Krishnalila

Part 5

CHAPTER 6

PUTANA KILLED

Krishna as

Putana-Ghatana

(Pastime & Significance)

* Who is Putana?

* Putana enters Gokula

* Anxiety of Gokula’s Inhabitants

* Krishna’s unlimited mercy

CO

NT

EN

T * Krishna’s pastime with Putana

* Nanda Maharaja’s Deliberation

BG 4.8paritranaya sadhunamvinasaya ca duskrtam

dharma-samsthāpanārthāyasambhavami yuge yuge

To deliver the pious

To annihilate miscreants “Avatar”

-Divine Descent

Purpose?

To reestablish religious principles

Krishna appears millennium after

millennium

BACKGROUND

K

* Kamsa consults his demoniac counsellors

* The Plan - Persecutions- Killing of Male Infants

* Sri Krishna’s Birth Ceremony

* Nanda & Vasudeva meet- Vasudeva’s warning of disturbance in Gokula

Nan

da M

aharaja’s D

eliberatio

n

Vasudeva’s warning of Potential Disturbance in Gokula

Warning was friendly and sincere

The value of timely warnings and good advice

Nanda takes shelter of Vishnu

Fear as an impetus for bhakti

Being fearless in superior protection

- Child-Parent Analogy applied to

Krishna and us

Being Abhaya Charanaravinda

- Fearless under Krishna’s Feet

Wh

o is P

utan

a?

Kamsa consults demoniac ministers

Kamsa decides to send Putana to Gokula to kill Krishna

Putana - a khechari witch & one of Kamsa’s many demoniac associates

Khecari witches can fly in the sky on uprooted trees - still current in remote north-western India. They can change size and form too.

Skilled in the black art of killing small children

What is black art? - Left Tantra- Scriptures provide guidelines for all activities, both good and bad to facilitate the desires of the conditioned souls.

But, the dire consequences are also spelt out.

* Krishna’s Holy Name mitigates all ghostly effects.

* But, Krishna uses anxiety to draw devotees towards Him.

Pu

tana en

ters Go

kula

oPutana enters Gokula without permission - how?

o Goal – to feed Krishna poisoned milk

oDisguised as a beautiful cowherd woman – Descriptions

oShe appeared like the Goddess of Fortune with a lotus flower in her hand, come to see Krishna.

oHer beauty mesmerised everyone & she

owas left unchecked

o– Danger of Material Beauty

oPutana enters Nanda Maharaja’s house and sees Baby Krishna.

o- Her understanding …

Putana senses the supreme destructive potency of the child.

sarvasya caham

hrdi sannivisto

- BG 15.15

-Gives intelligence, remembrance and forgetfulness

Krishna is situated in everyone’s heart as Paramatma

Pu

tana en

ters Go

kula

God is Supremely powerful &

Transcendental in all

circumstances

This applies whether in the spiritual world or the material world.

He is God either as a baby or as a cowherd or as a prince or as a boar, etc. as His various descents show.

Krishna does not have to meditate to become God. He is eternally God.

Proof ? …

Pu

tana en

ters Go

kula

Krishna displays His

baby pastimes

Krish

na’s p

astime w

ith P

utan

a

Closes His eyes

Why? …

Putana’s hesitation

He did not like to see Putana’s face

Killing a woman, brahmana, child and cows is a sin – Vedic rules

Krishna saw Putana as a nurse

VE

DA

- 7 MO

TH

ER

S

Original Mother

Brahmana’s Wife

Guru’s Wife

King’s Wife

Cow

Nurse

Earth

Krish

na’s p

astime w

ith P

utan

a

Krish

na’s p

astime w

ith P

utan

a

•Putana took Krishna on her lap.

•She was holding death personified.

•Both Rohini and Yasoda were there but could not understand.•- Thought of her as having motherly affection.

•Putana smeared powerful poison on her breasts and pushed her nipples within Krishna’s mouth.

•Krishna while sucking the milk also sucked out her life air.

•Putana cried loudly “leave me” and perspiring and trembling fell to the ground, regaining her original witch form.

•12-mile body came crashing down

An

xiety of G

oku

la’s Inh

abitan

ts

Gopis shocked -Krishna’s Yogamaya potency

•They rushed to Krishna-Vatsalya

Prayers for protection-Shuddhi

-- with cow’s tail & circumambulation, cow urine, cow dung and dust raised by walking of cows

-– purification of body by the chanting of Vishnu’s Holy Names – Significance of Tilaka

An

xiety of G

oku

la’s Inh

abitan

ts

Purification

Performance of Achamana – sipping water while chantingTilaka and the different forms of the Lord protecting the various limbs in the body – 12 tilaka markings

Body

- Through Bathing

Mind

- Through Mantra

An

xiety of G

oku

la’s Inh

abitan

ts

Why are the cow and bull so importantly revered?

Krishi go rakshya – agriculture & cow protectionThe cow is mother – nourishment through milkPanchagavya for worship & cow’s role in countering spiritsBull as tiller of field – backhone of subsistence33 million devatas reside in the body of the cow

An

xiety of G

oku

la’s Inh

abitan

ts

Krishna Himself personally shows the value of cow protection

KRISHNA AS GOPALA, GOVINDA,

GO-BRAHMANA HITAYA CA

Krish

na’s U

nlim

ited M

ercy

Krishna took Putana like His mother

- The Lord bestows the Highest benefit even to His enemies

Putana attained liberation or Sayujya Mukti

- But, we should be favourable towards Krishna.

Putana’s dead body burntfragrance of aguru from her body

- Purification by contacting Krishna

Inhabitants of Gokula prayed for Krishna’s safety and blessed Him.

- Spontaneous affection