Killing the Demons Vatsasura and Bakasura 77
bank of the River Yamuna, they began to construct their places of
residence. While those of the same age were walking together and children
were talking with their parents, the inhabitants of Vrndavana felt very
happy.

At this time Krsna and Balarama were given charge of the calves. The
first responsibility of the cowherd boys was to take care of the little calves.
The boys are trained in this from the very beginning of their childhood. So
along with other little cowherd boys, Krsna and Balarama went into the
pasturing ground and took charge of the calves and played with Their
playmates. While taking charge of the calves, sometimes the two brothers
played on Their flutes. And sometimes They played with amalaki fruits and
bael fruits, just like small children play with balls. Sometimes They danced
and made tinkling sounds with Their ankle bells. Sometimes They made
Themselves into bulls and cows by covering Themselves with blankets.
Thus Krsna and Balarama played. The two brothers also used to imitate
the sounds of bulls and cows and play at bullfighting. Sometimes They used
to imitate the sounds of various animals and birds. In this way, They en-
joyed Their childhood pastimes apparently like ordinary, mundane children.

Once, when Krsna and Balarama were playing on the bank of the
Yamuna, a demon of the name Vatsasura assumed the shape of a calf and
came there intending to kill the brothers. By taking the shape of a calf,
the demon could mingle with other calves. Krsna, however, specifically
noticed this, and He immediately told Balarama about the entrance of the
demon. Both brothers then followed him and sneaked up upon him. Krsna
caught hold of the demon-calf by the two hind legs and tail, whipped him
around very forcibly and threw him up into a tree. The demon lost his life
and fell down from the top of the tree to the ground. When the demon
lay dead on the ground, all the playmates of Krsna congratulated Him,
“Well done, well done,” and the demigods in the sky began to shower
flowers with great satisfaction. In this way, the maintainers of the com-
plete creation, Krsna and Balarama, used to take care of the calves in the
morning every day, and thus They enjoyed Their childhood pastimes as
cowherd boys in Vrndavana.

All the cowherd boys would daily go to the bank of the River Yamuna
to water their calves. Usually, when the calves drank water from the
Yamuna, the boys also drank. One day, after drinking, when they were
sitting on the bank of the river, they saw a huge animal which looked
something like a duck and was as big as a hill. Its top was as strong as a
thunderbolt. When they saw that unusual animal, they became afraid of it.
The name of this beast was Bakasura, and he was a friend of Kamsa’s. He
