con dition alone the Lord spared the life of Kaliya. Thus, the great danger to the p eople of Vrindavan and pollution of the river came to an end.

Sri Krishna lifts Mount Govardhan One more episode is worth recounting here. It is about teaching a lesson to God Indra, king of Heaven. It must have been clear by now that at the time of Sri Kr ishna, the economy depended on agriculture. Harvest and crops and thereby life o n the earth depended upon timely rains and healthy seasons. God Indra is suppose d to control all these forces. Therefore, it was customary on the parts of villa ges to sing glories of Indra and perform yajnas (sacrifices and rituals) in the glory and honor of Indra and other deities. Every year large amount of butter, w ood, grains, and milk etc. would be collected and for a week or so and offered t o the deities as an act of gratitude. Indra had become very proud due such royal respect he received; he did not know that respect demanded out of fear and terror is not true respect. Indra started to think that he was the caretaker, sustainer, and destroyer of the worlds. That is, he thought that he was the Supreme Lord of the universe. Sri Krishna wanted to teach Indra a lesson, and show him his rightful place. Therefore, he suggest ed to the people of his clan to worship trees, mountains, rivers, grains, and fa rms instead of wasting large amount of firewood, milk, and its products in the n ame of Yajna for Indra. Sri Krishna convinced his father how useful and appropri ate such a worship of nature would be. Nandalal agreed to this proposal, and on experimental basis it was decide to worship mount Govardhan near Vrindavan. Thus , worship continued and Indra was not remembered. Joyous vrajavasi - people livi ng in Vrindavan, celebrated the occasion of Govardhan Puja with gaiety and fervo ur. Indra was furious for having been neglected at the behest of a small boy! Under the infatuation of vanity, and blinded by pride, he was unaware of the real natu re of baby boy. He decided to take revenge. He ordered his forces to his presenc e and asked clouds and wind to wreck havoc on Vrindavan. Obeying the order of th e master huge clouds gathered over the village. The day turn into black night, a s if. Winds blew tearing apart huts and houses, uprooted tress, and the people o f Vraja were terrified beyond description. Soon it started raining cats and dogs , the rain that no one in his/her lifetime had ever seen or imagined. The plains were flooded, houses collapsed. All Gope and Gopis rushed to Nandalal for safet y and advice. Even Nandalal had no answer to such a fury of nature. But Sri Krishna was not perturbed in the least. He advised all the residents of the village to accompany him to mount Govardhan where they would be safe at the top. But it rained and rained and made life impossible there also. Then Sri Kris hna decided to dishonour Indra completely. He lifted the mount Govardhan with on e little finger and using it as an umbrella, asking all the people to take shelt er under it. For seven days and seven nights Indra unleashed his fury, but nothi ng could hurt the people of Vrindavan under the protection of Sri Krishna and mo unt Govardhan. Seeing the most unusual thing in his life, Indra, a pious and godly person as he was, started contemplating about Divine Being with such powers. Soon he realize d the truth of Sri Krishna's descent on the earth. 'Oh, what a fool I have been! I challenged the supreme Lord in my blind pride and infatuation,' he repented. Descending down to earth, he prostrated before Sri Hari and sought pardon and fo rgiveness for his misdeeds. He praised Krishna's and sung hymns of His glories. The all-merciful Lord lifted Indra from his feet and pressed him to his chest in the most loving gesture of brotherhood. From that day, Sri Krishna is also know n as Giridhari, Girdhar, and Govardhandhari (one who has lifted and shouldered m ount (giri) Govardhan).