Deliverance of Paundraka and the King of Kāśī
85
such a case he would be accompanied by Lord Śiva's ghostly companions, and the desire of Sudakṣiṇa to kill his enemy would be fulfilled.
When Sudakṣiṇa was encouraged by Lord Śiva in that way, he became assured that he would be able to kill Kṛṣṇa. With a determined vow of austerity, he began to execute the black art of chanting  mantras , assisted by the priests. After this, out of the fire came a great demonic form, whose hair, beard and moustache were exactly the color of hot copper. This form was very big and fierce. As the demon arose from the fire, cinders of fire emanated from the sockets of his eyes. The giant fiery demon appeared still more fierce due to the movements of his eyebrows. He exhibited long sharp teeth and, sticking out his long tongue, licked both sides of his lips. He was naked, and he carried a big trident, which was blazing like fire. After appearing from the fire of sacrifice, he stood wielding the trident in his hand. Instigated by Sudakṣiṇa, the demon proceeded toward the capital city, Dvārakā, along with many hundreds of ghostly companions, and it appeared that he was going to burn all outer space to ashes. The surface of the earth trembled because of his striking steps. When he entered the city of Dvārakā, all the residents panicked, just like animals at the time of a forest fire.
At that time Kṛṣṇa was engaged in playing chess in the royal assembly council hall. All the residents of Dvārakā approached and addressed Him, "Dear Lord of the three worlds, there is a great fiery demon ready to burn the whole city of Dvārakā. Please save us." Thus, after approaching Lord Kṛṣṇa, all the inhabitants of Dvārakā began to appeal to Him for protection from the fiery demon who had just appeared in Dvārakā to devastate the whole city.
Lord Kṛṣṇa, who specifically protects His devotees, saw that the whole population of Dvārakā was most perturbed by the presence of the great fiery demon. He immediately began to smile and assured them, "Don't worry. I shall give you all protection." The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is all-pervading. He is within everyone's heart, and He is without also in the form of the cosmic manifestation. He could understand that the fiery demon was a creation of Lord Śiva, and in order to vanquish him He took His Sudarśana-cakra and ordered him to take the necessary steps. The Sudarśana-cakra appeared with the effulgence of millions of suns, his temperature being as powerful as that of the fire created at the end of the cosmic manifestation. By his own effulgence, the Sudarśana-cakra began to illuminate the entire universe, on the surface of the earth as well as in outer space. Then the Sudarśana-cakra began to freeze the fiery demon created by Lord Śiva. In this way, the fiery demon was