82
Krṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
fear of the demons. They were free of fear. Any material arrangement for protecting oneself from death is always unsure, but if one is in Krṣṇa consciousness, then immortality is confidently assured.
The demon Aghāsura appeared before Krṣṇa and His friends. Aghāsura happened to be the younger brother of Pūtanā and Bakāsura, and he thought, “Krṣṇa has killed my brother and sister. Now I shall kill Him along with all His friends and calves.” Aghāsura was instigated by Kaṁsa, so he had come with determination. Aghāsura also began to think that when he would offer grains and water in memory of his brother and kill Krṣṇa and all the cowherd boys, then automatically all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana would die. Generally, for the householders, the children are the life and breath force. When all the children die, then naturally the parents also die on account of strong affection for them.
Aghāsura, thus deciding to kill all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, expanded himself by the yogic  siddhi  called  mahimā . The demons are generally expert in achieving almost all kinds of mystic powers. In the  yoga  system, by the perfection called  mahima-siddhi , one can expand himself as he desires. The demon Aghāsura expanded himself up to eight miles and assumed the shape of a very fat serpent. Having attained this wonderful body, he stretched his mouth open just like a mountain cave. Desiring to swallow all the boys at once, including Krṣṇa and Balarāma, he sat on the path.
The demon in the shape of a big fat serpent expanded his lips from land to sky; his lower lip was touching the ground and his upper lip was touching the clouds. His jaws appeared like a big mountain cave, without limitation, and his teeth appeared just like mountain summits. His tongue appeared to be a broad traffic way, and he was breathing just like a hurricane. The fire of his eyes was blazing. At first the boys thought that the demon was a statue, but after examining it, they saw that it was more like a big serpent lying down in the road and widening his mouth. The boys began to talk among themselves: “This figure appears to be a great animal, and he is sitting in such a posture just to swallow us all. Just see—is it not a big snake that has widened his mouth to eat all of us?”
One of them said, “Yes, what you say is true. This animal’s upper lip appears to be just like the sunshine, and its lower lip is just like the reflection of red sunshade on the ground. Dear friends, just look to the right and left hand side of the mouth of the animal. Its mouth appears to be like a big mountain cave, and its height cannot be estimated. The chin is also raised just like a mountain summit. That long highway appears to be its tongue, and inside the mouth it is as dark as in a mountain cave. The