The Killing of the Elephant Kuvalayāpīḍa
273
only drinking the nectar of seeing His face, but were smelling the aroma and licking up the taste of His body and were embracing Him and Balarāma with their arms. They began to talk among themselves about the two transcendental brothers. For a long time they had heard of the beauty and activities of Krṣṇa and Balarāma, but now they were personally seeing Them face to face. They thought that Krṣṇa and Balarāma were two plenary incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, who had appeared in Vṛndāvana.
The citizens of Mathurā began to recite Krṣṇa's pastimes, His birth as the son of Vasudeva, His being taken into the care of Nanda Mahārāja and his wife in Gokula, and all those events leading to His coming to Mathurā. They spoke of the killing of the demon Pūtanā, as well as the killing of Tṛṇāvarta, who came as a whirlwind. They also recalled the deliverance of the twin brothers from within the  yamala arjuna  trees. The citizens of Mathurā spoke among themselves: Śaṅkhāsura, Keśī, Dhenukāsura and many other demons were killed by Krṣṇa and Balarāma in Vṛndāvana. Krṣṇa also saved all the cowherd men of Vṛndāvana from devastating fire. He chastised the Kāliya snake in the water of Yamunā, and He curbed the false pride of the heavenly king, Indra. Krṣṇa held up the great Govardhana Hill in one hand for seven continuous days and saved all the people of Gokula from incessant rain, hurricane and windstorm." They also began to remember other enlivening activities: "The damsels of Vṛndāvana were so pleased by seeing Krṣṇa's beauty and participating in His activities that they forgot the purpose of material existence. By seeing and thinking of Krṣṇa, they forgot all sorts of material fatigue." The Mathurā citizens discussed the dynasty of Yadu, saying that because of Krṣṇa's appearance in this dynasty, the Yadus would remain the most celebrated family in the whole universe. While they were thus talking about the activities of Krṣṇa and Balarāma, they heard the vibrations of different bands announcing the wrestling match.
The famous wrestler Cāṇūra then began to talk with Krṣṇa and Balarāma. "My dear Krṣṇa and Balarāma," he said, "we have heard about Your past activities. You are great heroes, and therefore the king has called you. We have heard that Your arms are very strong. The king and all the people present here desire to see a display of Your wrestling abilities. A citizen should be obedient and please the mind of the ruling king; acting in that way, the citizen attains all kinds of good fortune. One who does not care to act obediently is made unhappy because of the king's anger. You are cowherd boys, and we have heard that while tending Your cows in the forest, You enjoy wrestling with each other. We wish, therefore, for You